The Hawaii State Public Library System named Judd Sato Jr., a truck driver who delivers books to Maui libraries, its 2009 Employee of the Year.

The Children's Science Book Project is the 2009 Team of the Year. Members are Duane Wenzel, Curt Fukumoto, Ann Luke, Kristine Kishida and Edwin Kamikawa.

The Honda Foundation donated $100,000 and the Kosasa Foundation pledged $100,000 to support the construction of the Culinary Institute of the Pacific. The advanced culinary institute will be built on the site of the former U.S. Army Fort Ruger Cannon Club on the northern slope Diamond Head.

The state Executive Office on Aging and the Policy Advisory Board for Elder Affairs honored eight kupuna, two from each county, for their dedicated service to their communities. They are Sarah Togashi and Ah Vin “;Jacob”; Zane, Hawaii County; Janice Bond and Arnulfo Diaz, M.D., Kauai; June Kaaihue and Larry Carter, Maui; and Michiko Motooka and Charles Clark, Honolulu.