Apply for sewer credit by Dec. 31

The deadline for Kauai County residents to apply for the 2010 Sewer Credit Program is Dec. 31, according a county news release.

Qualified applicants will receive a $20 monthly credit on their sewer bill amounting to annual savings of $240.

To qualify, an applicant must:
» Be receiving residential sewer service from the county.
» Have an adjusted gross income less than $40,000 for 2008.
» Not be receiving any sewer assistance payments.
» Live in the unit being claimed.
» Be current on sewer payments.

Applications can be downloaded from the county's Web site at kauai.gov.

Copies of the first two pages of the applicant's 2008 state and federal tax returns or an affidavit stating the applicant was not required to file a return must be attached to the application.

Completed applications can be sent to Wastewater Management Division, 4444 Rice St., Suite 500, Lihue, HI 96766.

Senators aim to halt closures

Hawaii's Senate is investigating whether the state's 17 days of public school closures this year can be stopped.

Senate President Colleen Hanabusa announced yesterday she is forming a committee of senators to consider options to address teacher furloughs.

Hanabusa says the committee will look for money to keep the schools open. She says the panel will also determine how to ensure Gov. Linda Lingle would spend the money on education, and decide whether legislative action would interfere with the labor contract that called for the furloughs.

The committee also will consider whether the Legislature should return to the Capitol for a special session to deal with the issue.

Hanabusa says she does not want to build false hopes, but the committee will help work toward a solution.

Edwin Nacino is tapped to serve on Circuit Court

Gov. Linda Lingle has nominated Honolulu District Judge Edwin C. Nacino to serve as a Circuit Court judge.

If confirmed by the state Senate, Nacino would fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Karen Blondin.

Lingle said yesterday that Nacino is ideally suited to be on the Circuit Court bench. She cited his judicial experience as well as his experience as a prosecuting attorney, a deputy corporation counsel and a private attorney.

Before becoming a district judge in 2005, Nacino was a partner with the law firm of Roeca, Louie and Hiraoka. Earlier in his career, Nacino was a Honolulu police officer. He is a graduate of the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law.

Free lecture puts focus on telescope research

“;Telescopes: Big and Small”; will be discussed in a free public lecture by University of Hawaii astronomer Alan T. Tokunaga at 3:30 p.m. today in Hamilton Library on the Manoa campus.

Tokunaga, division chief of the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility on Mauna Kea and IFA associate director for instrumentation, will discuss research done with the UH-operated telescope and review telescope developments from Galileo's time.