Hawaii News and Island Information

Media Release

Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi has named Margaret Kuroda Masunaga the new deputy director of the county Department of Planning effective April 16, 2009.

The appointment fills one of the last key slots in the mayor’s cabinet.

Masunaga, 52, is currently a deputy attorney general for the state of Hawai’i in the Attorney General’s Family Law Division in Kealakekua. From 1992 to 2007, Masunaga was Hawai’i County deputy corporation counsel practicing in Family Court in cases involving paternity and child support.

Masunaga was previously in private practice in Kailua-Kona with the law firm of Goodsill Anderson Quinn and Stifel. She has a bachelor of arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and obtained her law degree at McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific in Sacramento.

She currently sits on the Hawai’i Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Board and has served as treasurer for the Hawai’i State Bar Association.  She has also served as the president of the West Hawai’i Bar Association, and is now treasurer of that organization.

Masunaga has been very active in the community, receiving awards and recognition for public service from Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald Moon, Governor Linda Lingle and President George W. Bush. When she isn’t busy with her community commitments, she spends time on the Kona coffee farm that has been in her husband’s family since 1928.

She has been married to Gail Masunaga for nearly thirty years, and they have two daughters, Colette and Jana. Colette is a Rotary Club exchange student in Thailand who will be graduating from Konawaena High School in June, and Jana is a first-grade student at Konawaena Elementary School.

Planning Director Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd said Masunaga will work out of the county Planning Department’s Kona office.

“We are proud to have an attorney with Margaret’s long record of public service in our community make the commitment to serve in this key role in the Planning Department,” Mayor Kenoi said.

The Planning Department provides technical advice to the Mayor, Planning Commission and County Council on all planning and land use matters. The department is also charged with the administration of the Subdivision and Zoning Codes. The major divisions of the department are: Administrative Services, Ministerial Division, Long-Range Planning Division and Planning Section.

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The Department of Public Works is scheduled to reinforce the support beams on the second wooden bridge on Kaiwiki Road in North Hilo TODAY, weather permitting.

No pedestrian or vehicles will be allowed to use the bridge from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. while repairs are underway.

The wooden bridge located close to the top of Kaiwiki Road serves seven residences. They will be notified by Public Works in advance of the bridge closure.

The County of Hawai’i maintains 127 bridges that are registered under the National Bridge Inventory and administered by the Federal Highway Administration. Twenty-eight of the 127 bridges are wooden and serve the communities of Puna, Hilo, Kohala, Kona, Hāmākua and Ka’ū.

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Mozambique

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Leading U.S. and Asian journalists will share their insights from the Senior Journalists Seminar, an EWC study tour that delves into interfaith relations and its impact on domestic and international politics. In this program, journalists engage their peers and religious leaders on issues that have caused tension between these Asian countries (which have substantial Muslim populations) and the U.S., especially since 9/11.

Where: Garden Level, Hawaii Imin International Conference Center – 1777 East-West Road
When: April 3, 2009
What:

Time: 11:30 AM -Registration
12:00 – 1:30 PM – Lunch & Program

For more information about the seminar, click here or send e-mail to ewcinfo@eastwestcenter.org.

2009 Senior Journalists Seminar Participants:

India: Syed Shujaat Bukhari, Bureau Chief, The Hindu, Srinagar

Indonesia: Purwani Diyah Prabandari, Bureau Chief for Central Java and Yogyakarta, Tempo Inti Media, Yogyakarta

Iran: Reza Zandi, Member, Iranian Journalist Association, Tehran

Pakistan: Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, Senior Staff Reporter, News Network International (NNI), Peshawar

Philippines: Art Bonjoc Jr., Area News Manager, ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, Cagayan de Oro City

Singapore: Saini Bin Salleh, Assistant Editor, Berita Harian

United States: Antonio Bernhardt, Senior Assignment Editor, WTTG Fox News, Washington, DC

Tricia Escobedo, News Editor, The CNN Wire, Atlanta, GA

Paul Feldman, Assistant Foreign Editor, Los Angeles Times, CA

Adam Najberg, Senior Editor, Video, Wall Street Journal, New York, NY

Robin Shulman, Reporter New York Bureau, The Washington Post, New York, NY

Alex Travelli, Editor Online Edition, The Economist, New York, NY

Co-sponsored by: The East-West Center, Friends of the East-West Center, Pacific and Asian Affairs Council, Honolulu Community-Media Council, Asian American Journalists Association, and University of Hawai’i — School of Communications

Parking: $4 :Send $4 parking fee with check for luncheon or pay at the registration table. Display flyer on dashboard. You will be directed to park on the lawn between Burns Hall & Hale Manoa.

Click here to view flyer.

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