Travis Lefrandt of Moanalua High School took top honors for his composition about the dangers of crystal methamphetamine in the sixth annual Safety Essay Contest. The contest was sponsored by the Honolulu Association of Insurance Professionals. More than 100 public high school students submitted stories about personal devastation as a result of substance abuse or reckless driving. Julia Sungsakris of Pearl City High was the second-place winner; Sharla Rivera of James Campbell High, third; and Xenia Ewing of Leilehua High, fourth.

Waikiki Health Center has elected new officers to its board of directors: president - Phil Kinnicutt, Kinnicutt Consulting LLC, Marketing & Public Relations; vice resident/finance and treasurer - Dr. Max Botticelli, CEO and chairman of UHA, a commercial health insurer; vice president/governance - Marya Grambs, executive director, Mental Health America of Hawaii; vice president/development and public relations - Robert F. Gentry; secretary - Paul Smith.

The North Hawaii Community Hospital board of directors elected Bob Momsen president; Dr. John Dawson and Ken Wood, vice presidents; Mike Rossi, treasurer; and Bill Hastings, secretary.

Jennifer Wong, an eighth-grader at Kapolei Middle School, was the overall winner of the 2008 Hawaii School Bus Safety Week Poster Contest, sponsored by the Hawaii School Bus Association to promote school bus and student pedestrian safety. Wong won a $500 cash award. Her poster will be used in the 2009 Hawaii School Bus Safety Week Campaign. Twelve other students also won prizes.