Central Oahu Residents Celebrate A Banner 2013
Sen. Michelle Kidani
Happy New Year and Kung Hee Fat Choy as we welcome the Year of the Horse.
Congratulations to Mililani High School senior Andrea Thane for her stellar performance at this year’s Distinguished Young Woman of Hawaii scholarship program.
As I watched the talent and interview performances at the finals at Sacred Hearts Academy earlier this month, I was so proud to realize that more than a third of the 11 finalists came from our Mililani and Waipahu neighbor- hoods.
Andrea came away with a $750 scholarship award for her outstanding interview. Last year’s top scholarship winner, Chelsea Robinson of Mililani, has used her award to enroll at Hawaii Pacific University.
MHS Football Honors
I was privileged to join the Mililani Trojan varsity football team and coaching staff, along with excited fans and families, at the team’s honors banquet a few days ago.
Head coach Rod York beamed with pride as we relived the 2013 season that led the Trojans to the OIA championship and a shot at the state title.
The team took the entire community with them on the thrilling ride, reaffirming their support even after a season-ending loss in the year’s final game.
The Senate certificate I presented to the team and coaching staff noted that Coach Rod was selected Coach of the Year by media and coaches, and that more than a dozen Trojans were named to All-Star teams.
Let’s do it again next season!
From the Capitol
The legislative session began two weeks ago, and serious deliberations on dozens of bills are well under way.
Recent media reports about a budget surplus are tempered by the reality that we have many unmet future obligations for which we must provide.
Doing that now will mean an even more solid footing for the years ahead. So, in effect, this is a case where a surplus is not really a surplus; it simply gives us some breathing room.
Among the bills I have introduced:
SB 2610 requiring installation of at least one automated external defibrillator on every public school campus;
SB 2616 allowing police to “boot” vehicles when the driver is cited for lack of proof of insurance;
SB 2325 prohibiting passengers from riding in the back of pickup trucks on freeways, with other restrictions on passengers in pickup truck beds;
SB 2324 establishing an electric vehicle user fee to provide funds for state and county roadway maintenance that would otherwise be collected from fuel taxes.
One of the bills I introduced this year has achieved a rare distinction. If passed, SB 2446 would name the new public high school to be built in Kihei, Maui: Patsy Takemoto Mink High School.
The bill was signed at introduction by all 25 members of the Senate – and a check of legislative records shows that hasn’t happened for at least the last 10 years, possibly longer than that.
Here on Oahu, we have
memorialized the late Congresswoman Mink by naming our Central Oahu Regional Park for her. My Senate colleagues and I all agree that a named major state facility on Rep. Mink’s home island of Maui would be most appropriate.
State Sen. Michelle Kidani represents Senate District 18 – Mililani Town, Waipio Gentry, Village Park, Royal Kunia and Waikele. Her State Capitol office is in room 228. Contact her at 586-7100 or email SenKidani@Capitol.Hawaii .gov.
