Waha Nui – 12/17/14

He’ll finally have time to read. Kailua’s Richard Burns, state librarian with three decades in the system, retires at the end of this month. And he just earned his latest “exceptional” rating from the Board of Education. As head of Hawaii’s 50 libraries since 2008, Richard has overseen a giant leap in online access and technology that has, not surprisingly, increased value and usage at the neighborhood level. Local patrons may remember him from earlier stints at the Waimanalo, Kailua, Kahuku and Kaneohe branches …

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Angela Angel

Moving on to a different kind of branch, First Hawaiian Bank has promoted Kaneohe’s Paula Ogimi to manager of its Kahuku bank branch, where she’ll be responsible for business development and budget …

Miss Kaneohe Maia Miller tied for Miss Congeniality in the Miss Hawaii USA 2015 pageant, where she says she made many lasting friendships. It must have been a very friendly event as there was a three-way tie. Maia also won a $3,000 scholarship to Argosy University … The Kukahiko ohana is covering all bases this month. Pastor Eldean Kukahiko led his Kahaluu Ukulele Band in a performance at Gov. David Ige‘s inauguration, and son Kaipo (social worker, musician and Castle grad) accepted the call to lead Kualoa-He‘eia Ecumenical Youth (KEY) Project in 2015 …

As you watch your favorite cable TV shows, keep in mind that Angela Angel, an award-winning Kailua videographer, is now Oceanic Community Media’s interim CEO and president. During this transition, board president Nelson Lau says “there’s no better person to lead ‘Olelo than Angela.” She moves up from chief production officer … Thumbs up to Kaneohe’s Tisha Falcon, who brought Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes to keiki in Quito, Ecuador, on behalf of 95.5 The Fish, despite a harrowing adventure with fog in Dallas, missed connections and overnight airport vacations along the way. “This amazing ‘God trek’ has been beautiful so far!,” she writes

cchang@midweek.com