$1 million pledged to heart program
Local businesswoman Judith Dion Pyle has pledged $1 million to support the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program at the University of Hawaii’s John A. Burns School of Medicine.
A news release from the University of Hawaii Foundation said Friday the gift will create the Judith Dion Pyle Endowed Fund for the Robert Hong, M.D., Professorship in the Cardiovascular Fellowship Program, a three-year program that trains physicians to become cardiologists.
The fellowship program began in 2010 as a partnership between the UH medical school and the Queen’s Medical Center. It recently received a five-year accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.
Among those in training is Dr. Kahealani Rivera, who next year will become the first female Native Hawaiian cardiologist.
"Native Hawaiians are two to three times more likely to be diagnosed with or die from heart disease," Rivera said in a news release. "We have so much more work to do, and I hope, as a Native Hawaiian physician, I will be able to give care to both Native Hawaiians and all people who suffer so much from heart disease."
Monk seals rest up on Sans Souci Beach
Two monk seals took up residence Sunday at Sans Souci Beach near the New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel.
Lifeguards taped off the area around the endangered animals so that they wouldn’t be bothered by beachgoers.
The two, Buster, 10 to 12 years old, and Rocky, about 7, frequent the South Shore of Oahu but occasionally swim to the neighbor islands, said Tati Slagle, an intern working the monk seal sighting hotline for the National Marine Fisheries Service.
She said she got a flood of calls starting at about 9 a.m.
The pair are easily identified by tags and by their natural bleach marks, she said.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Big Isle escapee is still at large
KAILUA-KONA » Police are still searching for one of two inmates who escaped Wednesday from the Hawaii Community Correctional Center.
Officials believe Ryan James Jeffries-Hamar may have made his way to the island’s west side.
Capt. Chad Basque told West Hawaii Today that Jeffries-Hamar, 31, has ties to the Kona area.
He escaped with Jarvis Naoki Higa, 35, who was captured Friday in Kau.
Higa is awaiting trial for attempted murder and now faces kidnapping, assault and other charges related to the escape. Jeffries-Hamar was in for a parole violation and a previous escape from a minimum-security facility in August.
Hilo teachers join in protests
About 25 teachers, parents and supporters stood along Waianuenue Avenue in front of Hilo High and Intermediate schools Thursday as part of a push for new contract between the state and teachers union.
"We’re out here to make it known that teachers have been working without a contract," Hilo High teacher Val DeCorte told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald. "We had one placed upon us by the governor."
The educators said they are continually asked to give of their free time for their students, and they have continued to do so because they know how important their role is, despite the fact that they haven’t had a pay raise in five years.
Teachers across the state have been participating in weekly "work to rule" protests, in which they work only the hours they are contracted for, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
