Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016

Sign up to participate in BioBlitz,which returns to Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park during its 36th annual
Hawaiian Cultural Festival. See more below. NPS Photo by Andrew Hara/National Geographic Your Shot

HAWAI`I PUBLIC SCHOOL 2016 graduates who took the ACT college preparation test and who met college readiness benchmarks showed a two-percent improvement in Mathematics and one-percent improvements in English and Science, while Reading scores remained unchanged.

A national report released Tuesday shows an increase in Hawai`i public schools’ Class of 2016 graduates meeting college readiness benchmarks. ACT, a research-based, nonprofit organization, issued the Condition of College and Career Readiness 2016 report, which includes information on students taking the ACT test in every state, including Hawai`i.
Hawai`i’s Class of 2016 public high school graduates meeting ACT’s college readiness benchmarks saw year-over-year changes of a two percentage point, improvement in Mathematics, a one percentage point improvement in English and Science and unchanged Reading scores.

Kathryn Matayoshi

Approximately 10,525 Hawai`i public school graduates in the Class of 2016 took the ACT college preparedness test as juniors. All of Hawai`i’s public school juniors now take the ACT test as part of a range of recent transformational efforts to increase students’ college and career readiness. These efforts have produced strong increases in college enrollment, enrollment in early college programs at the high school level, as well as significant declines in college-level remediation in English and Mathematics.

The ACT results provide students information about their readiness for postsecondary education, a score that they can use for college admissions and placement, and information about how to better prepare for postsecondary education during their senior years. The ACT includes a student survey to gauge their plans for life after high school.
“Eighty percent of 2016 graduates who took the ACT test indicated their desire to earn a two- or four-year college degree, and we are encouraged by steady gains in our students’ college preparation and enrollment,” Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi said. “However, we recognize the need for more of our students to be ready for the rigors of work and study after high school.”
Over the past three years, Hawai`i public school students have seen steady improvements in the individually tested ACT subjects: four percentage points up in English and three percentage points up each in Mathematics, Reading and Science.
While Hawai`i’s scores have been rising, ACT scores nationwide have shown declines and fluctuating results, Matayoshi said. Also, not all states administer the ACT to all juniors.
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Hawai`i DLNR supports a federally proposed rule to limit
approaching Hawaiian spinner dolphins.
Photo from Wikipedia

HAWAI`I DEPARTMENT OF LAND & Natural Resources supports a proposed rule by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that would prohibit approaching a Hawaiian spinner dolphin within 50 yards by any means. This would include commercial swim-with-dolphins programs.

Bruce Anderson, administrator of DLNR’s Division of Aquatic Resources, said, “We believe NOAA’s preferred option is reasonable. Two of the five initial alternatives involved closing off entire areas designated as essential daytime habitats. We felt that was going a little too far, but we can support approach rules and eliminating swim-with-dolphins activities.”

The public comment period for the proposed rule ends Oct. 23. “We intend to comment,” Anderson said. “The proposed regulations would be in effect within two nautical miles of the main Hawaiian Islands, and within certain designated waters between Maui, Lana`i and Kaho`olawe. We will recommend NOAA expand that beyond two miles, all the way out to the limit of the Exclusive Economic Zone, which is 200 miles from shore. We don't see a rationale for a two-mile limit.”
Anderson also said he hopes NOAA will develop a plan to monitor the effectiveness of the proposed rule after it goes into effect.
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Two earthquakes recorded yesterday measured higher
than magnitude-3. Map for USGS/HVO

INCREASED SEISMICITY WAS RECORDED within Kilauea’s upper East Rift Zone yesterday afternoon and evening, including two earthquakes of magnitude greater than magnitude-3. A M3.7 at 12:17 p.m., and a M3.4 followed at 1:12 p.m.

According to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, tremor fluctuations associated with lava lake spattering at Kilauea’s summit continue.
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SEN. MAZIE HIRONO, tbe only immigrant currently serving in the U.S. Senate, denounced Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s changes to immigration policies on MSNBC. Trump has recently come out with what he referred to as a “softening” of his previously discussed policies.

Sen. Mazie Hirono spoke on MSNBC about Donald Trump's
immigration policies. Image from MSNBC

“I think it’s all a fake because Donald Trump has been talking about being anti-immigrant for months and months now, and his notions about immigration are very bizarre to say the least,” Hirono said. “He wants to deport 11 million people from our country; he wants to disallow all Muslims from coming into our country; he wants to build a wall on our southern border.

“He has managed to insult every group, including most recently the Filipinos, who he called animals.
“We can’t trust somebody who changes his mind at the drop of a hat, or in this case, at a drop in the polls.
“A country with a Donald Trump as president would not be a welcoming country to immigrants like me.”
Hirono said she supports candidate Hillary Clinton’s approach to immigration reform, in which “family unity is a guiding principle.”
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GIRLS VARSITY VOLLEYBALL team took yesterday’s game at Kea`au to five sets. After Kea`au won the first set by a wide margin, Ka`u came back to win the next two and narrowly lost the fourth in overtime. However, Kea`au closed the deal in the fifth set. Final scores were 7-25, 25-14, 25-20, 30-32 and 5-15.

Junior Varsity Trojans lost in two sets.
Teams travel to Makua Lani at Waikoloa Saturday for their next games beginning at 2 p.m.
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KA`U RESIDENTS who missed Tuesday’s forum can provide input regarding Hawai`i County’s General Plan at an identical one this evening. Na`alehu Community Center is a live remote site where the public can participate from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

KA`U’S U.S. REP. TULSI GABBARD comes to Ka`u this Monday, Aug. 29. Gabbard will host a Tulsi in Your Town meeting at Ka`u Coffee Mill. She will meet with Ka`u community and other Hawai`i Island constituents there to talk story, assist with federal casework and discuss legislative updates and priorities related to supporting local agriculture and farmers.

Gabbard’s visit is part of a six-stop farm and agriculture tour on Hawaiʻi Island that day. She will tour three different Hawaiʻi Island farms, discuss state and federal research on invasive species and meet with local farmers. The Tulsi In Your Town forum follows similar events she has held over the past few weeks, including Kailua-Kona. All meetings are open to the public and give constituents an opportunity to hear from the congresswoman on her legislative priorities, ask questions and share their ideas and concerns.

Here and throughout the day, Gabbard will also discuss legislation she’s introduced to help control invasive species in Hawai`i and across the United States and her work to help secure green bean pricing valuation for Hawai`i-grown coffee, fight for truly transparent GMO-labeling, support the viability and success of local coffee farmers and producers, and more.

“Throughout my work in Congress, I’ve fought to secure sensible, transparent food policy, support our local farmers and agriculture industry, and strengthen Hawai`i’s food security,” Gabbard said. “In past visits to our local farms in Hawai`i, I’ve seen firsthand how invasive species like the coffee berry borer, fruit flies and macadamia nut felted coccid and others have impacted our local farmers and cost our agriculture industry millions in lost revenue. I’m looking forward to hearing from both state and federal researchers and to update them on legislation I’ve introduced to fight invasive species in Hawaiʻi and across the country. I’m also looking forward to touring more of our Hawai`i Island farms and continuing to meet and hear from constituents across our islands before I head back to Washington, DC after Labor Day.”

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ENTRY FEES ARE WAIVED at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park today through Sunday to celebrate National Park Services 100th birthday.

Performers tomorrow night include Kumu Hula Manaiakalani Kalua and his halau, Kenneth Makuakane
and Mark Yamanaka. Photo from NPS

A FREE HAWAIIAN CONCERT takes place tomorrow from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Hawaiian music, hula and `oli open the fee-free National Park Service Centennial weekend, celebrating Kilauea Military Camp’s 100th anniversary and kick-off the park’s 36th annual Hawaiian Cultural Festival & BioBlitz.

See nps.gov/havo.

Keiki learn Hawaiian crafts at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Parks
annual Hawaiian Cultural Festival. Photo from NPS

HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK holds its 36th Annual Hawaiian Cultural Festival Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Themed E Ho`omau (to perpetuate; to continue in a way that causes good to be long-lasting), the free festival invites people of all ages to engage in authentic Hawaiian cultural practices and learn how native Hawaiians lived closely to the land as its stewards. Enjoy hula and music, watch skilled practitioners demonstrate their art and try your hand at Hawaiian crafts.

This year’s festival again includes a BioBlitz, a fun and hands-on opportunity to join scientists and cultural practitioners and discover biodiversity that thrives in the park. Register for free expert-led field inventories through Friends of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park at fhvnp.org. BioBlitz field inventories run from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Visitors can also learn about the importance of conservation and biodiversity through interactive exhibits at the festival.
See nps.gov/havo.

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