East Oahu News – Tuesday Update 06/02/2015

June 2, 2015

Tuesday news supplement for East Oahu and Hawaii Kai.  Full text of these excerpts is available through the web.  Where access is granted to the public, there is a link.  Regular updates are issued Friday.  This supplement was created due to the larger than normal amount of local news items.

For full text of Star-Advertiser articles, access the database at the Hawaii State Library site and enter your library card number and PIN. 

KITV4 | Hawaiian Electric [Honolulu, Hawaii] 01 June 2015.

Hahaione Elementary School students and families finished first in this year’s Home Energy Challenge.  Kamiloiki finished third. Both schools received cash prizes from Hawaiian Electric.

Here are the grand prize winners of the 8th annual Home Energy Challenge

1st Place, $10,000 prize, Hahaione Elementary School
2nd Place, $6,000 prize, Palisades Elementary School
3rd Place, $3,000 prize, Kamiloiki Elementary School

The participating families at these three schools combined saved a total of $43,600 on their electric bills from Oct. 2014 through March 2015.. . . The Home Energy Challenge is an educational partnership between the State Department of Education, participating elementary schools, and Hawaiian Electric.

For schools interested in participating next year, applications for the 2015-16 Home Energy Challenge will be sent to all Oahu public elementary schools this summer. Interested schools can call Ms. Sam Nichols at 543-7511 for more information.

Ben Gutierrez HawaiiNewsNow [Honolulu, Hawaii] 31 May 2015.

It has been more than a decade since the city approved the building of a cemetery in Hawaii Kai. Those plans haven’t gone anywhere since then, but work has begun once again, and that has some Hawaii Kai residents concerned.

[Hawaii Kai Memorial Park LLC Attorney William] McCorriston said the owners have applied for a business license from the state and a master grading permit. If those are approved, construction could finally began later this year.

KITV [Honolulu, Hawaii] 29 May 2015.

KITV reports that you can find feral chickens on St. Louis Heights.  You can also find feral chickens at Kahala Zippys.  Kapiolani Community College has become so frustrated by the noise, they’re even attempting to trap the chickens.  The takeaway? 

“You don’t need a permit to trap wild chickens. The public is being asked to help manage the feral chicken population if they have them on their property.”

KITV has posted a 2 1/2 minute video to go along with the story.  Click the link above to view the page.

Question: As a frequent Ala Moana Beach Park user, I’ve noticed more exercise groups using the park. Some are small but others have over 20 people. According to an article in the Star-Advertiser, people are paying to participate in these exercises. Are they regulated in any way? Does this mean mobile car detailing or portable massage businesses can also use the park?

Answer: If people are paying to take part in the exercise classes, it is not an authorized park use.

———————

If no money is solicited or given, under current rules, groups of fewer than 50 people can gather in city parks without a permit, said Jon Hennington, spokesman for the Department of Parks and Recreation.  “This is the same limit that applies to picnics,” he said. “As long as the group does not solicit the public and does not require exclusive use of an area of the park, no permit is required.” For any kind of commercial activity to take place in any of its parks, the Parks Department requires a public hearing. . .He explained that a public hearing is required before a decision is made to authorize commercial activities of a “particular type.”

Among the commercial activities “eligible to be permitted” are filming, hiking tours at Hanauma Bay, scuba, snorkeling, swimming, tour companies and windsurfing, Hennington said.  “This does not mean, however, that any or all of these activities are eligible for a commercial use permit at a given park,” he said.  Meanwhile, craft fairs and art marts sponsored by nonprofit organizations are eligible for permits. To find out more about commercial activities at city parks, go to bit.ly/1HV9wKa.

[To read full article, click link above and enter your Hawaii State library card # and PIN, or subscribe to the Star-Advertiser]

Web Staff KHON2 [Honolulu, Hawaii] 29 May 2015.

Honolulu firefighters were called to help a sailboat that got into trouble [off “of Sandy Beach] twice Friday night in East Oahu. . .[the second time the boat overturned]. ,  , HFD decided to tow the boat to shore.

Mendoza, Jim Hawaii News Now [Honolulu, Hawaii] 29 May 2015.

WZ Family Entertainment Center opened its doors on Waialae Avenue last year. Thursday night, the Honolulu Liquor Commission granted WZ’s request for a liquor license.  . .But the chairman of the Kaimuki Neighborhood Board said a family fun center serving alcohol doesn’t fit Kaimuki’s culture of mom and pop shops.

20 Kaimuki business owners signed a petition [opposing the liquor license.]

Please be aware that [May 28] after school, a single, stray mylar balloon flew in to one of the electrical poles on the mauka side of campus causing a campus wide power outage and a fuse blow out on the high voltage pole. HFD and HECO needed to be called and worked over two hours on being sure the campus was safe and that power was restored. This is a great learning opportunity regarding potential consequences to electrical and building infrastructure when coupled with mylar balloons. We ask everyone to please consider other types of celebratory items during the graduation season which includes our own Grade 5 celebration on Tuesday. Thank you for attention to our school and community safety efforts.

 

From noted journalist Ian Lind’s blog, a thoughtful, insightful & nostalgic piece, excerpted here.  The full article is available on his website, link provided above.

. . .My first thought–I should attend. I was, after all, there at the beginning. I entered the 2nd grade at Kahala School when it first opened in 1954. . .

I decided that I would just drop in, not for lunch, but to look around the school and see what it’s like after all this time. . .

My introduction went something like this: “I’m don’t have a reservation and don’t plan on having lunch, but I was a student here the first year the school opened, and I hope I can just look around a bit.”

I quickly got the idea that I was perhaps the only student from the school’s first year to be present for the 60th anniversary. I was introduced to the principal, and warmly welcomed to make myself at home. . .

To read the full article, as well as to see pictures from 60 years prior, please visit Ian Lind’s blog. 

 

# # #