Gov. Linda Lingle met yesterday with her Cabinet and is expected to continue talking with state department directors today on further state spending cuts and layoffs to close the state's budget deficit.

Lingle called the emergency meetings after the state Council on Revenues' latest forecast for this fiscal year expanded the deficit by what the governor estimates is $98 million, to $884 million through June 2011. State lawmakers' estimate is slightly lower.

The governor's response also came after she rejected the Hawai'i Government Employees Association counter-proposal to the state's latest contract offer. The state and the union are scheduled for a binding arbitration hearing on Friday.

Lingle already has ordered more than 1,100 layoffs of state workers starting in November.

WAIKIKI GETS NEW LITTER, RECYCLING CONTAINERS

New recycling and trash receptacles made from recycled plastic have been installed along Kalakaua and Kuhio avenues in Waikiki.

Waikiki has 100 litter containers along both avenues; the Department of Environmental Services replaced one-fourth of them with recycling sets. The locations were identified by the Waikiki Business Improvement District Association.

"My administration has been aggressively implementing recycling all across O'ahu, and we have now turned our attention to the heart of our tourism district in Waikiki," Mayor Mufi Hannemann said yesterday.

"We are making a concerted effort to divert trash from our city landfill and will monitor the use of these public recycling bins with the intent of expanding to even more city facilities and parks."

The Department of Environmental Services designed the lids with both words and graphics to make it easier for non-English speaking visitors, city officials said. The 25 sets cost $24,880.

Other city facilities that already have recycling receptacles include Honolulu Hale, Kapolei Hale, Neal Blaisdell Center, Honolulu Zoo, Fort Street Mall, Haunama Bay, botanical gardens and regional and district parks.

VISITOR ALOHA SOCIETY TO OFFER FREE TRAINING SESSIONS

Tourism to the Islands may be down but the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii has seen a 20 percent increase in the number of visitors it helped over last year, according to the society.

The society will have a free volunteer training session for anyone who wants to be an Ambassador of Aloha, at the Hawai'i Convention Center from 9 a.m. to noon Sept. 12 in rooms 302 A and B.

Reservations are required; call Jessica Lani Rich, president and executive director, at 926-8274.

Volunteers will learn how to deal with visitors who need assistance in times of emergency while visiting O'ahu. The agency assists about 1,700 to 2,000 visitors each year.

The mission of the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii is to share aloha with visitors who have been victims of a crime or other adversities, and to provide follow-up assistance and support.

AIR FORCE CHANGE OF COMMAND IS WEDNESDAY

The 13th Air Force is getting a new commander.

Lt. Gen. Chip Utterback will relinquish command to Maj. Gen. Herbert Carlisle on Wednesday during a change-of-command ceremony at Hickam Air Force Base.

Carlisle comes to Hawai'i from the Pentagon, where he was director of legislative liaison in the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. The directorate is the liaison between the Air Force and Congress on such issues as legislative and constituent inquiries, programs and weapons systems.

The Air Force says Carlisle will be promoted before the ceremony, receiving his third star.

KAUA'I DRIVERS URGED TO USE CAUTION DURING MARATHON

Kaua'i officials are warning drivers to exercise "extreme caution" Sept. 6 because of road closures for the inaugural Kaua'i Marathon and Half Marathon, scheduled to begin at 6 a.m.

Drivers are urged to limit or postpone driving around the south shore of Kaua'i from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m.

To accommodate the marathon, several streets and lanes will be closed at various times from 5 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Po'ipu roundabout will be open during the marathon, county officials said. But the roundabout will be heavily affected from 6:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. as runners enter from Ala Kalanikaumaka (Kukui'ula bypass road) and cross over to Lawa'i Road and then onto Ho'onani.