Mayor Billy Kenoi and Sen. Daniel Inouye (Photo courtesy of the Mayor’s Office)

MEDIA RELEASE
 
Sen. and Mrs. Daniel K. Inouye spent Wedneday on Hawaii Island, starting on the Kohala coast, crossing the island to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and ending the day at the Hawaii County Building in Hilo.

Inouye started his day at the Hilton Waikoloa Village at the 30th annual conference of the National Industry Liaison Group, a group committed to equality and fairness in the workplace.

Later in the day, Inouye attended a ceremony at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to mark the launch of the new U.S. quarter depicting an eruption at Kilauea, the fourth coin in the U.S. Mint’s “America the Beautiful” program.

Inouye concluded his day on Hawaii Island meeting with Mayor Billy Kenoi and his cabinet at the mayor’s office in Hilo.

Inouye was present at Kenoi’s first cabinet meeting as a newly elected mayor four years ago, held at Cafe 100 – the Senator’s favorite Hilo eatery, named for the 100th Battalion of which Inouye was a member.

Cabinet members, the directors of Hawaii County’s departments, shared with the senator the major impact that federal funded projects have had on the island.

Hawaii County has been the recipient of lots of federal funds, getting $115 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds alone.

The $30 million Ane Keohokalole Highway project in Kona was the largest single ARRA project in Hawaii.

Other recent federal funds awarded to Hawaii Island projects include $6.2 million for the new Makalei Fire Station in Kona, more than $11 million to improve and expand the island’s Hele-On bus system to reach more people on the 4,028 square mile island, and over $24 million in grants for nearly 50 community development projects.

Kenoi worked as an intern in Inouye’s Washington, D.C. office in the summer of 1992 as Kenoi was working toward his degree in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.