Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Monday, Aug. 22, 2016

Obon season celebrants filled Pahala Hongwanji grounds for it first Bon Dance since 1999.
Photos by Ron Johnson

PAHALA HONGWANJI HELD yesterday its first Buddhist Obon season celebration since 1999. Scores of people of all faiths surrounded the yagura tower with lights strung from its four top corners and across the dance floor, just outside Pahala's old Japanese schoolhouse.

The Rev. Bryan Siebuhr

Participants hoped a teru teru bozu figure attached to a top corner of the yagura would keep rain away. Although rain came down on the festivities a couple of times, it failed to dampen spirits. Dancers circled into the night, through the mist, rounding the tower to traditional Japanese chants and music, as well as modern tunes. The festival honors ancestors.

A service in the hongwanji at 4 p.m. preceded dancing at 5 p.m. The Rev. Bryan Siebuhr, of Honpa Hongwanji Hilo Betsuin, officiated the service and opened the dancing.
Hongwanji members and volunteers spent the day preparing food to sell in the evening. Items included saimin, teri sticks, fresh poke and sweets. Na`alehu Hongwanji provided sushi made the same day. Another traditional food on hand was wok-fried ahi belly. `O Ka`u Kakou offered shave ice.
Pahala residents helped participants make hachi maki, headbands worn to celebrate Obon. Lynn Hamilton, Dorothy Kalua and friends provided long strips of cloth for people to stamp with favorite symbols before tying them on their heads.
Cliff Watson, who filmed Pahala Hongwanji’s previous Bon Dance, returned with his wife to film yesterday’s festivities. Footage of the 1999 event is available at uluulu.hawaii.edu/titles/3789. Watson, a filmmaker based in Honolulu with family ties to Pahala, also made a film on the last harvest of Ka`u Sugar Co. in 1996, called Ka`u Sugar: A Town Remembers. See uluulu.hawaii.edu/titles/4451.

The last Obon celebration in Ka`u was at Na`alehu Hongwanji around 2006-07, organized by the late Marge Elwell and others from Na`alehu Main Street. Many people onsite yesterday hoped that a Pahala Bon Dance will become an annual celebration.
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Ka`u High Alumni & Friends enjoyed dancing to music
by Hands of Time.

PRIOR TO YESTERDAY'S EVENTS at Pahala Hongwanji, Ka`u Alumni and Friends took to the dance floor at Pahala Community Center during their 15 annual potluck reunion. The crowd overflowed onto the covered lanai and even into the surrounding lawns. Graduates came from far away, with American Airlines pilot Clement Hirae flying in from Boston.

Next year’s reunion will take place on Sunday, Aug. 20.

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THE NINTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS today issued an order dissolving an injunction that had temporarily barred certain transition activities relating to Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital. Based on a settlement agreement reached on Aug. 13 between Gov. Ige and the United Public Workers union and a joint request from both parties, the court dismissed the underlying appeal brought by UPW as moot.

Participants made their own hachi maki at yesterday's
Obon celebration.

“During oral arguments before the Ninth Circuit, the judges made clear to both UPW and the state that it preferred seeing the parties settle instead of the court making an all or nothing decision,” Attorney General Doug Chin said. “Reaching compromise is not always easy. I thank Gov. Ige and the union leadership for finding a forward path.”

In 2015, the Hawai`i state Legislature passed a law ending the Hawai`i Health System Corporation’s delivery of health care services at the three Maui region facilities and transferring service delivery to a private operator. UPW had sued to stop the transition from taking place. Today’s order means that all transition activities between the state and a new Kaiser entity, Maui Health System, may resume at the three Maui region facilities.
Ige recently said that privatization of Maui’s medical facilities could be a precursor for HHSC’s Hawai`i Island facilities, which include Ka`u Hospital.
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Participants danced into the night as lantern light reflected
in the rain-covered pavement.

WITH A STATEWIDE EMBARGO of a brand of scallops in effect due to a Hepatitis A outbreak, Hawai`i Department of Health urges residents and visitors to follow seafood safety advice from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.

Buy fish that is refrigerated or displayed on a thick bed of fresh ice that is not melting, preferably in a case or under some type of cover. Some refrigerated seafood may have time/temperature indicators on their packaging, which show if the product has been stored at the proper temperature. Always check the indicators when they are present, and only buy the seafood if the indicator shows that the product is safe to eat.
Frozen seafood can spoil if the fish thaws during transport and is left at warm temperatures for too long. Don’t buy frozen seafood if its package is open, torn or crushed on the edges.
Avoid packages that are positioned above the frost line or top of the freezer case. Avoid packages with signs of frost or ice crystals, which may mean the fish has been stored a long time or thawed and refrozen.

Use safe procedures when preparing and eating fish.
Photo from FDA

When preparing fresh or thawed seafood, it’s important to prevent bacteria from the raw seafood from spreading to ready-to-eat food. To avoid cross-contamination, when buying unpackaged cooked seafood, make sure it is physically separated from raw seafood. It should be in its own display case or separated from raw product by dividers. Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and warm water before and after handling any raw food. Wash cutting boards, dishes, utensils and counter tops with soap and hot water between the preparation of raw foods, such as seafood, and the preparation of cooked or ready-to-eat foods. For added protection, kitchen sanitizers can be used on cutting boards and countertops after use. Or use a solution of one tablespoon of unscented, liquid chlorine bleach to one gallon of water.

Most seafood should be cooked to an internal temperature of 145ºF.
Never leave seafood or other perishable food out of the refrigerator for more than two hours or for more than one hour when temperatures are above 90ºF. Bacteria that can cause illness grow quickly at warm temperatures (between 40ºF and 140ºF). Carry picnic seafood in a cooler with a cold pack or ice. When possible, put the cooler in the shade and keep the lid closed as much of the time as you can.
When it’s party time, keep hot seafood hot and cold seafood cold. Divide hot party dishes containing seafood into smaller serving platters. Keep platters refrigerated until time to reheat them for serving. Keep cold seafood on ice or serve it throughout the gathering from platters kept in the refrigerator.
It’s always best to cook seafood thoroughly to minimize the risk of food-borne illness. However, when eating raw fish, one rule of thumb is to eat fish that has been previously frozen. Some species of fish can contain parasites, and freezing will kill any parasites that may be present. However, be aware that freezing doesn’t kill all harmful microorganisms. That’s why the safest route is to cook your seafood.
See more at www.fda.gov.
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Provide input regarding the county General Plan this week.

HAWAI`I COUNTY PLANNING Department encourages Ka`u residents to participate in General Plan Public Input Forums this week. The General Plan guides the island’s long-range physical development. As part of the comprehensive review of the General Plan, participants will give feedback on alternatives for future growth. The two forums are identical, so residents can participate in the most convenient one.

While the forums are held in Hilo and Kona, Na`alehu Community Center will be a live remote site.
Tomorrow, the first forum takes place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at County Council Chambers in Hilo. Then on Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., another takes place in Council Chambers at West Hawai`i Civic Center.
More information about the General Plan comprehensive review is available at http://www.cohplanningdept.com/general-plan/.

An endangered pseudoorca (false killer whale) and her calf
in Hawaiian waters. Photo from Dr. Robin Baird/Cascadia
Research Collective

DR. ROBIN BAIRD, AUTHOR and research biologist with Cascadia Research Collective, presents a look into the lives of Hawai`i’s resident toothed whales and dolphins tomorrow. Baird and his colleagues spent the last 17 years using photo identification, genetics and satellite tagging to present the clearest picture yet of these often misunderstood native mammals.

The After Dark in the Park program begins at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.
$2 donations support park programs.

FEE-FREE DATES for Founders Day are this Thursday through Sunday. Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park and all national parks invite the public to celebrate National Park Service’s 100th birthday.
See www.findyourpark.com.

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