Hilo courthouse to open its doors

A new $91.7 million courthouse is due to open tomorrow in Hilo.

The building is called Hale Kaulike, or “;House of Justice.”;

It has seven general-purpose courtrooms, two family courtrooms, a law library and holding cells.

It also has meeting rooms for witnesses, attorney interviews and grand juries.

The estimated cost for the building was $60 million when it was proposed in 2003. That included $53 million for construction and $7 million to buy the land on Kilauea Avenue.

But the plan gained 35,000 square feet and had a new estimated price tag of $86 million when construction began in 2005.

The final $91.7 million cost excludes $600,000 for two works of art paid for by the state Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

Citigroup chairman will speak at UH

Richard Parsons, chairman of Citigroup, the international financial conglomerate, will give a free public address at 7 p.m. April 7 at the University of Hawaii-Manoa's Kennedy Theatre as the 2009 Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals.

The title of his talk at Kennedy Theatre will be “;The Global and Financial Crisis: Origins and Solutions.”;

Parsons, a University of Hawaii graduate and varsity basketball player, was former chairman and chief executive officer of Time Warner, according to a biographical sketch in Wikipedia.

He earned a law degree in 1971 from Albany Law School and worked in subsequent years with President Gerald Ford and New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. He became chief executive of Time Warner in December 2001 and chairman of Citigroup on Feb. 23.

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., with seating on a first-come basis. Overflow seating will be available across the street at the Keoni Auditorium in the East-West Center. On-campus parking is $3.

The Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals Fund is sponsoring the event. It's coordinated by UH-Manoa's Chancellor's Office, American Studies Department, William S. Richardson School of Law and the UH Foundation.

For more information, call 956-8484 or e-mail: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Call 956-0391 by Tuesday with questions regarding disability access or support for the keynote address.

Cancer expert lectures on nutrition

“;Extreme Moderation — Disease Prevention with Nutrition”; will be discussed by researcher Robert Cooney of the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii on Tuesday as part of the Science Cafe program.

The event will be at P.F.Chang's China Bistro at the Diamond Head end of Auahi Street, near Ward Centre. The social and dinner hour will begin at 6 p.m. with the talk from 7 to 8 p.m.

Science Cafe, featuring experts discussing local and global topics of interest, is sponsored by the Hawaii Academy of Science, American Chemical Society and Sigma XI, a scientific research society.

Grants open to Kahuku nonprofits

The Kahuku Community Fund of the Hawaii Community Foundation is accepting proposals from nonprofit groups until April 10.

Preference will be given to proposals that would benefit the Kahuku community from Turtle Bay to Malaekahana.

Any nonprofit organization or school, government unit or neighborhood group may apply. For grants over $5,000, groups must be a tax-exempt nonprofit 501(c)(3) or have a fiscal sponsor.

Guidelines can be downloaded at www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org, or call the Oahu office at 537-6333. Mail proposals to the HCF at 1164 Bishop St., Suite 800, Honolulu, HI 96813, attention: Kahuku Community Fund.