Parks admission free for military

All active and retired military personnel as well as their families will have free admission to national parks across the country on Veterans Day tomorrow.

There are eight national parks in Hawaii. Some of the popular national parks in the state include Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island, the USS Arizona Memorial on Oahu and Haleakala National Park on Maui.

Veterans Day and National Public Lands Day are the only holidays on which admission fees are waived in parks across the country.

For more information on national parks, go to www.nps.gov.

City's use of tech gets high marks

Honolulu has been ranked for the second consecutive year among the nation's Top 10 cities that use technology to service residents, according to Mayor Mufi Hannemann.

Honolulu was ranked in the Top 10 tech cities with populations of 250,000 or more by the Center for Digital Government, a national research and advisory institute.

It will recognize top-ranked cities Thursday during the National League of Cities 2008 Congress of Cities and Exposition in Orlando, Fla.

Cable firm seeks top teachers

Oceanic Time Warner Cable is accepting entries for its 2009 National Teacher Awards.

Fifteen teachers or teacher teams will be chosen from areas served by Time Warner Cable around the country. The contest recognizes classroom projects that use free resources Time Warner Cable provides to schools.

Winners will receive $2,000 cash, $3,000 to add technology to their school, a crystal apple sculpture and an all-expenses-paid trip for two to Washington, D.C., to attend an awards celebration in the summer of 2009.

Time Warner Cable is also seeking a Champion Principal who supports teachers' use of technology. The selected principal also will be recognized in Washington and receive $5,000 for classroom technology.

To be eligible, teachers must be in a state-accredited public or private school within a Time Warner Cable service area. Projects must have been created in the 2008-09 school year. Deadline to apply is March 27. More information is available online at www.timewarnercable.com/corporate/aboutus/natlteachersawards.html.

New preschool targets autism

A private preschool catering to children with autism has opened in Kahala.

Cornerstone Educational Preschool was contracted by Waiokeola Church to run a classroom on its campus.

The preschool, which opened last Monday, serves children ages 2 1/2 through 5 who require alternative learning approaches.

More information is available by calling the school at 342-3466.