August 25 2016 – Honolulu City Council is exploring guided tour limits at Waimanalo beaches. A bill under consideration is aimed at addressing an influx of tourists who are making their way to East Oahu as part of organized guided tours. Some believe the increase in visitor traffic became an issue when a similar commercial activity ban went into effect in Kailua and Lanikai, essentially, displacing tour groups into neighboring communities. Now some are concerned this bill would force an influx of visitors into areas like Kahala and Hawaii Kai. [HNN]
August 24, 2016 – The Takitani Foundation has announced the winners of its academic scholarships for 2016. From the Honolulu district,: AJ Clifford Alcover of Farrington High School; Emily Wong of Kaimuki High School; Ria Oba of Kaiser High School; Yiju Huang of Kalani High School and Courtney Hiraoka of University Laboratory School. Sixty-six scholarships were awarded in total across different learning institutions. [Takitani Foundation]
August 23, 2016 – Denby Fawcett weighs in on the Kahala Avenue luxury condo debate in a Civil Beat column. [Civil Beat]
August 22, 2016 – President Barack Obama recognized four Hawaii teachers as recipients of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST). The teachers will receive $10,000 from the National Science Foundation and a trip to Washington D.C. to attend a series of recognition events and professional development opportunities. From East Oahu, one of the recipents is Bryan Silver, Kalani High (7-12 Science awardee) Silver has been teaching Industrial Engineering Design, Drafting Technology I+II and Engineering for 16 years at Kalani High. He runs a robust afterschool robotic program in VEX, FIRST Tech Challenge, FIRST Robotics and Real-world Design Challenge. [Hawaii DOE]
August 22, 2016 The Hawaii Department of Education has published a newsletter entitled “Supporting Student Success: Phase I Statewide Listening Tour.” Findings and best practices are outlined within the six page document. [Hawaii BOE/DOE]
