Announcements for Thursday March 23, 2023

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Rotary Club to discuss future of healthcare

The Rotary Club of Kona Mauka will hear from Clayton McGhan, CEO of Kona Community Hospital, on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. Mr. McGhan will provide updates on the state of the hospital and vision for the future of healthcare in West Hawaii. Meetings are held each Tuesday at Teshima’s Restaurant from 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm and all are welcome to attend. Lunch is provided at $25 per person.

For more information you can contact club president, Sam Johnson, at sammyd222@gmail.com or 808.333.6416.

West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery ceremony planned

West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery will have a ceremony Wed. March 29 at 11 a.m. for the dedication of the Vietnam War Memorial. Public is invited.

Early Childhood Symposium to be held

Hawaii County invites Early Childhood practitioners to a Symposium on Saturday, April 22, 2023, to learn from Lt. Governor Sylvia Luke about the state’s new preschool initiative, “Ready Keiki,” which is a public-private effort to ensure all Hawaii’s keiki will be ready for kindergarten and the future.

“Building on-island capacity for our keiki to excel as they enter kindergarten and beyond is critical to our ability to forge a Hawaii Island where our keiki can thrive and succeed for generations to come,” said Mayor Mitch Roth. “We encourage all of our Early Childhood educators to take advantage of this opportunity to connect, learn, and prepare for the journey ahead as we ready our keiki for scholastic success.”

In addition to a session with Hawaii’s Lt. Governor, participants will hear from Dr. Lauren Padesky, Hawaii’s DOE Early Learning Specialist, who will speak about a new Kindergarten Entrance Assessment (KEA), which includes a Kindergarten Assessment tool that will be administered to all students entering kindergarten this Fall.

Directly related to this assessment is the information to be shared by the symposium’s third speaker, Sue Entz, who will talk about ways for providers of early childhood programs to better prepare keiki for the assessment.

Further, Entz has created a literacy continuum that informs about the sequence of skills from birth through kindergarten that lay the foundation for reading and writing. A copy of this continuum will be provided to each Symposium participant.

The event, held at the Courtyard by Marriott-King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., is being sponsored by the County of Hawaii, the Baby STEPS team, and Friends of the Future.

The cost to register for the event is $30 per person and includes breakfast and lunch. Parking is $5 for conference participants.

To register, visit tinyurl.com/2p95kkpv. For questions, email Angela at angela.thomas@hawaiicounty.gov or Susan at future@fofhawaii.org.

County recruiting for fire appeals board

The County of Hawaii is looking for residents interested in serving on the Fire Appeals Board.

The five-member board will hear and issue rulings from final decisions of the chief regarding the fire code and the fireworks code.

Members must be residents of the County of Hawaii who possess education, experience, and knowledge in one or more of the following fields or professions: Engineering or architectural design; general contracting; Fire protection contracting; Fire department operations or fire code enforcement; Building code enforcement; or legal.

Employees, agents, or officers of the county are ineligible.

Those interested in applying for the Fire Board of Appeals or other boards and commissions are invited to fill out an application, which can be found at hawaiicounty.gov/our-county/boards-commissions-application

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