Honolulu youngster Nia Sade Bakari, 9, said, "I wanted to be like my mom," so she got her mother, former Internet radio show host Amy Bakari, to help her start her own show.

"Nia and Friends" on BlogTalkRadio has been airing since February. It has been downloaded more than 200,000 times on BlogTalkRadio.com and iTunes, according to her mom, who serves as producer. Nia prerecords interviews that are broadcast on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Nia was born in Virginia. Her mom is from Manila and her dad, Zoom Bakari, is originally from New York and now teaches at Waimalu Elementary, where Nia is a student. The family moved here a year ago from Atlanta.

Nia names singer-actress Lea Salonga and Michelle Borth of "Hawaii Five-0" as two of her role models. She has interviewed Borth and Hawaii ukulele star Aidan James, 11. Nia, who loves karaoke, can sing all of the hit songs from "Rent," "Hairspray" and "Les Misérables," and performed with the Curtains Up children’s theater in Atlanta. Composing music, playing piano and ukulele are some of her other activities. "I’m going to Juilliard when I grow up," is what Nia said at age 6. Looks like this little determined lady is well on her way …

THE FAMILY of the late breast surgeon Dr. Laura Weldon Hoque gathered at the Kapi‘olani Breast Center Monday to dedicate a plaque to honor Hoque’s vision for women’s health care in Hawaii. With the support of Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women and Children, Hoque, who was raised here, founded the Breast Center in 2004 — the first of its kind in Hawaii, providing women with comprehensive breast-care services at a single site. She introduced the state-of-the-art sentinel node biopsy procedure for Hawaii patients and served as the Breast Center’s medical director until 2007, performing 40 to 50 surgeries a month. Hoque, a 1983 Punahou graduate, died in Washington, D.C., in 2009 at age 44 of a rare genetic disorder.

Attending the ceremony was Jeanne Davis, Hoque’s former Punahou School teacher and a former patient, who said:"Laura was a pioneer, bringing resources and skills to Hawaii at a time when patients had to go to the mainland for treatment. Her signature is apparent in so many aspects of the Breast Center.When you walk through the doors,you’re greeted with warmth, comfort and compassion — this is her legacy for the women of Hawaii." The ceremony was also attended by Hoque’s parents, Dr. Ned and Kathryn Weldon; her children from Washington, D.C.,Kaelyn, Laila and Kamal Hoque; and her brothers, Dr. Ed Weldon, an orthopedic surgeon at Straub, and his wife, Katie, and Dr. Jeff Weldon and his wife, Sanie, of Pennsylvania …

CADE ESTATE makes the sauvignon blanc wine Michelle Obama prefers, not PlumpJack Estate winery, as mentioned in the May 31 "Wood Craft" …

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Ben Wood, who sold newspapers on Honolulu streets in World War II, writes of people, places and things. Email him at bwood@staradvertiser.com.