Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris thought the city could avoid the fray over privatization. Landfill privatization issue
spills over to Waimanalo Gulch operationHe was wrong.
Labor attorney Herbert Takahashi this week wrote a letter to the city demanding that the Waimanalo Gulch landfill in Ewa be shut down because it is run by Waste Management Inc., a private contractor.
The demand is based on a landmark Hawaii Supreme Court decision earlier this year that a private entity cannot perform government jobs traditionally done by civil service employees.
Takahashi represented the employees and the United Public Workers union in that case.
Takahashi said he is representing "at least three employees" in this complaint, but not the United Public Workers union, which represents them.
Circuit courts across the state have ruled that privatized landfills on the Big Island and Kauai must now be operated by government workers, and Maui County has invalidated parks and maintenance contracts.
But Harris and other city officials believe the Supreme Court ruling does not apply to the City and County of Honolulu.
State statutes show one section dealing with civil service laws related to the state, while another discusses civil service and the counties of Hawaii, Maui and Kauai.
"Our civil service law is governed by our City Charter, not by state law," said Deputy Corporation Counsel Chris Parsons.
Takahashi, however, points out that the state section of the statues makes reference to counties. To him, that's proof the Supreme Court decision is universal.
Dominic Estrella, Sherry Shanks and Kathryn Tolleson coveted bachelor's degrees but shunned traditional academic programs like those at the University of Hawaii and Brigham Young University-Hawaii. University of Phoenix to open
new center at MililaniInstead, the three, who had set aside their college educations for careers and family, discovered the University of Phoenix, Hawaii campus. Since 1990, the business has carved a niche in Hawaii's education market by targeting working adults over the age of 23.
"It was really not very motivating thinking about going back to school with 20-year-olds who had no idea where they were going because they hadn't been anywhere yet," said Shanks, 39, a retired flight attendant and Punahou alumna.
Tomorrow, the university will announce the October opening of a new learning center in Mililani Technology Park. The facility, with five classrooms and three conference rooms, can serve up to 700 students, nearly as many as the university's current Hawaii enrollment of 753.
Grace Blodgett, Hawaii campus director, said the center allows West Oahu and North Shore students to study closer to home. She expects 150 students to enroll within a year.
Blodgett said two-thirds of the university's Hawaii students are undergraduates. Enrollment has increased 82 percent -- from 413 to 750 students -- since Aug. 31, and Blodgett expects that trend to continue. The average age of the students is 40.
The monthly tide of box jellyfish receded late yesterday, as city lifeguards recorded a diminishing number of stings reported by swimmers. Jellyfish tide recedes
The predictable infestation, which occurs seven to 10 days after the full moon, was probably made worse by a southerly wind bringing the creatures to south and west shores, according to lifeguards.
Yesterday was the third day of the influx, and warning signs were posted in Waikiki, Ala Moana and other beaches. It was the second day that officials closed Hanauma Bay, normally closed for Wednesday morning maintenance anyway.
There were 70 reports from Waikiki and two from Ala Moana in the afternoon, said acting lifeguard Capt. Edmund Pestana. Earlier it was reported that there were 800 stings recorded since Monday.
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Police/Fire
By Star-Bulletin staffPolice are holding a 20-year-old Kalihi man while they investigate allegations that he sexually assaulted an 8-year-old girl at the swimming pool at Kalihi Valley District Park. Kalihi man held
in child sex casePolice said the girl told her mother that on July 18, the man grabbed her from behind and rubbed her private parts while she was wearing her bathing suit.
Police arrested the man at his Kamehameha IV Road apartment on Tuesday and have been investigating whether he was a park employee.
An 86-year-old Salt Lake woman died yesterday after being struck by either a pickup truck or van while crossing Ala Lilikoi about 140 feet from Ala Loke. Woman, 86, killed
crossing streetThe vehicle left the scene of the 1:45 p.m. accident, police said.
The woman was pronounced dead at Tripler Hospital at 2:27 p.m.
She was using a walker and was not in a crosswalk when struck by the vehicle, which was traveling in the makai direction on Ala Lilikoi.
The death is the 45th traffic fatality of the year on Oahu as compared with 44 on the same date in 1996.
In other police/fire news:
Pair charged in Big Isle slayings
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