LIHUE and PEPEEKEO, Hawaii—Kauai swept both ILWU statewide softball tournaments held in 2004—the 49th Annual Fast-pitch Tournament held in Kapaa on May 15 and the 19th Annual Slow-pitch Tournament held in Pepeekeo on September 25.

Kauai Coffee beat Oahu’s Weyerhaeuser 23-9 and Hawaii’s Mauna Lani 7-1 in round-robin play to earn the fast-pitch championship this spring.

Led by the tremendous pitching of tournament Most Valuable Player Freddy Medeiros, Kauai Coffee proved itself to be the best among three very good teams.

HILO—Hawaii Division hosted the 48th Annual ILWU Mixed Bowling Tournament on Thanksgiving weekend, November 26-27, 2004. The tournament was dominated by Big Island bowlers, who made up most of the teams, although Maui Division sent several good teams to participate.

After two days of bowling at Hilo Lanes, participants were treated to an awards banquet held at the ILWU’s Harry Kamoku Union Hall. The tournament committee prepared a delicious buffet, and arranged for live music by local group “Smooth".

KEKAHA—How many championships make a dynasty? If they haven’t reached that goal yet, the Mauna Lani basketballers are on their way with an 8th consecutive title at the ILWU statewide tournament.

The 23rd annual ILWU state basketball tournament was held at the Kekaha High School Gym on Friday and Saturday, December 3 and 4, 2004.

Union members in Hawaii made their votes count and their voices heard in the 2004 elections. They worked extra hard to elect candidates who shared their views and would best represent their interests as workers. Volunteers made thousands of phone calls and went house-to-house to talk to fellow union members.

ILWU, you did a great job in this election. On behalf of the Local Officers, I want to thank everyone who gave their time and energy to this union’s political action program.

Union political action wins big in Hawaii, continued from page 1

None of this happened. Instead of gaining 8 seats in the House, the Republicans lost 6 seats in areas thought to be Republican strongholds. Instead of close races, most of the targeted Democrats won by huge margins. Lingle waved signs and walked house-to-house for Republican challenger Don Couch, but Maui’s Roz Baker still beat him by over 2,400 votes. Former Republican Mayor of Kauai Maryanne Kusaka was expected to give Gary Hooser the fight of his career, but Hooser ran

More than 200 pensioners from McBryde Sugar, G&R, Lihue Plantation, Kekaha Sugar, and Kauai Tourism enjoyed food, fellowship, games, and political speeches at Kauai Division’s annual pensioner picnic on September 11. 

Pensioners reflected in a moment of silence for our brothers and sisters who have passed on and all those who perished in
the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

LANAI CITY—“I believe this Labor Day celebration on Lanai is a tremendous success,” said Maui Division Director Willie Kennison. “And we must thank the unit officers and stewards on Lanai who worked so hard to make it a reality.”

Longshore

Hawaii longshore employers and the union are involved in an unique, cooperative effort to educate workers and help prevent the spread and use of crystal meth (also known as ICE). ICE is a very addictive form of methampetamine which has been crystallized and is smokeable. ICE is a growing and serious problem in Hawaii.

Kauai

On Kauai, the big win was Senator Gary Hooser’s blowout of former Republican Mayor Maryanne Kusaka. Hooser received 16,274 votes to Kusaka’s 8,270 votes—almost a two to one margin. This was another race expected to be close because of
Governor Lingle’s personal involvement and Republican efforts to target and defeat Hooser.

Hermina Morita (House District 14) Kapaa and Hanalei, also targeted by the Republicans, won re-election by a comfortable
margin of 1,376 votes.