Big Times Ahead For District 18 And Its Graduates

Kidani’s Korner…Sen. Michelle Kidani

By the time this column is published, the Legislature will have a final budget in place for our scheduled May 1 adjournment.

I can report that the Senate Ways and Means and the House Finance committees worked together to establish budget priorities and acted with caution in the face of new evidence that what the administration had earlier announced as a “surplus” was simply a bit of a cushion and not a windfall.

As vice chairwoman of the Ways and Means Committee, my focus has been on the state’s construction budget. While we must consider all of the state’s needs as a “big picture,” I am always mindful of priorities for our district. This includes allocating money needed to upgrade and expand our public schools and measures that take advantage of state-of-the-art technology.

I am also firm in my support for the two University of Hawaii campuses that we consider “ours” – Leeward Community College and UH-West Oahu. The new Leeward Teacher’s Building is almost ready to open. This current budget will include funding for a long-overdue renovation of the LCC auditorium as well as a new Allied Health and Administration building for UH West Oahu.

I’ll be reporting other specific allocations for District 18 in a summary newsletter soon after adjournment. Contact my office for information next week if you have specific budget items you wish to know about.

Aloha, Class of 2014!

In just a few weeks, families and friends will be gathering to celebrate our graduates in Mililani High School’s Class of 2014. Ceremonies are scheduled for May 25 at Aloha Stadium. I won’t have another spot in the Central Oahu Islander before then, so let me acknowledge the graduates and all of the wonderful things they have accomplished.

We celebrated innovation and imagination in this semester’s science and history day fairs. We sent many students off to the mainland and elsewhere for academic achievements they had accomplished through creative thinking and just plain hard work. We recognized others who distinguished themselves through selfless volunteer work in youth groups, in their churches and elsewhere in our community.

Just last week we heard about top honors for student journalists at the Trojan Times school paper, and Trojan athletic teams can be proud of a great year of competition in several sports.

Mililani High School has given you a great foundation for future success, and we look forward to hearing about your good work in the years ahead, wherever life takes you.

Much of what you have been able to accomplish is also because of the encouragement and dedication of MHS teachers. And to families and friends who make up student support groups, we are grateful for their hard work, too.

Email Sen. Kidani at senkidani@capitol.hawaii. gov or call 586-710 .