Lingle’s biopsy A second biopsy of Gov.-elect Linda Lingle showed that she does not have breast cancer and needs no further treatment other than regular mammogram checkups, according to her doctor.
indicates no cancer
She urges women to get regular
checkups and to follow up
their mammogramsBy Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.com"On the eve of Thanksgiving, I have a little bit extra to be thankful for this year," Lingle said yesterday. "But as I said earlier, women go through this every day in Hawaii, and I want to encourage women, especially 40 years and older, to make sure that they do have regular checkups, regular mammograms that they follow up."
She said she will be able to resume her duties immediately.
Lingle, who will be sworn in on Monday as the state's first woman governor, also named the first two appointees to her Cabinet yesterday at a press conference in which she announced the results of her biopsy.
Doctors say she underwent the surgical procedure again after a biopsy in July showed abnormal cells that turned out to be not cancerous.
"Atypical cells are not at all unusual, but we always want to check them out," said Lingle's doctor, Laura Weldon Hoque, medical director of the Kapiolani Breast Center.
Lingle said she has accepted that as governor, such personal information will be made public. She said Hawaii residents have a right to know the health condition of their next governor, and she made sure the media was well informed about it.
Meanwhile, Lingle announced that Randall Roth, a University of Hawaii law professor, and Georgina Kawamura, a former Maui County budget director, have joined her Cabinet.
Roth, a CPA and a lawyer, will serve as Lingle's senior policy advisor. He is responsible for ensuring aspects of Lingle's "Agenda for a New Beginning," a list of things Lingle said she would do if elected governor, are carried out.
Also, Roth will serve as point man for Lingle's national agenda, which includes federal recognition for native Hawaiians and securing federal benefits for Filipino veterans who fought alongside American soldiers in the Philippines during World War II.
"I think having a Republican governor will help in dealing with the Bush administration and in dealing with Republicans in Congress who haven't the time to study the Akaka bill and why we're supporting it," Roth said yesterday.
Roth has been on the UH law faculty since 1982 and was one of five authors of "Broken Trust," a controversial editorial that ran in the Star-Bulletin in August 1997 and sparked the state's investigation into the board of trustees' management of Kamehameha Schools/ Bishop Estate.
Roth will be on loan to Lingle for a year, and UH will continue to pay his salary. The next year, he will be on paid sabbatical and will remain with the Governor's Office.
Kawamura served as Maui County's budget director during 1987-1998, under former mayors Hannibal Tavares and Lingle. She earned national recognition for converting Maui's traditional line-item budget into a performance-based budget.
"She knows well my philosophy about a budget being more than a financial document. It's a management tool that allows all the department directors to understand what it is we're trying to achieve and what role they play in those goals," Lingle said.
Kawamura has been working with state budget officials for the past 10 days as she becomes familiar with the $3.6 billion state budget. It will be a "daunting task" to balance the state budget, she said.
"I'm excited about being able to go and work with the budget staff and transition into our different priorities to locate those funds needed for the short term and long term," she said.
Kawamura, a Kamehameha Schools graduate, has an Associate of Arts degree in accounting from Maui Community College. This fall, she ran unsuccessfully for the Lanai seat on the Maui County Council.