Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Tuesday, March 1, 2016

A TWO-CAR COLLISION at Kawa closed Hwy 11 for about 40 minutes this morning. According to Captain Burt Shimabukuro, of Na`alehu Police Station, the accident occurred in the Hilo-bound lane when one car was attempting to pass another one. Two passengers received non-life-threatening injuries.
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YESTERDAY’S DENGUE FEVER UPDATES from Hawai`i Department of Health and Hawai`i County Civil Defense listed zero new cases of dengue fever and zero confirmed cases that are potentially infectious. 

KA`U HIGH & PAHALA ELEMENTARY School’s Health Occupations Students of America club members are raising money to travel to Nashville, Tennessee and compete in Nationals. They competed with 32 schools at the state level on O`ahu last month, and members qualified for Nationals by taking second and third places.

      HOSA is an international student organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Health Science Education Division of ACTE. HOSA’s two-fold mission is to promote career opportunities in the health care industry and to enhance delivery of quality health care to all people.

      HOSA provides a unique program of leadership development, motivation and recognition exclusively for secondary, postsecondary, adult and collegiate students enrolled in health science education and biomedical science programs or have interests in pursuing careers in health professions.
      Checks can be made out to HOSA Health Club Ka`u High and Pahala Elementary School.
      “Thank you so much for your support. I am extremely proud of our students,” said Dr. Angie Miyashiro, HOSA Health Club advisor and teacher.
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“EVERY SEAT EVERY TIME” is the message of a new radio public service announcement launched by Hawai`i Department of Health. The PSA focuses on an overlooked area of motor vehicle injuries – unbuckled back seat passengers. The original, locally produced radio spot is the first of its kind in the nation that emphasizes the importance of protecting backseat passengers from serious lifelong injuries. The message airs statewide through the end of April and will be translated into four languages.

      According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2013 there were 883 unbelted rear seat passenger vehicle occupants age eight and older who died in traffic crashes in the U.S. More than 400 of these occupants would have survived if they had worn seat belts.
      A 2015 Hawai`i Department of Transportation study concluded that although Hawai`i has one of the highest overall seatbelt usage rates in the nation at 93 percent, only 73 percent of back seat passengers were observed wearing their seat belts. Unbelted back seat passengers in Hawai`i are also more likely to require hospitalization after a traffic accident and have hospital charges that may be as much as 60 percent higher, when compared with those that use seat belts.
      “The easiest and most effective way of preventing serious injury or death in the event of a crash is by properly wearing your seat belt every time you ride in any seat of a vehicle,” DOH Director Dr. Virginia Pressler said. “Our new message reinforces the central role of the driver in ensuring all passengers ride and arrive safely to their destinations.”
      As of May 2013, Hawai`i’s seat belt law requires that drivers and all front and back seat passengers wear a seat belt. A driver who is pulled over could face a fine of up to $112 per unbuckled passenger.
      According to DOT, from 2013 to 2015, the percentage of back seat vehicle passengers was highest in Hawai`i County, at 44 percent.
      For more data and information, see health.hawaii.gov.
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U.S. SEN. BRIAN SCHATZ co-sponsored legislation to establish an independent National Commission on Security and Technology Challenges. The digital security commission will bring together all stakeholders, including tech leaders, law enforcement, the intelligence community, privacy and civil liberties advocates, computer science researchers and global commerce leaders, who will be charged with developing recommendations for maintaining privacy and digital security while also finding ways to keep criminals and terrorists from exploiting these technologies to escape justice. 

      “We can all agree that we must strike a balance between protecting our privacy and strengthening our national security. That is why developing a commission is so important to this debate,” Schatz said. “By creating a space for law enforcement, intelligence, technology industry and civil liberties experts to come together, we can find creative solutions that will keep our personal data and our country safe.”
      In a report to Congress, the commission will provide assessments of multiple security interests (public safety, privacy, national security and communications and data protection) both now and in ten years; economic and commercial value of cryptography and digital security and communications technology; benefits of cryptography and digital security and communications technology to national security and crime prevention; the role of cryptography and digital security and communications technology in protecting the privacy and civil liberties of Americans; effects the use of cryptography and other digital security and communications technology has on law enforcement and counterterrorism; costs of weakening cryptography and digital security and communications technology standards; and international laws, standards and practices for legal access to communications and data protected by cryptography and digital security and communications technology.
      The commission’s report will also include recommendations for policy and practice, and may include recommendations for legislation.
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KA`U TROJANS SOFTBALL TEAM lost their first game of the season yesterday, falling to Kamehameha 5-15. They travel to Pahoa to challenge the Daggers tomorrow at 3 p.m.

KA`U RESIDENTS ARE INVITED to State Sen. Russell Ruderman’s talk story session today at 6 p.m. at Pahala Plantation House. Ruderman will discuss the current legislative session and hear constituents’ concerns.

      Ruderman’s bill calling for funding to research rapid `ohi`a death is scheduled for a hearing today.
      Ka`u’s state Rep. Richard Onishi also supports funding research of the disease, having introduced House Bill 2675. It is also scheduled to be heard today.
      “The `ohi`a makes up a huge portion of our natural forest in Hawai`i, especially on the Big Island,” Onishi told Colin M. Stewart, of Hawai`i Tribune-Herald said. “At this point, there’s no effective treatment we know of to stop it from spreading, which is a real key. If we don’t have any treatment, eventually the entire forest could be wiped out… . To replace these trees in our native forest, it’s almost impossible to do. We’ve got to come up with a way to protect our existing forest.”
      See hawaiitribune-herald.com.
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CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS in the Park is the title of today’s After Dark in the Park program. Archaeologist Summer Roper and Supervisory Park Ranger Andrea Kaawaloa-Okita reveal key accomplishments of CCC and share what life was like during its era. The program begins at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. $2 donations support park programs; park entrance fees apply.

VOLUNTEERS CLEAR GINGER from Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park trails during Stewardship at the Summit tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Meet at Kilauea Visitor Center. Free; park entrance fees apply.

THE MAGIC OF MIDWAY is the topic Thursday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Volcano Art Center in Volcano Village. Artist Caren Loebel-Fried shares her Midway experience, and Rob Shallenberger, former Refuge Manager, presents photos of historical Midway and a year in the life of an albatross.
      Free; $5 donations appreciated.

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