October 29, 2004

Hawai`i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer

• Flu Vaccine – What You Should Know
• Hawai`i’s Deposit Beverage Container Program – The Bottle Bill

• General Election 2004 – Your Vote Counts
• Absentee Walk-In Polling Places in Hawai`i County
• Environmental Management Commission Meets Nov 17 in Hilo
• Water Conservation in Hamakua, North Hilo, South and North Kohala
• Job Announcements

• West Hawai`i Recycling Pilot Project Grand Opening in Kealakehe Oct 30
• Solutions: Neighborhoods in Action Video Conference Nov 15
• Educational Opportunities for Community Builders
• Ka’u to South Kona Water Master Plan Final Report Available for Viewing
• Free Mulch Now Available at Kealakehe, Hilo Transfer Stations

• Teen Closet for East Hawai`i Youth – Clothing Bank for Teens Opens Oct 30
• Nonprofit Knowhow Workshops Offered in Kona Nov 3-5

• Signs and Markings Projects
• Lane Closures for Fiber-Optic Project in Kaumana

UPCOMING EVENTS

HAWAII COUNTY WEBSITE

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On October 5, 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was notified by Chiron Corporation, the world’s second-leading flu vaccine supplier, that none of its influenza vaccine (Fluvirin®) would be available for distribution in the United States for the 2004–05 influenza season.

This will reduce by approximately one half the expected supply of flu vaccine available in the United States for the 2004–05 influenza season.

About 55 million flu shots will be available in the United States this season.

In addition, about 1 million doses of the nasal flu vaccine, FluMist®, will be available.

Approximately 230,000 doses of flu vaccine have been shipped to private doctors in Hawaii, both HMSA and Kaiser. Many of these doses were shipped prior to the shortage announcement and subsequent recommendations, so it is unclear how much of this supply remains.

Apart from the doses received by Hawaii’s private providers, the Department of Health and HMSA have a limited supply of about 6,000 doses of pooled flu vaccine.

This year, due to the shortage, this publicly-held vaccine will be limited to the chronically ill who are not able to get a flu shot from their doctor. Limited clinics are being planned statewide and will be held as early as mid-November. Details are being developed and will be released to the public once finalized. Call 2-1-1 after October 29 for information.

On October 19, 2004, it was announced by federal health officials that an additional 2.6 million doses of flu vaccine will be available in January 2005. Will Hawaii receive any of that vaccine?

At this time it is unlikely that Hawaii will receive additional doses from the January 2005 shipment. Hawaii’s providers already have received close to a quarter of a million doses, compared to other states that have not received any or only a fraction of their needed vaccine.

Because of the flu vaccine shortage this season, CDC is recommending that people at high risk for serious flu complications be given priority for getting the flu shot.

• All children aged 6–23 months;
• Adults aged 65 years and older;
• Persons aged 2-64 years with underlying chronic medical conditions;
• All women who will be pregnant during the flu season;
• Residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities;
• Children aged 6 months-18 years on chronic aspirin therapy;
• Health-care workers involved in direct patient care;
• Out-of-home caregivers and household contacts of children younger than 6 months

People who are not included in one of the priority groups listed above are asked to step aside and not get a flu shot this season. This will help to ensure that the limited supply of vaccine will be available for people at highest risk for serious complications from the flu.

Everyone in a priority group seeking flu vaccine should call their physician first. If your doctor does not have flu vaccine and you do not have a chronic illness, the Department of Health’s clinics will not be able to provide you a flu shot.

Healthcare workers and caregivers/household contacts of children less than 6 months old are recommended to receive the nasal flu vaccine, FluMist®.

FluMist® recipients must be healthy, between the ages of 5-49 years of age, and should not be caring for patients whose immune systems are severely compromised. If you are interested in receiving FluMist®, please call 2-1-1 for information.

You can practice good health habits that can help prevent the flu. These are:

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick. When you are sick, keep your distance from others to protect them from getting sick too.
• If possible, stay home from work, school and errands when you are sick. You will help prevent others from catching your illness.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. It may prevent those around you from getting sick.
• Wash your hands often to help protect yourself from germs.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.

If possible, stay home from work, school and errands when you are sick. Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and wash your hands often to avoid spreading germs to others. Call your doctor right away if you think that you have the flu. Medications are available that can reduce the symptoms of the flu.

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The Beverage Container Deposit Program (a.k.a. Bottle Bill) will provide an economic incentive for recycling which has been proven effective. Bottle bills have increased recycling rates by upwards of 70% in the 10 states with deposit laws.

The Bottle Bill will reduce litter in our parks and beaches, and will spur new recycling habits among the community, which may translate into more recycling of other materials as well.

Under the new law eligible beverages include:

• soft drinks
• juices
• water
• teas
• coffee drinks
• sports drinks
• beer
• wine coolers that are sold in containers of 64 fluid ounces or less.

Affected types of containers include glass, plastic #1 and #2, and metal.

Excluded beverages are:
wine
milk
hard liquor.

Starting January 1, 2005, only containers marked with the label "Hawai`i 5¢" or "HI 5¢" can be redeemed for a nickel.

Consumers should not stockpile unlabeled containers for future redemption, as they cannot receive a refund on unlabeled containers. Unlabeled containers should be recycled and/or disposed of in the normal manner.

Please recycle them.

There are recycling collection containers for glass and aluminum at many of the County’s transfer stations. Plastic #1 and #2 can now be recycled at the Kea`au and Kealakehe recycling centers located at each of those transfer stations. Other locations accepting aluminum and glass are identified in the Hawai`i Island Recycling Guide available online at www.recyclehawaii.org.

There are two fees associated with this program that may show as line items on customer receipts:

A non-refundable 1¢ container fee is being charged on affected containers as of October 1, 2004.

And as early as November 2004, a refundable 5¢ deposit per beverage container will be charged for the purchase of glass, aluminum, and plastic containers defined under the Bottle Bill.

These fees will show up on customer receipts below the taxable subtotal since the State Department of Taxation has determined that both the container fee (1¢) and redeemable deposit (5¢) are not subject to general excise tax.

The 1¢ non-refundable container fee is being assessed to support the costs of recycling and program administration. The container fee, along with unredeemed deposits, provide the funds for paying a 3¢ handling fee to vendors in Hawai`i County who operate redemption centers and document that all collected material has been legally recycled.

Redemption centers cannot begin to operate until January 1, 2005.

Beginning in January 2005, you can get the 5¢ deposit back when you recycle the container at a permitted redemption center. On Hawai`i Island, retailers are not required to operate permitted redemption centers at their stores.

By law, retail establishments will be required to post the location of nearby permitted redemption centers when selling deposit containers.

Permitted redemption centers will likely be run by private recyclers, and will be located throughout the island and at strategically-located County transfer stations.

The County has requested applications to encourage the private vendors to establish permitted redemption centers at five of its transfer stations: Waimea, Hilo, Kea`au, Waiohinu, and Kailua-Kona (Kealakehe).

Other remote locations may also be considered for establishment of redemption centers. Starting the middle of December, the State will launch a multi-media campaign to inform residents as to the location and hours of all permitted redemption centers.

Redemption centers will only refund a deposit on containers that are:

Labeled as a deposit beverage (marked "Hawaii 5¢" or "HI 5¢")

Empty and clear of liquid or foreign matter

Not crushed (do not crush your containers)

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The right to vote is an important part of our democracy.

In the general election on Tuesday, November 2 we will be voting to decide the next President of the United States, one U.S. Senator, the U.S. Representative to Congress, one State Senate seat for District 3, six State House seats, one Board of Education Member and one Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustee.

This article is aimed at answering some of the questions our Hawai`i County voters may have concerning the upcoming elections.

The County Elections Division urges you to be sure you are properly registered to vote, and that the division has your most current information. If you have moved or changed your name since the last election, you must have re-registered.

If you did not receive a yellow voter notification card in the mail, please call the Elections Division at 961-8277. This is so you will not experience delays on Election Day.

The deadline to register for the general election was Monday, October 4.

You can cast your ballot early. Any person registered to vote may cast an absentee ballot.

Application for Absentee Voter Ballot must have been received by the City/County Clerk where you reside no later than October 26, 2004, 4:30 P.M.

The time period for the Absentee Walk-in General Election is from October 19 to October 30 (rural sites end on October 29).

• County Building, 25 Aupuni Street, Elections Division Room 105, Hilo 961-8277 Monday through Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

• Kona Mayor’s Office, Hanama Place 75-5706 Kuakini Hwy, Ste. 103, Kailua-Kona 329-5226 Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

For additional absentee polling places and hours, call the Elections Division at 961-8277. You can call them for your Absentee Polling site. (See also the following article on Absentee Polling sites in Hawai`i County.)

You can be a better-informed voter by visiting the candidates web guide on the Internet. All candidates were asked by the State Office of Elections to participate in the web guide by providing a picture and a personal statement.

The web guide is on the County website at  Candidates for Big Island Voters.

A new system this year is the Direct Recording Electronic Voting Machine. This voting machine will allow the visually-impaired or illiterate to vote independently through the use of headphones. They will receive oral instructions on how to vote.

At the precincts, we will continue to have paper ballots marked with pens in addition to the electronic voting machine. Therefore, we will still use the precinct counter (the machine that counts the paper ballots). Voters will have a choice of whether they want to use the paper ballot or the electronic voting machine.

The State of Hawai`i, in order to comply with the Help America Vote Act, will place one Direct Recording Electronic Voting Machine in all of the precincts statewide. This will provide opportunities for all voters to vote independently.

The absentee mail ballots will be counted on a high-speed central counter.

There are procedures to ensure the integrity of the process. At the precinct level, there are officials who represent different political parties who act as poll watchers.

At the counting center there are official observers who are the eyes and ears of the public, and whose responsibility is to do logic and accuracy tests of the different ballot counting programs.

Poll watchers represent the different political parties. A party can submit one poll watcher per precinct. The poll watcher observes the conduct of the election, and calls to the attention of the precinct chairperson any election procedures that are not being followed.

When there is a break in voting activity at the precinct on Election Day, the poll watchers are allowed to view the poll books and call to remind members of their party who have not voted.

Everyone makes mistakes. There are spoiled ballot procedures in place for this purpose. This allows all voters to receive another ballot if they make a mistake.

The precinct counter machine will alert voters if they over-vote or turn in a blank ballot.

The Elections Division will be scheduling public demonstrations around the island. The public will be notified of these demonstrations through the media.

We are working on having a demo machine at each absentee walk-in precinct, so that voters will be able to practice and get comfortable with the machine before they actually vote on it.

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Registered voters may vote early (absentee) beginning Tuesday, October 19 through Friday, October 29, 2004 and Tuesday, October 19 through Saturday, October 30, 2004 in Hilo.

NOTE: Absentee voting will conclude on Friday, October 29, 2004, in Kona, Waimea, Pahala, and Kohala. Absentee voting in Hilo will conclude on Saturday, October 30, 2004.

For job postings, visit our website: http://co.hawaii.hi.us/civil_serv/civ_serv.htm

Or visit our webpage: co.hawaii.hi.us

Solutions: Neighborhoods In Action Task Force Groups will be having a video conference on Monday, November 15, 2004. The meeting room for West Hawaii will be the Mayor's Office and for East Hawaii meeting room will be the Hilo Prosecutor's Office. Below are the times, contact information and partial agenda for all three Task Force Groups.

Time: 10am - 11am

Agenda: Continue working on "Speeding In Neighborhoods" and community flyer. Contact: Lil Beaufrere at 325-0039 or email konalil@hawaii.rr.com

Time: 11:15am - 12:15pm

Agenda: Continue working on the proposed Animal Control Ordinances - and an informational brochure. Contact: Nancy Zorn at 328-9931 or nzzorn2@kona.net 

Time: 12:30 pm - 1:30pm

Agenda: Continue working on Burglary, Theft and Vandalism awareness.

Contact: Lil Beaufrere at 325-0039 or email konalil@hawaii.rr.com

Future meetings will start up again in January 2005, dates and times to be announced.

Please visit the "Solutions" web site for further details: www.solutionsislandhawaii.com

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The Rural Development Leadership Network has a program to assist community leaders to strengthen their practical skills, knowledge and credentials while remaining involved in their community development work.

Participants may earn an academic degree (B.A., M.A. or Ph.D.) by:

1) implementing a practical field project in their community,

2) pursuing related independent study, and

3) participating in a month-long Rural Development Institute at the University of California at Davis.

Participants are mentored by a team of field and study advisors and work under the umbrella of a sponsoring organization, which also contributes financially to RDLN. The amount ranges from $7,500 to $30,000 depending upon the degree.

For further Information, please contact:

http://www.ruraldevelopment.org

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No nonprofit organization today can afford to have a board that isn’t up to speed on its duties, responsibilities and liabilities. Developing and executing a diversified fund development plan and well-managed accounting system are also essential.

Best practices, effective strategies and basic knowledge can’t be overlooked in today’s challenging environment.

To address these needs, Hawai’i Community Services Council will offer three workshops on Essential Nonprofit Know-How on Nov. 3-5 at the King Kamehameha Kona Beach Hotel, Kanakahonu Ballroom, Room #2, in Kona.

Workshop fees are affordable, thanks to program sponsors Bank of Hawai’i, the Atherton Family Foundation, the Frear Eleemosynary Trust and United Way.

1. "Board Alive!, Best Practices in Board Governance," is a half-day program designed for both new board members and seasoned veterans alike, covering the functions of a nonprofit board, best practices for board members, risks and liabilities, board and staff dynamics, strategies to build a strong, diverse board and more. Registration opens at noon and the workshop will be on Nov. 3 from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Cost is $45 for HCSC and United Way member agencies, $65 for nonmembers, which covers materials and afternoon refreshments.

2. "Proposal Writing, an Interactive Exploration of Grant-Seeking from Hawaii’s Trusts and Foundations," is a full-day workshop for nonprofit staff or board members that focuses on basic techniques in researching grants and the skills needed for effective and successful proposal writing, with an emphasis on what local funders want to see. It provides hands-on experience in preparing and reviewing a proposal. Registration opens at 8:30 a.m. and the program is on Nov. 4 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Cost is $75 for HCSC and United Way member agencies, $100 for nonmembers, which includes materials, morning refreshments and lunch.

3. "Financial Management for Nonprofit Organizations," this year for the first time, includes budgeting and cash flow basics. This day-long workshop sponsored by the Bank of Hawai’i is designed to help executives, bookkeepers, treasurers, board members and accountants understand critical nonprofit financial issues, such as audits, taxes, changes to the State of Hawaii Nonprofit Corporations Act, record keeping, internal controls and more. Registration opens at 8 a.m. and the program is on Nov. 5 from 8:30 to 4:30 p.m. Cost is $25, including materials, morning refreshments and lunch.

Registration deadline: October 26. However, space may be available for late registrations.

For more information, call Sally Ley at (808) 529-0455 or email at info@hcsc-hawaii.org

To register, see http://hcsc-hawaii.org/downloads/wkshp2004-11.pdf.

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County of Hawaii WebSite Address: http://co.hawaii.hi.us/

Information & Complaints: cohinfo@interpac.net
County Departments: http://co.hawaii.hi.us/email.htm
Hawaii County website: co.hawaii.hi.us

To add or remove your name from distribution, e-mail Janet Snyder: jsnyder@co.hawaii.hi.us

For more information, contact:
Janet Snyder
Phone: (808) 961-8223
Fax: (808) 933-1521
e-mail: jsnyder@co.hawaii.hi.us