Latest news with #PacificIslands
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Health
- Yahoo
New Hawaii law to provide free lunch for needy public school students
Thousands of public school students from low-income families will get free school lunches over the next two school years, while new rules also will go into effect designed to reduce cancellations of school bus routes that occurred in each of the past two school years. And statewide boys and girls surfing teams will be created, perhaps beginning next school year. The bills passed by the Legislature were signed into law Friday during a ceremony at the governor's mansion, Washington Place. Two other bills that Gov. Josh Green signed into law are designed to resolve differences in how locally produced food gets to public schools, youth campuses, public hospitals and prisons ; and another requires the University of Hawaii to charge resident tuition for anyone who graduated from a Hawaii high school and pursues an undergraduate degree at any UH campus. Friday's gathering included schoolchildren, teachers and advocates to help Hawaii students get to school, get fed and be better prepared to learn. First lady Jaime Green, who pushed for providing free lunches for needy children, grew emotional as she talked about Hawaii children who don't always know when their next meal will come. 'It is so important to make sure our kids are fed and don't go hungry, ' she said, choking up, as the crowd supported her with applause. During COVID-19, when schools were closed and the Department of Education turned to remote learning, DOE officials also had to figure out how to get meals out to children across the islands, sometimes in remote districts, who relied on reduced-price lunches. 'We saw the real need, and now, even that COVID is over, we are still struggling, our families are struggling, ' Green said. 'If students aren't hungry, they can better focus on their studies, extracurricular activities and personal growth.' So with Gov. Green's signature Friday on Senate Bill 1300, students who are eligible for reduced-price lunches will receive them for free beginning in the fall. And in the subsequent school year, schoolchildren from working, low-income families who earn below 300 % of the federal poverty level also will get free lunches. Significantly, schools are now prohibited from denying a meal to any student who cannot pay. State Rep. Justin Woodson (D, Kahului-Puunene ) chairs the House Education Committee and said legislators heard 'heart-wrenching stories ' of students who waited in the back of the lunch line only to have their food trays taken away. 'They were past embarrassment, ' Woodson said, and sometimes hung around rubbish cans looking for discarded food to eat. 'This should not be in the state of Hawaii, ' Woodson said. 'This reflects our values.' State Sen. Michelle Kidani (D, Mililani Town-Waipio Gentry-Royal Kunia ) chairs the Senate Education Committee and authored the bill providing free school lunches. She and her siblings struggled with food uncertainty as schoolchildren. Today, Kidani said, teachers in her district stock their desks with snacks for their students who are in similar financial situations, Kidani said. 'It's not just about food, ' she said. 'It's about equity.' No child, Kidani said, should sit in class wondering when they'll next eat. The bill appropriates more than $3.3 million to the Department of Education over the two school years to cover the cost of free meals for students of low-income families. 'That means all the families living paycheck to paycheck, ' Green said. House Bill 862 enshrines into state law emergency proclamations that Green issued at the start of the past two school years after the DOE abruptly canceled dozens of bus routes on multiple islands days before the start of the school year, disrupting commutes for hundreds of families. The DOE now has time before the next school year to find companies with vans and other nontraditional buses that can fill routes. The new law also requires DOE staff to accompany students between drop-off and pickup locations to ensure student safety. The DOE—like the rest of the nation—still faces a shortage of drivers with commercial driver's licenses. But combined, the changes are aimed at ensuring that students get to school, get fed and become better prepared to learn, Green and legislators said at Friday's bill signing. The event took on a far less serious tone before Green signed House Bill 133 into law providing $685, 870 for each of the next two fiscal years to establish interscholastic surfing. Out of Hawaii's five high school athletic leagues, only Maui has a surfing league, while individual high schools do have surf clubs. State schools Superintendent Keith Hayashi told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that each league will have to figure out how to proceed, but he expects that some will create boys and girls teams during the next school year in a state that gave surfing to the world. Each athlete will need to get certified as a junior lifeguard, perhaps over this summer ahead of new teams and leagues, House Majority Leader Sean Quinlan (D, Waialua-Haleiwa-Punaluu ) told the Star-Advertiser. In Hawaii, drownings among local children ages 1 to 15 represent the leading cause of death for their age group. The creation of surf leagues was pushed by advocates for water safety who argued they will encourage student surfers to learn how to better protect themselves in the ocean. The new funding for Hawaii surf leagues follows years of unsuccessful efforts, and Green could not readily offer an explanation. 'It's not exactly clear to me why it took us this long, ' he said. Quinlan, who represents the North Shore and pushed for the leagues, said the next world champion or Olympic surfing gold medalist could get their competitive start on a future Hawaii high school surf team. Or, Quinlan joked, it could inspire the next generation of 'mediocre surfers … because I am one of you.'
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Gov. Josh Green signs multiple education-focused bills
HONOLULU (KHON2) — Gov. Josh Green signed five bills aiming to strengthen educational opportunities and student success across the island on May 30. 'This group of bills represents our state's active commitment to finding real solutions and protecting the fundamental right every keiki has to quality education,' Green said. 'Thanks to the critical work of educators and students alike, as well as countless community advocates, our state is poised to reduce childhood food insecurity and increase access to academic and extracurricular educational opportunities.' Kona man charged with connection to parking scam The new laws are as follows: SB 1300: Expanding Access to Free School Meals This bill increases access to free school meals for qualifying students, with the bill taking effect in the 2025-2026 academic year, with further expansions to free meals the following year. In addition to expanded meal access, the new law also prohibits schools from denying a meal to a student who is unable to pay. 'Senate Bill 1300 removes the financial barrier to accessing school meals, supporting students' health and well-being, as wel as their academic and developmental success,' First Lady Jaime Kanani Green said. 'If students aren't hungry, they can better focus on their studies, extracurricular activities and personal growth.' The bill was brought forward by Senate Vice President Michelle Kidani, who served as the lead 862: Addressing School Bus Shortages Multiple school bus routes were suspended this past academic year due to a nationwide bus driver shortage. This bill reverses the suspensions and allows for alternative vehicles, such as small buses, vans and more, to pick up students and bring them to school. 'Hawaiʻi continues to face a schoo bus crisis, and we've heard from countless parents, families and educators about the urgent need to expand transportation options, while keeping safety front and center,' said House Committee on Education Vice Chair Trish La Chica. 'This new law paves the way for our students to thrive, by expanding the department's options to secure reliable transportation and ensuring that transportation barriers don't stand in the way of our keiki and their opportunities to succeed.' Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news HB 133: Funding for Interscholastic Surfing Programs This bill appropriates over $685,800 for 2026 and 2027 to help establish interscholastic surfing programs, providing students with a competitive outlet they may otherwise not have. 'Hawaiʻi is the birthplace of surfing, and that's something we should take great pride in. By recognizing surfing as an interscholastic sport, we are expanding access in Hawaiʻi schools — allowing students to build ocean safety skills, connect with our cultural heritage and participate in a sport that has produced champions from our own shores,' Rep. Sean Quinlan, who introduced the bill, said. Two other bills were signed, including HB 110: Relating to Local Agricultural Products, which updates goas and timelines for locally-sourced meals can be provided by the Department of Education to students. The last bill signed was HB 1170: Relating to the University of Hawaiʻi Resident Tuition Fee, which requires UH to provide resident tuition fees to individuals who graduated from high schools in the islands, are enrolling in an undergraduate program and meet other conditions. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
SBS Australia
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- SBS Australia
Global outcry over Gaza, China woos Pacific & Beatboxing nuns
Guests: Anna Henderson (SBS Chief Political Correspondent), Sione Tekiteki (Senior Lecturer Auckland University of Technology, Former Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat) Producers: Nick Ludlam, Ali Cheevers, Billy Dahlenburg, Angelica Waite
Washington Post
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
‘Ohana' means no remake gets left behind
In today's edition: You may recall from the 15,000 times I mentioned it that I recently lived for a few years in Hawai'i, and, therefore, there was no way the new 'Lilo & Stitch' movie was going to come and go without our dedicating an episode of the 'Impromptu' podcast to it.
Reuters
a day ago
- Business
- Reuters
Australia's bet on natural gas endangers its climate credentials, experts say
SYDNEY, May 30 (Reuters) - Australia's approval of a 40-year extension for a huge gas project has overshadowed its bid to host a United Nations climate summit next year and tarnishes its green credentials, experts and two Pacific climate ministers said. This week's decision by the centre-left government, which took power in 2022 with a mandate for climate reform, clears Woodside Energy's North West Shelf project to run until 2070, subject to a final review. The step was hailed by the company and the energy industry, which see continued operation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants as a cleaner alternative to fuels such as coal. But it was criticised by climate ministers from Tuvalu and Vanuatu, who say the project's emissions could put at risk their nations' very existence, as well as by climate scientists worried about Australia's role in global emissions. "It's just a staggering number of extra emissions," said Malte Meinshausen, a climate scientist at the University of Melbourne. Woodside estimates the extension will pump out a further 4.3 billion tons of carbon emissions over the plant's lifetime. That is equivalent to 200 years of combined emissions from 14 Pacific island nations, says the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, backed by 11 Pacific island nations and territories. "This goes beyond politics," said Tuvalu's Climate Minister Maina Talia. "It is about the moral clarity to stand with those most affected by climate change." The comment signals possible fallout for Canberra from Pacific island neighbours, such as Tuvalu and Vanuatu, in its bid to co-host the United Nations' COP31 climate summit next year with the region. Australia projects it will cut emissions to 42.7% below 2005 levels by 2030, on the path to a globally agreed target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Gas from the North West Shelf is primarily destined for export markets, meaning that most emissions will not count towards Australia's domestic net zero target. But Meinshausen, a contributor to past reports by the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said Australia could not ignore its role in supplying fossil fuels causing global warming. "It's like the drug dealer's excuse saying, 'Well, we sell this stuff, but somebody else burns it,'" he said. "That doesn't work anymore in a world where you want to have a responsibility for your actions and being part of the international solution to climate change." In a statement, Australian Environment Minister Murray Watt, who unveiled the extension on Wednesday, said he would not comment further until the review process, opens new tab was complete. Australia sees gas as a transitional fuel on its path to full use of renewable sources of energy. "I think the penny is starting to drop with many around the importance of gas," Woodside Chief Executive Meg O'Neill told reporters after the decision. Extending the project has been a politically sensitive issue for the incumbent Labor Party, which was seen as hostile to gas when it took power but has since warmed to the industry. The decision was delayed until after a state election in Western Australia and a federal poll won decisively by Labor, which took seats from the environmentalist Greens, who had strongly opposed extension of the project. A regional diplomatic bloc of 18 countries, the Pacific Islands Forum, is backing Australia's bid to co-host the U.N.'s Conference of the Parties COP31 climate summit next year, with a decision seen imminent, despite some critical views. Before the project decision, Talia had called for Australia to block the extension if it wanted to co-host COP31 with the Pacific. After the decision, Vanuatu Climate Change Minister Ralph Regenvanu called the extension "a slap in the face" for Pacific island nations, while speaking to Australian state broadcaster ABC.
