Keanaaiana honored following training
Keanaaiana honored following training
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Law Enforcement Ranger Nainoa Keanaaina is the first recipient of the Honor Graduate Award from the National Search and Rescue Academy.
The in-tensive six-week academy program was conducted at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center near Bridgeport, Calif. The training provides participants with essential field rescue skills in ground search operations, incident command systems, swiftwater rescue, technical rope rescue, helicopter rescue techniques, remote emergency medical responder training and more.
Keanaaina served as class president and incident commander, and was selected by his fellow classmates for the Honor Graduate Award.
The physically demanding training was conducted by the National Park Service in conjunction with the Department of Defense. To broaden inter-agency cooperation, allied and federal agency personnel jointly attended the academy.
Keanaaina has served Hawaii Volcanoes National Park since 2007.
Attorney speaking
at Rotary meeting
Kona attorney Darl Gleed will be the guest speaker at the Rotary Club Of Kona Sunrise meeting Wednesday. His topic is “A 20-Minute Estate Planning Tune-up for the New Year” and will include recent laws allowing transfer on death deeds and protection for tenants by the entirety property deeded into trusts. Gleed is a perennial “People’s Choice Award” winner for West Hawaii Today, and is a frequent speaker on topics such as asset protection, estate planning and advanced probate.
Kona Sunrise Rotary Club meets from 6:45 to 7:45 a.m. every Wednesday at Hale Halawai on Alii Drive in Kailua-Kona. Breakfast is $10 per person. Rotarians and interested individuals are welcome to attend.
For more information, contact Bev Fraser at 936-9965.
County issuing
senior ID cards
The Hawaii County Elderly Activities Division, Coordinated Services for the Elderly program is offering senior ID cards for anyone 60 years and older from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Kailua-Kona Walmart.
Staff will also issue cards from 9 to 11 a.m. Feb. 11 at St. Jude’s Church, Hawaiian Ocean View Estates; 9 to 11 a.m. Feb. 11, Kohala CSE; 9 to 11 a.m. Feb. 12, L. Yoshimatsu Senior Center, Waimea; 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 22, Yano Hall, Captain Cook; 3 to 4 p.m. Feb. 25, Hale Hauoli Senior Center, Honokaa; and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 27, West Hawaii Civic Center, Building B.
For more information, call 961-8777 between 7:45 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. weekdays.
Cancer support group meets Thursday
The cancer support group You’ll Never Walk Alone meets from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday. Cancer survivors and co-survivors are invited to attend the group’s free meetings held the first and third Thursdays of every month; light refreshments are served.
For more information and directions to the meeting site, call Michele Robinson at 333-5328.
Free child car seat checks, diabetes support group offered
Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for children older than 1 year. Child passenger restraints can reduce deaths by as much as 71 percent for infants and 54 percent for toddlers, but up to 80 percent are not installed or used correctly.
Certified child passenger safety technicians will check all child car and booster seats for free from 9:30 a.m. to noon Thursday at the Kona WIC office in the Kealakekua Business Plaza, 81-980 Halekii St.
Kaiser Permanente will also give away bicycle helmets to children getting their car and booster seats checked. Sizes and quantities are limited. Appointments for members and nonmembers must be booked in advance by calling 933-4587.
A free support group for people with diabetes begins at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 26 at Kaiser Permanente, Kona Clinic, 75-184 Hualalai Road. Instructor Vivienne Aronowitz will lead the group in a discussion of mind and body fitness and nutrition. Advance registration is required. Call 334-4400.
Visit kp.org for additional information.
Knights of Columbus collecting produce
for hungry
St. Michael the Archangel Knights of Columbus Council 13227 announces Knights Harvest, a program to help feed the needy through the local food bank.
Knights Harvest will network with residents and organizations with an overabundance of fruit and vegetables. The knights will pick the food then deliver and donate it to the food bank.
To learn more or donate produce, call 756-6335 or email knightsharvest@gmail.com.
Waimea town meeting slated Thursday
Legislative issues and community funding priorities for Waimea and North Hawaii will top the agenda for a Waimea Community Association town meeting beginning at 5:15 p.m. Thursday in the Waimea School cafeteria.
State Sen. Malama Solo-mon, D-Hilo, Hamakua, Kohala, Waimea, Waikoloa, Kona, and Rep. Cindy Evans, D-North Kona, North Kohala, South Kohala, will provide an overview of the session and discuss bills they have introduced. They will also ask for community input on policies and funding priorities.
A briefing by County Council members Margaret Wille, Waimea, and Val Poindexter, Hamakua, is also slated, as well as an update on Waimea-Kohala Airport by Chauncey Wong Yuen, Hawaii airports district manager for the state Department of Transportation.
There is no charge to attend the meeting; donations to support the association are welcome.
Nonperishable food items and monetary donations will be collected to support Waimea’s food pantries.
For meeting information, call Sherman Warner at 885-1725 or visit waimeatown.org.