Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Saturday, May 7, 2016

MORE THAN 50 PERCENT of residents consider Hawai`i Island a safe place to live, and almost 60 percent consider it a safe place work. Chief Harry Kubojiri yesterday released results of the Police Department’s Community Satisfaction survey. Almost 64 percent of 547 respondents said they are comfortable calling the police if they need assistance.

      Kubojiri said the survey was a tool to help him identify problem areas the community is experiencing with the Police Department, determine if he can rectify those issues through specific training of personnel, make changes to policies and procedures if necessary and clarify misinformation about laws and/or police practices.

HAWAI`I ISLAND JUDGE Riki May Amano will proceed as the contested case hearing officer for the Conservation Use District Application for the Thirty Meter Telescope.  Hawai`i Board of Land and Natural Resources announced the unanimous decision yesterday.

      In response to objections raised by certain parties to Amano’s selection as the TMT hearing officer due to her family membership in the `Imiloa Astronomy Center operated by the University of Hawai`i-Hilo, the Board stated: “A ‘family membership’ does not confer any right to participate in `Imiloa’s governance or decision making, in contrast to organizations where members may vote for a board of directors or other officers,” and the membership simply allows her and her family to “view exhibits and displays at a museum that focuses on astronomy, Mauna Kea and Hawaiian culture.”

      The board stated, “No reasonable person would infer that the possibility of this ‘benefit’ (`Imiloa family membership) would override the hearing officer’s duty to make an impartial recommendation to the board.” 

      The Hawai`i Revised Code of Judicial Conduct directly addresses the issue of how to treat Amano’s membership if `Imiloa is assumed to be a party to the contested case. “The rule provides that a judge shall disqualify herself if the judge or her specific listed relative are a party to the proceeding, or an officer, director, general partner, managing member of trustee of a party. While this list is not exhaustive, what is significant to the BLNR is that all of these grounds involve some kind of fiduciary or managerial relationship between the judge (or the judge’s relative) and the party. Such relationships do not remotely resemble the ‘family membership’ at issue here,” the board said in its decision.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK next week will use aircraft to shuttle crew, camp supplies, fencing material and equipment from Kilauea summit to Mauna Loa at about the 9,000-foot elevation. It will also shuttle crew, camp and monitoring supplies from Kilauea summit to Kahuku at about 7,500-ft. elevation.

      Flights will take place between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
      On May 16, between 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., aircraft will transport vegetation management supplies, equipment and gear from Escape Road helipad to Napau campsite.
      On May 16, 17, 20, 23 and 26, between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m., aircraft will shuttle crew, camp supplies, fencing material and equipment from Kilauea summit to Kapapala/Mauna Loa boundary.
      Other flight plans for this month include:

• May 17, between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m., for ungulate surveys and control work in Kahuku between 3,000- and 7,000-ft elevation;
• May 17, between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m., for petrel monitoring from the summit of Kilauea to Mauna Loa at about 9,000-ft elevation;
• May 23, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., to transport vegetation management supplies, equipment and gear from Escape Road helipad to Napau campsite;
• May 25, between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m., for short-haul training near the summit of Kilauea; and
• May 26, between noon and two p.m., to transport vegetation management supplies, equipment and gear from Napau campsite to Escape Road helipad.

      In addition, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory may conduct flight operations over Kilauea and Mauna Loa to assess volcanic activity and maintain instrumentation.
      Dates and times are subject to change based on aircraft availability and weather.

      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION released a final rule that extends its regulatory authority over tobacco products such as electronic cigarettes. The new rule will ensure that e-cigarettes are regulated in the same way that the FDA regulates traditional cigarettes.

      “Today marks an historic day in our fight to keep tobacco products out of the hands of youth,” said U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, a member of the Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee. “With this new rule, the FDA now has the authority to regulate e-cigarettes and protect children from developing dangerous addictions. I am also glad to see that the state of California has followed Hawai`i’s lead and raised its tobacco age to 21. We’re making progress and building momentum. It’s time to pass our Tobacco to 21 bill and raise the smoking age across the country.”
      Before today, there was no federal law prohibiting retailers from selling e-cigarettes, hookah tobacco or cigars to people under age 18. Today’s rule changes that, with provisions aimed at restricting youth access, which go into effect in 90 days.
      In September, Schatz introduced the Tobacco to 21 Act, legislation that would prohibit the sale of tobacco products, now including e-cigarettes, to anyone under the age of 21.
      Hawai`i was the first state in the nation to raise the legal smoking age to 21. Earlier this week, California followed Hawai`i’s lead and raised the legal age to sell tobacco products in that state from 18 to 21.
      In the last 50 years, nearly 21 million people in the United States have died due to tobacco-related illnesses, making it the leading cause of preventable death in the country. A recent report by the Institute of Medicine found that raising the legal age of sale of tobacco products to 21 nationwide would reduce the number of new tobacco users, decrease smoking frequency by 12 percent, and save more than 220,000 lives from deaths related to smoking.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

KA`U’S STATE SEN. JOSH GREEN holds a Legislative Talk Story on Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at West Hawai`i Civic Center Council Chambers.

      Green will update this past legislative session and also will be joined by Suzanne Case, chair of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, who will provide a brief update on issues in West Hawai`i pertaining to DLNR.
      Afterward, there will be time for questions and answers.

KAHUKU UNIT OF HAWAI`I VOLCANOES National Park offers its free Palm Trail Hike tomorrow from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The moderately difficult, 2.6-mile loop-trail hike provides one of the best panoramic views Kahuku has to offer.
See nps.gov/havo.

MOTHER’S DAY BUFFET is available tomorrow from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Kilauea Military Camp’s Crater Rim Cafe in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The menu includes prime rib au jus, shrimp Alfredo with mushrooms and spinach, Asian-infused Hawaiian ono and more.

      KMC is open to authorized patrons and sponsored guests. Park entrance fees apply. Call 967-8356 for seating times and more information.

KA`U COFFEE FESTIVAL EVENTS will be in full swing a week from today. Set for next Saturday are Ka`u Coffee Recipe Contest and Miss Ka`u Coffee, Junior Miss Ka`u Coffee and Miss Peaberry Pageants. The events take place at Ka`u Coffee Mill. The recipe contest begins at 11 a.m., with $2,000 in prizes. The pageants begin at 6 p.m.

      Deadline to enter the recipe contest is Monday, May 9. Call 928-0550 or email lisa@kaucoffeemill.com.

SLOTS ARE STILL AVAILABLE for Ka`u Mountain Water System Hikes. Participants explore flume systems of the sugarcane era and investigate development of hydroelectric power as they hike through native Hawaiian rainforest. The Ka`u Coffee Festival events take place on Wednesday and Thursday, May 18 and 19 at 9 a.m. $40 per person includes lunch.
      Email lisa@kaucoffeemill.com, or call 928-0550.

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