Mayor's office offers grants for projects in arts

The Mayor's Office of Culture and Arts is accepting applications from nonprofit organizations on Oahu that produce new and original art in the form of dance, theater, music, short film and literature.

“;The program is an excellent opportunity for community organizations to perpetuate and increase awareness of their art, and is also a means for the city to stimulate the cultural economy,”; said Mayor Mufi Hannemann.

The Production Grant Program will award grants up to $5,000 for projects that take place between Dec. 1 and Nov. 30, 2010. The application deadline is Aug. 13.

UH-Hilo professor to lead USC center

Stephen Hora, a management and statistics professor, is leaving the University of Hawaii at Hilo next month to become the director of a research institute on terrorism at the University of Southern California.

Hora will begin his new job as director of the Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events Aug. 16.

He has been at UH-Hilo since 1985 as a faculty member and in administrative positions.

The USC center was established in 2004 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and is the nation's first Center of Excellence supporting research in response to terrorism. The center is working on developing models to gauge how and where terrorist events might occur, calculating their economic consequences and identifying the nation's vulnerabilities.

Theater teacher gets community award

W. Dennis Carroll, professor and chairman of the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, is the recipient of the 2009 Robert W. Clopton Award for Distinguished Community Service.

The Clopton award annually recognizes a faculty member who has played a socially significant role by applying intellectual leadership and academic expertise to the improvement of the community.

Carroll was cited for his 40 years of support of theater in Hawaii. His encouragement of students to write and produce plays resulted in the Kumu Kahua Theatre in downtown Honolulu, the university said.

The name means “;original stage,”; and the theater produces plays written about Hawaii and provides opportunities for local actors.

Carroll will be recognized for his achievements along with other UH award recipients at the annual convocation ceremony this fall at the UH-Manoa campus.

HPU chooses accountant as trustee

The Board of Trustees at Hawaii Pacific University has elected Kip E. Jones, a co-founder of Discovery Economics, as HPU's newest board member.

Jones is a certified public accountant, accredited in business valuation; an accredited senior appraiser, business valuations; and a certified fraud examiner. Before co-founding Discovery Economics, Jones was a partner with accounting firm Ernst & Whinney.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Fee-delinquent trash-hauler gets contract

HILO » Hawaii County has awarded a trash-hauling contract to a firm that owes $91,787 in landfill fees.

Ryan's Rubbish & Roll-Off Service in Hilo won the county contract even though the company has the outstanding debt, $75,050 of which is more than 90 days past due.

Robin Bauman, business manager of the Environmental Management Department, says companies are not required be up to date on their fees.

In all, commercial waste haulers owe the county $2.8 million in tipping fees at the landfills, with $1.4 million of that more than 90 days past due.

Ryan's Rubbish President Olivia Kekipi said all the haulers have been hit hard because of failing construction companies. She said nine construction contractors owe the hauler money, and all but two have filed for bankruptcy.

“;When their checks bounced, we couldn't pay,”; she said.

The county could collect the fees by garnishing payments to the haulers.