HAWAI'I BRIEFS
Home sought for autistic boy
Advertiser Staff
WAILUKU — The Department of Human Services is seeking a foster home on Maui for a 12-year-old boy who is autistic and developmentally disabled.
The boy was in a foster home on Maui but was sent to Washington state about three years ago for specialized care at the Fodor Homes program. DHS officials said he has since improved and is ready to return to Maui. The department is seeking a foster placement preferably with other children in the home. The foster family must be willing to be trained by a Fodor Homes member who will accompany the boy back to Hawai'i.
The family also must be willing to have professionals come into the home to provide personal care assistance for him.
DHS will pay up to $1,099 a month in foster board payments, which will continue after the child becomes an adult.
Call Maui Child Welfare Services social workers Casie Mcalinden at (808) 243-5199 or Kelli Haaff at (808) 243-8657.
'AINA HAINA
MAN ALLEGEDLY GAVE PORN TO TEEN
A 30-year-old 'Aina Haina man was arrested Sunday night for allegedly providing pornographic materials to a 14-year-old Kahala boy.
The boy told police the man, who was described as an acquaintance of the boy, gave him pornographic magazines and a DVD to view.
Police arrested the man about 11:30 p.m. on suspicion of promoting pornography for minors, a felony.
WAIKIKI
ALA WAI SCHOOL TO GET DRAIN WORK
The state is spending $600,000 for drainage improvements at Ala Wai Elementary School, according to a press release from Gov. Linda Lingle's office. The work will include new area drains and will redirect rainwater run-off from the southwest portion of the grounds.
The project is expected to be finished by February 2007.
STATEWIDE
REMINDER: STOP FOR PEDESTRIANS
The state Department of Transportation is asking that during this week of Valentine's Day drivers have a heart and stop for pedestrians crossing our streets. State law requires that drivers stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk when the person is on your half of the road or if you put the pedestrian in immediate danger.
DONATE USED COMPUTERS
Aloha Computers for Education in Samoa, a nonprofit organization that provides computers for students in Samoa, is looking for donations of laptop and desktop computers for their program.
The group takes donated computers, repairs them if needed and ships them to secondary schools in Samoa at no cost to the schools. The group works jointly with Peace Corps volunteers there to distribute the computers, draft lesson plans and foster technology education.
Last year, 80 computers were sent to schools, and computer labs were set up giving about 500 students access to the technology for the first time.
The group hopes to collect about 100 used laptops and PCs, Pentium 3 or better, this year. To donate send an e-mail to: barn2243@yahoo.com or visit www.aces-samoa.org.
O'AHU
WORKSHOPS ON WRITING IN MARCH
Hawai'i Pacific University will present its ninth annual Ko'olau Writing Workshops for writers on March 4 from 8:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at its Windward Hawai'i Loa campus.
Robert Sullivan, New Zealand Maori poet and award-winning author, will be the featured speaker. The event, which is sponsored in part by the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts through the Hawai'i Literary Arts Council, will include workshop sessions in nonfiction, poetry, fiction and scriptwriting.
A $10 donation is requested, $5 for students. Parking is free.
To reserve a seat, call 544-9340 or 544-1108, or send name, address and phone number to Patrice Wilson, 1060 Bishop St., Room 402, Honolulu 96813. Donations will be accepted at the door.
BLUEGRASS JAM SESSION SUNDAY
The Bluegrass Hawai'i Traditional & Bluegrass Music Society will have a Pickin' in the Park jam session from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Old Stadium Park at the corner of S. King and Isenberg streets in Mo'ili'ili.
Musicians with traditional instruments will play bluegrass, newgrass, mountain, roots, country, Hawaiian, Americana, folk, Western, Celtic and Irish music at the free event.
Listeners and singers are welcome and should bring a lawn chair or blanket to sit on.
For more information, call 621-9040 or visit www.blue grasshawaii.com.
