EVENTS COMING SOON | PERKS & DISCOUNTS | GIVE A MEMBER A SHAKA | March 7, 2024

With March being National Athletic Training Month, we would like to mahalo our members for all they do to ensure the health and wellbeing of our community. This month, we interviewed a few athletic training professionals who have demonstrated selfless dedication in helping our young athletes achieve their potential. These individuals were nominated for their extraordinary service.

This week, meet Unit 13 athletic trainers, Tomoki Kanaoka, Cynthia Shimoda, Alexander Gasmen, and Unit 6 member athletic director, Jonathan Conrad.

Alapaki Nahale-a has served University of Hawaii employees and our members well on the Board of Regents. lt is sad that once again state senators have resorted to intimidation and bullying in the advise and consent process.

We are angered when we repeatedly witness qualified and committed community members who sincerely care about Hawaii being publicly berated, made into a laughingstock, and intimidated by a handful of senators.

Christian Fern, executive director of UHPA, and Randy Perreira, executive director of HGEA took to the pages of The Star-Advertiser to call on lawmakers to end the acrimonious climate and abusive tactics that dissuade good people from serving our state’s institutions.

Photo credit: UH Women’s Water Polo

Happy retirement, Coach Maureen Cole!

As we celebrate athletic professionals this month for National Athletic Training Month, we want to take a moment to celebrate a very special milestone. We would like to congratulate and wish Coach Maureen Cole, Unit 8 member, a wonderful retirement!

Mahalo for your incredible leadership these 17-plus years, leading the Rainbow Wahine water polo program to a career record of 203-92. We appreciate you!

Honolulu Civil Beat Highlights Unit 13 Member Tony Earles

Tony Earles, police evidence specialist III and Unit 13 member, has been tirelessly working behind the scenes since the horrific wildfires on Maui in a “grim three-pronged task: search, recover, and identify the victims.”

Honolulu Civil Beat chronicled Earles’ role in “the hundreds of hours of painstaking and sometimes gruesome work” of identifying the victims of the inferno. Earles is a dedicated public servant and HGEA is proud to stand with him and our Maui members who continue the hard work of recovery.

KITV Spotlights Maui Dispatchers Honored in Washington, D.C.

Our Maui County dispatchers, whose response to the harrowing phone calls on the day of the August wildfires earned them honors from the NG911 Institute in Washington D.C. They were the recipient of the Outstanding Call Center award.

KITV aired a story spotlighting the brave efforts of these public servants during one of Hawaii’s deadliest hours. The story also brought attention to the need to fill numerous vacancies in this critical area of government. “The dispatchers are short-staffed and in need of 29 more personnel,” KITV reports. “The current 10 are tasked with answering calls for the police and fire departments as well as medics.”

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