Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016

Department of Hawaiian Home Lands holds a meeting in Na`alehu this month about its draft
South Point Resource Management Plan. Photo from DHHL

DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS holds a public meeting Tuesday, Aug. 16 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Na`alehu Elementary School Cafeteria. In consultation with its Ka`u beneficiaries and other regional stakeholders, DHHL is developing a management plan for lands and resources in Kama`oa. The DHHL 2012 Ka`u Regional Plan identified the need to protect and preserve the natural and cultural sites in Kama`oa as one of the top five priority projects.
The resource management plan identifies specific near- and long-term management actions for lands held under the Hawaiian Homes Land Trust located within the ahupua`a of Kama`oa-Pu`u`eo. It focuses on South Point, or Ka Lae, and coastal lands extending northeast toward Mahana Bay. It is intended to guide future actions to steward the land and resources of this area.
An earlier management plan was completed for South Point in 1983 by PBR Hawai`i, but, according to DHHL, ongoing issues still have not been addressed three decades later.
“South Point is a special and unique place,” the document states. “Its significant cultural landscape tells of the very early native Hawaiian settlement of the area. It is believed that this is the site where Polynesians from the Marquesas Islands first arrived in Hawai`i, which is estimated to have occurred as early as A.D. 124.

DHHL plans call for managing natural and cultural
resources at South Point. Photos from DHHL

“Approximately 710 acres of this area has been designated as a National Historic Landmark because of its historical and cultural importance. Some remaining cultural sites include Pu`u Ali`i, Kalalea Heiau, Lua o Palahemo, canoe mooring holes, and Lua Makalei. Lua o Palahemo is also a unique natural resource; several types of anchialine pool shrimp are known to exist in this anchialine pool, including `opae `ula and the endangered Vetericaris chaceorum. “Additionally, there are rare plants such as the endangered `ohai that exist in this area.”

DHHL’s plan has four goals. One is to provide a safe, clean and friendly environment at South Point. To accomplish this goal, DHHL intends to manage vehicular access and provide sanitary amenities and signage. It also wants to develop and implement a public education campaign to increase awareness and to deter unpermitted recreational activities, improve access to lifesaving equipment for the local community and visitors, improve access to Kaulana boat ramp and launching area, and develop and implement a fire management plan.
DHHL also plans to restore, preserve and protect area cultural and natural resources. A service road and pedestrian paths to Mahana Bay and around South Point would help accomplish this goal.
The third goal is to perpetuate native Hawaiian culture, values, history and language for future generations. The plan calls for providing opportunities for `aina-based educational programs at South Point, implementing a permit system to allow for `ohana camping there and creating an area to serve as a gathering place for the local community.
To sustainably fund cultural and natural resources management activities and provide economic opportunities for DHHL beneficiaries and their families, the department would generate revenue by instituting a parking fee for South Point. It would use funds raised to provide training and technical assistance to local people to become legal business entities on DHHL lands and provide opportunities/programs that engage visitors in the history and culture of the area.
DHHL’s Draft South Point Resources Management Plan is available at https://dhhl.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/South-Point-Public-Review-Draft-Plan-to-DHHL_052616.pdf.
For more information, contact DHHL Planner Andrew Choy at Andrew.H.Choy@hawaii.gov or 808-620-9279.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

Remnants of Tropical Storm Howard are heading toward Hawai`i.
Map from University of Hawai`i

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE has issued a flash flood watch for tomorrow and Monday. Abundant tropical moisture associated with former tropical cyclone Howard will spread from east to west across the state. An upper level trough digging toward the islands tomorrow will cause the atmosphere to destabilize. The combination of atmospheric instability and the enhanced tropical moisture will result in environmental conditions that are conducive for the development of thunderstorms and heavy rainfall.

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

HAWAI`I IS AT A CROSSROAD in education, according to Gov. David Ige.

Board of Education chair Lance Mizumoto, Gov. Ige and
Department of Education superintendent Kathryn
Matayoshi joined 1,000-plus students, teachers,
parents and community members at the July 9
ESSA Summit. Photo from Gov. Ige's Office

“The July 9 ESSA Summit was a wonderful first step with more than 1,000 people giving us their feedback,” Ige said. “Now we want more people to add their voices at the follow-up community meetings in developing a 21st century blueprint for Hawai`i’s public schools. We all have a stake in the future of our students, and we’re inviting the entire community to be part of the process. ESSA gives the state a chance to envision new possibilities for our schools so we can prepare our students for an everchanging world.”

Ige said his vision for Hawai`i’s public education system “is future-focused because we know that many of the top jobs today didn’t exist 10 years ago. I’m a proud graduate of Pearl City High School and have seen our students compete nationally and globally and win. We need to ensure that all of our students have the opportunity and skills to compete with anyone in the world. I know that our public school system can be the best in the country, but we need to empower those closest to the children to make the best decisions. It’s really about being change agents, to give our students the opportunities to succeed.”
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

Mike Kagami, in aloha shirt, greeted Ka`u voters this morning.
Photo by William Neal

HAWAI`I COUNTY PROSECTOR candidate Mike Kagami campaigned in Pahala this morning. He and supporters greeted passersby on Kamani Street. Kagami is challenging Mitch Roth for the post.

Kagami is a criminal prosecutor with more than 20 years of experience. He said his two top goals are to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of the work within the Prosecutors Office and improve the relationship of the Prosecutors Office with the courts, Hawai`i Police Department and other agencies involved in the criminal justice system.

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

Sen. Brian Schatz

HAWAI`I’S U.S. SENATORS Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono, along with about 40 other Senate Democrats released a new letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan urging the Republican leaders to immediately call Congress back into session to pass emergency funding legislation to address the growing Zika crisis.

“While the Zika crisis grows, the Republican-led Congress has done nothing on funding,” the letter states. “It has been 164 days since the President requested emergency funding to fight Zika. The combined time it took Congress to fund all of the last three public health emergencies – Ebola, H1N1 and Avian flu – was 137 days. The National Institutes of Health has said trials for a Zika vaccine will likely be delayed due to lack of funding. It is deeply troubling that the Zika epidemic which disproportionately impacts pregnant women and their babies would be treated any differently than these other emergencies. In each of these instances, Congress was able to set aside political rhetoric and act quickly to help. Unfortunately, we have seen no such action on Zika for pregnant women and families.”

Sen. Mazie Hirono

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are now nearly 5,500 confirmed infections in Puerto Rico, with likely many times that number of unconfirmed cases. In Florida more than a dozen individuals have been infected by mosquito bites while residing in the state.

“It is simply unacceptable that efforts to counter the spread of Zika and develop a vaccine are being held hostage by Republican partisanship,” the letter states. “Americans expect Congress to do its job. Republican Congressional leaders should call both the Senate and the House back into session to pass a real and serious response to the burgeoning Zika crisis. The simplest course of action would be to pass the Senate’s clean bipartisan compromise on Zika funding by unanimous consent and have the House pass the same bill immediately.”
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

LEARN ABOUT THE BIRTH of Kahuku tomorrow from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Participants explore Kahuku Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park’s rich geologic history.
See nps.gov/havo.

BEGINNING HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE Classes take place tomorrow and Aug. 21 at 2 p.m. at Ka`u Youth Center near Na`alehu Community Center. Classes are followed by informal kanikapila stressing songs of Ka`u.
Free; open to all. Call Beverly Byouk at 936-7262.

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