» Leticia Gamiao, a housekeeper at Aqua Waikiki Wave hotel for more than 12 years, was named Lodging Employee of the Year by the national American Hotel & Lodging Association. Gamiao was selected for her exceptional service to hotel guests, the community and co-workers. She personally writes aloha notes to all 20 of her guests, leaving them on the guests’ night stand. In 2009 she was mentioned in more than 100 guest comment cards.

» The Litchman family of Honolulu has donated $150,000 to fund a new Alzheimer’s disease study at the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii. Dr. Christina Bell of the Department of Geriatric Medicine is principal investigator of the research project, which will examine nursing home patients with dementia and strokes.