Question: Auwe. This flu season is bad, and it seems like they didn’t do flu shots in school like they used to.
Answer: The annual “Stop Flu at School” program that offers free flu vaccines to students on campus during the school day was scaled back to focus on public schools with the highest need, according to the state Department of Health.
The program was offered as usual to all elementary and intermediate public schools in Kauai, Maui and Hawaii counties, where access to health care can be a challenge, and to about 90 public schools on Oahu with the highest economic need. It was no longer offered to private schools.
The change was announced in September so that affected families had time to make other arrangements. Participating schools held clinics throughout November and into early December, according to a schedule at 808ne.ws/flusked Opens in a new tab.
Participation was voluntary, for eligible schools and for individual students at schools that chose to participate.
Q: Now that Doug Chin is lieutenant governor, how does resign-to-run apply?
A: It doesn’t. “If a candidate is a state or county officeholder seeking a federal office, there is no resignation requirement,” according to the state Office of Elections.
Chin, formerly Hawaii’s attorney general, became lieutenant governor Friday, filling the vacancy created by Shan S. Tsutsui’s abrupt resignation. Two officials ahead of Chin in the line of succession declined the post.
Chin is among four Democrats in the primary field for the 1st Congressional District (urban Oahu) who are not subject to the resign-to-run law. The others are Kaniela Ing (a state representative), Donna Kim (a state senator) and Ernie Martin (a Honolulu councilman). Each wants to be the Democratic candidate in the general election for the U.S. House seat being vacated by Colleen Hanabusa.
The candidate filing deadline is June 5. The primary election is Aug. 11. The general election is Nov. 6.
Incidentally, resign-to-run does not apply to the appointed position of attorney general, either. However, Chin previously had announced his intention to resign that post in March to avoid potential conflicts of interest while running for Congress. His ascension to lieutenant governor made that announcement moot.
Auwe
Too many pedestrians are still looking at their phones while they cross the street. They don’t even look up to see if a car is coming. You can’t legislate common sense. — Careful driver
Mahalo
On Jan. 24 in the Pali Safeway parking lot, I left my Louis Vuitton bag in my shopping cart. The bag had five other pieces of Louis Vuitton in the bag, including the wallet, the check writer and the cigarette holder (which I use to hold a cellphone). I didn’t realize my mistake until I got home and tried to open the garage door and couldn’t — the “clicker” was in my bag. I hurried back to Safeway. They noted that their security camera showed that I had left the store with the bag in my cart. That is all that was seen. Thank goodness for Art, a gentleman who had driven into the parking lot from Vineyard Boulevard. He saw my bag in the Safeway basket and went above and beyond to reach me (that’s a story in itself!). He returned the bag to me. This gentleman Art should be awarded! I gave him $100 and took him to dinner. He is a simple man, a retired Army cook. You could tell he wasn’t very wealthy. But he is very, very honest. I am so proud of him and very grateful. I want to publish a mahalo to give him recognition and to let him know again how much I appreciate his actions. I hope he will see this in the paper. — Sherlayne
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
