City proposes new surf contest rules

The city Department of Parks and Recreation will hold a public hearing in Haleiwa today to discuss proposed new rules for administering surf contests on the North Shore.

The department wants to establish new criteria to resolve scheduling conflicts between applicants vying for the same time periods in which to hold contests. Surfing events on the North Shore are permitted only from Sept. 1 through April 30.

Under proposed rules, a panel will look at whether an applicant meets criteria such as compliance with permit conditions, and gender- and competition-level diversity. Each criterion garners a number of points, and the applicant with the highest number will be granted a permit for the desired time slot in the calendar.

The meeting will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Sunset Beach Recreation Center, 59-104 Kamehameha Highway. Proposed rules are available from the department at www.honolulu.gov/parks.

Health Department will use $3.75 million grant to fight TB

The state Department of Health has received a $3.75 million federal grant for a tuberculosis treatment study.

Hawaii was one of 10 sites in the nation selected for tuberculosis research funding by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the Health Department announced Nov. 8.

The grant will allow the state to implement new methods to diagnose and treat people with "latent TB," an early, noninfectious stage of the disease, before the illness turns into full-blown tuberculosis with serious symptoms and the potential of transmission to other people.

Because Hawaii has many immigrants from Southeast Asia and other areas where TB is common, the state has the highest rate of TB in the nation, at 9 cases per 100,000 residents, more than double the U.S. average, the Health Department said.

"This funding will provide additional resources for the TB Control program to provide enhanced services for people with latent TB infection who are at risk for developing and spreading active TB," said Dr. David Sakamoto, deputy director of health resources for the Department of Health.

Hawaii-Western gives to food bank

Hawaii-Western Management Group, one of the state’s largest insurance management services companies and administrator for HMAA, donated $24,028 to the Hawaii Foodbank, the company announced Nov. 7. The contribution will ultimately provide more than 60,000 meals for needy people in Hawaii, the company said in a news release.

As part of a companywide effort, Hawaii-Western employees contributed $9,514 to the food bank. The company matched that amount and added $5,000, for a total of $24,028. Every $10 donated enables the Hawaii Foodbank to provide food for 25 meals.

Since 2002, Hawaii-Western and its employees have donated about 75,000 pounds of food and more than $175,000 to the Hawaii Foodbank. Company accountant Dwayne Bueno has chaired the food bank’s Healthcare Coalition for the past seven years.

School gets $10,000 from medical society

The CHEST Foundation has given $10,000 to Sacred Hearts Academy for health education programs, the foundation announced Oct. 25.

The CHEST Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the American College of Chest Physicians, a 17,500-member medical society which held a convention in Honolulu in late October.

Forty-five volunteers from the American College of Chest Physicians and the Ambassadors Group gave a seminar on lung health Oct. 24 to Sacred Hearts fifth- and sixth-graders. Students learned from visual displays of healthy and diseased lungs.

UH business school receives $286,500

The Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawaii at Manoa has received gifts totaling $286,500 from Reginald Worthley and his wife, Eve Shere, and from Claire Durham, the university announced Oct. 26.

Shere and Durham are graduates of the UH-Manoa Executive M.B.A. program, and Worthley is a professor at the Shidler College of Business.

Worthley and Shere established the Reginald Worthley and Eve Shere Endowed Scholarship for Excellence with a life estate reserved gift estimated at $236,500. Shere graduated from the University of Colorado and the Swedish State Art Institute, and received her Executive M.B.A. from the UH-Manoa Shidler College of Business in 1983.

Durham established the Claire Durham Scholarship for International Excellence with a charitable gift annuity of $50,000. She graduated from the UH-Manoa Executive M.B.A. program in 1983.

"We are enormously grateful to the graduates of the Executive MBA program for their continuous support of the college," Vance Roley, dean of the Shidler College of Business, said in a news release. "EMBA alumni are one of our greatest resources and support us in so many ways. In addition to funding scholarships and professorships, they help us grow our programs, bring global business professionals to the college, and provide internships and career opportunities for our students."

$7,200 will help support classrooms

Community Helping Schools, a local nonprofit group that provides classroom resources and supplies to Oahu’s public schools, has received $7,200 from Light Partners Inspiring Nouvelle Concepts, a marketing internship program.

Community Helping Schools is a registered nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Hawaii’s public schools obtain the supplies and services needed to enrich the education of children. For more information, visit www.communityhelpingschools.org.

The internship program was developed by Valerie Ragaza-Miao, owner of Valerie Joseph Boutique in Ala Moana Center.

Hawaiian civic clubs to benefit from grant

Ho’olako na Kiwila Hawai’i, a leadership program for Hawaiian civic clubs, has received a $400,000 grant from the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the program announced Oct. 19.

The goal of the grant is to help the 59 Hawaiian civic clubs to become self-sustaining in their communities through a combination of mini grants to individual clubs to teach them how to apply for and manage grants, and to provide training in the areas of marketing, strategic planning and fundraising.

Hawaiian civic clubs, established in 1918 by Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole, are dedicated to the preservation and perpetuation of Hawaiian culture and engaging Native Hawaiians in the civic process.

For more information, contact Maile Alau, Ho’olako na Kiwila Hawai’i program manager, at 394-0050 or maile@hawaiimaoli.org.

Island Insurance helps Nuuanu YMCA

Island Insurance Foundation has donated $5,000 to the Nuuanu YMCA to provide financial assistance to lower-income youth who are participating in the Y’s summer day camp, middle school after-school program, STRIVE Leadership Youth Program and swimming lessons, the company announced Nov. 2.

The Nuuanu Y is the largest YMCA on Oahu, serving more than 4,800 members.

Junior Achievement awarded $4,500 gift

The University of Phoenix’s Hawaii campus has donated $4,500 to Junior Achievement Hawaii for advancement of its educational programs, the university announced Nov. 8.

Junior Achievement plans to use the money to support classroom programs for K-12 students.

"This year we hope to reach 7,000 Hawaii children, mostly in Title I schools (with large numbers of economically disadvantaged students), and this wonderful donation will help us do that," said Dianne Ward, president of Junior Achievement Hawaii.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Kauai boating office settled in at Nawiliwili

The Kauai District Office of the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation has completed its move to Nawiliwili Small Boat Harbor, the state said Tuesday. The office was previously in Kukui Grove Executive Center.

Phone service to the new facility was finalized Nov. 3, and all services that were offered at the district office’s previous location have been restored. The $300,000 project took 18 months to complete.

The new Kauai District Office can be reached at 241-3111 or via fax at 241-3117.

Harbor agents for Nawiliwili and Hanalei work out of the office. Call 241-3115 for the Nawiliwili agent and 241-3114 for the Hanalei agent. The phone number for the Port Allen harbor agent is still 335-5361.