To download the list in PDF format, Click Here.

To download the list in PDF format, Click Here.

First I want to send out a HUGE MAHALO!!!!   To all of you who showed up for the City Council meeting at the Pali Golf course. It was even more amazing that you stayed the additional 3 hours that the meeting was delayed!!  I truly appreciate all you went through to help us try to put this Bill down.

Also, a big “Thank you”   to everyone who called and emailed our City Council Members before the meeting last Wednesday.   It DID have an impact on them, and, although Bill 11 was passed, it was passed only so it would continue on it’s track while the Parks and Recreation Director finishes up his proposal  for LIMITED commercial activities in the park.

So, the bottom line for this issue is that although the bill passed that reading, it’s 2^nd at the Council, it still must pass the Parks Committee hearing on May 22, next Tuesday.

If it gets voted down there, it will be defeated and a bill can be introduced  that  will reduce the commercial activity in the park without totally banning it which is far too extreme for everyone.

So, there are 5 Councilmen on the Parks Committee listed below.  We just need 3 of them to vote  “No”  for Bill 11 to fail and we think 3 of them are leaning that way already, and they just need a bit more public pressure to make them see that this is the right way for them to vote.  These three councilmen have an asterisk behind their names below.

So, Today, Tomorrow, over the weekend, and on Monday, we need as many people as possible to contact the 5 council members listed below and tell them that they should vote “NO” on Bill 11 at the parks committee meeting on Tuesday, May 22.    If enough of you do this, it will make a difference in how they vote and we can stop this bill so it can be revised to limit commercial activity in a reasonable manner.

If you’d like to use what I’ve written below, feel free to copy and paste it into your email to the council members, or write your own with your own reasons, but please help them to know that this Bill is an unnecessarily extreme measure and needs to be voted down so  a more reasonable version can be brought forward.

Thanks very much for your help with this.

Voting Members of the Parks and Cultural Affairs Committee are:

Tom Berg(Chair)                              808-768-5001      tberg@honolulu.gov *

Ikaika Anderson(Vice Chair)          808-768-5003     ianderson@honolulu.gov    

Romy Cachola                                   808-768- 5007      rcachola@honolulu.gov    *

Nestor Garcia                                    808-768-5009         ngarcia@honolulu.gov **

Breene Harimoto                              768-5008              bharimoto@honolulu.gov    *

Sample of what you might say:

Dear Councilman  ??????,

I understand Bill 11 is coming up for a vote in the Parks and Cultural Affairs committee on May 22.

I want you to know that while I agree that commercial activity in Kailua Beach Park needs to be controlled,  To ban it completely is an immense over-reaction to what is a problem in Kailua, but not such a large problem to warrant this much of an extreme measure.

Because some people resent tour busses coming into Kailua Beach Park and kayaks rolling through the park on Dollys, is not a good reason to ban magicians at  birthday parties, Bounce Houses, clowns, Yoga classes, or young mom’s doing and exercise class.

Please vote no on Bill 11 and then, if necessary create another bill that will regulate business in a reasonable manner.

Aloha,

Your name

Thanks Gang, see you on the water!

Aoha,

Bob Twogood

President

Twogood kayaks Hawaii, Inc.

134 B Hamakua Drive

Kailua, Hawaii 96734

Ph.      808-262-5656

fx.       808-261-3111

email:  bob@twogoodkayaks.com

www.twogoodkayaks.com

Local running legend Jonathan Lyau hosts the fourth annual Aloha Cross Country Camp July 25 to 29 at Camp Erdman offering education and motivation for incoming eighth- to 12th-graders who are interested in cross country. Graduated seniors who are interested in running cross country in college also are welcome.

“Cross country is one of the first fall sports in the school year, so the kids should already be preparing for it in the summer,” explains Lyau, who also is assistant coach for Iolani School’s cross country team, head coach for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training and owner of Personal Best Training.

“We have seminars from different professionals covering topics such as training philosophy, nutrition, injury prevention, form, strength training, visualization and picking the right equipment.

We have a professional athlete speaking as well. Also, a lot of our staff and speakers are former high school and collegiate runners currently coaching at various schools.”

There also will be a range of activities, including games, campfires, swimming and fun workouts.

“(A great runner is made) by becoming a student of the sport,” says Lyau. “Learn about the sport and become a fan of it. You also need to train smart, stay motivated and stay injury free. If you have natural ability but are missing one of the other ingredients, then someone of lesser ability with all the qualities can achieve greater success.”

Lyau started running as a sophomore at McKinley High School after seeing a notice in the school paper for the cross country team. He went on to become the Hawaii state high school track champion (for the 3,200m in 1982), and later dominated the local running scene for almost two decades.

On record, he was the top local-born finisher at the Honolulu Marathon from 1993 to 2004 and again from 2006 to 2009. He also won the popular Great Aloha Run in 1994 and 2002, and was inducted into the Honolulu Marathon Hall of Fame in 2009.

More recently, he took some time off from racing after recovering from a torn meniscus in his knee in 2011.

“I’ve been conditioning throughout the last year and feeling stronger, but I took my time and listened to my doctor,” says Lyau, noting that runners often make the mistake of returning too early from an injury. “I realized that my body weakened and had to build back my running muscles. I had to let my body fully heal, and do proper strengthening.”

Other common mistakes runners make, adds Lyau, are running in the wrong type of shoes, being too aggressive in your training, and not giving your body time to adapt or allowing sufficient time to recover.

“Probably the most important thing to prevent injury is selecting the right shoe to match your stride and foot plant,” he explains. “Also, a lot of times they’ll race their workout even when it should be easy.

“And many underestimate the importance of the base training period, which is the time your muscles and joints get used to the stresses of running with lots of easy runs with a few short non-stressful fast run drills. A bigger base equals bigger peak.”

Cost for the camp is $329 and includes food, lodging, seminars and all activities, T-shirt and goody bag. Space is limited.

For more information, call 277-8777, email alohaoutdoorsports@yahoo.com or visit alohacrosscountrycamp.com.

A last chance for many at-risk youths, the Hawaii National Guard Youth Challenge Academy’s 22-week program, including military-style discipline and order, is turning around the lives of hundreds of young adults. Here, cadets salute at the Capitol. Inset photo: cadets Theresa Tautolo (left) and Daralyn Strong with director Rick Campbell at the Kalaeloa facility

Often a last chance for at-risk kids, the Hawaii National Guard Youth Challenge Academy has been restoring hope and changing young lives for 18 years

While bureaucrats and union leaders sit around the Capitol talking about helping out Hawaii’s kids, the Hawaii National Guard Youth Challenge Academy is taking action.

Nestled in Kalaeloa between the new Tamura’s and Podium Raceway, this alternative school has graduated more than 3,000 at-risk youths over the past 18 years, taking those who thought they had no hope and imbueing them with the skills and confidence to go forth in the world.

The program is headed by former Kamehameha Schools instructor Rick Campbell, who spent half of his 31 years at Kamehameha working with at-risk youths, and saw this as a way of giving back.

“When I was young, I would have been considered an at-risk kid,” says Campbell, who joined the program in 2005. “We are an alternative to regular school – regular school is where we think kids should be. We just offer something where, if they are not going to go to school, this is another way to do it.”

The program consists of 22 intense weeks as a resident of the program, followed by 12 months of follow-up. The kids eat, sleep and live at the compound, focused only on improving themselves. There are no cell phones, computers or television, and any communication with the outside world is done through letters. Their routine is quasi-military, meaning that they use military structure to train the kids for life.

Days start at 5 a.m., with PT (physical training) and formation happening before the sun has even crested Diamond Head. Six instructors teach the 100 kids in the program, a GED curriculum that when completed at the end of the 22 weeks will net them a high school diploma from Waipahu Community School for Adults. Despite being a part of the National Guard, the academy does not come with a military commitment afterward, but rather a commitment to bettering themselves.

“What we expect from them is a commitment to change,” says Campbell. “If they are willing to adapt to the program we can help them get through what they need to get through. Basically it is about changing their attitudes about school and their lives in general. Many feel there is no hope, some of them have dropped out in seventh grade.”

One such cadet is the COT (commander of the troops) Maryanne Leitu, a former student at Leilehua High who lost her way after tragedy struck her family.

“I got off track after my father passed away, things started getting out of hand,” says Leitu, who hopes to go on to KCC and study business management upon completion of the program. “We were struggling and I made a lot of bad decisions, which led me to Youth Challenge. I wanted to come here because I wanted to fix my mistakes and prove to my mom that I am not a mess-up. I want to get my diploma, and I knew this might be my last chance to graduate.”

In her first four months in the program she has learned teamwork, discipline and perhaps most importantly, an appreciation for what she has.

“Before I came in here I was really bad – life was bad, I really didn’t care about anything,” says Leitu, who now dreams of owning her own clothing store. “After coming here and going through the first 16 weeks, when I went home on my first pass I appreciated so many things about life and my family. It was rewarding to feel the change in me. It really does change the lives of the cadets.”

For some, it is not tragedy that put them at risk, but just a change of location. The 17-year-old Robertson twins, Sierra and Keanu, were born and raised in Louisiana before their mother brought them back to her home state two years ago and enrolled them in Waipahu High School. Once here, both struggled with the changes in culture and began to act out.

“My issue was I didn’t like my school. I didn’t feel comfortable or secure, so I started skipping school a lot,” says Sierra, who dreams of becoming an actress after graduation. “I would just stay on the bus and go to the mall and places I really shouldn’t be. I did a lot of bad stuff, I don’t want to say all of it. But I was failing in school and I wanted to graduate on time.”

Her brother found his own trouble with a different set of friends, and rather than give up, their mother found the academy as a way to salvage her teens’ lives.

“I have seen my discipline level improve, and it allowed me to step back from everything and put real life into perspective,” says Keanu, who is still weighing his options for after graduation. “Being away from everybody and all the peer pressure, and you get to see yourself for who you really are, and I have definitely changed. I feel like a better person.”

Seeing the changes in himself was important, but seeing everyone else staying the same really struck a chord with Sierra.

“One thing I realized from Youth Challenge was when I went home and got on the Internet on my first pass,” she recalls. “I realized that none of my friends were doing anything that important, and I am in here actually doing something. I wasn’t missing out on anything.”

To download the list in PDF format, Click Here.

To download the list in PDF format, Click here.

 To download the list in PDF format, Click Here.