UH-Hilo boosts payroll by 60%, adds 7 managers

The University of Hawaii at Hilo has added seven new administrator positions and increased its total budget for executive pay more than 60 percent in the past five years.

The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported that the increases came even though the school cut pay across the board in 2009 and froze salaries in 2010.

Chancellor Donald Straney said UH-Hilo has had to add new executives to the payroll because it opened a College of Pharmacy and College of Business and Economics.

Enrollment grew 20 to 25 percent during the same period, Straney said.

UH-Hilo has worked hard to expand offerings to students even though the state has cut its funding, he said.

Lab finds toxins in mud from Kauai river, bay

The state’s aquatic biologist for Kauai said more tests should be done to check for contaminants in the Hana­lei River and Bay after mud samples collected by an environmental group showed high levels of arsenic, barium, chromium and lead.

Don Heacock told The Garden Island newspaper more tests are needed to find out whether these levels are higher than normal. He said he is concerned and that immediate action should be taken to determine those levels.

The Hanalei River Heritage Foundation paid $2,000 to have mud samples from the river’s mouth and bay tested by the Hono­lulu laboratories of Washington state-based TestAmerica Laboratories Inc.

TestAmerica’s report said the mud samples were collected properly. It said the samples arrived in good condition and were properly preserved and on ice.