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Workshops to discuss campaign gift rules
The state Campaign Spending Commission will hold a series of candidate and committee workshops for the 2004 elections on Oahu and the neighbor islands between Monday and March 3.The workshops are being conducted to give candidates and election committees an understanding of the requirements for recording and reporting campaign contributions and expenditures.
The workshops will run from 9:30 a.m. to noon:
>> Maui, Wednesday at the State Office Building, Conference Room B, 54 High St., Wailuku;For more details, call the commission at 808-586-0285.>> Kauai, Friday at the State Office Building, Conference Room A/B/C, 3060 Elwa St.;
>> Oahu, March 1, at the Leiopapa A Kamehameha Building, Conference Room 204, 235 S. Beretania St.;
>> Big Island, March 3 at the State Office Building, Conference Room A/B/C, 75 Aupuni St., Hilo.
Festival promotes dental health for kids
Free toothbrushes and toothpaste will be given to children at the third annual Dental Health Hawaii SmileFest festival 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow on the Honolulu Hale lawn.Free fluoride treatments also will be provided for children while supplies last.
The community SmileFest is sponsored by Dental Health Hawaii, a nonprofit organization that serves as a statewide resource for dental and oral health education and information.
Tooth decay is the most common chronic childhood disease, it points out. More than half of 5- to 9-year-olds has at least one cavity or filling, it said, and one in five local children under age 9 has never been to a dentist.
SmileFest is held annually to raise awareness of the importance of children's dental health through rides, games and prize giveaways.
Entertainment includes Mad Science of Hawaii, Creatures of Hawaii, Ke Kani, Kuo Min Tang the Physical Culture Association, magician Kelvin Chun, Hale Haku, the UH Rainbow Dancers and others.
Promoting dental health will be characters such as Hugo the Hippo, Lani Moo and Kawika Moo, and Five-A-Day Friends.
Children can enter free by taking an old toothbrush or empty Meadow Gold or Viva brand half-gallon milk carton. A $2 donation is requested for adults 18 and older.
For more information, call 523-3103 or see the Web site: www.healthysmileshawaii.com.
Homeless shelter gets grants
The Institute for Human Services, Oahu's only 24-hour emergency homeless shelter in Iwilei, has received $144,000 in grants to fund its Permanent Supportive Housing Program, to make more room for those seeking temporary shelter.The funds will be used by the chronically homeless or "heavy shelter users," said Lynn Maunakea, IHS executive director.
The McInerny Foundation awarded $100,000 and the Ellen M. Koenig Fund, $44,000, to IHS for this program.
"In Hawaii, the chronically homeless compromise approximately 30 percent of the entire homeless population, but are utilizing a disproportionately high amount of the homeless resources.
"Almost every night, we are turning women away from the safety of our shelter, because we have reached our capacity. We need to end the cycle of homelessness for our chronic guests so we can free up bed space for other people living on the streets," she said.
IHS also received $25,000 from The Cades Foundation for general operating expenses.
SNOW CHAT
LAFONZO RACHAL CARTER / THE SAN BERNARDINO SUN
VIA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pro snowboarder Tara Dakides, left, chatted yesterday with Bethany Hamilton, 13, at Mountain High Resort in Wrightwood, Calif. Hamilton lost her left arm in a shark attack off Kauai last year. She now has a prosthetic arm. Dakides was injured earlier this month while performing a stunt for David Letterman's late-night television show.
[ BRIEFLY ]
Wailupe Valley School hosts Family Fun Day
One of Oahu's smallest public schools holds its biggest fund-raiser of the year tomorrow with its Family Fun Day.The festival, which is open to the public, lasts from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Wailupe Valley Elementary School at 939 Hind Iuka Drive in upper Aina Haina.
Attractions include pony rides, a petting zoo, inflatable bouncers, game booths and a country store.
The school has about 200 students from roughly 140 families, and relies on the "enthusiasm and support" of everyone from students, to parents, faculty, staff and the principal to stage Fun Day, said Laverne Potemra, president of the Wailupe Valley School Ohana Association.
The nonprofit parents' group raises money to buy computers, books and other educational supplies for the school.
City to hold meetings on urban development
The city will hold meetings Wednesday and next Saturday to present an updated Primary Urban Center Development Plan for Honolulu.Both meetings will be conducted by the city's Department of Planning and Permitting, and will give the public a chance to comment on neighborhood planning for the next 25 years.
>> Wednesday: 7-8:30 p.m. at Kawananakoa School Cafetorium, 49 Funchal St. (enter from Pali Highway).
>> Saturday: 9-10:30 a.m. at Alvah Scott Elementary School Cafetorium, 98-1230 Moanalua Road, at Kaamilo Street.
Copies of the May 2002 draft and executive summary will be available. For more information, call 523-4484.
Fund-raiser to benefit hiking trail program
WAILUKU >> A benefit for the Na Ala Hele Trails Program is scheduled to be held today at Starbucks Coffee store in the Pukalani Terrace Center.The program, part of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, manages state hiking trails. Entertainment including a hula show starts at 10 a.m.
[ TAKING NOTICE ]
DONATIONS
>> The Children's Alliance of Hawaii, which maintains programs to aid children and adolescents as they heal from abuse, has received $108,695 in donations from the Pettus Foundation, $10,000; Jardine Hawaii Motor Holdings, $1,000; Friends of Hawaii Charities, $5,000; Merrill Lynch Foundation, $500; anonymous donor, $10,000; the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Inc., $10,000; Sidney Stern Memorial Trust, $7,500; Frear Eleemosynary Trust, $5,000; Cooke Foundation, $15,000; Foodland Super Market, Ltd., $445; Hawaii Community Foundation, $2,500; Albert T. Koenen Fund of the Hawaii Community Foundation, $5,000; Caldwell Banker, $500; Kelly Services, $250; City Bank, $250; Theo Davies Foundation, $2,000; HMSA, $250; First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu, $5,000; James Campbell Estate, $10,000; Alexander and Baldwin Foundation, $1,000; Lucile Hodgins Memorial Trust, $2,500; and The Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation, $15,000.>> Starwood Hotels & Resorts Hawaii has raised more than $132,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Fund-raisers held by employees of 13 Starwood hotels included the foundation's walk around Kapiolani park, a golf tournament, bake sales, T-shirt sales, a family day at Bishop Museum and donations from hotel owners.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staffNEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Three Big Island inmates at Kulani Correctional Facility escaped early yesterday but were apprehended a short time later near the minimum security prison.
3 Big Island inmates caught after escapeThe inmates were identified as Shane Honolii Salis, 24; Pisaga Saau Jr., 29; and Joseph Felix Ravey, 33.
Prison authorities said the prisoners were accounted for at a 4 a.m. bed check, but were discovered missing at a head count conducted at 6:30 a.m. The three were found five minutes later on Stainback Highway and detained by a corrections officer who was driving to work.
The prisoners were about 100 yards above the intersection of the highway and North Kulani Road, about 12 miles from the honor camp. The inmates were later arrested and charged with second-degree escape, and are now being held in lieu of $5,000 bail each at the Hawaii Community Correctional Center in Hilo.
Honolulu Police Department Crimestoppers
