3 HFD workers recognized by department

The Honolulu Fire Department has named its top employees.

Battalion Chief Dave Takehara, assigned to fire operations, is the department’s manager of the year. He provides administrative support for rural divisions.

Capt. Debbi Eleneki, the uniformed employee of the year, manages firefighting apparatus and equipment purchasing programs. She was the department’s first female firefighter and first fire captain.

Gloria Lum, the civilian employee of the year, developed a tracking program to keep the department current with utility payments and vendor invoice purchasing.

They were recognized Friday at a luncheon.

Kauai firefighters to train for rescues with Coast Guard

The Kauai Fire Department will be participating in search and rescue training coordinated by the Coast Guard on Tuesday and Thursday.

The Tuesday session will be held at Vidinha Stadium in the north end of the parking lot and on the soccer field next to the stadium. The Thursday session will take place at the Na­wiliwili jetty, which will be closed.

Telescope hearing ends after hula is given as testimony

The contested case hearing for the Thirty Meter Telescope ended Friday afternoon, leaving the fate of the $1.3 billion project hanging in the balance, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported.

Both sides provided arguments on the scientific, cultural, spiritual, visual, historical, legal, biological and geological aspects of the mountain, giving hearing officer Paul Aoki guidance for a recommendation to the Board of Land and Natural Resources over the approval of the telescope project.

If built, the telescope would be "the most advanced, powerful ground-based observatory in the world," said Tim Lui-Kwan, attorney for the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

But six petitioners oppose the board’s Feb. 25 vote and hope the land board will reverse its approval.

The seven-day hearing, which began Aug. 15, was marked by delays, lengthy disputes over the admissibility of exhibits and testy cross-examinations of tired or irritated witnesses, as well as hula and music presented as sworn testimony.

The two parties will file additional briefs to each other and to Aoki before the hearing officer submits his recommendation to the board for a possible reconsideration on the telescope’s approval.