Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Monday, April 4, 2016

THE NEW HOKULELE BRAND of Ka`u Coffee, farmed by Manuel Marques, of Ka`u Forest Coffee Farm, got lucky last week with a last-minute booth cancellation at the Merrie Monarch’s main venue at Edith Kanaka`ole Stadium in Hilo. After the call came in from Nelson Makua, Marques and wife Deborah Lynn Dickerson manned the booth for four days, gave out many hundreds of samples of Ka`u Coffee and sold their Hokulele Ka`u Coffee grown using Korean Natural Farming methods. It is free of pesticides and herbicides, and “that is a big deal,” Dickerson said.

      Marques said the experience was a big plus for Ka`u Coffee and the new brand. The Hokulele brand was inspired by a mineral used in their growing practices. “The mineral is mined from an ancient ocean bed where an asteroid landed, leaving 198 trace minerals and elements. These enhance the root system of the coffee tree,” Dickerson said. The name Hokulele means “shooting star,” she explained.
      The Hokulele team also gave out rack cards for the May 13-22 Ka`u Coffee Festival. Marques invited people to visit the farms, when he traditionally leads driving tours on the day of the Ka`u Coffee Festival Ho`olaule`a, this year on Saturday, May 21.

      See more on his coffee at www.hokulelecoffee.com.

      See more on the coffee festival at kaucoffeefestival.com.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

THE PHILIPPINES IS THE FIRST COUNTRY to introduce a program to vaccinate schoolchildren against dengue fever, Teresa Cerojano, of the Associated Press, reported today. One million students will receive Dengvaxia, which was first licensed in Mexico in December of last year. The vaccine is yet to be approved in many countries and by the World Health Organization.

      Moody’s Rating Service improved the state’s outlook from “stable” to “positive” in October 2015. Fitch Rating has an “AA” rating with a “stable” outlook on the state’s bonds.
      There are three rating outlook levels – positive, stable and negative. According to its consultant’s report, as of early March 2016, Hawai`i is the only state in the nation to have two “positive” outlooks from the three rating agencies.
      In February, Gov. David Ige led the state’s financing team, which included Director of Finance Wesley Machida, in credit rating presentations with S&P, Moody’s and Fitch.
      “We discussed with the rating agencies our conservative fiscal management policies and my focus on addressing and managing the state’s long-term pension and health fund obligations,” Ige said. “We also discussed the need to maintain the state’s reserve fund balances to effectively manage our financial resources. Our goal is to manage our budget to live within our means and to best position the state to withstand future economic fluctuations.”
      “I am extremely pleased with the results of the negotiated refunding sale that resulted in the state obtaining its lowest historical borrowing costs versus the national municipal bond financing index,” Machida said. “The resulting refunding sale, which will save the state $32.8 million of debt service payments, along with the favorable low borrowing costs for the competitive new money bonds, enables us to achieve our goals of effectively managing the state’s expenses.”
      In its rating report, S&P said the state-projected fiscal 2016 budgetary performance benefits from strong revenue trends that have enabled Hawai`i to build its cash and reserve balances. “That could lead us to raise the state’s credit within the next two years,” S&P said. The favorable outlook improvements by Moody’s and S&P are allowing the state to more effectively market and sell the bonds at the lowest rates possible.
      Bank of America Merrill Lynch served as lead underwriter for this offering, with Goldman Sachs serving as co-senior manager for the negotiated refunding bond sale.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

KA`U RESIDENTS CAN PARTICIPATE in Hawai`i County Council meetings this week at Council Chambers in Hilo.

      Committees meet tomorrow: Planning, 9:30 a.m.; Governmental Relations & Economic Development, 1 p.m.; Agriculture, Water & Energy Sustainability, 1:15 p.m.; Human Services & Social Services, 1:30 p.m.; Public Works and Parks & Recreation, 1:45 p.m.; and Finance, 2 p.m.
      A public hearing on the county budget begins at 5 p.m.

      The full council meets Wednesday at 9 a.m.

      Videoconferencing is available at Na`alehu State Office Building. The meetings are also streamed live, and agendas are available, at hawaiicounty.gov.

      All that is needed is a Hawai`i State Public Library card, prior knowledge of the computer keyboard and how to use a mouse. 

      To make an appointment for a session, call 928-2015, and ask for Debbie.

RANGERS TEACH `UKULELE BASICS on Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The modern Hawaiian musical instrument evolved from the Machete de Braga, a small stringed instrument introduced to Hawai`i by Portuguese immigrants in the late 1800s. The `ukulele has become an iconic part of Hawaiian musical culture and remains popular among locals and foreigners alike.

      Free; park entrance fees apply.

WILDLIFE ECOLOGIST FRANK J. Bonaccorso, Ph.D., of USGS Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center, shares information on the Hawaiian hoary bat or `ope`ape`a Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Volcano Art Center’s Niaulani Campus in Volcano Village. This endangered species of hairy-tailed bat is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

      See volcanoartcenter.org.