Audit urged over Super Bowl sick leave

Nearly half of the guards at four prisons across Hawaii called in sick on Super Bowl Sunday.

That’s prompting state Rep. Gregg Takayama (D, Pearl City-Waimalu-Pacific Palisades) to call for an audit of sick leave time taken by prison guards statewide.

Hawaii News Now reported Wednesday that about 47 percent of the guards at Waiawa Community Correctional Center and Maui Community Correctional Center called in sick. At the women’s prison in Kailua, the rate was 45 percent and at Halawa prison that rate was 42 percent.

The state Department of Public Safety had been struggling with guards calling in sick and other time-off abuses that frequently forced the cancellation of family visits at prisons. But no visits were canceled on Super Bowl Sunday and on other recent weekend visit days.

Golf fundraiser to benefit cancer facility

A golf event fundraiser for the University of Hawaii’s Cancer Center will be held this month at Mid-Pacific County Club in Lanikai.

Proceeds from the Golf for a Cure tournament, slated to get underway at 1 p.m. March 29, will benefit the cancer center. The tournament will accommodate the first 144 golfers to register with full payment. The cost is $200 per person for a round of golf with cart, buffet dinner and tee gift. (Dinner only, $50 per person.) The event will also include prizes, a silent auction and a no-host bar. The registration deadline is March 22.

For more information about the event, contact Tim Dietrich at 262-8161, ext. 222, or timdierich@mpcchi.org. For more information about the cancer center, visit www.uhcancercenter.org.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Trust working to preserve fishing village

The Hawaiian Islands Land Trust is working with a land­owner to protect a mostly intact fishing village in South Kona that was likely abandoned in the late 1800s.

West Hawaii Today reported Wednesday that the village in the Alae area is among several lots owned by the Foti family that are up for sale.

The acquisitions specialist and director for the trust’s Hawaii Island division said the organization is working with the family to secure an easement or preserve on about 25 acres.

Janet Britt said the landowner wants to protect the land forever.

The village has numerous terraces that once served as home platforms. A heiau borders the northern edge and a flattened agricultural area.