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Ka`u News Briefs, Wednesday, August 21, 2013

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Ka`u High Girls Volleyball team won the BIIF championship last year and hopes to do the same in 2013, with the first
 game on Aug. 27.  Photo from Ka`u High School
KA`U HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS VOLLEYBALL is getting a lot of attention from area news media this morning. Both West Hawai`i Today and Hawai`i Tribune Herald describe the Trojans as a team to watch during the upcoming Big Island Interscholastic Federation season. One headline declares "For once, Ka`u is the hunted." Reporter Matt Gerhart points out that the team's attitude is that ''life after Marley is going to be just fine." The story refers to Marley Strand-Nicolaisen, last year's star of the girls Trojan volleyball team. After graduating, she has moved on with a full scholarship to University of Hawai`i-Hilo for her freshman year, along with a smaller scholarship from Ka`u Chamber of Commerce. Another star, lost to graduation, is Kaila Olson.
Some Ka`u High players have traveled to the mainland to compete in USA
Volleyball with the Moku O Keawe team.
     The story points to rising stars on the 2013 Ka`u team, including 6-foot tall Toni Beck, who is moving into Strand-Nicolaisen's middle blocker position. She played for the Trojans last year when it won its first BIIF championship in Ka`u High's history. The story by Gerhart quotes a number of the Ka`u girls volleyball players. It reports junior setter Kerrilynn Domondon saying, "We're going to show everybody. Some people think Marley did everything. We're going to show this year that we can win." The West Hawai`i Today story quotes Beck saying, "I think there's a lot of pressure because we won last year that we have to do it again. But I guess that pressure is motivation. I just need to get it done." Other team members include Kamalani Fujikawa, Sky Kanakaole-Eperson and Jernest Breithaupt-Louis.
     According to the story, coach Joshua Ortega says that the team could be even better defensively this year, and points to the skills of Breithaupt-Louis and Beck, Beck is moving from offense to defense. In July, she traveled to Ft. Lauderdale, FL to play in a USA Volleyball High Performance tournament with the team called Moku O Keawe. Last year, she traveled with the same team to Des Moines, Iowa. Among their mentors is the U.H.-Hilo volleyball coach.
     The first game of the season for Ka`u Girls Volleyball is Tuesday, Aug. 27 at Lapahoehoe High. The Trojans play at Hawai`i Preparatory Academy on Friday, Aug. 30, at Pahoa on Wednesday, Sept. 4, at home against Parker School on Saturday, Sept. 7, at home against East Pac on Wednesday, Sept. 11, at home against Konawa`na on Saturday, Sept. 14, at Hilo High on Tuesday, Sept. 17, at Kealakehe on Saturday, Sept. 21, at home against Kamehameha on Wednesday, Sept. 25, at home against Kohala on Saturday, Sept. 28, at home against Waiakea on Wednesday, Oct. 2, at Honoka`a on Saturday, Oct. 5, at home against Kea`au, Wednesday, Oct. 9, at home against Makua Lani on Saturday, Oct. 12, followed by BIIF championship play and the state tournament.

Ka`u Coffee Growers Cooperative members voted to let the state own the name
Ka`u Coffee. Photo by Geneveve Fyvie
WHO OWNS THE NAME KA`U COFFEE? Ka`u Coffee Growers Cooperative members recently voted to defer ownership of the name Ka`u Coffee to the state Department of Agriculture. Like Kona, the name would be held by the state and no one entity would be allowed to use to sell coffee using the name Ka`u Coffee other than coffee actually grown in Ka`u. Ka`u Farm Bureau President Chris Manfredi who has been an owners' manager for most of the Ka`u Coffee Growers cooperative member's coffee lands for years, said he registered Ka`u Coffee under his own name last October, in order to protect it for the farmers and offered to turn it over to the cooperative during the meeting.   However, Ka`u Coffee Growers Cooperative members said they are not the only coffee growers in Ka`u and not the first. There are Ka`u Coffee growers who are members of at least one other cooperative. There are also  Ka`u Coffee growers unaligned with any coffee cooperative.
     In 1894, Papa J.C. Searle started growing Ka`u Coffee between Na`alehu and Pahala. He was the ancestor of Meryl Becker of Aikane Plantation Coffee Co., which continues the Ka` Coffee family legacy. A Kona newspaper in the late 1800s said that Ka`u Coffee would someday compete with Kona Coffee. More than 100 years later, the prediction has come true.
     Ka`u Coffee growers can write to the state Department of Agriculture and ask that the name Ka`u Coffee be protected by the state for the benefit of the Ka`u Coffee industry. The chair is Russell Kokubun, who lives in Volcano and has farmed there. Write Office of the Chairperson, Hawai`i Department of Agriculture, 1428 S. King St. Honolulu, HI 96814. Email Russell.S.Kokubun@hawaii.gov.
     During the 2012 legislature a number of Kona Coffee farmers wanted the state to protect the authenticity of regional coffees by maintaining state government oversight and mandatory certification of coffee from the region in which it is grown. Despite protests from the Kona Coffee Farmers Association, the state abandoned required certification. Proponents of leaving the oversight up to the market, said the state could not afford inspectors and that inspections were taking too long, holding up the market. To address origin, Hawai`i Farmers Union United is planning to ask the 2014 Hawai`i Legislature to require accurate labeling for all products claiming to have origin in Hawai'i, said David Case, President of the local chapter of the organization. 

Eva Lee talks about the art, science and business of growing tea.
Photo by Julia Neal
GROWING TEA IN KA`U incubator locations are being sought through a U.S. Department of Agriculture and Kohala Center program. Program leader Eva Lee, of Tea Hawai`i & Co., gave a workshop last weekend at Pahala Plantation Managers House, drawing some 40 people interested and backyard and commercial tea production. She said that she is open to helping start incubator tea nurseries where area residents could volunteer to care for the keiki and obtain young tea plants for their own production.       
      Locations have already been suggested in Wood Valley above Pahala, and in Wai`ohinu and Ocean View. The kind of tea being promoted for production in Ka`u is not the ti plant used in Hawaiian ceremony, dance and imu. It is the drinking tea plant, Cameellia sinensis, which produces white, green oolong and black tea. Lee said it can grow in a wide range of altitudes, soil conditions and rainfall. It needs water, but can grow in shade or sun. All of the elements bring variety of taste to the tea, even from one crop to the next. She said that when volcanic ash blows onto her own Volcano tea farm, a tea that tastes rich in minerals emerges.
Diana Aki performs Wednesday in Volcano.
Photo by Jay Robinson/NPS
    Mature tea plants take years to become productive and Lee said she will help prospective farmers budget for the cost of preparing land, supporting the tea plants with nutrients, the cost of water and marketing.
     When asked whether tea could be interspersed with coffee, she said that she would recommend it only if the coffee is grown organically. She said it is not a matter of whether you support organic farming or farming. Buyers want tea produced without chemicals, she said, and chemicals applied to coffee could blow onto the tea plants.
     Whether growers sell tea to a big marketer or create their own brands is up to the farmers, their skills and interests, Lee said. For more, see www.teahawaii.com.
DIANA AKI performs today at 6:30 p.m. in a free program at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park Park entrance fees apply.

KA`U AGRICULTURAL WATER COOPERATIVE DISTRICT meets at Royal Hawaiian Orchards Macadamia Field Office in Pahala Thursday at 4 p.m. For more information, call Jeff McCall at 928-6456.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALA PLANTATION COTTAGES.COM AND KA`U COFFEE MILL.COM. KA`U COFFE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.
ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/KAUCALENDAR.


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Ka`u News Briefs, Thursday, August 22, 2013

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A tiger shark attack led to the death of a visitor yesterday. While the attack was on Maui a week ago, Punalu`u and other lifeguard
 stations are on alert. Photo from Wikipedia
THE EFFORT TO REDUCE RISK OF SHARK ATTACKS is taken up in a memo from the state Department of Land & Natural Resources as a German tourist lost the fight for her life. Her death yesterday follows a shark attack that took her arm a week ago in waters near Maui. Since then, lifeguards at Punalu`u and elsewhere have been on the lookout.
     “DLNR is paying close attention to the recent series of shark incidents statewide,” said William Aila, the agency’s chairperson. “These appear to be random events involving sharks of different species and different sizes. There’s nothing we can yet discern that connects the incidents or provides any sort of explanation.”
     In 2013, there are eight incidents, including four in the last month. Four occurred on Maui, three on the Big Island, and one on O`ahu. In 2012, there were ten confirmed, unprovoked shark incidents, the highest number ever recorded. Six occurred on Maui.
     Last year, Aila asked University of Hawai`i researchers to submit a proposal to specifically study tiger shark movements around the main Hawaiian Islands.
  The results, he said, will help determine whether any management options should be considered. The study, led by Dr. Carl Meyer, will begin next month at a cost of $186,000 over two years.
      Said Aila, “As we look at numbers of incidents per year over the last two decades or so, we see a lot of variation from year to year, including years with no incidents or just one incident. Recently, there’s been an average of about three or four incidents per year. But every few years there’s a little spike, and we’ve now seen an unprecedented spike.” These spikes in activity occur worldwide, he noted.
       “Historically, October through December are the months when the rate of shark incidents increases,” Aila said. “This is part of traditional Hawaiian knowledge, reinforced by our own statistics. So we urge people to be extra cautious, and follow our suggestions for reducing the chances of being bit.
      “Remember that sharks play an important role in marine ecosystems, and the ocean is their home. We’re the visitors. Going into the ocean is a wilderness experience. There are animals out there that can hurt you. The chances of something like that happening are incredibly small, given how many people are in the water every day. There are precautions you can take to make those chances even smaller,”  said Aila. The DLNR recommends:
The DLNR suggests people swim in teams and stay out of murky waters.
Photo from Wikipedia
    Swim, surf or dive with other people, and don’t move too far away from assistance; stay out of the water at dawn, dusk and night, when some species of sharks may move inshore to feed; realize that sharks, especially tiger sharks, have been known to bite people any time of the day or night; and do not enter the water if you have open wounds or are bleeding in any way. Sharks can detect blood and body fluids in extremely small quantities.
     The DLNR also recommends: Avoid murky waters, harbor entrances and areas near stream mouths (especially after heavy rains), channels or steep drop-offs; do not wear high-contrast clothing or shiny jewelry. Sharks see contrast very well; refrain from excessive splashing; keep pets, which swim erratically, out of the water; do not enter the water if sharks are known to be present and leave the water quickly and calmly if one is sighted. Do not provoke or harass a shark, even a small one.
      Other cautionary measures: If fish or turtles start to behave erratically, leave the water; avoid swimming near dolphins, as they are prey for some large sharks; remove speared fish from the water or tow them a safe distance behind you; do not swim near people fishing or spear fishing; stay away from dead animals in the water; and swim or surf at beaches patrolled by lifeguards and follow their advice.

KA`U COFFEE SEASON has begun with most of the initial picking in the Pear Tree area where there is more sun and the coffee seems to ripen earlier than at Cloud Rest in Moa`ula. Ka`u Coffee Growers Cooperative president Gloria Camba said this morning that the production on the trees looks very promising - similar to last year. The one thing the coffee farmers won’t know until they harvest, she said, is how much the coffee cherry borer may have affected the total production in Ka`u. Ka`u farmers have been working hard to prevent the borer from taking over farms like it did in Kona. Protection involves keeping fields cleaned from cherry on the ground and fallen or pruned branches and preventing trucks, boots and clothes that have been in berry borer territory from coming onto uninfested Ka`u farms without being cleaned.
Miss Ka'u Coffee candidates picked coffee last spring. The next season is getting
underway. Photo by Nalani Parlin
      In Ka`u, another risk is theft. Some theft has already been reported and farmers are on the lookout for thieves who may be taking Ka`u Coffee to Kona, Camba said. Police are investigating. Coffee buyers, sellers and transporters are required to keep records on any coffee they are moving and selling, showing where they bought the coffee. Inspectors can ask to see those records when they are investigating coffee theft. Officer Dane Shibuya has taken particular interest in such cases.

KA`U COFFEE FARMERS have the state Department of Agriculture behind them in getting paid in a timely fashion this upcoming coffee season. Regulations little known to Ka`u Coffee farmers, who have sometimes waited six months to more than a year before being paid, require buyers to pay within 30 days, unless farmers sign a contract for a different length of time. Farmers owed money can notify the state Department of Agriculture, which can investigate each case and warn or fine the coffee buyer. Fines are up to $5,000 per day per non-payment for each batch of coffee purchased. Late payers can also be charged with a misdemeanor and face a $1,000 fine and up to a year in prison.
     The regulations not only cover coffee but also other agricultural products. The regulations are listed under Hawai`i Administrative Rules, Title IV, Dept. of Agriculture. Rules also apply to coffee bought on commission. Buyers must pay for the coffee sold on commission within ten days after the coffee is sold, according to the regulations. Ka`u Coffee farmers have had problems with buyers from Kona and elsewhere not paying on time, particularly when the industry first started.

Tiare-Lee Shibuya is representing Ka`u Coffee throughout the island.
Photo by Julia Neal
MISS KA`U COFFEE TIARE-LEE SHIBUYA has been busy representing Ka`u Coffee at island events and schools. Her schedule, since being named the coffee queen in late April, has included teaching ti leaf lei making to elementary school students, hula class and participating in a May Day event, helping with a health fair at Kamehameha School, participating in both the Na`alehu and Volcano Independence Day parades, giving out college scholarships on behalf of the Ka`u Chamber of Commerce, starting the Volcano Rain Forest Runs last weekend and joining in the Ho`olaulea at Ocean View last Saturday. She has also volunteered at the Tropic Care free health clinics, put on by military reserve units and with cleaning up Hwy 11 and Punalu`u Pond with the O Ka`u Kakou community organization.

KA`U’S COUNTY COUNCIL MEMBER BRENDA FORD announced today that she will hold a Talk Story session on Monday, Sept. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at Pahala Community Center. The first item on the agenda will be the naming of the new Ka`u Gym & Disaster Shelter. She said she has received requests to name the gym after former principal Laurence Capellas and wants to hear from the community about this and other ideas. She also said she is open to discussing any other community issue.
     Capellas is known among older Ka`u residents for launching numerous school sporting teams, raising money and volunteer labor for school facilities, and encouraging Ka`u students to work hard for their dreams.

New Hawaiian Homes Commissioner
Wallace Ishibashi
WALLACE ISHIBASHI, Jr., has been appointed to the Hawaiian Homes Commission by Gov. Neil Abercrombie to fill the East Hawai`i seat. A retired full time officer of ILWU Local 142, Ishibashi is known in Ka`u for his membership in the Big Island Community Coalition which registered opposition to the `Aina Koa Pono plan to build a refinery up Wood Valley Road and use brush, trees and crops from Ka`u to feed the microvave factory to make biofuel to be hauled to Kona to burn in a power plant. Ishibashi and the the Big Island Community Coalition launched their opposition based on the projected increase in electric bills.
Riflery competition begins for Ka`u High on Aug. 31.
Photo from Ka`u High School
      Ishibashi is University of Hawai`i - Hilo’s cultural monitor for the Office of Mauna Kea Management and also spends time as a business agent, contract and benefits negotiator, workers compensation specialist, and youth basketball and baseball coach. He also chairs the Hawai`i County Windward Planning Commission.

KA`U High AIR RIFLERY COMPETITION begins on Saturday, Aug. 24 under coach Lori Koi. The first competition is at Waiakea Gym. All matches are held on Saturdays: Aug 31 at Kamehameha; Sept. 7 at Waiakea; Sept. 14 at Kamehameha; Sept. 21 at Konawaena; Sept. 28 at Kamehameha; Oct. 5 at Waiakea; and the finals Oct. 12 at Konawaena.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK. 







Ka`u News Briefs Friday, August 23, 2013

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`Imi Pono No Ka `Aina helped during a recent Hawai`i Wildlife Fund cleanup of anchialine ponds in Ka`u.
Photos from Megan Lamson
PRESERVATION OF ANCHIALINE PONDS along the Ka`u Coast received islandwide publicity this morning in West Hawai`i Today and the Hawai`i Tribune-Herald newspapers. The story covered a trek by writer Carolyn Lucas-Zenk, who accompanied Hawai`i Wildlife Fund and state conservation workers to the coast of Wai`ohinu. 
      The writer describes Catherine Spina, Megan Lamson, Nohea Ka`awa, Kaila Olson, Stacey Breining and Lauren Kurpita tending to an anchialine pond, removing nonnative plants, like seashore paspalum and limu. Lucas-Zenk describes Spina sinking “waist deep into the doughnut-shaped anchialine pool in coastal Wai`ohinu, carefully guiding the ‘Muck Sucker’ along the bottom. This underwater vacuum uses a trash pump to suck up excessive sediment, leaf litter and other organic matter — all of which are fouling the unique brackish water ecosystem.” The writer reports some volunteers hand-pulling the invasive plants while others floated in a kayak to gather and remove limu.
Pete Dacalio, Sheylyn Silva, at left, and Taylor
Libarios remove debris from an anchialine pond.
       “Over the past five years,” reports Lucas-Zenk, “Hawai`i Wildlife Fund has removed nonnative vegetation in and around the Ho`onoua anchialine pool complex, which includes two large pools and one small pool within 1,400 acres of shoreline in southeast Hawai`i Island. For decades, this debris has accumulated to create a thick layer of anoxic muck that severely degrades the habitat for native wildlife, said Lamson, Hawai`i Wildlife Fund projector coordinator.”
      The story reports Lamson saying that conditions of the pools are improving, with opae (shrimp) and native plant populations increasing. “Ilima papa (Sida fallax), makaloa (Cyperus laevigatus) and ahuawa (Cyperus javanicus) have taken root and are thriving in spots where volunteers removed Christmasberry, sourbush and lantana. Akulikuli (Lycium sandwicense) has sprouted from dried sediment beds created from pumping out pools. The coverage of native seagrass has also increased, Lamson said.”
     The story also reports that fountain grass has been removed from15 acres near the pools by a crew from the Hilo branch of the state Division of Forestry & Wildlife. “Visiting birds, including the akekeke (ruddy turnstone), kolea (Pacific golden plover) and aukuu (black-crowned night heron), have been spotted at the pools,” Lucas-Zenk reports.
     Funding includes a Hawai`i Fish Habitat Partnership grant for $22,300 from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, a $10,000 donation from Dolphin Quest Hawai`i and a $25,000 grant from Hawai`i Community Foundation. “This work would not be possible without support of the Division of Forestry and Wildlife DOFAW and continued volunteer efforts from individuals and groups such as `Imi Pono No Ka `Aina, Big Island Substance Abuse Council, and the Ka`u Interact Club,” Lamson said.
      Anchialine Pool Workdays are scheduled Monday and Tuesday. For information about how to support HWF’s restoration efforts or to volunteer, contact Lamson at 769-7629 or meg.HWF@gmail.com.
      See westhawaiitoday.com and wildhawaii.org.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Power grids are becoming increasingly irrelevant, according to a story
in Bloomberg Business Week.
POWER GRIDS’ DAYS ARE NUMBERED, according to a BloombergBusinessWeek headline published yesterday. The story by Chris Martin, Mark Chediak and Ken Wells states: “There are 3,200 utilities that make up the U.S. electrical grid, the largest machine in the world. These power companies sell $400 billion worth of electricity a year, mostly derived from burning fossil fuels in centralized stations and distributed over 2.7 million miles of power lines. Regulators set rates; utilities get guaranteed returns; investors get sure-thing dividends. It’s a model that hasn’t changed much since Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. And it’s doomed to obsolescence.” 
     The “doomed to obsolescence” is the opinion of David Crane, a Princeton-based CEO executive of a wholesale power company. “What’s afoot is a confluence of green energy and computer technology, deregulation, cheap natural gas and political pressure that, as Crane starkly frames it, poses “a mortal threat to the existing utility system.” He says that in about the time it has taken cell phones to supplant land lines in most U.S. homes, the grid will become increasingly irrelevant as customers move toward decentralized homegrown green energy. Rooftop solar, in particular, is turning tens of thousands of businesses and households into power producers. Such distributed generation, to use the industry’s term for power produced outside the grid, is certain to grow,” the Bloomberg BusinessWeek story says.
      When circulating the story in Hawai`i, Life of the Land executive Henry Curtis asks whether the local utilities will “understand and adapt, or collapse and perish?” Life of the Land has been arguing the case against building the proposed `Aina Koa Pono refinery off Wood Valley Road. The proposal is before the state Public Utilities Commission. See puc.hawaii.gov. Docket number is 2012-0185.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Beginning computer classes are offered at Pahala Public & School
Library next month.
KA`U PUBLIC LIBRARIES ARE OFFERING BEGINNING COMPUTER CLASSES for people who have little or no experience with computers. Classes are taught at Pahala Public and School Library, and are free and open to the public. Each class is 45 minutes long, beginning at 11 a.m. 
      Computer Basics are scheduled Friday, Sept. 6 and Friday, Sept. 13. Participants learn the basic parts of a computer, how to use a keyboard and mouse, and how to create a simple document using word processing software.
      Internet Basics is the topic Friday, Sept. 20. Prerequisite is Computer Basics or prior knowledge of mouse and keyboard use. Participants learn about Web browsers and navigating a Web page. If time allows, we will also perform a basic search and print our results.
      The final class, Library Resources Overview, takes place Friday, Sept. 27. Prerequisite is Computer Basics or prior knowledge of mouse and keyboard use. Topics include how to search the library’s catalog, check individual library accounts and request books. Students also learn about some of the many other free electronic resources the Hawai`i State Public Library System has to offer.
      Sign-up is required for each session. Call 939-2442 at least 48 hours prior to the class.
      A limited number of free one-on-one classes with a staff member at Na`alehu and Pahala Libraries are also offered upon request, depending on staff availability.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

THE KA`U TROJAN FOOTBALL SCHEDULE IS SET for fall, launching the fast paced eight-man format. Led by Coach Kainoa Ke, the first game is at home in Ka`u against Seabury Hall from Maui on Friday, Sept. 6 at 6 p.m. On Friday, Sept. 20, the Kealakehe Waveriders come to Ka`u for a game at 6 p.m. On Saturday, Sept. 28, the Kamehameha Warriors host Ka`u. On Saturday, Oct. 5, the Moloka`i Farmers host the Trojans. On Friday, Oct. 25, Ka`u travels to Kealakehe to play the Waveriders, and on Friday, Nov. 8, Moloka`i Farmers come to Ka`u for the Trojan Homecoming and Senior Night game, beginning at 6 p.m. 
      The annual Trojan Steak Fry takes place on Thursday, Nov. 7 on the Ka`u campus.
      The Trojans are fundraising for their October trip to Moloka`i. To donate to the Trojan team, call athletic director Kalei Namohala at 928-2012.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Bowling is a popular fall sport at Ka`u High. Shown is the 2012 team.
Photo from Ka`u High School
KA`U HIGH SCHOOL’S BOWLING TEAM begins play on Saturday, Aug. 24 against Kealakehe at Hilo Lanes. Trojans go up against St. Joseph’s and Kamehameha at Hilo Lanes on 
      Saturday Aug. 31. The Trojans play Pahoa Wednesday, Sept. 4; Konawaena Saturday, Sept. 7; Waiakea and Kea`au Saturday, Sept. 14; and Hilo High Wednesday, Sept. 25.
      Big Island Interscholastic Federation championships are the Individual Bowl on Saturday, Sept. 28 and Team Bowl on Saturday, Oct. 12. Hawai`i state finals on O`ahu on Saturday, Oct. 26.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

VOLCANO WINERY has announced its first Harvest Festival, which will take place on Sunday, Sept. 15 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Pre-sale Tickets are $25. The event includes Hawaiian and popular music with Lito Arkangel, heavy pupus and wine.
      Volcano Rotary Club will sell hulihuli chicken. Those who come will be able to tour the farm and winery. Call 967-7772 or see volcanowinery.com.

HULA IS FEATURED AT HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK today and tomorrow, with programs at the hula platform near Volcano Art Center Gallery. Halau Kahula O Nawahine Noho Pu`ukapu, under the direction of kumu hula Ana Nawahine Kahoopii, performs at Sunset Hula this evening at 6:15 p.m.
      Kumu Leilehua Yuen and Manu Josiah present a 50-minute narrated demonstration of the preparation, protocol and offering of traditional hula and chant tomorrow at 10:30 a.m.
      In conjunction with the program, hands-on cultural demonstrations take place from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the VAC Gallery porch.
      Programs are free. Donations are welcome, and park entrance fees apply.

Volcano Art Center celebrates Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park's
97th birthday Sunday.
A GUIDED HIKE ABOUT THE PEOPLE & LANDS OF KAHUKU takes place tomorrow from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Kahuku Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The 2.5-mile, moderately difficult hike over rugged terrain focuses on the area’s human history.

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE BIRTHDAY IS SUNDAY, with special offers at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Park entrance fees are waived. 
      Volcano Art Center Gallery is extending a special gift to its patrons – an extra five percent off all purchases over $97. The gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
      Kilauea Military Camp offers an open house so visitors can experience how KMC serves our troops by enjoying all facilities and services. Call 967-8371 for more information.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND
KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.
ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/KAUCALENDAR.

Ka`u News Briefs Saturday, August 24, 2013

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Halau Kahula O Nawahine Noho Pu`ukapu performed at Volcano Art Center's Sunset Hula in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park
yesterday. It was the last in a series of sunset hulas for this year as the days grow shorter. Photo by Julia Neal

HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK RANGERS and a helicopter pilot rescued a 76-year-old man early Friday morning who got lost near Pu`u Huluhulu in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park the previous day, reported Jessica Ferracane, of Public Affairs.
      Zigui Yuan, 76, of China, spent an uncomfortable and chilly night on an old lava field after getting lost near Pu`u Huluhulu cinder cone, where there is little or no cell phone reception.
Rough lava terrain dominates the Pu`u Huluhulu
area where a visitor got lost. Photo from NPS
      His wife, Paulili Yuan, reported him missing yesterday at 8 p.m. She told rangers that the couple and a female friend had been hiking together Thursday morning, when Mr. Yuan separated from the group at the Pu`u Huluhulu trailhead and headed east toward Napau Crater. The two women returned to the trailhead junction at the Mauna Ulu parking lot at 11:30 a.m. and waited for the man.
      At approximately 7 p.m., Mr. Yuan attempted to contact his wife by phone, but the call failed. The women then drove to Thurston Lava Tube and reported him missing to park ranger John Moraes.
      Rangers Moraes and John Broward executed a search in the vicinity of Pu`u Huluhulu in the dark, using powerful handheld spotlights to illuminate the rough lava landscape, while ranger Andrew Sanford patrolled Chain of Craters Road for the missing man. At 1 a.m., the search was suspended until daybreak.
      A ground and air search was launched at daybreak. Helicopter pilot David Okita spotted Yuan approximately 660 feet southwest of Pu`u Huluhulu. Okita and park ranger Jon Maka`ike landed and retrieved Yuan. He was cold, dehydrated and exhausted, but had no major injuries and declined further medical treatment. Yuan was reunited with his wife at 6:30 a.m. yesterday.
      Yuan, who speaks very little English, told rangers through his wife that he kept hiking across the sharp, jagged lava until it became dark and he could no longer see the rock pile trail markers. He took shelter against the wind in a small depression in the old lava flows and waited for daylight.
      “Mr. Yuan made the right decision to hunker down for the night,” said Broward, Search and Rescue coordinator at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. “This area is riddled with unstable ground, hidden earth cracks, deep craters and sharp, brittle lava. He could have been seriously injured if he continued trying to find his way out in the dark.”
      Park rangers remind visitors that the best way to avoid potentially serious incidents is to plan ahead and prepare. A full range of hiking tips and other safety-related information is available on the park’s website, nps.gov/havo, and by asking park rangers.
      This was the park’s 14th SAR incident this year. There were 26 SAR incidents in 2012.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Michael Titterton, CEO of Hawai`i Public Radio,
rolled out plans for Ka`u and thanked Wendell
Kaehuaea for establishing KAHU for the south
end of the island.
HAWAI`I PUBLIC RADIO REPRESENTATIVES came to the Big Island yesterday to roll out their future plans, with Ka`u on the agenda. Michael Titterton, CEO of HPR, thanked Wendell Kaehuaea for his role in establishing KAHU community radio in Ka`u. One of the highlights of Titterton’s talk at `Imiloa Astronomy Center was the acquisition of the license for KAHU radio – the last link in its broadcasting system statewide. He talked about HPR’s role in “creating community.” He said earlier that the long-term plans are for local original programming from such remote places as Ka`u and Hana on Maui. 
      Titterton said that HPR2 programming will be broadcast under the KAHU license from Ka`u, eventually with a reach as far as Hilo and South Kona. He explained that KAHU will go back on the air within about three weeks with the same reach that it had when it went off the air in late April.
      He also said that HPR has launched a campaign to raise $140,000 to $150,000 for facilities on the Big Island. The KAHU equipment will eventually be moved to one or more communications towers to give it the reach from Ka`u through Puna to Hilo and to South Point and South Kona. He discussed the geographical challenges of broadcasting in Ka`u with its mountainous terrain and valleys. Wendell Kaehuaea, who provides content to public television, filmed the presentation. They both said that the new arrangement will restore emergency broadcasting messages to Ka`u and beyond.
      For more on Hawai`i Public Radio, see hawaiipublicradio.org.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Dr. Dexter Hayes sponsors Denyse, whom she
visited in Rwanda this summer.
HELP FOR UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN in Rwanda is one of the missions of Dr. Dexter Hayes, of Ka`u Hospital & Rural Health Clinic. She said yesterday that she is sponsoring two children in Rwanda where she traveled this summer to visit Denyse, an 11-year-old girl she has sponsored for five years. She visited Denyse in Kagali, the capital of the Rwanda, and showered her with gifts, including a swimsuit, Hilo Hattie’s dress that matches hers and some flip flops from Hawai`i. 
      While visiting the Compassion International Child Development Center in Kigali, Hayes decided to sponsor another child, seven-year-old Ketia. Hayes said that many of the families she met in Rwanda use walking and bicycling as their main transportation, with many women toting children on their backs and cargo on their heads. She visited the hill country and took in the local dance, music and demonstrations of crafts and arts. The physician was presented a wooden tray with the inlayed message, “I will never forget you.”
      Rwanda was the scene of a brutal tribal war some 20 years ago, leaving many orphans and generations of people trying to rebuild their country. Hayes visited a genocide museum with the names of some 250,000 people slaughtered in the area, many of them children. She also saw people dressed up and walking in groups to a soccer stadium where the current president Paul Kagame was to give a speech. She said that Rwandans were shy to talk about different tribes, as the country wants to prevent another blood bath of tribal warfare. She noted that Rwanda is the country known for preservation of mountain gorillas.
Dr. Dexter Hayes said Rwandan families take pride in their simple homes
and enjoy their culture.
      Hayes described the hill country as beautiful but immersed in poverty. However, the people, as humble as they are with thatched roofs and dirt floor in their houses, seem to care for their homes and keep them clean. They are happy, friendly and love their culture, Hayes reported.
      Hayes said she also supports youth seeking higher education, having recently sponsored a young woman’s education to become a lab tech in Rwanda. Other sponsorships for Hayes have included a boy in Brazil, whom she began sponsoring eight years ago.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

GOVERNOR NEIL ABERCROMBIE INVITES HAWAI`I to join in the Let Freedom Ring 50th anniversary commemoration. A half-century to the minute after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his historic I Have a Dream speech, Abercrombie invites the people of Hawai`i to “ring a bell” at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28 as part of a worldwide commemoration. The governor also requests that places of worship, government buildings and all facilities in Hawai`i with the capability join in this gesture.
     The King Center and the 50th Anniversary Coalition called on governors of the 50 states and all people and organizations across the world to help culminate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. King’s speech.
Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his I Have a Dream speech 50 years
ago Wednesday. Image from mlkdream50.com
      “Half an ocean and a continent separate Hawai`i from the National Mall, but we are no less impacted by Dr. King’s remarkable words that day,” Abercrombie said. “Here in the Aloha State, our diversity defines us and remains a source of great strength and beauty rivaling the natural wonder of these islands. However, we are reminded, even today, that prejudice and injustice persist. The fulfillment of Dr. King’s legacy of hope, unity and freedom depends on our choices and actions beyond this single day of remembrance, extending to every day of our lives.”
      King Center CEO Bernice A. King stated, “We are calling on people across America and throughout the world to join with us as we pause to mark the 50th anniversary of my father’s I Have a Dream speech with Let Freedom Ring bell-ringing events and programs that affirm the unity of people of all races, religions and nations. My father concluded his great speech with a call to ‘Let freedom ring,’ and that is a challenge we will meet with a magnificent display of brotherhood and sisterhood in symbolic bell-ringing at places of worship, schools and other venues where bells are available from coast to coast and continent to continent.”
      For more information about the 50th anniversary commemoration, visit mlkdream50.com.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Kamalani Salmo-Stacy helped at a recent anchialine
pond cleanup. Photo from Megan Lamson/HWF
HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK WAIVES entrance fees tomorrow to celebrate the National Park Service’s 97th birthday. 
      Also in the park, Volcano Art Center Gallery extends a special gift to its patrons – an extra five percent off all purchases over $97. The gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
      Kilauea Military Camp offers an open house so visitors can experience how KMC serves our troops by enjoying all facilities and services. Call 967-8371 for more information.

HAWAI`I WILDLIFE FUND SPONSORS ANCHIALINE POOL workdays Monday and Tuesday. Volunteers meet at Wai`ohinu Park at 7:45 a.m. to carpool to site. To sign up, contact coordinator Megan Lamson at kahakai.cleanups@gmail.com or 769-7629.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.








Ka`u News Briefs Sunday, August 25, 2013

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Harvesting rainwater is the topic at Tuesday's After Dark in the Park program.
Photo from Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park
A PROGRAM TO TRAIN FAMILY MEDICINE RESIDENTS, with the hope that they will stay and build their careers on the Big Island in areas including Ka`u, is looking forward to its first class next year. “Having a local residency on the Big Island is a game changer for us in Ka`u because 85 percent of those trained locally stay and practice locally,” Sen. Josh Green said this morning. 
        A story in today’s Hawai`i Tribune-Herald reports that the family medicine residents will train at Hawai`i Island Family Health Center in Hilo beginning in July.
Sen. Josh Green
      The Primary Care Training Program has received funding from several sources and got a major boost last month when Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui released $1.8 million that the state Legislature appropriated for the program.
      “Signing that bill was a really momentous occasion,” Lori Rogers, executive director of the Hilo Medical Center Foundation, told reporter Colin M. Stewart. “I really have to thank the community. Without them, and our Big Island legislators, as well as other representatives, this wouldn’t have been signed.… Someone that we especially have to recognize is Sen. Josh Green.”
      Green, who is chair of the Senate Committee on Health, introduced the bill.
      See more at hawaiitribune-herald.com.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

The View, by Ocean View resident Wanda Aus,
graces the cover of The Directory 2013.
THE KA`U CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ART SHOW to select the cover for The Directory 2014 is set for Monday, Sept. 30 through Saturday, Oct. 5 at CU Hawai`i credit union building in Na`alehu. The theme is Ka`u. There are five categories for entries: graphic, sculpture, wood, photography, and craft. The fee is $5 per entry, and no more than three entries may come from one artist, with no more than one entry per category. All pieces must have been completed in the last 12 months and be for sale for the usual price. Entries are accepted Friday, Sept. 27 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 28 from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 
      The keiki division is for children in grades 1 through 6, one entry per keiki. Keiki categories are graphics and photos, no larger than 8.5 by 11 inches, including frames, if any. The entry fee is $1. Keiki art is not eligible for the cover of The Directory and not for sale. Only the first 60 keiki exhibits are accepted.
      The show is open to the public Monday, Sept. 30 through Thursday, Oct. 3 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday, Oct. 4 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 5 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Each day during the showing, the public may sign in and receive a ballot to vote for their favorite entry.
      A reception to view the winners and greet the artists takes place from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5, with light refreshments at the CU Hawai‘i credit union building in Na`alehu. Announcement of the adult winner of the popular vote takes place at 11:30 a.m. This art will be featured on the cover of The Directory 2014, with appropriate credit being given inside. The ballot, a numbered ticket, will also be entered into a drawing for door prizes to be held each hour, and the winner does not need to be present. Various Ka`u merchants are donating prizes.
     A panel of local artists judges entries and awards prizes in each category, including Best in Show. Each category has first-, second-, and third-place awards and, if appropriate, as many as two honorable mentions. Ribbons will be given for each of the prizes, and all first-prize winners will appear in The Directory 2014.
      Entry forms are available at local schools and merchants and at the door during art drop-off hours on Sept. 27 and 28. All entries must be picked up from the building by the artist between 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5 or between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 7.
      To donate door prizes or help with expenses, call Dallas Decker at 516-662-8789.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Jeanette Howard, at 90, is the oldest member of
Lori Lei Shirakawa's halau and was honored last
night by family, friends and community at
Pahala Plantation House. Photo by Julia Neal
NINETY-YEAR-OLD JEANETTE HOWARD was honored last night at Pahala Plantation House by community, friends and family. A native of Punalu`u, she is the eldest member in the halau of Kumu Lori Lei Shirakawa. Shirakawa said she remembers Jeanette coming to hula in 1993 when she first started teaching in Na`alehu. 
      Relatives, including members of the Akiu and Kawanui families, came from around Hawai`i and the mainland, recalling stories of days gone by. Irene Kawanui Norman said her father, Samuel Kawanui, was hired on a ship at Honu`apo when he was 16 and left Ka`u to see the world. He trained to bring pineapple barges coming from Lana`i to O`ahu. Howard was raised by the Kawanui family, she said.
      The party was a surprise, with Howard being told she was going to a Keoki Kahumoku concert at Pahala Plantation House, said daughter Myra Sumida. When Howard arrived, she found that the gathering of hundreds of people was for her.
      Entertainment was provided by Ernie Kalani, friends and family.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

WITH SIX GAMES SCHEDULED, THE KA`U HIGH TROJANS are leading the effort to establish eight-man football on this island. The tradition of the community going to the Ka`u High football field to cheer on the students and socialize will continue, with three of the games scheduled at home.
      Seabury Hall comes to Ka`u Friday, Sept. 6 for the first game of the season. Other games scheduled include Kealakehe Waveriders at Ka`u Friday, Sept. 20 and Ka`u at Kamehameha Saturday, Sept. 28. The Trojans then travel to Moloka`i to play against the Farmers Saturday, Oct. 5. Ka`u goes to Kealakehe Friday, Oct. 25, and the Moloka`i Farmers come to Pahala for the Trojan Homecoming and Senior Night game Friday, Nov. 8.
      Eight-man football is considered appropriate for smaller high schools and particularly for fast-running athletes with passing and interception skills. There are fewer tackles in the game, and it is higher scoring with fewer injuries.
      Regular 11-man football was cancelled before school started, when Ka`u could not come up with the 30 players required by Big Island Interscholastic Federation. Further complicating Ka`u continuing with 11-man play was the risk of weathering fines of $1,600 per each away game should Ka`u be unable to come up with enough players. Reductions in players usually comes from injuries, which are more likely with a small team playing both offense and defense. They can also come from players unable to meet academic standards.
      Head coach is Dwayne Kainoa Ke. Darrel Shibuya and Donavan Emmsley are among the other coaches.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Many of the Ka`u Trojan cross country competitors shown here in 2012
return this fall. First meet in this Saturday, Aug. 31 at Kamehameha.
Photo from Ka`u High School
THE KA`U HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY team begins its season this Saturday, Aug. 31 at Kamehameha School in Kea`au, under the leadership of Coach Erin Cole. Competition continues on Saturdays at Hawai`i Preparatory Academy, Sept. 7; Waiakea, Sept. 14; Konawaena, Sept. 21; Hawai`i Preparatory Academy, Sept. 28; Kamehameha, Oct. 5; and Kea`au High School, Oct. 12, followed by Big Island Interscholastic tournament and state tournament finals.

TODAY IS THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE’S 97th birthday, and Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park waives entrance fees to celebrate. Also in the park, Volcano Art Center Gallery extends a special gift to its patrons – an extra five percent off all purchases over $97. The gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Kilauea Military Camp offers an open house so visitors can experience how KMC serves our troops by enjoying all facilities and services.

HAWAI`I WILDLIFE FUND SPONSORS ANCHIALINE POOL workdays tomorrow and Tuesday. Volunteers meet at Wai`ohinu Park at 7:45 a.m. to carpool to the site. To sign up, contact coordinator Megan Lamson at kahakai.cleanups@gmail.com or 769-7629.

Trish Macomber
HARVESTING RAINWATER IS THE TOPIC Tuesday at 7 p.m. at After Dark in the Park. The practice has been going on for centuries all over the world, with rainwater being used for a variety of purposes including domestic water supply. As global warming and growing populations increase the demand on our limited fresh water supplies, more and more places are turning back to the ancient practice of harvesting rain. Atop Kilauea volcano, rainwater collection is the standard way of life and is promulgated by the National Park Service. 
      University of Hawai`i’s Trisha Macomber, author of Guidelines on Rainwater Catchment Systems for Hawai`i, presents a number of options for insuring safe, clean drinking water for the future. Guests will receive all the free rainwater they can drink.
      The program takes place at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. $2 donations support park programs, and park entrance fees apply.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/KAUCALENDAR.

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Ka`u News Briefs Monday, August 26, 2013

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Projects such as the one proposed by `Aina Koa Pono to harvest plants and grow feedstock in Ka`u and produce biofuel at a refinery above Pahala may not be able to compete with other energy sources, according to
Civil Beat's Sophie Cocke. Photo by Julia Neal
“THERE ARE SIGNS THAT BIOFUELS may not be able to compete with other energy sources,” reported Sophie Cocke in today’s Civil Beat. “Yet, the utility could be locked into long-term commitments to buy the fuel at a fixed cost.”
      According to Cocke, “Amid growing pressure from the Hawai`i Public Utilities Commission to reduce electricity rates, HECO has stated in its new long-term energy plans for O`ahu, the Big Island and Maui County, that it will pursue liquefied natural gas, retire oil-fired generators that involve costly upkeep and solicit lower-cost wind and solar energy sources. In a changing energy landscape, where there’s a new emphasis on consumer cost, it’s not clear how biofuels will fit in.”
      Currently before the state Public Utilities Commission is the proposed 20-year contract for `Aina Koa Pono to sell biofuel to the electric utilities. The PUC may decide to deny the contract or hold an evidentiary hearing as requested by Hawai`i County and Life of the Land.
      AKP plans to harvest plants and grow feedstock in Ka`u to produce biofuel at a refinery above Pahala.
      The first AKP contract was rejected by the PUC three years ago when commissioners said the price of the fuel was too high and not in the best interest of consumers.
      According to Cocke, “AKP and HECO negotiated the price of the project down by $125 million, but the fuel from that bill would nonetheless add to customer electricity bills based on current projections for the price of oil.”
      Robert Rapier, an executive at renewable energy company Merica International, told Cocke, “If electricity prices fall, I suspect we are going to get stuck.” Cocked said, “By that, he means stuck paying for fuel that carries a significant premium.”
      Biofuels have been part of the utility’s renewable energy strategy since 2008, when the state and HECO signed the Hawai`i Clean Energy Initiative, according to Cocke. “It makes for an attractive option for HECO because the ‘clean fuel’ can be dropped into the utility’s generators, just like petroleum. And local companies seeking to produce biofuel have touted the economic benefits of the energy projects, saying they will create local jobs and bolster the Hawai`i economy.
      “Tens of millions of dollars have been invested in local start-up projects, but there has been little success so far, and some of the technology remains unproven.
      “HECO signed contracts with the biofuel companies before it received any assurance that their projects would be successful in delivering the fuel. Part of it was to help stimulate a market for local biofuels.
      See more at civilbeat.com.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Kulani Prison sits on 280 acres near Ka`u's eastern  border. Photo from
Environmental Assessment for reopening the prison
THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE is seeking plans for agricultural development at Kulani Prison, which is scheduled to reopen in July 2014 after closing in 2009 due to state budget cuts. In its request for proposals, which was provided to Big Island Now by the Department of Agriculture, the state is soliciting bids to develop a program that will “utilize land surrounding the former Kulani Correctional Facility … for the purpose of increasing agricultural productivity and to serve as a rehabilitation site for inmates.”
      According to reporter Nate Gaddis, the ag development is an effort to provide inmates with “a path to career success.”
      Funding is provided from the Agricultural Development and Food Security Special Fund, and priority is given to contractors who can successfully solicit matching funds for the project.
      The deadline for RFPs is Monday, Sept. 16. Interested parties can contact Sue Sakamoto of the Agricultural Development Division at 808-973-9576 or sue.h.sakamoto@hawaii.gov.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Ocean View resident Don Elwing raises awareness of plastic marine
debris by turning it into works of art. Photo from Don Elwing
WHAT’S IN YOUR OCEAN? Ocean View artist and eco-activist Don Elwing answers this question at his art exhibit, of the same name, on Sunday, Sept. 8 at Pohue Plaza swap meet grounds from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Elwing will set up his gallery of over 40 art pieces made exclusively from marine plastic micro debris collected from the shores of Kamilo Beach, near South Point. The event will also display art from other local Ka`u and South Kona artists who are creating pieces especially for the show. Elwing will also be showing at Hawai`i Wildlife Fund’s Kamilo Beach cleanup on Saturday, Sept. 14 at Wai`ohinu Park, where volunteers meet before heading to South Point. At the show, Elwing will raffle off one or two of his art pieces.
      Elwing visits Kamilo weekly, doing his part to clean up the environment by collecting ocean debris which he turns into pieces of art. Each week he spends about 10 to 12 hours picking up trash, eight to 10 hours sorting the material and then six to eight hours cleaning it before he even begins to work on a piece.
      Elwing, a wood sculptor by trade and union carpenter, calls what he does awareness art. “Not everyone can get down there, so I bring down there to them,” he said. His pieces vary greatly from landscapes and portraits to abstracts. His most recent piece is a motorcycle, which he calls Scooter Trash. He has pieces made entirely of bottle caps and others of just bottle bottoms. He even has work that imitates sand art, but is created from thousands of tiny plastic pieces. Another piece shows just how much trash is being consumed by marine life; it is made completely of plastic bitten by fish. The marks on the plastic indicate that “it is obvious they are eating it,” said Elwing. His favorite piece, though, is called “Terminal Indigestion,” which uses plastic debris to depict an albatross, an animal known for gorging on ocean trash, and shows viewers exactly what is in its stomach.
      Growing up and living in Oregon and Alaska and then in Hawai`i for the past 30 years, Elwing has always had a close connection to the sea. “I have always lived near the ocean; a lot of my food comes from the ocean; most of my friends’ ashes are in the ocean. The ocean is my church.”
      When Elwing came to Ka`u he was deeply moved by the amount of trash washing up at Kamilo. “I cried. I had to try somehow to make a difference.” Elwing said he considers it his “kuleana” to help people understand just how much trash is in the ocean and is washing up on land. “I think people are getting it.”
      To learn more about or get involved with upcoming Ka`u beach cleanups or the Hawai`i Wildlife Fund Hawai`i Island Marine Debris Removal Program, contact coordinator Megan Lamson at 769-7629 or kahakai.cleanups@gmail.com.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

THE HAWAI`I METH PROJECT has announced its 2013 Break the Ice Art Contest, aimed at communicating the risks of methamphetamine through works of art. The contest is a way for teens to be recognized for their artistic ability while learning about the harmful effects of this drug.
      Hawai`i students ages 13 to 18 are eligible to enter the contest during the submission period of Sept. 1 through Oct. 20. Prospective entrants are asked to visit HawaiiMethProject.org and choose one of more than 350 pieces of content as direct inspiration for their artwork.
      The website includes interactive facts, videos, animations, image galleries, personal stories from users and information from experts.
      Using these tools from the website, teens can create a visual work of art in any style and medium, with the goal of influencing how people across the state view this harmful and detrimental drug.
      Specific rules and guidelines for the contest along with samples from last year’s competition can be found at the website.
      Judging will be based on how well the artist portrayed his or her meth prevention message, as well as for its artistic merit and creativity. Submissions will be evaluated on thought, planning, artistic effort and creativity. Winners will be announced at the end of November.
      The Hawai`i Meth Project is a nonprofit organization that implements large-scale, research-based campaigns and community action programs to reduce methamphetamine use in the state.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Harvesting rainwater is the topic at After Dark in the Park tomorrow.
Photo from Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI`I’S TRISHA MACOMBER, author of Guidelines on Rainwater Catchment Systems for Hawai`i, is guest speaker at tomorrow’s After Dark in the Park program. Macomber presents a number of options for insuring safe, clean drinking water for the future. Guests receive all the free rainwater they can drink.
      The program takes place at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park at 7 p.m. $2 donations support park programs, and park entrance fees apply.

HA`AO SPRINGS AND MOUNTAIN HOUSE Agriculture Water Cooperative meets at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Wai`ohinu Park.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/KAUCALENDAR.

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Ka`u News Briefs Tuesday, August 27, 2013

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During an event in Phoenix, Ariz., judges awarded first place to this Mercedes-Benz 300S restored by
Ka`u resident Mark Passarelli, at right. Photo by Joe Iacuzzo
FOLLOWING INTRODUCTION OF A BILL by Ka`u’s County Council member Brenda Ford banning genetically modified organisms, Kohala Council member Margaret Wille has introduced a new version of her own bill. Wille had withdrawn her original bill earlier this month and said she would work on a new one.
Ka`u's Council member Brenda Ford picking coffee.
      Ford told Tom Callis, of Hawai`i Tribune-Herald, that “once she (Wille) withdrew the bill against my advice, I said, ‘That’s it. I don’t know if she will do it again.’ I can’t trust that. I’m getting a tremendous amount of pressure from the anti-GMO contingency.”
      While Ford’s bill would ban all outdoor GMO crops, Wille’s new bill would allow GMO papaya to be grown. Both bills call for a $100 GMO crop registration fee and penalties of up to $1,000 per day per violation, according to the story. Ford’s bill includes an option of up to 30 days in jail, Callis said.
      Although an agenda has not yet been released, the Public Safety & Mass Transit Committee will consider the measures and hear public testimony Wednesday, Sept. 4 at 1:30 p.m., according to the story.
      See more at hawaiitribune-herald.com.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

New pesticide labels intend to protect bees. Photo from All About Feed
IN AN ONGOING EFFORT TO PROTECT BEES and other pollinators, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has developed new pesticide labels that prohibit use of some neonicotinoid pesticide products where bees are present. 
      “Multiple factors play a role in bee colony declines, including pesticides. The EPA is taking action to protect bees from pesticide exposure, and these label changes will further our efforts,” said Jim Jones, assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.
      Kathleen Johnson, EPA’s Enforcement Division director for the Pacific Southwest, said, “The proper use of pesticides is critical for the protection of honeybees and the crops that depend on them for pollination. We will be working with our state partners to ensure the pesticides subject to these new labeling requirements are applied correctly.”
      The new labels will have a bee advisory box and icon with information on routes of exposure and spray drift precautions. Today’s announcement affects products containing the neonicotinoids imidacloprid, dinotefuran, clothianidin and thiamethoxam.
      The EPA will work with pesticide manufacturers to change labels so that they will meet the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act safety standard.
      In May, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and EPA released a comprehensive scientific report on honeybee health, showing scientific consensus that there are a complex set of stressors associated with honey bee declines, including loss of habitat, parasites and disease, genetics, poor nutrition and pesticide exposure.
      The agency continues to work with beekeepers, growers, pesticide applicators, pesticide and seed companies, and federal and state agencies to reduce pesticide drift dust and advance best management practices.
      The EPA recently released new enforcement guidance to federal, state and tribal enforcement officials to enhance investigations of bee-kill incidents.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Ka`u School Community Councils begin meeting next month.
SCHOOL COMMUNITY COUNCILS will soon start meeting for the fall semester. The first meeting for Na`alehu School will be on Thursday, Sept. 5 at 3 p.m. in Room 35. Ka`u High & Pahala Elementary will hold its first meeting on Monday, Sept. 16 at 4 p.m. in the SCC room near the main office. Elections are expected soon for officers of both School Community Councils. 
       According to the Hawai`i State Department of Education School Community Council Handbook, procedures to implement school community councils include the following:
  • Principals and Complex Area Superintendents must actively support School Community Councils by providing the necessary resources to recruit, elect, educate, run and renew their Councils. 
  • School leadership must welcome participation in the process by demonstrating the values and skills that facilitate inclusion of all members. 
  • School Community Councils must keep their attention on student achievement by focusing their work on the development, support and monitoring of the school’s Academic and Financial Plan. 
     The handbook states that School Community Councils are a major part of the overall leadership structure at each school. They are a group of people who are elected by their peers to advise the principal on specific matters that affect student achievement and school improvement. Their primary role is to participate in the process that ensures that the needs of all students are specifically addressed in the overall education plan for the school. They review and make suggestions for the Academic and Financial Plan, a document that highlights the goals for the school, the programs and the available resources to reach these goals.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Ocean View Baptist Church provided school supplies at its annual
Back to School Bash July 20. Photo from Connie Landry
OVER 400 BAGS OF SCHOOL SUPPLIES and 400 pairs of slippers were given out at Ocean View Baptist Church’s annual Back to School Bash July 20 at Ocean View Community Association Center. “This helps meet the needs of a lot of families in Ocean View,” said Pastor Mike Landry. “Our church has a desire to ease the financial burden of our families in Ocean View. It is difficult for families to provide all the supplies needed for their children for school and especially hard for our larger families. “We know the importance of education and enjoy helping the children get off to a good start with the supplies that are needed.” 
      To make the day special for the keiki, there was shave ice, hot dogs and inflatable bounce houses. Many area businesses provided door prizes that were a great hit with everyone. “Dr. Madd” entertained with science experiments that taught good life lessons for everyone in attendance.
      Pastor Landry thanks the church, local business sponsors and parents who brought their children to participate in this event.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Passarelli restored this 300SL Gullwing coupe, the first to break the
million-dollar barrier at auction. Photo from Joe Iacuzzo
KA`U RESIDENT MARK PASSARELLI is recognized around the globe for his expertise and craftsmanship in the world of classic Mercedes-Benz.  Passarelli’s shop in Ka`u, Hale Merced, is home to several classic Mercedes-Benz restoration projects. He most recently completed a 280SL roadster for the president of the Tori Richard company. Passarelli’s cars have won many awards, been featured in books and magazines and have even been used in advertisements by Mercedes Benz.
      Last week at the Pebble Beach, Calif. Concours d’Elegance, the premier classic automobile event held in North America, Passarelli’s work once again set an auction record for value. A 1963 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster that Mark restored several years ago sold for over $1.3 million. Last year, a 300SL Gullwing coupe restored by Passarelli was the first to break the million-dollar barrier, selling for $1.4 million.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Trisha Macomber
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI`I’S TRISHA MACOMBER, author of Guidelines on Rainwater Catchment Systems for Hawai`i, presents a number of options for insuring safe, clean drinking water for the future at this evening’s After Dark in the Park program. Guests receive all the free rainwater they can drink. 
      The program takes place at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park at 7 p.m. $2 donations support park programs, and park entrance fees apply.

GOVERNOR NEIL ABERCROMBIE INVITES KA`U to join in the worldwide Let Freedom Ring 50th anniversary commemoration and “ring a bell” tomorrow at 3 p.m., a half-century to the minute after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his historic I Have a Dream speech. The governor also requests that places of worship, government buildings and all facilities in Hawai`i with the capability join in this gesture.

HA`AO SPRINGS AND MOUNTAIN HOUSE Agriculture Water Cooperative meets at 4 p.m. tomorrow at Wai`ohinu Park.

NA`ALEHU PUBLIC LIBRARY OFFERS free, family-friendly movies for all ages every Thursday at 2:30 p.m. For more information, call 939-2442.

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Ka`u News Briefs Wednesday, August 28, 2013

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Yellowfin tuna are subject to increasing contamination from mercury spewed into the air by Asian factories and landing in
Hawaiian waters. Photo from Wikipedia
FRESH FISH are the pride of Ka`u kitchens and fishermen, but contamination by mercury could be a growing concern, according to new research by University of Hawai`i scientist Brian Popp. Popp is a professor at U.H.-Manoa, specializing in geophysics and geology. His study, in collaboration with University of Michigan, was published this week by Nature Geosicences Journal.
          It states that much of the mercury in Pacific Ocean going fish, like ahi, ono and opah, apparently comes from air pollution from coal-fired factories in China, India and other Asian countries where industrialization is rapid. As industrialization increases, the mercury is expected to continue rising in the Pacific. The trend is counter to mercury in the Atlantic, which is declining with stricter emissions standards in Europe and the U.S. Other mercury sources from such events as big wildfires may be more frequent with global warming.
Opah, also called Moon Fishn is susceptible to a mercury buildup.
Photo from Wikipedia
       How does the mercury get into the fish? The mercury rises from the factories and fires and is carried by the wind until it falls onto the ocean surface or comes down during rain. In the water the mercury is consumed by plankton, which are eaten by small sea creatures, small fish and larger fish, up the food chain. By the time they are caught by fishermen, the concentrations can be so significant that health departments recommend eating ahi, ono and opah only once in every two weeks. Health departments also recommend limiting the consumption of mahimahi, skipjack tuna, grouper cod and canned tuna to no more than once a week. Shark, marlin and swordfish are also on the warning list, particularly for pregnant women who are warned not to consume them at all.
        It was a 2005 University of Hawai`i research project that showed island women with three times more mercury in their umbilical cord blood after delivering babies than women giving birth on the mainland.
         The U.H. study of the mercury in local fish measured mercury isotopes in nine species caught in Hawaiian waters— swordfish, mahimahi, opah, and skipjack, bigeye and yellowfin tuna. It also examined two kinds of lanternfish and flying fish. The readings linked mercury in the fish to the air.
      A story in the Los Angeles Times this morning reported: “That doesn't mean people should avoid fish, which is also one of the more healthful meal options a person can choose, health officials said. ‘Everybody's going to get exposed to it,’ Alfred E. Asato, a chemical response laboratory coordinator with the state Department of Health, said Tuesday of mercury.”
      “Over decades ‘it's almost impossible to isolate a single toxic element with all the diseases,’ he said. ‘There are so many potential causal effects, causations for the various symptoms of diseases.’" 
Pollution clouds coming from India contain mercury
that floats over the Pacific and drops into the
food chain in the Hawaiian waters
Photo from Wikipedia
      Another aspect of the study found a higher concentration of mercury in fish living in deeper water than surface fish. It concluded that sunlight destroys 80 percent of mercury near the surface, leaving the mercury that sinks below the surface for the deeper living fish to consume.
    The scientists concluded that the way to control mercury in the Pacific is to call for industrializing countries to enact and enforce stricter air pollution laws. See more research at www.nature.com/nego.

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS have led a salary commissioner for Hawai`i County to resign, according to a story yesterday's Honolulu Star Advertiser. Gloria Wong told the reporter that “she’d never before been required to disclose information about her income, stock ownership or other financials,” the newspaper reported.
      The story said she served on boards on O`ahu that did not require such disclosures. Star Advertiser reported her saying, “You see a lot of vacancies on these boards. Why do people not sit on these boards and commissions? Maybe that’s one of the questions that should be asked.”
      The story pointed out that Hawa`i County has 35 active boards and commissions and that several of them “often cancel meetings for lack of a quorum, and Mayor Billy Kenoi finds himself recycling members from board to board to fill holes.” Kenoi, however, “ has seated more than 220 people during is term,”  the story reported. See more at www.staradvertiser.com

HOLDING JUVENILE OFFENDERS accountable for their actions, while reducing costs to Hawai`I taxpapers is a new public safety effort by Gov. Neil Abercrombie, Hawai`i Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald, state Sen. President Donna Mercado Kim, and state Rep. Mele Carroll.
      They formed a bipartisan, inter-branch working group to analyze the state’s juvenile justice system and develop data-driven policy recommendations for the 2014 Legislature.
     “It costs a tremendous amount of money to put juvenile offenders into state custody,” Abercrombie said. “We need to take a hard look at our data, find better outcomes, and identify more cost effective ways to handle our juvenile offenders.”
      Many of the youth suffer from substance abuse addiction, mental health issues and family dysfunction. A significant number are in custody due to the lack of accessible treatment services and programs, especially on the neighbor islands, said a joint statement from the group. 
     Each commitment placement costs taxpayers more than $190,000 per year, per youth (averaging 60 youth per year). Despite this substantial cost, the majority juvenile offenders who exit the state’s correctional facilities reoffend and return within three years, the statement reports.
      “With the amount of money we spend locking up each juvenile offender and the high recidivism rates, it is clear we are not getting an adequate public safety return on our juvenile justice investment,” said Carroll, chair of the House Human Services committee. “We must focus our correctional resources on serious offenders who pose a public safety risk and we must stop the cycle of recidivism for youth who want to turn their lives around. We must also do a better job for our youth on the neighbor islands who are being sent to Honolulu due to a lack of resources in the other counties.”
      Last year, Hawai`i enacted comprehensive criminal justice legislation with the goal of improving public safety while keeping costs in check. Act 139 (SB2776) and Act 140 (HB2515) were designed to lower recidivism, increase efficiency in the adult criminal justice system, and hold offenders accountable to victims for their crimes.
      According to the statement, the new laws have shown encouraging results, with a 5 percent drop in prison population. “Building on the success of this effort, known as the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, Hawai`i will use the same data-driven and evidence-based process to analyze the juvenile justice system and further maximize its public safety investments,” the statement promises.
Coach Kainoa Ke cooks for eight-man football
Photo by Julia Neal
 The working group will receive technical assistance from The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Public Safety Performance Project. Pew and its partners have provided similar assistance to more than two dozen states, including Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Oregon, Texas and Vermont.  

FUNDRAISING FOR EIGHT-MAN FOOTBALL at Ka`u High School continues with the sale of tickets for combo plate lunches with Korean Chicken/Teri Beef with a side of rice, mac salad, cake and water for $10. tickets are available from the players, coaches and parents. The chef is the coach, Kainoa Ke, known for his excellent cooking. Beef was provided by Kahua Ranch.
     Pick up is this Saturday, Aug. 31 from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. at Na`alehu Ace Hardware. Donna Masaniai is taking phone orders at 238-0505. The team is raising $11,000 to travel to Moloka`i to play the Farmers on Oct. 5. Ka`u's first game is Friday, Sept. 6 at 6 p.m. against Seaberry Hall from Maui. On Sept. 20, Kealakehe Waveriders come to Ka`u wiht a 6 p.m. kickoff. On Saturday, Sept. 28 Kamehameha Warriors host Ka`u. On Friday, Oct. 25, Trojans travel to Kealakehe and on Friday, Nov. 8, Moloka`i Farmers come to Ka`u for  the Trojans' Homecoming and Senior Game night.

KA`U HIGH TROJANS CROSS COUNTRY team begins its season this Saturday, Aug. 31 at Kamehameha School in Kea`au, under the leadership of Coach Erin Cole. Competition continues on Saturdays - first  at Hawai`i Preparatory Academy, Sept. 7; Waiakea, Sept. 14; Konawaena, Sept. 21; Hawai`i Preparatory Academy, Sept. 28; Kamehameha, Oct. 5; and Kea`au High School, Oct. 12, followed by Big Island Interscholastic tournament and state tournament finals.

HA`AO SPRINGS AND MOUNTAIN HOUSE Agriculture Water Cooperative meets at 4 p.m. today at Wai`ohinu Park.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK. 
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Ka`u News Briefs, Thursday, August 29, 2013

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Ka`u `Ohana Band, under the leadership of Cynthia Decker, is one of many programs offered by Ka`u School of the Arts, which is rolling
 out its fall schedule. Photo by Julia Neal
NO IMMEDIATE SPECIAL SESSION on considering the legalization of gay marriage in Hawai`i is likely at the Hawai`I Legislature, according to a report in this morning’s Honolulu Star Advertiser. The article says that state House Speaker Joseph Souki said yesterday “that Gov. Neil Abercrombie informed him that he was not ready to call a special session on gay marriage. Souki would not say whether the House had the votes for a gay marriage bill after House Democrats met in private caucus to discuss a special session. The governor had been waiting for a House vote count before making his decision on a special session. The state Senate has the votes for a gay marriage bill,” the Advertiser story says. The governor, however, is working on his draft bill to the legislature to legalize gay marriage.

Ha`ao Springs is one of the sources for water being
developed for agriculture. Photo by Elaine Klitgaard
HA`AO SPRINGS & MOUNTAIN HOUSE AGRICULTURAL WATER COOPERATIVE is moving forward, after its meeting yesterday. The cooperative plans to provide ag water to areas in the watershed. Workdays to prepare the pipeline path from the source to areas makai take place this Friday and Saturday. Meet at Wai`ohinu Park at 9 a.m., prepared for three hours of work. Participants should bring a machete, food and water.
     The state Department of Agriculture is providing funding to renovate old plantation tunnels and establish water lines to farms and ranches between Kapapala Ranch, to Wood Valley, above Pahala, to Na`alehu and Wai`ohinu.

ELECTIONS ARE COMING UP for Community School Council leaders at Na`alehu School. The first meeting of the Na`alehu SCC is Thursday, Sept. 5 at 3 p.m. in Room 35. Two candidates have launched campaigns and submitted statements to The Ka`u Calendar newspaper:
      Kathryn Tydlacka is running for Student Community Council parent representative. Her statement says: “Kathryn Tydlacka has been a highly effective teacher for the past 15 years. She holds a masters degree in education administration and specializes in classroom turnaround focusing on helping traditionally low-achieving children. Her success in dramatically increasing students' academic achievement has been well documented for over a decade. She has received high praise from numerous principals,
Kathryn Tydlacka
superintendents, and most importantly--students. 
As the SCC parent representative, Kathryn will assist with developing the academic/financial plan by introducing proven strategies that will greatly increase academic achievement as proven by her students' unprecedented performance in the 2012-2013 school year. 
Voting for Kathryn will put in place a highly-qualified, passionate educator who is not afraid to advocate for the children and families of Ka'u. 
Thank you for your vote!”
Vanessa Ott
   Vanessa Ott is running for Student Community Council community representative. Her statement says:  “I have lived in Na‘alehu since 2006, and was a teacher at Na‘alehu Elementary School for four and a half years. Prior to becoming a school teacher for high need schools, I had a long career in audio/video technology, publishing, computer technical support and training.
      “I am the product of a public education system that matured in only 21 years from a simple, country school system with no indoor plumbing, to one of the best in my childhood home state in 1972. Research has shown that successful schools are those with high parent and community involvement. The elders in my family were actively involved in the local School Board and PTA, and I had the opportunity to see firsthand how an active school community can make a school great.
      “I would like the opportunity, as the Na‘alehu SCC Community Representative, to try to create the kind of school community that fosters success for all its students. The first step will be to provide greater information sharing to parents by improving the school web site. Wouldn’t you like to have access to the weekly newsletter online? I’d also like to explore the possibility of local fund raising to finance more interpreters as well as Gifted and Talented programs for our students.
      “Having worked at NES (Na`alehu Elementary School), and attended SCC meetings for many years, I am intimately aware of the obstacles parents and community members face in building a strong and involved school community. Therefore I ask for your support and your vote. If you have any questions, contact me at: msvott@gmail.com.” 

KA`U SCHOOL OF THE ARTS introduces a Hawaiian Kahiko Program at Discovery Harbour Community Hall and a year round Ka'ū Community Chorus program at Pahala Plantation House, Old Pahala Clubhouse and Discovery Harbour Hall this fall. Ka`u School of the Arts President Bradley Grohs said, “Our programs are all about 'Ohana and are open to people of all ages and abilities. We aim to provide comprehensive programs and learning opportunities for beginners and challenging content for advanced students.”
    More than learning Hula Kahiko, the new program, led by Kumu Hula Marcia Laimana Bulosan, offers an opportunity to learn more about Hawaiian culture, dance, chant, and spiritual beliefs, through preparing costumes, making hula implements and spiritual practices, Grohs said. “It can be said in order to create the art you need to understand the culture.” The program takes place on Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Discovery Harbour Community Hall.
     Ka'ū Community Chorus, led by Bradley Grohs, will prepare music for Christmas performances as well as learn about vocal music production, reading music, sight singing, and ear training. ‘We are taking a holistic approach to singing,” Gross said. “We will be learning all genres of music from classical to current pop tunes. The chorus meets on Mondays at 6:30-8:30pm, Discovery Harbour Community Hall and on Wednesdays at 6 p.m., starting Sept. 4 at Pahala Plantation House, with the alternative location at Old Pahala Clubhouse.
      Ka`u School of the Arts’ Creative Exploration Program plans a Creativity Day later this fall. “We hope that our vendors from our past Spring and Fall Fling events will participate and use Creative Day as an opportunity to recruit people into their business or inspire others to start their own businesses. Economic growth and development is essential to Ka'u's future,” said Grohs.
     Country Line Dancing, led by Suzanne Brady, continues in November, meeting Thursdays at 6:30pm, Discovery Harbour Community Hall.
     Ka'ū Ohana Band, led by Cynthia Decker, practices twice a week on Wednesday and Thursdays at 4 p.m., Ocean View Community Center.
     Ka`u School of the Art’s Hawaiian Language Program, led by Zachary DeBernardi is on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m at St. Judes Episcopal Church in Ocean View.
      Those interested in these programs can call 854-1540, email info@kauarts.org, or visit www.kauarts.org.

Last year's Trojan volleyball star Marley
Strand-Nicholaisen and rising star Toni Beck.

KA`U HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS volleyball team won the Trojan’s season opener against Laupahoehoe on Tuesday at Laupahoehoe gym. Ka`u defeated Laupahoehoe 25-21, 25-11, 25-13. The next match will be played tomorrow, Friday, Aug. 30, at Hawai`I Prepatory Academy at 6 p.m.
    Meanwhile last year’s Trojan girls volleyball star, Marley Strand-Nicholaisen is working out in her new position on the UH-Hilo Vulcans women’s volleyball team.


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Ka`u News Briefs Friday, August 30, 2013

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The newly renovated Volcano House holds its grand opening celebration and an open house next Friday, Sept. 6.
Photos from Sandi Yara Communications
CONGRESSWOMAN TULSI GABBARD HAS PARTNERED with several of her House colleagues to send a letter to President Barack Obama calling for consultation with the U.S. Congress before any military intervention in Syria is authorized. 
      “The use of chemical weapons and weapons of mass destruction is atrocious and violates international norms and basic human rights,” Gabbard said. “The challenges faced by UN weapons inspectors as they gather evidence has only exacerbated this conflict that has gone on for too long, with countless innocent casualties.
      “Right now, we do not have enough facts about all facets of what is occurring on the ground, the factions involved in this civil war, and what the unintended consequences would be for U.S. military involvement. Congressional debate and approval must occur before any U.S. military action is taken, and through this process we need to have a clear-eyed view of our objectives and what the outcomes would be, understanding the impacts in Syria and those that extend far beyond Syria.”
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Marley Strand-Nicolaisen
MARLEY STRAND-NICOLAISEN “got the party started on her college volleyball career with a match-high 14 kills Thursday night, and a crowd that was fit for a carnival had ample reason to celebrate as the Vulcans swept Alaska-Fairbanks 25-18, 25-16, 25-17 before 512 enthusiastic partisans in their opener at UHH gym.” That was the lead in the story this morning by Matt Gerhart of the Hawai`i Tribune-Herald, headlined “UHH is a sweep sensation.” 
         The story said that the “biggest debut” of all the new players “belonged to Strand-Nicolaisen, who looked just as comfortable as she did when she was a two-time Big Island Interscholastic Federation player of the year at Ka`u High School. She registered her first college kills back-to-back early in the first set, and then she put down another ball and combined with Shelby Harguess on a block to get UHH off and running on an 8-0 run.”
Elijah Navarro coached Strand-
Nicolaisen for three years.
      Sports writer Gerhart quotes Vulcan coach Tino Reyes saying, Nicolaisen “didn’t play like a freshman. We knew she was athletic. I wasn’t sure what her mindset was going to be, but she came out pretty good.” She came in with eight digs, 14 kills and a .242 hitting average. See more at hawaiitribune-herald.com.
Josh Ortega was head coach
for Strand-Nicolaisen during
her senior year.
       Strand played for the Ka`u High School Trojans three years under head coach Elijah Navarro and for one year under head coach Joshua Ortega.
       Navarro said this morning that he recalls inviting Vulcans Coach Tino Reyes to see Strand-Nicolaisen play during a match with Christian Liberty in Hilo. Navarro said that “after the second year of coaching her, I knew she had the potential to play at a college level.” Reyes followed her Trojan high school career, and UH-Hilo offered her a full scholarship to play volleyball.
Vulcan coach Tino Reyes
      Navarro said there is more college-bound volleyball coming from Ka`u High. “While I am not coaching this year, I can see that there is a lot of talent on the Trojan girls volleyball team under Coach Ortega. You can certainly expect more Trojan players entertaining scholarship offers,” said Navarro.
       UHH entertains another Alaskan team on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the UH-Hilo gym, taking on University of Alaska-Anchorage. Strand-Nicolaisen is daughter of Laurie Strand and Robert Nicolaisen, of Discovery Harbour. Strand works at Ka`u High School, and Nicolaisen is famous for going fishing for poke that he provides for fundraisers at community events in Ka`u.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.


HAWAI`I POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORTS DROPS IN DUI arrests, major accidents and traffic fatalities. So far this year, there have been 820 DUI arrests compared with 907 during the same period last year, a decrease of 9.6 percent.
      There have been 878 major accidents this year compared with 948 last year, a decrease of 7.4 percent.
      There were 21 traffic fatalities on Hawai`i Island compared with 24 last year, a decrease of 12.5 percent.
      DUI roadblocks and patrols continue islandwide.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

KA`U’S FIFTH-GRADE GIRLS ARE INVITED to the 2013 Girls Exploring Math and Science program at Sheraton Kona resort and Spa at Keauhou on Thursday, Nov. 14. Last year, 30 girls from the Ka`u school district attended the GEMS program along with others from West Hawai`i. 
      Registration deadline for forms to be postmarked is Friday, Sept. 20. Forms are available at public and private schools.
      This event is sponsored by the American Association of University Women, Kona Branch, whose mission is to advance equity for women and girls through advocacy, education and research. This annual day of discovery features hands-on workshops and exhibits led by local women volunteers who work in math and science careers and who show the girls how they use math, science, and technology in their daily work. The program is designed to stimulate interest and bolster confidence of girls in these fields, as well as provide positive role models, and may also stimulate a girl’s interest in a new career goal. Some responses from fifth-grade girls from prior years as to what the girls learned are: “Girls can do science just as well as boys;” “Everyone has the power to do what they love doing;” “Why we need to protect the corals”; and “Learned not to be shy.”
      Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis, and all fifth-grade girls residing in the West Hawai`i School Complex in public, private, or home schooled are welcome. The fee is $20 per girl. Scholarships are available, and no girl will be turned away for financial reasons. Sponsorship of girls from individuals or businesses will be accepted. 
      Some of the workshop topics this year are SCUBA diving, architecture, veterinary medicine, astronomy, dentistry, land surveying, Zumba, archaeology, robotics, chemistry and culinary science. Early registrations offers best choice of workshops.
      For more information about GEMS, to sponsor a girl, or to request a registration packet, call Laurel Gregory at 969-8833 or lgregory@hawaii.edu.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Volcano House rooms offer views of Halema`uma`u cater.
VOLCANO HOUSE IN HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK holds its grand opening and an open house next Friday, Sept. 6. “Festivities are open to the public and celebrate the successful completion of a multi-million dollar renovation and restoration as well as showcase the ‘new’ Volcano House,” said general manager Rudy Fao. 
      The following activities are free and open to hotel guests, visitors to Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park and the community:
  • Open House, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Coffee and cookies will be served in the lobby. 
  • Music by Rupert Tripp, Jr. at the Pa Hula, 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. 
  • Hula `Auana by Kupuna at the Pa Hula, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. 
  • One-hour History of Volcano House interpretive walks, 11 a.m., 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. 
  • Guest room tours 12 p.m. – 3 p.m.
      History of Volcano House interpretive walks start at Kilauea Visitor Center and end at Volcano House. The walk is led by a Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park ranger.
      Volcano House is Hawai`i’s oldest hotel, welcoming visitors since 1877. The hotel in use today was built in 1941 and expanded in 1961. It is managed by Hawai`i Volcanoes Lodge Company, LLC and operates under contract with the National Park Service. Hawai`i Volcanoes Lodge Company, LLC is an affiliate of Aqua Hospitality, a Hawai`i-based management company founded in 2001 and Ortega Family Enterprises, headquartered in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
      Parking is available on site and at Kilauea Visitor Center. Park entrance fees apply. 
      For more information about Volcano House visit hawaiivolcanohouse.com or call 1-866-536-7972.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

SCHOOL COMMUNITY COUNCIL for Ka`u High and Pahala Elementary School holds its first meeting Monday, Sept. 16 at 4 p.m. at the SCC room on campus. The officers who will serve during the fall and face elections next spring are June Domondon, Parent Representative; Rory Koi, Parent Representative; Betty Clark, Community Representative; Dennis Elwell, Community Representative (alternate); Joy Hohnstine, Certificated Staff Representative Recorder; Angela Miyashiro, Certificated Staff Representative Chairperson; Josephina Wroblewski, Classified Staff Representative; Terrie Louis, Classified Staff Representative; Toni Beck, Student Representative; Sharon Beck, Principal.
      Parents, teachers, staff, students and community members are invited to become involved with the future of the Pahala campus schools.

Bow hunting is offered at Pohakula Training Area this
weekend. Photo from PTA
ARMY OFFICIALS ARE OPENING SEVERAL TRAINING AREAS for bow hunting within the Pohakuloa Training Area 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday. 
      Training Areas 10 and 11, as well as the northern portion of Training Area 2 (on the Mauna Kea side of new Saddle Road), will be open for bow hunting of mammals only. Hunters are allowed one pig, one goat and one sheep per day, in keeping with state bag limits. Shooting sheep with blue collars is not permitted.
      All hunters must check in and check out at either Kilohana on Saddle Road between mile markers 43 and 44 or Pu`u Huluhulu at the intersection of Mauna Kea Access Road and Saddle Road. Check out no later than 7:30 p.m. each day.
      Hunting passes will be provided at the check-in stations beginning at 5 p.m. today. These passes must be signed and placed on the vehicle’s dashboard.
      For more information, call PTA’s Hunter’s Hotline at 969-3474, visit garrison.hawaii.army.mil/pta and click on the “Hunting” tab, or refer to instructions on the hunting pass.

IN KA`U HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS, Trojans travel this weekend, with girls volleyball team at Hawai`i Preparatory Academy today. Tomorrow, cross country goes to HPA, and air riflery goes to Kamehameha. Bowling against St. Joseph/Kamehameha takes place tomorrow at Hilo Lanes.
      Trojans’ new eight-man football team plays its first game a week from today, against Seabury Hall.

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Ka`u News Briefs Saturday, August 31, 2013

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New & Old. Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park Ranger Travis Delimont stands outside the 1877 Volcano House, now
Volcano Art Center, which was relocated to its present location in 1921. NPS Photo Art by Jay Robinson
HAWAIIAN ELECTRIC COMPANY, Hawai`i Electric Light Company and Maui Electric Company have issued a request for proposals for the supply and delivery of up to 150,000 barrels of ultra-low-sulfur diesel and/or biodiesel and/or biodiesel blends per year for up to three years, with delivery beginning Jan. 1, 2015. The fuel would be used for power generation on the Big Island, O`ahu and in Maui County.
      The RFP states that potential suppliers who may not be able to supply 150,000 barrels per year may propose smaller volumes within their range of capacity.
      Hawaiian Electric spokesman Peter Rosegg told Dave Smith, of Big Island Now, that the proposal is designed to accommodate the utilities’ short-term needs. The biodiesel would likely be used at HELCO’s Keahole plant until biodiesel becomes available from `Aina Koa Pono, whose proposed 20-year contract with the utilities to produce up to 16 million gallons of biofuel per year at a refinery above Pahala is currently being considered by the state Public Utilities Commission.
      Submission deadline for the proposals is Oct. 15, with the goal of submitting a proposed contract to the PUC for approval by December.
      Information about the RFPs is available at hawaiianelectric.com/fuels.
      See more at bigislandnow.com.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

IN AN EFFORT TO PROVIDE animals for consumption to the public following animal control activities to be conducted by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Forestry and Wildlife, carcasses taken during scheduled aerial shoots will be available for salvage at prescribed locations to the those with permits. However, there is no guarantee that animals will be able to be salvaged, according to a statement from DLNR.
      Due to expected high public participation, telephone call-ins to the Kamuela Office at 887-6063 for receiving salvage permits will be conducted from 9 a.m. Sept. 18 to 10 a.m. the day before each shoot day. One permit will be issued per call per vehicle for one day only. Applicants can have their names added to a stand-by list for additional days, should all slots not be filled by other applicants. No standbys waiting at the gates will be allowed access. The driver, occupants, vehicle license plate and make/model of vehicle are needed when calling in. A maximum of 15 permitted vehicles will be allowed at the Pu`u Ko`ohi location and 10 permitted vehicles at the Kaluamakani location.
      DLNR will conduct animal control activities – specifically, trapping mouflon/feral sheep hybrids, staff hunting, and/or aerial shooting from helicopters – within Palila Critical Habitat in the Mauna Kea Forest Reserve (Unit A), Palila Mitigation Lands, and Ka`ohe Game Management Area (Unit G) for feral goats, feral sheep, mouflon and mouflon/feral sheep hybrids.
      Controls are scheduled on Oct. 1, 2 and 31; Nov. 1; and Dec. 19 and 20.
      Public access to Mauna Kea Forest Reserve, Palila Mitigation Lands, Kaohe Game Management Area and Mauna Kea Hunter Access Road will be restricted and allowed by permit only for animal salvage purposes on the following dates:
  • 7 a.m. Oct. 1 – 7 p.m. Oct. 2 
  • 7 a.m. Oct. 31 – 7 p.m. Nov. 1 
  • 7 a.m. Dec. 19 – 7 p.m. Dec. 20. 
      According to a statement from DLNR, “Aerial shooting is required for compliance with the federal court order mandating the removal of sheep and goats from critical habitat for palila, a bird endemic to Hawai`i.”
      Copies of the map illustrating the area subject to aerial shooting on these dates are available for inspection at DOFAW’s office.
      For additional details regarding meat salvage or access permits, contact DOFAW in Hilo at 974-4221 or in Kamuela at 887-6063.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

A proposal calls for temporarily trucking trash from Hilo to Puuanahulu
landfill. Photo from Big Island Video News
KA`U’S COUNTY COUNCIL MEMBER BRENDA FORD is skeptical about a proposal to temporarily truck trash from Hilo to West Hawai`i’s Puuanahulu landfill, according to a story in Hawai`i Tribune-Herald. “They’ve been trying to send Hilo garbage to Kona for two decades,” Ford told reporter Nancy Cook Lauer. “They would love nothing better than to truck Hilo garbage with their fire ants and coqui frogs. We don’t want their pests.” 
      Ford responded to a proposal by Hilo Council member Dennis Onishi asking for an exemption to the county’s ban on the trucking trash from Hilo to Kona. The trash would be used in a new cell at Puuanahulu to create a bottom layer of soft garbage devoid of material that could pierce the lining and lead to leachate.
      See more at hawaiitribune-herald.com.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Members of Hala Hula O Leionalani are fundraising for their October trip
to Lana`i's cultural festival. Photo by Julia Neal 
HALAU HULA O LEIONALANI raised about $600 with a recent bread sale and is looking for more support from the Ka`u community to help send the hula sisters to Lana`i’s cultural festival in the first week of October. The halau practices at the Old Pahala Clubhouse and is a regular participant at Ka`u Coffee Festival each year, hosting dancers from the other islands and Japan to celebrate Ka`u coffee. 
      Kumu hula is Debbie Ryder, who became a kumu under the tutelege of the late George Na`ope. One of the signature hulas of the halau, which they will dance on Lana`i, is Na`ope’s composition Ka Nani a o Ka`u.
     The halau will take the direct flight from Hilo to Kahului, Maui, the Speedy Shuttle to Lahaina and the ferry to Lana`i. Dinners and accommodations will be provided on Lana`i. In addition to performing, the halau will walk up Mauna Lai, Lana`i’s only valley where taro is grown, and participate in a chanting ceremony in the nearshore waters, similar to the ceremony held at dawn at Punalu`u during Ka`u Coffee Festival week this year.
      To donate, call Keisha Enitan at 339-2423.
      To comment on this story or “Like” it, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

POHAKULOA TRAINING AREA IS OFFERING bow hunting opportunities today and tomorrow from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m.
      Training Areas 10 and 11, as well as the northern portion of Training Area 2 (on the Mauna Kea side of new Saddle Road), will be open for bow hunting of mammals only. Hunters are allowed one pig, one goat and one sheep per day, in keeping with state bag limits. Shooting sheep with blue collars is not permitted.
      For more information, call PTA’s Hunter’s Hotline at 969-3474, visit garrison.hawaii.army.mil/pta and click on the “Hunting” tab, or refer to instructions on the hunting pass.

History of Volcano House is a new guided walk offered by rangers at
Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Photo from hawaiivolcanohouse.com
HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK RANGERS are interpreting the history of Volcano House, one step at a time. A new, one-hour guided walk takes visitors on an anecdote-filled journey through the various incarnations of Volcano House, which “officially” began in 1846 as a grass house on the rim of Kilauea Caldera. 
      Visitors can participate in the new trek starting Fri., Sept. 6, during a public open house of the hotel, which celebrates the grand opening of the property following a multi-million dollar renovation. Dubbed History of Volcano House, the walk is offered at 11 a.m., 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. The walk and open house are free; park entrance fees apply.
      Ranger Travis Delimont, who developed the program as a way for visitors to understand and appreciate the hotel’s past and present, includes a stop at a halau near the Kahua Hula, similar to the 1846 structure. Then it’s a short walk to the 1877 Volcano House that today serves as Volcano Art Center. Along the way, visitors learn about colorful characters and stories that punctuate the hotel’s history. The program ends at the “new” 1941 Volcano House.
      “Volcano House hotel has always captivated people, Delimont said. “Its rich and eclectic history has contributed to the personality of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park today. There are many interesting stories and characters along the way, and we want to share them with everyone.”
      The walk is offered at various times throughout the week. Check the bulletin board outside Kilauea Visitor Center after 9 a.m. for daily hikes and programs.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.  

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Ka`u News Briefs Sunday, September 1, 2013

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The population of humpback whales in the Northern Pacific Ocean may be declared no longer endangered, based
on a study being conducted by NOAA.
NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION is reviewing the status of the North Pacific humpback whale as an endangered species, according to an Associated Press story. 
      The Hawai`i Fishermen’s Alliance for Conservation and Tradition, Inc. filed a petition in April seeking to have NOAA Fisheries classify humpback whales in the northern Pacific Ocean as a distinct population and then declare that the population is no longer endangered.
Humpback whales migrate to Hawaiian waters each winter to breed.
Photo from fish-journal.com
      According to the story by Audrey McAvoy, NOAA will study the issue for the next year.
      “We find that the petition viewed in the context of information readily available in our files presents substantial scientific and commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted,” states NOAA’s notice published in the Federal Register.
      The humpback whale was listed as an endangered species in 1970 under the Endangered Species and Conservation Act of 1969, which was later superseded by the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. 
      NOAA stated, “We find that the petition viewed in the context of information readily available in our files presents substantial scientific and commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted.”
      To ensure that the status review is comprehensive, NOAA is soliciting scientific and commercial information pertaining to this population from any interested party. Submissions identified by NOAA-NMFS-2013-0106 can be made at regulations.gov or sent to Office of Protected Resources, NMFS, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
      For more information, contact Marta Nammack, NMFS, Office of Protected Resources at 301-427-8469.
      See more at hawaiitribune-herald.com.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Robert Harris
SIERRA CLUB OF HAWAI`I HAS ANNOUNCED its official endorsement of Sen. Brian Schatz for the 2014 U.S. Senate election. Members and leaders of the Sierra Club cited the senator’s commitment to clean energy and long history of environmental leadership as the central reason for the endorsement and pledged to lend its volunteer strength to the Schatz campaign. The vote to endorse Schatz was unanimous. 
      “We are very pleased to announce the Sierra Club endorses Brian Schatz for Senate,” said Robert Harris, director of Sierra Club of Hawai`i. “Sen. Schatz is exactly the kind of clean energy leader Hawai`i and America need. His commitment to homegrown, clean energy is second to none. Based on his lengthy background in working to protect Hawai`i’s environment, we are confident he is the best choice to protect Hawai`i families’ health, air and water and build a clean energy economy that works for our state.”
      “I am committed to expanding Hawai`i’s clean energy sector,” Schatz said. “By working to grow our clean energy economy, we will create good-paying jobs, strengthen our national security and ensure that our children and the next generation of Hawai`i families inherit a healthy environment. I thank the Sierra Club for this endorsement and look forward to working with this organization and its membership on achieving a clean energy future.”
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

KA`U RESIDENTS ARE INVITED to participate in this week’s county government meetings via videoconferencing from Ocean View Community Association Center.
      Committees meet on Wednesday, with Governmental Relations & Economic Development Committee beginning at 9 a.m., Planning at 10 a.m., Finance at 10:30 a.m. and Public Safety & Mass Transit at 1:30 p.m.
      The County Council meeting on Thursday begins at 9 a.m.
      All meetings take place at Council Chambers in Hilo.
      Agendas are available at hawaiicounty.gov.

Lori Lei Shirakawa's Wai`ohinu halau is scheduled to perform during
HELCO's Clean Energy Fair. Photo by Julia Neal
LORI LEI SHIRAKAWA’S Wai`ohinu halau will perform at Hawaiian Electric Co.’s Clean Energy Fair. In celebration of Energy Awareness Month in October, HELCO invites Ka`u residents to the fair on Saturday, Sept. 28, at Prince Kuhio Plaza IN Hilo from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 
      Everyone in the family can explore the world of clean energy and learn how to use it wisely and safely at this free event. Through educational displays, interactive exhibits and hands-on activities, attendees can play energy games and learn about clean energy, electricity generation, power distribution, electrical safety, emergency preparedness and customer services.
      The fair also features school robotics programs, electric vehicles, photo fun and keiki IDs. Starting at 10 a.m. are performances by halau from Wai`ohinu and Lori Lei’s Hula Studio in Hilo, along with Kamehameha School Choir and the Waiakea Intermediate School `Ukulele Band.
      Concluding the fair will be the announcement of the winning student entries of Hawai`i Electric Light Co.’s My Clean Energy Hawai`i poster and poetry contest.
      Attendees who visit each of the exhibits and submit their completed Clean Energy Passport receive a gift while supplies last.
      For more information, call 969-0137.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

An exhibit of watercolors and glass art continues
at Volcano Art Center Gallery.
EVER CHANGING ISLAND, AN EXHIBITION of glass art by Hugh Jenkins and Stephanie Ross and watercolors on silk by Clytie Mead, is on display for one more week at Volcano Art Center Gallery in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Free; park entrance fees apply. 
      For more information, call 967-7565 or see volcanoartcenter.org.

KA`U PARTICIPANTS CAN LEARN COMPUTER BASICS at classes held at Pahala Public & School Library from 11 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Friday, Sept. 6 and 13. The classes cover basic parts of a computer, how to use a keyboard and mouse and how to create a simple document using word processing software during a free class.
      To register, call 939-2442 at least 48 hours before class.

TOM PEEK OFFERS WRITING FOR INNER EXPLORATION AND LIFE REFLECTION Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Volcano Art Center’s Ni`aulani Campus in Volcano Village. The workshop is for journal keepers, autobiographers, spiritual seekers, memoir and family history writers, and anyone who enjoys writing. No previous writing experience is necessary. Fee is $100 or $90 for VAC members. Call 967-8222 to register.

Kaliko Trapp-Beamer
HAKU MELE: A HAWAIIAN MUSIC SONGWRITER’S RETREAT takes place this Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Environmental Education Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Hawaiian music, language and haku mele experts Kenneth Makuakane and Kaliko Trapp-Beamer help beginning participants create original Hawaiian compositions through interactive presentations and small group sessions in haku mele and leo. 
      Makuakane is a multiple Na Hoku Hanohano Award-winner along with his longtime group, the Pandanus Club. He is a prolific songwriter, producer, musician and recording artist.
      Beamer-Trapp is the hanai son of Hawaiian cultural expert Aunty Nona Beamer-Trapp, learning about chanting, storytelling, traditional protocol, family songs, and stories. He taught at Nawahiokalaniopu`u Hawaiian Immersion School from 1997 to 2003 and now teaches Hawaiian language courses at University of Hawai`i-Hilo.
      The workshop is free and limited to 20 participants. Park entrance fees apply.
      To sign up, contact Elizabeth Bell at 985-6019 or elizabeth_bell.nps.gov.

MARLEY STRAND-NICOLAISEN continued her second day of college volleyball competition on Saturday with 21 kills and 42 swings, as University of Hawai`i-Hilo Vulcans defeated the Seawolfs from University of Alaska-Anchorage. The scores were 25-22, 26-24 and 25-0. The victory followed a Vulcan win on Thursday against the Nanooks from University of Alaska-Fairbanks in three sets, 25-18, 25-16 and 25-17. The six-foot-tall Strand-Nicolaisen, a graduate of Ka`u High School where she rose to star status, is a college freshman but played beyond her years, said coach Tino Reyes. 
      The Vulcans came up with seven aces, 40 digs and 10 block assists with a .265 hitting percentage. The home came will be followed by another this Thursday when the Vulans play East Central University at UH-Hilo at 7 p.m.

KA`U WILL TRAVEL TO ITS FIRST CROSS COUNTRY competition next Saturday at Kamehameha in Kea`au. Coach Erin Cole said, “We are excited. We have a nice group of kids who like to run.” Team members include seniors William Mitchel and Romina Sembran and juniors David Pillette and David McIntire. Underclassmen are C.J. Pajinola, Charisma Felipe, Chloe Gan, Shiela Baila-Felipe and Charlotte Esquida. “We have been doing drills, running and stretches for a few weeks, and they are looking good.” Cole said the team held off from a meet at HPA yesterday. “We got a late start, and the uniforms arrive on Tuesday. The Trojan cross country team will hold a bake sale to raise money to buy food and drink to keep up team nutrition during meets. Donations are welcome. Call Cole at 938-4037.

IN OTHER KA`U HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS this week, on Wednesday, the Trojan bowlers battle Pahoa at 1 p.m. at Hilo Lanes, and girls volleyball team travels to Pahoa for a match at 6 p.m.

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Ka`u News Briefs Monday, September 2, 2013

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Nonbinding mediation could begin in January regarding the state's failure to issue homestead awards
to Native Hawaiians.

NONBINDING MEDIATION COULD BEGIN in January as an attempt to resolve a class-action lawsuit filed in 1999 regarding the state’s failure to issue homestead awards to Native Hawaiians in a timely manner, reports Rob Perez in Honolulu Star-Advertiser
      Hawai`i Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that claimants have a right to sue for monetary damages, and plaintiffs are only those who filed claims with the Native Hawaiian Claims Panel between 1991 and 1995. The plaintiffs allege breach of trust in the management and disposition of trust resources between 1959 and 1988. Complaints included Hawaiians waiting for houselots, homes and land; some of them died while on the waiting list for decades. Other complaints include the state losing their applications, being unable to leave their homes and farms to their children and being given uninhabitable properties. Most are Native Hawaiians still on the waiting list for Hawaiian Home Lands.
DHHL has 11,312 acres in Ka`u. Map from DHHL's Ka`u Region Plan
      The Hawaiian Home Lands Trust was established by Congress in 1921 to rehabilitate Native Hawaiians by awarding them homesteads. The state of Hawai`i assumed the trust obligation when it became a state in Aug. 1959.
      In 1991, the state waived its sovereign immunity and granted Home Lands Trust beneficiaries the right to sue for past breaches of trust between 1959 and 1988. HRS Chapter 674 established a Native Hawaiian Claims Panel to consider claims and recommend resolution of claims to the state Legislature. More than 2,700 beneficiaries filed over 4,000 claims with the Claims Panel between 1991 and 1995.
      In 1999, the state eliminated the Claims Panel that reviewed breaches of trust by the state between 1959 and 1988, prompting the class-action lawsuit. The judge ruled that the claimants had the right to sue the state because the Claims Panel did not complete its work.
      The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has 11,312 acres in Ka`u. Hawaiian Home Lands in Ka`u are located in the ahupua`a of Wai`ohinu; Kama`oa, Pu`ue`o and Ke at South Point; and Wailau, Ninole and Ka`a, above Punalu`u.
      The state also own 237,410 acres managed by the Department of Land & Natural Resources.
      Other large landowners in Ka`u are Kamehameha Schools, with about 67,357 acres, and the U.S. Government, which owns more than 117,000 acres in its Kahuku section of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, making the total acreage owned by the national park in Ka`u some 246,690 acres.
      Read about the history of Hawaiian Home Lands in Ka`u, along with archaeology and the meaning of place names in the Ka`u Region Plan by Hawaiian Home Lands Trust at http://dhhl.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Kau-Regional-Plan-Draft-120323.pdf.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Sen. Brian Schatz
“PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS TAKEN THE PROPER STEP in announcing that he will seek Congressional authorization before taking military action (in Syria),” Sen. Brian Schatz said in a statement. “Congress must weigh in. And this decision should spur an important debate, allowing us to review the facts. Most importantly, this assures the country that the gravity of taking military action is weighed fully before decisions are made. I will continue to participate in briefings with the President’s senior national security advisors and reviewing relevant intelligence in order to give this decision the serious consideration it deserves.” 
      Previously, Schatz released the following statement on the situation in Syria: “The President and his National Security team have provided strong evidence that the Assad regime is responsible for the recent horrific chemical weapons attack against innocent Syrian civilians. We must send a clear message that the use of chemical weapons is abhorrent and will not be tolerated by the United States or the international community. It is important that whatever actions the United States takes in Syria are consistent with America’s long-term strategic interests and are done with as broad an international coalition as possible. I know that the President, his National Security team, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff are thinking carefully about their options in the coming days. The War Powers Act provides procedures for Congress and the President to participate in decisions to send U.S. Armed Forces into hostilities, and it is critically important that both the executive and legislative branches comply with the provisions of the Act which require Congressional consultation.”
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Videoconferencing is available at Ocean View Community Association
Center during Wednesday's county meeting on GMOs. 
HAWAI`I COUNTY COUNCIL’S COMMITTEE on Public Safety & Mass Transit considers two bills regarding genetically modified organisms Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. at Council Chambers in Hilo. Ka`u’s Council member Brenda Ford has introduced a bill calling for a total ban on GMOs except for research located in a biosafety level three containment facility, and Kohala Council member Margaret Wille has drafted a new bill after withdrawing her original one. Wille’s bill would allow GMO papaya to be grown. 
      Both bills call for a $100 GMO crop registration fee and penalties of up to $1,000 per day per violation. Ford’s bill includes an option of up to 30 days in jail.
      Ka`u residents can participate in the meeting and provide testimony via videoconferencing from Ocean View Community Association Center.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Lisa Kimura
NONPROFITS NEED A NEW BUSINESS MODEL to thrive today, according to a story by Jenna Blakely in Pacific Business News. “The old business model of applying for numerous grants and dabbling into various areas of service is not the way to run a nonprofit organization anymore,” she said. 
      Blakely suggested that one method to increase revenue is to have fundraisers. She interviewed Lisa Kimura, executive director of Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawai`i, who said grants “worked as far as maintaining existing programs, but as far as doing anything new, we can’t do that without more money.”
      Kimura said, “I think a good goal is to raise at least 15 percent of our total revenue from fundraisers.” The organization has also begun to ask people to donate.
      Collaboration and formation of partnerships are other keys to nonprofits’ success, Blakely said. She spoke to Jennifer Creed, a director at Hawai`i Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations, who said that the more nonprofits there are in the community, the more competitive funding becomes.
      See more at bizjournals.com/pacific.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

“WE ARE GOING TO MOLOKAI!” proclaims the post on Ka`u High School football’s Facebook page. Team member volunteers who have been raising money for travel required for the new eight-man football schedule express their mahalos: “Thank you to the community, families and everyone that is making this eight-man season possible. Thank you to the boys that were able to come out for a fundraiser and work your butts off: Tala`i, Nalu, Devin, Dalton, Cy, RJ, Anthony, Chance, Makana. This season is gonna be awesome….” 
      The first game for the Trojans is this Friday at home against Seabury Hall from Maui at 6 p.m.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Tom Peek, author of Daughters of Fire, offers a writing workshop
this weekend. Photo by Julia Neal
INNER EXPLORATION AND LIFE REFLECTION, a writing workshop with Tom Peek, takes place Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Volcano Art Center’s Ni`aulani Campus in Volcano Village. The workshop is for journal keepers, autobiographers, spiritual seekers, memoir and family history writers, and anyone who enjoys writing. No previous writing experience is necessary. Fee is $100 or $90 for VAC members. Call 967-8222 to register. 

A FREE HAWAIIAN MUSIC SONGWRITERS RETREAT is offered this Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Environmental Education Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Kenneth Makuakane and Kaliko Trapp-Beamer help beginning participants create original Hawaiian compositions through interactive presentations and small group sessions in haku mele and leo.
      The workshop is limited to 20 participants. Park entrance fees apply.
      To sign up, contact Elizabeth Bell at 985-6019 or elizabeth_bell.nps.gov.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

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Ka`u News Briefs, Tuesday, September 3, 2013

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Dr. Michael Domeier fell in love with Hawai`i Island years ago and moved here to continue his shark tracking studies with his
non-profit organization MarineCSI. Photo from freedive.net
A SHARK SCIENTIST, who recently moved to Hawai`i Island, is tagging tiger sharks which the public will be able to track on an app. Dr. Michael Domeier began his research before the recent attacks on Poho`iki surfer Jimmy Ulu-Boy Napeahi, who was released from the hospital last Thursday, and a German tourist on Maui who lost her arm and then her life after a week of hospitalization. Domeier told Hawai`i News Now that tracking local sharks could help with understanding their behavior. He said the recent attacks could be an anomaly and not necessarily a trend toward more aggressive shark behavior.
       Domeier and his Native Hawaiian crew tagged their first tiger shark for the project in Hawaiian Island waters in late August. The tiger is 13-feet long and weighs about 1,400 lbs. The crew named her Blue Moon when catching and releasing her outside of Honokohau Harbor. With a state Department of Land & Natural Resources representative watching, the crew attached a satellite tracking device to Blue Moon's dorsal fin. See footage on Hawai`i News Now at 
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/23320937/big-island-researcher-tagging-tiger-sharks.   
Domeier tags sharks with satellite tracking devices, which can be followed by the
public using an app. Photo from MarineCSI
     Domeier is President and Executive Director of MarineCSI, which stands for Marine Conservation Science Institute. He said that the organization was “founded on the belief that focused research can make a difference on how we view and manage our marine resources.”  He is considered an expert in the development of electronic fish tagging and for his tagging and following of the great white sharks. Domieir has a doctorate in marine biology from University of Miami and worked on the California Department of Fish & Game Marine Sport Research Project. For more than a decade, before moving to Hawai`i, he worked for non-profit marine oriented organizations, including Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research, the Society for the Conservation of Reef Fish Aggregations and the Marine Conservation Science Institute. He is also a pilot of airplanes and boats.
Great White Honey raises money to
study sharks in local waters.
       MarineCSI recently launched its app for iPhone and iPad for tracking sharks. It helps users learn more about sharks, including the ability to track satellite-tagged tigers and great whites. The app displays a map with live tracking data for the sharks tagged with real-time tracking devices, so that users can follow them at the same time as the research scientists. It is available on ITunes for $3.99. Another fundraiser for his work is the Rare Hawaiian Honey Co., which he and his wife Amy own in Kamuela.  Ten percent of the income from sales of its Great White 100% Organic Kiawe Honey goes toward funding research. See www.rarehawaiianhoney.com and www.marineCSI.org.

FARMER RICHARD HA, known in Ka`u for his opposition to a refinery and biofuel plantation planned by `Aina Koa Pono, has come out against proposed bills before the County Council that would limit the growing of Genetically Modified Organisms across the island.
    In a statement submitted to The Ka`u Calendar newspaper, Ha writes, "If passed, Hawai‘i County Council’s Anti-GMO Bills 109 and 113, submitted by (county council members) Brenda Ford and Margaret Wille and to be heard on Sept. 4, 2013 at 1:30 p.m., will have unintended and serious consequences.
     "Both bills send the wrong message to our next generation. In their actions, they imply that conventional farming is not an honorable profession. This, in turn, threatens our goal of food self-sufficiency.
     "They threaten the livelihoods of Big Island farmers. Competitors who are not on the Big Island would be allowed to use new biotechnology, but not Big Island farmers. New technology generally results in lower costs, thus this would leave Big Island producers as high-cost producers.
Richard Ha opposes GMO restriction bills that are before the County Council.
     "We are criticizing and threatening the farmers, the very people who feed us and the ones we should be encouraging to help us achieve food self-sufficiency.
     "In the old days, farmers were held in high esteem. Criminalizing farmers is a new, and ill-advised, concept. What we need now is to slow down, take a deep breath and do things in a steady, rational manner.
     "All major health and safety agencies, nationally and internationally, say there is no difference between biotech- and conventional-developed crops in terms of our health and safety.
     "We are threatening the spirit of aloha. The last round of testimony on these bills resulted in a shameful display, lacking aloha altogether. This could have been prevented with better preparation.
     "We should kill both bills and form a group – free of politics – to advise us how to proceed. This group should set a goal of figuring out how we can all work together to achieve food self-sufficiency in a way that benefits the most people. It should study economic impacts of various alternatives. It should study and report on the safety of Rainbow papayas. This group should also study the social impact of various alternatives.
     "Instead of acting and then perhaps studying, we really must study the situation first before making decisions and acting," Ha concludes.
Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui
        Ford said this morning that both GMO bills "are in Draft one and we need to discuss the bills in committee before making comments."  Ka`u Farm Bureau president Chris Manfredi recently called a meeting to discuss GMO legislation. The statewide Hawai`i Farm Bureau opposes restricting and labeling GMO's.

THE NATIONAL LIEUTENANT GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION has appointed Hawai`i's Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui to serve on a national policy committee. NLGA is the professional association providing research and issue exchange opportunities to the officeholders first in line of succession to governor in all 50 states and the U.S. territories. Tsutsui is serving as a member of the International Committee, which provides direction on opportunities for global engagement by the states’ seconds-in-command. “This role recognizes Lt. Governor Tsutsui as a point of contact and recognized expert for NLGA and to his peers,” said NLGA Director Julia Hurst.
“It is an honor being appointed to an important committee, such as the International Committee for the NLGA. Because Hawaii serves as a gateway between Asia and the Pacific, being appointed to this committee is a natural fit,” said Tsutsui. Earlier this year Tsutsui led a trade mission to the Philippines with Philippine Consul General of Honolulu Julius Torres.
     Regarding his new appointment, Tsutsui said, “I’ll be able to share my knowledge on how Hawai`i continues to work on attracting the various visitor markets and business industries to fuel our economy.”

KA`U'S CONGRESSWOMAN TULSI GABBARD recently joined 53 other U.S. Representatives with a letter to Pres. Barack Obama urging him to turn to Congress for discussion on whether to attack Syria in the wake of its use of chemical weapons that apparently killed more than 1,000 people. On Saturday, Obama asked Congress to discuss the issue and to take a vote on whether to respond militarily, following the British Parlaiment voting to restrain from joining an attack on Syria. Gabbard, herself a veteran of Middle East conflicts, released the following statement:
     “The use of chemical weapons and weapons of mass destruction is atrocious and violates international norms and basic human rights. The challenges faced by UN Weapons Inspectors as they gather evidence has only exacerbated this conflict that has gone on for too long, with countless innocent casualties.
Ka`u's congresswoman, Tulsi Gabbard, is a vet who wants Congress to 
debate the issue before deciding on military action in Syria.
Photo from PBS Newshour
     “Right now, we do not have enough facts about all facets of what is occurring on the ground, the factions involved in this civil war, and what the unintended consequences would be for U.S. military involvement.
     "Congressional debate and approval must occur before any U.S. military action is taken, and through this process we need to have a clear-eyed view of our objectives and what the outcomes would be, understanding the impacts in Syria, and those that extend far beyond Syria.”
     The statement from members of Congress to Obama included the following satements: "We join you and the international community in expressing unequivocal condemnation over the news that chemical weapons were reportedly used by the government of Syria.
     "While we understand that as Commander in Chief you have a constitutional obligation to protect our national interests from direct attack, Congress has the constitutional obligation and power to approve military force if the United States or its direct interests (such as its embassies) has not been attacked or threatened with an attack. As such, we strongly urge you to seek an affirmative decision of Congress prior to committing any U.S. military engagement to this complex crisis.
     "While the ongoing human rights violations and continued loss of life is horrific, they should not draw us into an unwise war – especially without adhering to our own constitutional requirements. We strongly support the work within the United Nations Security Council to build international consensus condemning the alleged use of chemical weapons and preparing an appropriate response; we should also allow the U.N. inspectors the space and time necessary to do their jobs, which are so crucial to ensuring accountability."

Kahili ginger is an invasive pest. Volunteers
will help clear it from the park tomorrow.
KA`U GIRLS VOLLEYBALL team came up short on Friday playing Hawai`i Peparatory Academy away in Kamuela. The Trojan varsity girls lost in three sets, 25-19, 25-16 and 25-22. The Trojan junior varsity girls lost in two sets, 25-20 and 25-23.

STEWARDSHIP AT THE SUMMIT invites volunteers to help clear kahili ginger on Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park trails tomorrow, Wed., Sept. 4 from 9 a.m. to noon. Meet at Kilauea Visitor Center. Call 985-6172.

NA`ALEHU SCHOOL COMMUNITY COUNCIL meeeting takes place on Thursday, Sept. 5 at 3 p.m. in Rooom 32.

OCEAN VIEW NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH meeting is Thursday, Sept. 5 at Ocean View Community Center. 

COMPUTER BASICS will be taught this Friday, Sept. 6 and Friday, Sept. 13 at 11 a.m. at Pahala Public & School Library. Free. Call 939-2422.

AIKIDO CLASSES with Alan Morse begin tonight at a new location, the Old Pahala Clubhouse on the west end of Maile Street in Pahala at 6 p.m. Classes are free.


SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK. 





Ka`u News Briefs, Wednesday, September 4, 2013

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Ka`u's County Council member Brenda Ford chairs the committee that is considering restrictions for growing GMO crops on Hawai`i
Island, giving farmers 30 months to switch to non-GMO production.  
OPPOSING TWO GMO BILLS that are before the County Council, Ka`u Farm Bureau President Chris Manfredi wrote testimony on behalf of Ka`u Farm Bureau members, dated Sept. 3 in advance of today’s GMO session with the County Council Committee on Public Safety & Mass Transit.  The testimonies, one on Bill 113 and one on Bill 109, which call for restricting the growing of GMO’s on this island, are addressed to the committee and its chair, Ka`u’s County Council member Brenda Ford.
      In testimony referring to both GMO Bills, Manfredi contends that the Ka`u Farm Bureau has concerns that if GMO producers are required to register their produce and crops as GMO, they could become targets of eco-terrorism and enviro-terrorism. His testimony states: “Ka`u Farm Bureau also has concerns about the registry contemplated by this legislation; how the information is shared and used, and the purpose thereof. This information will be part of the public record may be used to target the registrants for eco‐ and eviro‐terrorist activity.”
      In testimony opposing Ford’s own Bill 109 to ban GMO crops on Hawai`i Island, Manfredi writes:
Ka`u Farm Bureau President Chris Manfredi writes
testimony opposing proposed GMO restrictions.
Photo by Julia Neal
     “This legislation is flawed in that it claims its purpose as to ‘Protect human, animal and plant life...’ yet exempts all ‘genetically modified organisms for human consumption...’ under the definition of ‘Use’. The exemption for human consumption invalidates the stated purpose of the legislation, invalidating it in its entirety.”  
     Ford explained this morning that the exemption is for food imported from off island and sold in stores. She said she would not want to, nor be able to, interfere with interstate commerce. “People can choose what they want to eat in our grocery stores.” She said her bill proposes to ban GMO crops on the island, giving farmers 30 months to switch over. She said that grandfathering in GMO papayas remains a question, saying that proposed GMO legislation will likely be amended.
      In testimony opposing Ford’s bill, Mainfredi also writes: “Chair Ford, since you represent the District of Ka`u on the Council, we would have appreciated some communication from you prior to introducing legislation that, if passed, will have an impact on our members. We would prefer that the Council spend its time solving genuine problems of high unemployment, the high cost of doing business in Hawai`i County, marketing, transportation, and food and energy security.”
       Manfredi’s testimony relating to both bills states: “There are numerous studies that indicate that transgenic crops are safe. These researchers include the American Medical Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, The National Academy of Sciences, Food Standards of Australia and New Zealand, the French Academy of Science, The Royal Society of Medicine, the European Commission, The Union of German Academics of Sciences and Humanities and the Academies of Science of Brazil, China, India and Mexico. This legislation implies that there is a health risk, yet no scientific information to that effect is cited.
      “In the absence of scientific data to the contrary, we are concerned that this legislation is in response to a manufactured crisis that is dividing the agricultural community, thereby weakening it.” 
     Manfredi writes that the Ka`u Farm Bureau has written to the council committee, asking that a working group be formed to include organic and conventional local farmers and ranchers, the scientific community, business leaders, state, county and federal policy makers and regulators and the Farm Bureau.
     His testimony says, “We respectfully request that you do not pass Bill 109 (and 113). Rather, take the time to examine the issues in a deliberate way with the benefit of peer reviewed studies that focus on purported health risks and benefits of transgenic crops and all the impacts this legislation represents.”
      The testimony notes that “Ka`u Farm Bureau is a member of Hawai`i Farm Bureau, with a network of more than 1,900 members statewide. We assist and advocate for agricultural producers as our community transitions from a plantation system to a more resilient and diversified one.
      “As an organization of local farmers and ranchers – we believe in supporting all forms of agriculture. As modern producers we understand that we need all available tools to grow reslient and sustainable industries in Hawai`i.”
A march against GMO crops on the Big Island in Hilo drew a number of Ka`u residents.  Photo by Julia Neal
      Most of the members of the Ka`u Farm Bureau are coffee farmers on land where Manfredi has been the land manager for years. He is also co-chair of the statewide Government Affairs Committee of the Hawai`i Farm Bureau, which has testified before various government bodies against labeling and restriction of GMO’s.
      In contrast to the Ka`u Farm Bureau, the Kona Farm Bureau refrained from taking a stand on the GMO issue, encouraging members to submit individual testimonies with their varying views. Ka`u's state Senators, Russell Ruderman and physician Josh Green, have both called for the state legislature to require GMO food labeling.

QUESTIONING PROPOSED GMO restrictions is in the commentary submitted to Ka`u News Briefs today from Gary Schauweker. The Ocean View resident responded to a Ka`u News Briefs statement on Sept. 3 from farmer Richard Ha who opposes the GMO bills before the County Council. 
Dr. Michael Domeier
Photo from MarineCSI
     Schauweker pointed out that Ha “stated that all major national and international health agencies say that there is no difference between conventional and bio-crops as far as health and safety.” Schauweker states that from all he has read, “there has been little to no studies on possible long-term effects. If these international health agencies found GMOs so safe why are they banned in most of Europe?”
     Schauweker asks: “Japan, South Korea? Why are major American companies producing food products using non-GMOs ingredients for Europe while they use them for American consumers?
     “Mr. Ha said we are showing no Aloha in this issue; well remember Aloha brought Hawai`i mongoose, rats, invasive plants, and the down fall of the Hawaiian Nation. Once GMOs are brought in there is no going back, they can possibly cross pollinate conventional crops which may become more valuable if GMOs are proven harmful.”

MARINE CSI is hoping to tag sharks in Ka`u sometime in the future, according to its President and CEO Michael Domeier. His organization recently tagged a 14-foot tiger shark with a satellite tracking device outside Honokau Harbour and expects to tag more sharks along the Kona Coast in the next month. After working along the Kona Coast, he said he would like to tag sharks to follow their movements in waters off Ka`u. To donate, offer boating services or other help, email mldomeier@gmail.com See www.marinecsi.org.

KA`U HIGH’S EIGHT-MAN FOOTBALL TEAM prepares for the historic home- game opener this Friday against Seabury Hall from Maui, at 6 p.m. on the Pahala campus. The football field has been moderated to make it narrower while preserving the same length and the same goal posts. 
     The launch of eight-man football by Ka`u High School creates a faster, higher scoring game that could be adopted by other small schools on the island.
     Filling the Trojan roster this year are: Malu Aipia-Dolan, Anthony Emmsley, Chance Emmsley, Walter Espejo, Andrew Garcia, Makana Gravela, Dalton Hannahs, Kaweni Ibarra, Rigan Kaapana, Randall Kahele, John Kaawa-Kaluau, Kainalu Ke, Talai Ke, Teyden Makuakane, Carlos Ornelas, Pono Palikiko, Trieson Pascubillo, Kai Santana, Chisum Silva, Ricky Souza, Devan Smith-Myer, Cy Tamura, and Derrick Velez.
      Head coach for the Trojans is Duwayne Ke. Assistants are: Tammy Ke, Kaleo Phillips, Marcus Douglas, Donovan Emmsley and Darrel Shibuya.
A visitor to Volcano House brings back memories of
Uncle George whose image is on the wall near Volcano
 House window to the crater. Photo by Julia Neal
KA`U HIGH BOWLING results from recent games against other high 
schools include: Trojan Girls against the St. Joseph Cardinals – St. Joseph 3, Ka`u 0. Ka`u bowlers scrores were for Shylee Tamura 95-94—274; Lammi AhYee 88-93—265; and Aileen Umayas 100-101—294. Against Kamehameha, the Warriors scored 3 and Ka`u 0. Ka`u bowing scores were Lannin AhYee 132-88-303 and for Siena Okimoto 115-95-289.

VOLCANO COUNTRY CLUB is the site of the Hawai`i Government Employees Association’s golf fellowship on Saturday, Sept. 28 at Volcano Country Club. Eight tee times are available starting at 8 a.m., and members may form their own groups. A $5 jackpot will include low nets and closest-to-the pin prizes. Call Darrell Yamamoto at 938-4431.

VOLCANO HOUSE, the newly reopened hotel, restaurant, lounge and gift shops in Hawai`I Volcanoes National Park. offers a celebration and public touring this Friday, Sept. 6. From 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. coffee and cookies will be served in the lobby. Music will be played by Rupert Tripp, Jr. at the Pa Hula, 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Hula `Auana will be presented by Kupuna at the Pa Hula, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. One-hour History of Volcano House will be shared through interpretive walks, 11 a.m., 12 p.m. and 1 p.m.; and Guest Room Tours will be conducted 12 p.m. – 3 p.m. Parking is available on site and at Kilauea Visitor Center. Park entrance fees apply. For more information about Volcano House visit hawaiivolcanohouse.com or call 1-866-536-7972.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT                PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COMKA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK. 







Ka`u News Briefs, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013

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Del Bothof, of Volcano Winery, invites the public to explore the acres of vineyards and fields of tea at the fist annual Harvest Festival on Sunday, September 15, with food, wine, music and tours of the winery. Photo by Julia Neal
THE ANTENNA FOR KAHU RADIO came down yesterday from the pole behind the radio station building on Maile Street in Pahala.  Removal took place under the direction of Christine Kaehuaea, who was manager of the radio station until it shut down earlier this year and she sold off equipment, sold its license to Hawai`i Public Radio for $20,000 and promised to pay vendors and leave the antenna, transmitter and feed line for HPR to restart radio service to the community.
KAHU radio antenna came down yesterday,
delaying the broadcast of HPR2 in Ka`u.
Photo by Julia Neal
Hawai`i Public Radio CEO Michael Titterton said this morning that he had no idea the antenna was to be taken down. He said that a radio engineer came to the KAHU site over the weekend to make plans to start broadcasting HPR2 to the Pahala area.  He said that HPR planned to broadcast to the town until a space on one or more communications towers could be acquired to provide radio service across the southern part of Hawai`i Island. The owners of the radio building and site offered free rent, until the antenna could be moved.
Taking the equipment means that HPR broadcasting will be delayed until HPR can buy new equipment. “Don’t worry,” said Titterton. “We’ll get her done.”
According to O Ka`u Kakou President Wayne Kawachi, whose volunteers helped take down the antenna, he was told by Kaehuaea that Hawai`i Public Radio no longer needed the antenna. Kawachi said that she asked him for help to take it down.

ELECTIONS ARE COMING UP for School Community Council leaders for Na`alehu School. The first meeting for Na`alehu School started today at 3 p.m. in room 35 on campus. Ka`u High & Pahala Elementary School’s first meeting will be held on Monday, Sept. 16, 2013 at the SCC room, near the School office.

GMO HEARINGS in Hilo yestserday drew Civil Beat reporter Sophie Cocke. She writes at www.civilbeat.com about two bills before the County Council, one by Ka`u’s County Council member Brenda Ford that would ban the growing of Genetically Modified Organisms in this county, giving farmers 30 months to switch over to non-GMO crops. Her bill would also require registration of GMO crops, and violators would face penalties of $1,000 a day and possibly misdemeanor jail time. It would also ban growing of GMO animal feeds.
Council member Margaret Wille’s latest Bill “113 would ban all open air testing and cultivation of GMO crops. The measure exempts current and future genetically altered papayas, as well as the few other GMO crops already under cultivation. The bill requires farmers to register with the county if they are growing GMO crops and to pay an annual $100 fee. Registering the crops is aimed at facilitating the county's efforts to assess whether GMOs cause any harm. Violators of the law would be fined $1,000 a day and they would be liable for court and legal costs associated with any damage to non-GMO crops, neighboring properties or water sources.” says Civil Beat’s summary of her bill.
“Both bills prohibit biotech companies from operating on the Big Island and ban all new GMO crops,” the Civil Beat story says.
“There were few voices representing large biotech companies like Syngenta, Monsanto, Pioneer, Dow and BASF, despite their growing presence in the Hawaiian islands over the past decade. On O`ahu, Kaua`i and Moloka`i, the companies have been experimenting with GMO cops and growing genetically altered seed for export elsewhere. But the multinational biotech companies don’t operate on the Big Island. The proposed bills aim to keep it that way,” notes Civil Beat. See more at www.civilbeat.com.

Ag tourism could include walks to such places as the irrigation systems serving
Ka`u farms, like this one above Ka`u Coffee Mill. Photo by Andrew Richard Hara
AN AGRITOURISM BILL was heard today before the Hawai`i County Council. Bill 25, put forth by Puna council member Zendo Kern, would allow “major” and “minor” ag tourism on agriculturally zoned land, with limits on the numbers of visitors. A major ag tourism operation would need a plan approval from the county and would be allowed to entertain up to 30,000 visitors annually. A minor ag tourism operation would be exempt from the plan approval, be required to register with the county, and be limited to 5,000 visitors a year, with a maximum of 100 visitors a week. Compliance would be overseen by county Planning Department review of financial records.
Hours of operation would be allowed only from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. during winter months and 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. during summer months.
Various forms of the measure have been discussed for several years with Ka`u’s County Council member Brenda Ford saying she wants to make sure that neighbors are not bothered by the volume of tourism in agricultural communities. Other concerns have included the idea that ag operations could turn into gift, food and trinket shops, with the ag side of the business neglected.

Cultural exchange between Lana`i and Ka`u took place during Ka`u Coffee Festival
at Punalu`u and continues on Lana`i during the week of Oct. 5. Photo by Julia Neal
ON THEIR WAY TO LANA`I, Halau Lei Hula O Leinoalani dancers are raising money by teaching, feeding people. The group earned $600 from a bake sale, $500 from teaching at Science Camps of America this summer in Pahala and are raising more money from donors who are plan to match funding for the travel. The dancers going to Lana`i will fly to Maui and take a ferry from Lahaina. They will take part in a cultural exchange with Lana`i. Lana`i kumu hula Debbie Ryder  brought her dancers from Lana`i, O`ahu and Japan to Pahala for three years for the Ka`u Coffee Festival. “It is time for the dancers in Pahala to be welcomed by Lana`i,” she said. Anyone wanting to donate, can call Jamie Kailiawa at 895-6099. She said the halau also plans a rehearsal performance and dinner as a fundraiser before leaving for Lana`i on Oct. 2.

OPEN HOUSE AT VOLCANO HOUSE takes place tomorrow at the newly reopened hotel, restaurant, lounge and gift shops in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. From 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. coffee and cookies will be served in the lobby. Music will be played by Rupert Tripp, Jr. at the Pa Hula, 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Hula `Auana will be presented by Kupuna at the Pa Hula, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. One-hour History of Volcano House will be shared through interpretive walks, 11 a.m., 12 p.m. and 1 p.m.; and Guest Room Tours will be conducted 12 p.m. – 3 p.m. Parking is available on site and at Kilauea Visitor Center. Park entrance fees apply. For more information about Volcano House visit hawaiivolcanohouse.com or call 1-866-536-7972.

Japanese visitor Ko Ueno tries the new 
tea-infused wine at Volcano Winery where a 
Harvest Festival is on tap. Photo by Julia Neal
VOLCANO WINERY’s new Harvest Festival will provide the rare opportunity to tour the acres of vineyards, tea garden new fig plantings and greenhouse and vat room of Volcano Winery. The event is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 15 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Pre-sale tickets are $25. The Harvest Festival includes Hawaiian and popular music with Lito Arkangel and other entertainers, heavy pupus and wine. Volcano Rotary Club will sell hulihuli chicken.
The Volcano Winery vineyard grows a variety of grapes, including Pinot Noir, Cayuga White, Symphony, Marechal Foch, Chambourcin. Tea has become an important part of Volcano Winery's business in recent years particularly with the introduction of tea-infused wine, said owners Del and Marie Bothof. The event is limited to 100 persons. Call 967-7772 or see volcanowinery.com.

EIGHT-MAN FOOTBALL KICKS OFF tomorrow at Ka`u High School with Seabury Hall from Maui coming to town to play the Trojans. The first-ever eight-man football on this island gives the opportunity for the smaller school teams to score more, run faster and catch more footballs.
Head Coach is Duwayne Ke. Assistants are: Tammy Ke, Kaleo Phillips, Marcus Douglas, Eric Ervin, Donovan Emmsley and Darrel Shibuya. and are raising money for the trip. On Sept. 20, Kealakehe Waveriders come to Ka`u with a 6 p.m. kickoff. On Saturday, Sept. 28 Kamehameha Warriors host Ka`u.  On Oct. 5, the Trojans Play Moloka`i on the Friendly Island. On Friday, Oct. 25, Trojans travel to Kealakehe and on Friday, Nov. 8, Moloka`i Farmers come to Ka`u for  the Trojans' Homecoming and Senior Game night. To donate to the travel expenses for the Warriors, come to the game tomorrow night at Ka`u High School.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND

KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.
ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/KAUCALENDAR.




Ka`u News Briefs Friday, Sept. 6, 2013

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Hannah's Makana `Ohana travels to Kona to participate in the Kupuna Hula Festival next week. Photo by Julia Neal
HAWAIIAN ELECTRIC CO., OF WHICH HAWAI`I ELECTRIC LIGHT COMPANY on the Big Island is a subsidiary, announced that it is making procedures “easier, faster and less expensive for customers seeking to add rooftop solar photovoltaic systems, while continuing to ensure safe and reliable service for all customers.”
Scott Seu
      Solar installations in Hawai`i have doubled yearly since 2008 and are on track to double or nearly so in 2013, according to Scott Seu, HECO’s vice president for energy resources and operations. With more than 32,000 PV systems installed with a capacity of more than 240 megawatts interconnected, Hawai`i utilities lead the nation in solar watts per customer and in the percentage of customers who have rooftop solar, he said. “It’s a big contributor to achieving our state’s renewable energy goals, and we know it’s an important option for our customers to help reduce their electric bills.
      “At the same time, as our customers add more solar systems, circuits on all islands are reaching the level of PV that requires added care to maintain safety and reliability for all customers. But with additional studies and more experience, we are making changes to minimize the times when an interconnection study may be needed and making it as easy as possible for customers in cases when a study is needed.”
      HECO is changing the threshold so more small systems consisting of 10 kilowatts and under can be added without a potentially costly and time-consuming interconnection study. The new threshold for a possible interconnection study is 100 percent of the daytime minimum circuit load, increased from 75 percent. In addition, Hawaiian Electric is doing a limited number of studies on several representative circuits and will apply the results to as many projects as possible on similar circuits. Previously, each project requiring a study would have to go through its own separate study. “This new approach will greatly reduce the number of studies needed and reduce costs to customers,” Seu said. 
      Customers, or contractors on their behalf, should provide a name, address and proposed PV system size in kilowatts to the utilities by calling 969-0358 or emailing lvm@helcohi.com.
      In this way, a customer or contractor can get the most up-to-date status of the circuit on which they propose to add a solar project. Depending on how much PV is on the circuit, the utility may perform a supplemental review at the utility’s expense to determine if a more extensive study is required. Customers or contractors must still submit and get approval for a completed net metering application to connect to the grid and get the financial benefits of net metering.
      “We want to avoid the situation where our customer signs a contract for PV or starts installation and later learns about added costs for studies or circuit upgrades because the circuit already has a high amount of PV,” said Seu. “We are making changes to make adding solar faster, cheaper and fairer, but we do ask customers to call so they have the most current information when making a decision about a very big financial investment in improving their homes or businesses.
      “As we continue to monitor circuits and do representative studies, we anticipate that it will be possible in the future for even more small systems to go forward without an interconnection requirements study,” Seu said.
      To comment on this story or “Like” it, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

THE U.S. NAVY’S OFFICE OF NAVAL RESEARCH will invest $30 million in Hawai`i-based Energy Excelerator, an energy startup program that aims to help companies bring innovative energy solutions to the marketplace, expanding on the clean energy economy in Hawai`i and the Asia-Pacific region. 

“This shows that the Department of the Navy is serious about clean energy, because they understand that energy security is in our national interest,” said Sen. Brian Schatz. “The Navy’s investment will pay dividends to our state, our economy and our national security.” 
      The Navy’s commitment more than triples the funding that Energy Excelerator has received in the last three years.
      According to its website, Energy Excelerator provides energy startups with
 “non-dilutive funding, strategic relationships and a vibrant ecosystem.”
      See more at hawaiirenewable.com.
      To comment on this story or “Like” it, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION IS OFFERING a Streamline Refinance Loan product for lessees with Hawaiian Home General Loan Fund direct loans in good standing, and an Interest Rate Reduction Loan product for delinquent loans (either in the HHGLF or to be refinanced with monies in the HHGLF) who meet specific criteria. 
      The purpose of the programs is to provide qualified lessees/borrowers with loan products to lower their monthly payment through a refinance of their loan via an interest rate reduction and/or extension of the term of the loan similar to those loan programs outside of DHHL. However, the DHHL products will require minimal loan documentation, and no loan fees will be assessed to the lessee.
      To request an application packet for either the Streamline Refinance Loan or the Interest Rate Reduction Loan contact DHHL’s East Hawai`i District Office, 160 Baker Avenue Hilo, HI 96720 or call 974-4250.
      For more information, see dhhl.hawaii.gov
      To comment on this story or “Like” it, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Draft Ka`u CDP documents show development in relation to
Hawaiian ahupua`a.
MONDAY IS THE DEADLINE FOR PROVIDING FEEDBACK on the initial draft of Ka`u Community Development Plan’s Appendix V4B: Community Building Analysis and Appendix V4D: Preferred Future Growth Patterns. The documents and feedback forms are available at the project website, kaucdp.info; at libraries and community centers in Pahala, Na`alehu, Discovery Harbour, and Ocean View; and at Hilo and Kona Planning Department offices. 
      Appendix V4B: Community Building Analysis focuses on land use, infrastructure, services, design, and redevelopment strategies. It does not include policies and plans of action that will make up the heart of the CDP. Planner Ron Whitmore said the appendix is not designed to be read from start to finish. “Consider reading through the introductory section and then using the tables of contents, figures, and tables to find material of greatest interest,” he suggested.
      For more information about Ka`u CDP, see the website or Steering Committee members, Community Planning assistant Nalani Parlin, or Whitmore. Contact information is available at the project website.
      To comment on this story or “Like” it, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

A member of Hannah's Makana `Ohana
performs at Pahala Plantation House.
Photo by Julia Neal
KA`U KUPUNA ARE HEADED TO KEAUHOU next week to compete in the statewide Kupuna Hula Festival competition at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort & Spa. Members of Hannah’s Makana `Ohana, led by Hannah Uribes, will compete in kane, wahine, mixed and solo competitions in the annual event on Wednesday and Thursday. Member Ron Ebert said the group made money using `O Ka`u Kakou’s hotdog and shave ice machines to sell snacks at Punalu`u Beach. 
      Tickets for both days are sold out. The theme of the Kupuna Hula Festival is Noho Ali`i Ka Lani – the Heaven Reigns Above. Each halau has chosen a song that celebrates the natural elements such as heavens, sky, stars, moon, wind air and clouds.
      The event also includes local arts and crafts sales. It is part of the Aloha Festival around the island, which includes the Clyde Kindy Sproat Falsetto & Story Telling Contest, the annual Poke Contest and a Paniolo Parade. See more at hawaiiislandfestival.org.
      To comment on this story or “Like” it, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Don Elwing displays his art using plastic marine debris from Kamilo
Beach this Sunday in Ocean View and next Saturday at Wai`ohinu Park.
HAWAI`I WILDLIFE FUND’S UPCOMING BEACH CLEANUP at Kamilo Point on Saturday, Sept. 14 is the first of four events in collaboration with Recycle Hawai`i. Objectives are two-fold: collect and remove marine debris from along the shoreline, and attempt to sort out debris that can be re-used for the Ocean Plastic line of dish soap by Method. 
      This cleanup is also in conjunction with the International Coastal Cleanup event called Get the Drift & Bag It!
      Volunteers meet at Wai`ohinu Park at 7:45 a.m. to talk about cleanup logistics, view artwork by local debris eco-artist, Don Elwing and to caravan/carpool down to the cleanup event.
      Sign up at kahakai.cleanups@gmail.com or call 769-7629.
      To comment on this story or “Like” it, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

DON ELWING AND OTHER ARTISTS display their works using plastic marine debris Sunday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Ocean View Swap Meet. Elwing visits Kamilo Beach near South Point weekly, collecting ocean debris which he sorts and cleans before turning it into what he calls awareness art.

Friends of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park explore
the Mauna Ulu area Sunday. Photo from FHVNP
NICK SHEMA LEADS A THREE-MILE WALK exploring Mauna Ulu area during Friends of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park’s monthly Sunday Walk in the Park on Sept. 8 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Free for members, and non-members can join the organization in order to attend. 
      Call 985-7373 or email admin@fhvnp.org.

ALMOST 40 GROUPS HAVE SIGNED UP for booths at next month’s Ka`u Plantation Days, according to organizer Darlyne Vierra. A planning meeting takes place Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 6:30 p.m. at Pahala Community Center.
      For more information, contact Vierra at 640-8740 or dpvierra@yahoo.com.

VARSITY VOLLEYBALL FROM THE KA`U HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS overcame the Pahoa Daggers in five sets on Wednesday, Sept. 4 during an away match. Scores were 25-14, 25-11, 17-25, 15-25, 15-11. Junior varsity girls lost in two sets. Scores were 19-25 and 19-25. Next game for Ka`u girls volleyball with be at home tomorrow, Sept. 7 at 10 a.m.

THE KA`U TROJANS INTRODUCE EIGHT-MAN FOOTBALL to Hawai`i Island at 6 p.m. today. They play Seabury Hall from Maui. Ka`u Trojans team includes Anthony Emmsley-Ah Yee, Tala`i Ke, Chance Emmsley-Ah Yee, Cy Tamura, Kainalu Ke, Walter Espejo, Derrick “Bubba” Velez, Makana Gravella, Kaweni Ibarra, RJ Kahele, Rigan Kaapana, Chisum Silva, Kaliimaka Aipia Dolan and Carlos Ornelas.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

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Ka`u News Briefs Saturday, Sept. 7, 2013

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Ka`u High Trojan quarterback Chance Emmsley-Ah Yee carries the ball during Hawai`i Island's inaugural eight-man
football game last night in Pahala. Photo by David Berry
THE KA`U TROJANS SCORED 20 POINTS last night in the first-ever Eight-Man High School Football game on Hawai`i Island, hosting the Cowboys from Maui’s Seabury Hall. Down 7-0, the Trojans used quarterback Chance Emmsley-Ah Yee’s arm and Cy Tamura’s height to complete a long pass down field to tie the game. At the half, Ka`u was up 13-7. A long run from scrimmage by Tamura put the Trojans on top.
Ka`u wide receiver Cy Tamura caught a long pass for a touchdown.
Photo by David Berry
      In the second half, it was all Cowboys, except for Kupono Leffwe-Palakiko’s 78-yard run. Though the final score of 32-20 did not favor the Trojans, their never say die attitude kept the game close. Cramps and injuries plagued members of the home team, but they kept fighting until the end.
      Up next for the Trojans is a game on Sept. 20 at home vs. Kealakehe JV.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.  

A BILL INTRODUCED BY KA`U’S COUNTY COUNCIL member Brenda Ford that would have banned genetically modified organisms is dead, reports Tom Callis in Hawai`i Tribune-Herald. The bill was one of two considered during a meeting of the Committee on Public Safety & Mass Transit. The second bill, introduced by Kohala Council member Margaret Wille, is still alive and will be considered during a continuation of the meeting. Wille’s bill exempts GMO papaya from the ban.
      “We don’t want to be exempted,” papaya grower Eric Weinert told the committee members. Weinert expressed concern that the bill would cause GMO papaya to be considered bad and that “it will taint our reputation” and cause irreparable harm to the industry.
      Callis said the Council seems to be in favor of some action against GMOs, “including keeping the main biotech companies off the isle.”
      See more at hawaiitribuneherald.com.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

A bill by Brenda Ford would ban fracking on Hawai`i Island.
Image from today.uconn.edu
KA`U’S COUNTY COUNCIL MEMBER BRENDA FORD is also introducing a bill that would ban fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, a process that uses pressurized liquid injected into the ground in order to extract resources. Ford told Tom Callis of Hawai`i Tribune-Herald that her concern about the practice is that it could contaminate the island’s drinking water supply. “We need to stop it before it starts,” she said. 
      According to Wikipedia, “proponents of hydraulic fracturing point to the economic benefits from the vast amounts of formerly inaccessible hydrocarbons the process can extract. Opponents point to potential environmental impacts, including contamination of ground water, depletion of fresh water, risks to air quality, noise pollution, the migration of gases and hydraulic fracturing chemicals to the surface, surface contamination from spills and flow-back, and the health effects of these.”
       While Hawai`i Island has no sources of hydrocarbon, Ford said she is concerned about the possible use of fracturing in geothermal energy development.
      The bill will be considered during the Public Safety & Mass Transit Committee meeting Tuesday, Sept. 17.
      See more at hawaiitribune-herald.com.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Kathryn Matayoshi
HAWAI`I DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION asks parents of public school students to complete and return to their school a federal census survey card that was sent home on Sept. 4. The annual survey determines the number of federally connected students in the public school system for whom the state receives impact aid funds which provide partial reimbursement to the state for local tax loss resulting from tax-free federal installations. 
      “Federal impact funds are critical to support our students, educators and the overall operation of our schools,” said Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi. “All parents are encouraged to complete and return the cards.”
      During the 2011-12 school year, the state accounted for more than 30,000 federally connected students and received more than $80 million — or an average of nearly $2,700 per student — in federal impact aid the following school year. The amount represents about 20 percent of the state’s average per-pupil expenditure.
      Parents should contact their school in case they have not yet received a survey card. Cards should be filled out and turned in as soon as possible.
       To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Volcano House held an open house and grand opening yesterday. Photo by David Boyle
VOLCANO HOUSE HELD PUBLIC TOURS, events and a blessing yesterday, followed by an event hosted by Ortega National Parks, the company that won the concession to renovate and operate Volcano House Hotel, campgrounds, restaurant, lounge and gift shops. Ortega and National Park representatives said they looked forward to being the stewards of one of the most beautiful and exciting locations on the planet. Diana Aki played music in a place where she entertained decades ago, looking out over Kilauea caldera. Spontaneous hula erupted among Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park staff members and friends.
Kupuna offered hula `auana at the grand opening of Volcano House.
Photo by David Boyle
      During the open house, coffee and cookies were served in the lobby. At the Pa Hula, Rupert Tripp, Jr. played music, and kupuna presented hula `auana. One-hour History of Volcano House interpretive walks and guest room tours were offered.
      The Ortega group presented illustrations on screen and in print – the before and after – of their changes at Volcano House.
      Regarding the Grand Lobby, Ortega writes: “Volcano House has undergone many changes since it was originally built in 1941. The simple elegance of the 1940s had long been lost, leaving the hotel tired and dated. Prior to our remodel, the grand lobby was a dark room that was not inviting. Now the grand lobby is open and airy with lighter colored wood paneling and the original polished concrete floors. The grand lobby previously served as a queuing area for a lunchtime buffet, which made sitting and relaxing in the room unpleasant. We changed the lunchtime food service style to eliminate the queuing problem. The lobby is once again the center of Volcano House and invites guests to relax by the fire.”
Lobby of renovated Volcano House, with retail space in the background.
Photo by David Boyle
      Regarding the guest rooms, Ortega writes: “The remodeled guest rooms retain historic elements such as the original built-in desks. Island prints and natural materials have been incorporated into the room décor. Guest reviews have been very positive; many visitors voice their surprise at seeing such a high quality guest room in a National Park.”
      Ortega writes: “Views and Public Sitting Area ‘Reclaimed.’
      The previous concession located the main retail store in the original lanai footprint. The merchandise blocked views of the caldera. We moved the main retail store and ‘reclaimed’ the famous caldera views and created an inviting sitting room for the public.”
      “Excellent Thematic Merchandising – Very Local,” states Ortega. “The thematic retail product mix has been upgraded significantly. We carry 92 Hawaiian vendors and artists, and 76 percent of our retail products are made or finished in the USA.”
Volcano House guest rooms include island prints and natural materials.
Photo by David Boyle
      Regarding Uncle George’s Lounge, Ortega writes: “We transformed Uncle George’s Lounge from a snack bar with hot dog roasters and ketchup packets to a fully functioning, classy bar. The original polished concrete floors were restored, and an outdoor deck was added for visitor enjoyment.”
      Regarding the dining room, Ortega writes: “We expanded the usable dining space for visitors and guests, removed unusual features (e.g. dance floor), added a service bar, created two outdoor decks to view the caldera and replaced or refinished all of the personal property in the dining areas.
      “In the recent past, the Volcano House dining experience did not match its special location and amazing views. Volcano House has become the premier dining spot in the area, where visitors and locals come to enjoy the view, have a nice dinner and cocktails, and even celebrate special occasions,” states the Ortega presentation.
      Regarding the view from Volcano House, the Ortega presentation states, “The glow is not the sunset – it’s the lava!”
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

IN CELEBRATION OF ENERGY AWARENESS MONTH in October, Hawai`i Electric Light Company invites all Ka`u students in grades K-12 to participate in its My Clean Energy Hawai`i poster and poetry contests.
      The poster contest is for students in grades K-6, and the poetry contest is for grades 7-12. The contests offer students the opportunity to explore clean energy in Hawai`i and to share their ideas with the community in a creative way. Posters and poems should show how the students plan to do their part to conserve, save, and help keep Hawai`i beautiful for future generations.
Brenda Ford comes to Ka`u Monday.
      Entry deadline is Friday, Sept. 20. Entries from the finalists will be displayed at Hawai`i Electric Light’s Clean Energy Fair on Saturday, Sept. 28, at Prince Kuhio Plaza in Hilo. Winning entries will be announced during the fair. Winners receive prizes ranging from mega electronics kits to clean energy-themed field trips.
      For more information, call 969-0137.

MEDICINE FOR THE MIND, free Buddhist healing meditation for beginners and advanced practitioners, takes place tomorrow from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Volcano Art Center’s Ni`aulani Campus in Volcano Village. For more information, call Patty Johnson at 985-7470. 

KA`U’S COUNTY COUNCIL MEMBER BRENDA FORD holds a talk story at Pahala Community Center Monday at 6:30 p.m. Ford seeks input regarding naming of the new gym/shelter and other issues.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

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Ka`u News Briefs Sunday, Sept. 8, 2013

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Mauna Loa, on whose flanks Phoebe Gomes is shown here, has lost its standing as the world's largest volcano.
Photo by Bobby Gomes
HAWAI`I’S U.S. CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION presently is not supporting President Barack Obama’s plan for a military strike against Syria. Sen. Brian Schatz and Rep. Colleen Hanabusa have expressed opposition, while Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Sen. Mazie Hirono are still reviewing and questioning the plan.
Sen. Brian Schatz
Sen. Mazie Hirono
      Sen. Brian Schatz said, “Though all of us are outraged by the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons, I have concluded that a military strike against Syria is not the answer.”
      Rep. Colleen Hanabusa said, “As it stands now, U.S. military involvement in Syria lacks a solid legal basis, a clear long-term strategy, and vital international and domestic approval. Though intelligence has been presented by the Obama Administration, I am not convinced that it serves the purpose of justifying military force or other intervention in Syria.
      “The U.S. must find a way to remain credible in the region and also respond to any use of weapons of mass destruction. However, before taking action we should focus on building partnerships and enhancing both international and domestic credibility. All diplomatic means have not been exhausted in the pursuit of these goals, and there is still time for the Geneva Two diplomatic process to work. We can accelerate that process by maintaining discussions with key regional stakeholders, and continue working with the UN to solve this crisis.”
Rep. Colleen Hanabusa
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard
      Rep. Tulsi Gabbard called for the president to seek Congressional authorization for a military intervention in Syria and also joined several of her House colleagues in a letter to the President requesting that he consult with Congress before authorizing military force.
      “The importance of this debate and the process of seeking Congressional approval for a military intervention is critical,” Gabbard said. “It is an opportunity for the American people and their representatives to review the facts and evidence, and understand what the endgame and next steps would be for any type of U.S. military intervention. This is a very big decision with tremendous impacts here at home, in Syria and the Middle East region.”
      In a statement to Civil Beat, Sen. Mazie Hirono said she is still undecided on the issue. “This is one of the toughest decisions a member of Congress makes. I am reviewing the facts surrounding the reported chemical weapon attacks, the administration’s plan and the scope of the authorizing resolution,” Hirono said. “The use of chemical weapons is universally abhorrent and deplorable, but we should always be cautious about the use of force abroad, especially after the rush to war in Iraq. My decision will rest on whether the administration’s plan would advance our national interests.” 
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

“BETTER LAND PLANNING AND GRANT MONITORING would help Office of Hawaiian Affairs fulfill its duties,” concludes an audit by the state of Hawai`i. In the report, auditor Jan Yamane wrote regarding the agency’s real estate acquisitions, “OHA’s land management infrastructure is inadequate, unable to support the office’s growing portfolio nor any future land involvements.” Yamane also criticized the agency for “inadequate and inconsistent grant monitoring that fails to ensure that grants are achieving their intended results.” The report makes several recommendations to OHA’s Board of Trustees:
Jan Yamane
      “Follow through on its real estate vision, mission, and strategy by ensuring that supporting policies are developed and adopted.
      “Request information from the Transitional Assistance Program staff on grant outcomes and evidence of program success and evaluate grant performance to ensure grants generate their intended activities, results, and outcomes.
      “The Office of Hawaiian Affairs chief executive officer should take steps to ensure stability within the Land Management Division’s staff.
      “The Land Management Division should implement best practices in its real estate acquisition and management operations and develop, implement, and communicate to the board real estate reports that detail the status of properties and track their historical costs, ongoing stewardship expenses and forecast liabilities.
      “The Transitional Assistance Program should improve its administration of OHA grants by developing, and providing to the Board of Trustees for adoption, a manual that describes criteria, policies, and procedures for monitoring compliance with grant terms and conditions; requiring more specificity in grantees’ expenditure reporting to provide grant monitors a better understanding of how grant funds are expended; adopting an information system to track grant status and project deliverables; increasing site visits and reviews of financial and progress reports for accuracy, completeness, and alignment with project goals, particularly for new grantees and grantees with problems managing their grants; ensuring that awards are made only to applicants whose outputs and outcomes are consistent with OHA’s strategic goals; modifying future grantees’ contract terms and conditions to require grantees to include expected outputs and outcomes in their applications and report progress in achieving those outputs and outcomes; and increasing reporting of grant outcomes to the Board of Trustees by providing evidence of program success.
      The audit is available at state.hi.us/auditor.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Tamu Massif is about 60 times larger than Mauna Loa.
MAUNA LOA, PREVIOUSLY CONSIDERED to be the largest volcano on Earth, is dwarfed by the newly discovered Tamu Massif. Research published in the current issue of Nature Geoscience confirms that the inactive undersea shield volcano about 1,000 miles east of Japan has a surface area of about 120,000 square miles and is about 60 times the size of Mauna Loa. 
      The structure was originally thought to be made up of several volcanoes, but research by
University of Houston oceanographer William Sager revealed that all the lava flows on its flanks came from one central point.
      Sager said the volcano’s land mass isn’t its only unique feature. “Its shape is different from any other submarine volcano found on Earth, and it’s very possible it can give us some clues about how massive volcanoes can form,” Sager said. “An immense amount of magma came from the center, and this magma had to have come from the Earth’s mantle. So this is important information for geologists trying to understand how the Earth’s interior works.”
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Brenda Ford wants to hear the public's thoughts regarding naming
the Ka`u Gym & Disaster Shelter after former Ka`u High principal
Laurence Capellas, shown here in a photo next to Noel Kawachi.
KA`U’S COUNTY COUNCIL MEMBER BRENDA FORD holds a Talk Story session tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. at Pahala Community Center. The first item on the agenda is the naming of the new Ka`u Gym & Disaster Shelter. Ford said she has received requests to name the gym after former principal Laurence Capellas and wants to hear from the community about this and other ideas. She also said she is open to discussing any other community issue. 
     Capellas is known among older Ka`u residents for launching numerous school sporting teams, raising money and volunteer labor for school facilities and encouraging Ka`u students to work hard for their dreams.

The topic at Tuesday's After Dark in the Park is Grand Adventures in
the Desert Southwest. NPS Photo by Jay Robinson
GRAND ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTHWEST DESERT is the topic at After Dark in the Park Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Ranger Jay Robinson explores deep canyons, painted mesas, hoodoos and arches sculpted from layers of rock deposited over eons. He takes attendees on a raft journey into the heart of Grand Canyon National Park, which, like Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He encounters bighorn sheep, condors and lizards and sleeps beneath the stars with scorpions, tarantulas and rattlesnakes. He also explores narrow slot canyons and the slick rock deserts of Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks and the newly created Vermillion Cliffs and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. $2 donations support park programs; park entrance fees apply. Call 985-6011 for more information.

Del Bothof, of Volcano Winery
Photo by Julia Neal
VOLCANO WINERY’S FIRST HARVEST FESTIVAL next Sunday offers a rare opportunity to tour the acres of vineyards, tea garden, new fig plantings, greenhouse and vat room of Volcano Winery. 
      The Harvest Festival includes Hawaiian and popular music with Lito Arkangel and other entertainers, heavy pupus and wine. Volcano Rotary Club will sell hulihuli chicken.
    Volcano Winery grows a variety of grapes, including Pinot Noir, Cayuga White, Symphony, Marechal Foch and Chambourcin. Tea has become an important part of Volcano Winery’s business in recent years, particularly with the introduction of tea-infused wine, said owners Del and Marie Bothof.
      The event, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., is limited to 100 persons. Pre-sale tickets are $25. Call 967-7772 or see volcanowinery.com.

IN KA`U HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS, girls volleyball hosts East Pac Wednesday at 6 p.m. On Saturday, they play at home again, hosting Konawaena at 10 a.m. Also on Saturday, Cross Country travels to Waiakea for a meet at 10 a.m., Air Riflery shoots at Kamehameha at 10 a.m., and the bowling team meets Waiakea and Kea`au at Hilo Lanes at 8 a.m.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/KAUCALENDAR.

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Ka`u News Briefs Monday, September 9, 2013

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After heavy rains Saturday night, chocolate waves washed onto Green Sands Beach. Gulches flowed, and the water
turned brown from sediment running into the ocean. Photo by Shalan Crysdale
KA`U’S U.S. REP. TULSI GABBARD OPPOSES President Barack Obama’s proposed U.S. military intervention in Syria. She made her decision after returning to Washington early last week for the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the situation in Syria and attending several classified briefings with Administration officials and meetings with her colleagues in the House and Senate. 
      “I am sickened and outraged by the carnage and loss of lives caused by the use of chemical weapons in Syria,” Gabbard said. “It is with gravity that I have carefully considered all the facts, arguments and evidence and soberly weighed concerns regarding our national security and moral responsibility. As a result, I have come to the conclusion that a U.S. military strike against Syria would be a serious mistake. I will therefore vote against a resolution that authorizes the use of military force in Syria. I will also strongly urge my colleagues to do the same.
Ka`u's U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard
      “The reasons behind my decision are many. Here are a few:
  • As a soldier, I understand that before taking any military action, our nation must have a clear tactical objective, a realistic strategy, the necessary resources to execute that strategy – including the support of the American people – and an exit plan. The proposed military action against Syria fails to meet any of these criteria. 
  • Presently, Syria does not present a direct security threat to the United States. Military action will undermine our national defense, as even a limited strike could very easily escalate into a regional conflict, stretching thin a military that has been at war for more than 12 years. 
  • We should learn from history; we cannot afford to be the world’s policeman. The United States should not insert itself in the midst of this civil war, which is rooted in sectarian hatred and animosity between various warring religious groups. 
      “All Americans are saddened and angered by the carnage that has resulted from the use of these chemical weapons. However, even after the many hearings and classified briefings I have attended, I am unconvinced that this military strike would eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons or prevent them from being used again. Indeed, the risk may increase, due to the possibility these weapons could fall into the hands of Syrian opposition group factions such as Al-Qaida, who we can be confident would use them without hesitation.”
      Gabbard joins Sen. Brian Schatz and Rep. Colleen Hanabusa in opposition to the plan. Sen. Mazie Hirono has yet to announce her decision.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

HTA president and CEO Mike McCartney
“HAWAI`I’S TOURISM ECONOMY HAS DONE WELL, and we are pleased with year-over-year increases in visitor expenditures and arrivals,” said Mike McCartney, Hawai`i Tourism Authority president and CEO. Statistics from HTA show that 2012 was a record year, with 2013 arrivals up 5.5 percent and expenditures up 5.7 percent year-to-date. 
      “Our overall economy is recovering with low unemployment and a strong state budget, which is a direct result of the collective efforts of our visitor industry and goodwill from our community,” McCartney said. “In order for us to maintain this momentum, it is important that we continue to invest in our destination, and we are grateful for the renewed funding from the Hawai`i State Legislature to achieve this.
      “We must be innovative and work harder to remain price competitive, while offering a quality and authentic visitor experience that best highlights our people, place and culture.
      “We must remember that it is our collective efforts that have led to our recovery. It is important for us to continue to work together to maintain this momentum and build upon the success of our visitor industry to further Hawai`i’s economic recovery into 2014,” McCartney concluded.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

LATEST STATISTICS FROM HAWAI`I TOURISM AUTHORITY show activity in July. Visitors who came to Hawai`i during the month spent a total of $1.3 billion, similar to last year. 
      Total arrivals, which have shown consecutive growth since Sept. 2011, rose 4.6 percent to 757,969 visitors.
      However, these visitors spent less on a daily basis (-3.7 percent to $185 per person), and their average length of stay was slightly shorter (9.36 days, down from 9.49 days) compared to July 2012.
HTA introduced potential visitors to Punalu`u Black Sand Beach on
its website gohawaii.com.
      Arrivals by air from U.S. west increased 3.8 percent to 310,710 visitors in July, the 20th month of continuous growth. Lower daily spending (-2.7 percent to $146 per person) netted $437.8 million in total U.S. west expenditures, about the same as July 2012.
      Likewise, there was virtually no growth in total U.S. east visitor expenditures ($353.2 million) compared to last July, as increased arrivals (+5.3 percent to 177,162 visitors) were offset by lower daily spending.
      After 23 months of consecutive increases, arrivals from Japan dropped 2.9 percent to 128,363 visitors in July. These visitors spent significantly less on a daily basis (-16.5 percent to $250 per person), resulting in a 19.1 percent decline in total visitor expenditures to $197.8 million.
      In contrast, the Canadian market saw a 10.6 percent growth in total visitor expenditures (to $51.6 million), boosted by growth in arrivals (+3.3 percent to 26,237 visitors) and higher daily spending.
      Arrivals from all other markets increased 15.4 percent to 115,016 visitors, led by double-digit growth from Oceania (+37.4 percent) and other Asia (+19.9 percent) compared to July 2012. Combined total expenditures from all other visitors increased 12.6 percent to $275.1 million.
      One out-of-state cruise ship came to Hawai`i in July compared to zero out-of-state cruise ships in July 2012. Total cruise visitors (by cruise ship and by air) rose 3.1 percent.
      Total visitor expenditures increased on Hawai`i Island (+9.4 percent) compared to July 2012.
      Total air seats in July increased 3.2 percent to 995,526 seats, with double-digit growth in scheduled seats from Oceania (+42.5 percent) and Other Asia (+12.5 percent).
      See more at hawaiitourismauthority.org.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

THE NATURE CONSERVANCY IS ASKING FOODIES IN KA`U and across the state and country to nominate their favorite green restaurants for Nature’s Plate, a second annual people’s choice contest to find each area’s top green restaurant. “Whether you’re a vegan, vegetarian, or a meat-eater, it’s a good bet the healthiest and tastiest food on your table came from nature,” said TNC executive director Suzanne Case. “From the taro lo`i that provides yummy poi to the apple bananas soaking up the sun at the farm in the country, to locally raised beef – healthy food needs a healthy planet.” 
      Nominations are open through next Monday, Sept. 16. Semifinal voting begins Tuesday, Oct. 1, and the winners will be announced Thursday, Oct. 17.
      “Some of our food-related conservation solutions in Hawai`i are among our most innovative and pragmatic,” Case said. “Whether we are working with communities to restore the He`eia ahupua`a and put poi on everyone’s plate, to helping families preserve their ranch land on Hawai`i Island, we are showing conservation and economics go hand-and-hand – and right to your plate.
      “While the contest is focused on restaurants, it’s only the start of a conversation about food, conservation and our work with farmers, fishermen, winemakers, and ranchers.”
      To vote, visit nature.org/naturesplate13 and click on Hawai`i.
      For more information, contact Case at scase@tnc.org or 808-587-6201.
      To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

A planning meeting for October's Ka`u Planation Days takes place
Wednesday. Photo by Julia Neal
KA`U’S COUNTY COUNCIL MEMBER BRENDA FORD holds a talk story at Pahala Community Center today at 6:30 p.m. Ford seeks input from her constituents regarding naming of the new gym/shelter and other issues. 

A STAFF MEMBER FROM U.S. REP. TULSI GABBARD’S office visits Pahala Public & School Library Wednesday from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. as part of Gabbard’s districtwide constituent outreach program. The program, called Tulsi in Your Town, allows Gabbard’s local staff members in every county to assist with casework and other issues. A staff member visits Pahala on the second Wednesday of every month.
      For more information, contact Blaise De Lima at 
blaise.delima@mail.house.gov or 
(808) 987-5698.

KA`U PLANTATION DAYS ORGANIZERS hold a meeting to plan the Oct. 12 event Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Pahala Community Center. For more information, contact Darlyne Vierra at 640-8740 or dpvierra@yahoo.com.

KA`U HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS VARSITY VOLLEYBALL downed Parker at home Saturday. Scores were 25-6, 25-14, 25-8. Next match for the lady Trojans is on Wednesday, hosting Christian-Liberty Academy at 6 p.m.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/KAUCALENDAR.

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