Workshops planned for food producers
A series of workshops aimed at helping farmers and value-added food producers launch or expand their businesses will be held in October on Hawaii Island.
The Kohala Center and Hawaii Community College will offer in-person workshops on “Food Industry Fundamentals,” designed by the Maui Food Innovation Center and EdVenture at the University of Hawaii Maui College.
This series of four noncredit classes will help participants develop differentiated, value-added, and safe specialty-food products. Food expert Lou Cooperhouse will lead two in-person workshops, “Food Product Development and Quality Assurance,” Oct. 16 in Waimea and Oct. 17 in Kailua-Kona. In addition, Luisa Castro will participate in Waimea and Ken Love in Kailua-Kona. Workshops are from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Participants are encouraged to bring questions regarding their businesses.
Space is limited. Each workshop is composed of two courses: “Food Product Development” and “Quality Assurance.” Enrollment must be completed individually. To sign up, call the Office of Continuing Education and Training at 934-2700, visit hawaii.hawaii.edu/ocet or call The Kohala Center at 887-6411. Participants may also sign up for the remainder of the series offered online. It is recommended that all workshop participants complete the online Food Trends course before attending an in-person workshop.
Kona Stories October book clubs planned
The Kona Stories fiction book club will meet at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 14 to discuss “The Signature of All Things” by Elizabeth Gilbert. The lesbian book club will talk about “My Education” by Susan Choi at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 21. Also, the nonfiction book club will gather at 6 p.m. Oct. 28 to discuss “The Warmth of Other Suns” by Isabel Wilkerson.
The fiction book club meets the second Tuesday of each month and the nonfiction group meets the fourth Tuesday at Kona Stories in Keauhou Shopping Center. No membership or fees are associated with these groups and monthly attendance is not required. Bring a pupu or beverage to share.
For more information call Brenda or Joy at 324-0350.
Hawaii Department of Public Safety director awarded
The Association of State Correctional Administrators has selected Ted Sakai, director of the Hawaii Department of Public Safety, as the Outstanding Director of Corrections for 2014.
The association established the Michael Francke Award in 1992 to recognize an outstanding member in the nation and that member’s dedication to corrections.
Association of State Correctional Administrators president and Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, Christopher Epps, made the award announcement.
Sakai commenced his career in corrections in the 1970s and has worked his way up the ladder in a variety of executive positions in the state’s corrections system to include administrator of corrections programs and warden of the Waiawa Correctional Facility. From 1998 to 2002, he served as the director of the Department of Public Safety and came out of retirement when he was asked by Governor Neil Abercrombie to again assume the position in June 2012.
Sakai has led department efforts to expand programs for inmates, tighten security, improve staff recruitment and promote staff wellness. Sakai has continued implement of system changes that reduce recidivism, generate savings, track restitution payments and gradually return Hawaii’s mainland prisoners home.
Sakai also serves his community as a member of the Interagency Council on Intermediate Sanctions, as a member of the Board of Directors of the Hawaiian Legacy Foundation, the KEY Project, Read to Me International, and the Hawaii Council for the Humanities.