Kona Traffic Safety Committee meets
Kona Traffic Safety Committee meets from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday. The committee creates an opportunity for concerned members of the community to meet with county and state officials who can help mitigate traffic safety problems. Everyone will be heard. New ideas are welcome.
The committee meets the second Thursday of each month in the Mayor’s Conferece Room of the West Hawaii Community Center.
Libraries closed for King Kamehameha Day
In observance of Kamehameha Day, all public libraries will be closed Saturday. Honokaa Public Library, Naalehu Public Library and North Kohala Public Library will also be closed Friday.
Day of Mindfulness Sunday
A special opportunity to learn about the meditation practice of mindfulness takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Honokaa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple. The Day of Mindfulness will be led by Phap Dang, a monastic from Plum Village, secluded Buddhist monastery established by global spiritual leader and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh.
Mindfulness has become an increasingly popular aspect of Buddhism in the U.S. Defined as “the practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental state of heightened or complete awareness of one’s thoughts, emotions, or experiences on a moment-to-moment basis,” mindfulness is focused on the breath.
To reach the temple, take Highway 19 to Honokaa. Between 43 and 44 mile markers, turn down (makai) on Plumeria Street for 0.6 miles. Temple parking lot driveway will be on the left, just past the Catholic Church. RSVP to misterokumura@yahoo.com, or call/text 640-4602.
Pautz earns president’s list
Whitney Pautz, of Kamuela, earned placement on the Gonzaga University President’s List for spring semester 2016. Students must earn a 3.7 to 4.0 grade-point average to be listed.
Gonzaga University is a humanistic, private Catholic University providing a Jesuit education to more than 7,500 students in Spokane, Wash.
Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory earns TripAdvisor award
The Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory recently received a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence.
To qualify for the award, a business must maintain an overall TripAdvisor bubble rating of at least four out of five, have a minimum number of reviews and must have been listed on TripAdvisor for at least 12 months.
“We are honored to receive this accolade as we strive to provide a fun and leisurely educational experience during our Wednesday and Friday plantation tours and at our Chocolate Shoppe,” said co-owner Pam Cooper.
The Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory is the nation’s first company to grow, hand-pick, sun-dry and process only Hawaii-grown cacao into chocolate. The factory produces three types of chocolate: milk, dark and rare criollo. Info: ohcf.us.