Kaulukukui tapped for Enterprise Services
Guy Kaulukukui was nominated Thursday by Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell to head the city Department of Enterprise Services.
Kaulukukui would lead the agency in charge of the city’s moneymaking operations, including Blaisdell Center, the Honolulu Zoo and municipal golf courses and their related concessions.
He would replace Gerald Saito, who resigned late last year. Tracy Kubota, acting director in Saito’s absence, will return to her post as the agency’s deputy director.
Kaulukukui is founder of Kealapono LLC, which advises government and community organizations on cultural matters.
He was a deputy director of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources under the Abercrombie administration and is a onetime Honolulu City Council aide. He also served as vice president for cultural services at Bishop Museum and was associate director of the Kohala Center.
"With his background in business, natural resources, and Native Hawaiian culture and history, Guy Kaulukukui will bring a unique perspective to our facilities, both current and in future planning," Caldwell said in a statement. "We are working on some exciting projects, such as the Blaisdell Center master plan, Honolulu Zoo re-accreditation, and Kuhio Beach Waikiki Pavilion vendors and displays. Guy is well qualified to lead the department at this critical juncture, and he will be a strong addition to the administration."
Kaulukukui earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Hawaii and a master’s in business administration from Hawaii Pacific University. He also holds a doctorate in economics education from the University of Kansas.
The nomination is subject to confirmation by the Honolulu City Council.
Event at Punchbowl to honor Ernie Pyle
A ceremony to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the death of Ernie Pyle will be held Saturday at Punchbowl, where the World War II journalist is buried.
The ceremony is being hosted by the Ernie Pyle Legacy Foundation, and a memorial stone will be dedicated in honor of Pyle and the soldiers whose lives he wrote about in reports that appeared in 400 daily and 300 weekly newspapers around the country. Pyle, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Scripps-Howard feature columnist and foreign correspondent, was killed by enemy fire on April 18, 1945.
Indiana University associate professor emeritus Owen Johnson will speak at the ceremony, which begins at 10 a.m.
The Ernie Pyle Legacy Foundation is a nonprofit dedicated to maintaining Pyle’s memory and legacy, and recognizes his contributions to the military and to journalism through public events, scholarships and educational programs.
Hilo house fire causes damage worth $100,000
Hawaii County firefighters responded to a structure fire in Hilo early Sunday morning that caused $100,000 in damage.
The fire was first reported at 2:10 a.m. about 1.5 miles up Amauulu Road.
Firefighters arrived to see a single-family house in flames at the end of an unpaved road. The occupant of the home got out safely, officials said.
The fire was under control at 2:45 a.m. and extinguished at 5:39 a.m.
Union says DOE pushes teachers beyond expertise
The Hawaii State Teachers Association has filed a grievance with the Department of Education alleging that teachers at Honokaa High and Intermediate School have been assigned to teach classes next year for which they are not qualified.
HSTA President Wil Okabe said Thursday that he would be sending representatives to the school this week to investigate teachers’ claims that certified teachers are being asked to teach classes outside the realm of their certifications.
"It’s about certified teachers teaching outside their certified lines," he told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald. "If you have a teacher certified in English, you want them teaching English, not math."
Honokaa Principal Marcella McClelland said she was not permitted to discuss many details of the issue because of constraints placed on her by the state’s collective bargaining agreements. However, she did say that retirements and resignations created some midyear vacancies.
"We don’t have a pool of qualified teachers to fill those positions," she said.
