Ka`u News Briefs Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017

The late Sen. Gil Kahele, of Miloli`i, was succeeded by his son Kaiali`i Kahele in the state Senate. Kai Kahale lives in Hilo but promises help for Miloli`i and Ka`u through his work at the Capitol. On Saturday, he released a list of bills he supports. Photo by Kaiali`i Kahele

SEN. KAIALI`I KAHELE, whose family hails from Miloli`i and whose late father Gil Kahele served as Ka`u's state Senator, has forwarded a list of bills in the 2017 Hawai`i Legislature. He is asking the community to click on the following, read the billS, and if supportive send in testimony to support the following:
     SB1162 SD1 - RELATING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI`I PROMISE PROGRAM. Establishes the University of Hawai`i Promise Program to provide scholarships for the unmet direct cost needs of qualified students enrolled at any campus of the University of Hawai`i System.

Sen. Kai Kahele

     SB1161 SD1 - RELATING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI`I. Prohibits the University of Hawai`i Board of Regents from increasing tuition fees until 2027.
     SB848 SD1 - RELATING TO HIGHER EDUCATION. Establishes the Hawaiian Language University College as an autonomous entity within the University of Hawai`i System to be located at the University of Hawai`i at Hilo.
     SB1081 SD1 - RELATING TO TAXATION. Provides a state income tax deduction of up to $5,000 per year for student loan interest paid on qualified education loans.
     SB849 SD1 - RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT. Reduces the minimum Hawaiian blood quantum requirement of certain successors to lessees of Hawaiian Home Lands from one-quarter to one thirty-second.
     SB272 SD1 - RELATING TO RAT LUNGWORM DISEASE. Appropriates funds to the University of Hawai`i at Hilo, the Department of Health, Department of Land and Natural Resources, and Department of Agriculture for programs, studies, and activities related to rat lungworm disease.
     SB1290 SD1 - RELATING TO THE TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS TAX. Adjusts allocation of transient accommodations tax revenues to the tourism special fund for inflation.
     SB1293 SD1 - RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY. Appropriates money to the fund for deputy canines and full-time equivalent (FTE) permanent canine handler positions within the Department of Public Safety.

Slugs, like these seen on pavement in Ka`u, can carry rat lung disease and spread it through vegetable gardens.   Photo by Julia Neal

   Kahele asks that as each bill is scheduled for hearing, consider sending testimony to the appropriate committee(s). Email testimony to:
Ways and Means - WAMtestimony@capitol.hawaii.gov; Judiciary and Labor - JDLtestimony@capitol.hawaii.gov; Commerce, Consumer Protection and Health -CPHtestimony@capitol.hawaii.gov

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RAT LUNG DISEASE, a devastating afflication that is carried by slugs and can be consumed by people eating unwashed vegetables, has drawn the interest of the sate legislature. An informational hearing has been set for this coming Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 9 a.m. in the State Capitol, called by the House Committeee on Agriculture, led by Rep. Richard Creagan, of Ka`u, and the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Environment, led by Sen. Mike Gabbard. The bill is supported by Creagan and Ka`u Sen., Dr. Josh Green. See more and testify at SB272 SD1.
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NASA PRACTICED FOR MARS EXPLORATION AT KILAUEA VOLCANO last September. Unpublicized to residents and the thousands of visitors going to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, a simulated Mars landing mission unfolded for two weeks as part of NASA's Biologic Analog Science Associated with Lava Terrains program.
     This week's Volcano Watch, written by Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists, explains:    

BASALT works in the Mars simulation program outdoors on Mauna Loa and inside the dome where a team is isolated as if they were living in Mars conditions. Photo from NASA

BASALT consists of an international group of scientists, engineers, mission operators, and astronauts dedicated to furthering the human-robotic exploration of our neighboring planet, Mars. One of the main objectives of the BASALT research program is to examine how humans can effectively explore the surface of Mars for life and to understand the geologic history of the Red Planet.
      Kīlauea Volcano offers landscapes that are not perfect analogs for Mars, but that come quite close. Under special permit from Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, the BASALT team of 65 scientists, engineers, computer scientists, human-machine engineering experts, and astronauts targeted the Mauna Ulu region on Kīlauea Volcano's East Rift Zone as the Mars landing and exploration area.      The BASALT team also set up a Science Mission Control at Kīlauea Military Camp, a facility located in the National Park. Two-way voice, video and data streaming was established between this command center and the field team, which consisted of two crew members who conducted field sampling under simulated Mars mission conditions around Mauna Ulu. These communications were delayed by up to 15 minutes to mimic transmission latencies due to the great distance between Earth and Mars.
     In addition to simulating Mars mission conditions, the project also evaluated the use of various mobile science platforms, hand-held devices to determine temperature and composition of rocks, and cutting-edge video and data display technologies.
     The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory supported the BASALT project by hosting communication relay antennae in our observation tower. Several HVO staff members observed the operation over the course of the project and marveled at the complicated chain of decision-making that guided the astronauts' exploration, sampling, and documentation efforts.
      From 2008 to 2012, international campaigns carried out on Mauna Kea tested methods of extracting oxygen and water from volcanic cinder. Since 2012, the Hawai'i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation, or HI-SEAS, program has conducted long-duration isolation missions in which crews spend up to a year inside a geodesic dome located at an elevation of 2,500 m (8,200 ft) on the slope of Mauna Loa.
      More than a century ago, HVO founder Thomas A. Jaggar enthusiastically promoted the active volcanoes of Hawai'i as a world-class scientific laboratory. While he may not have imagined Kīlauea as a training ground for future space explorers, he almost certainly would have approved. In fact, we expect he'd argue that the first astronaut to roam the surface of the Red Planet should be a volcanologist trained on the Island of Hawaiʻi!
      Prior to the BASALT program at Kīlauea Volcano, the NASA team conducted another simulated Mars landing in 2015 at the Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho.
     More recently, NASA, along with the University of Hawai'i and state-sponsored PISCES (Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems), has conducted experiments to advance the feasibility of long-term human habitation on Mars.
        The BASALT team hopes to return to Hawai'i in 2017 to repeat the mission in another area of Kīlauea to further refine their planning for eventual exploration of Mars, according to Volcano Watch.
     For more information on NASA's BASALT program, visit: https://spacescience.arc.nasa.gov/basalt/.
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Royden Okinishi and Dexter Lee are two of Ka`u's bow hunters who travel the island to hunt. Photo by Alan Moores

     Hunters will need to obtain 2017 ram and goat tags to legally hunt in this area. Tags may be obtained from any Hawai‘i island Division of Forestry and Wildlife office. Sheep and goat tag fees will be $10/ tag for residents and $25/tag for non-residents.
     Hunters must be in possession of an unused 2017 ram or goat tag to continue hunting in the area. The harvest tags will not be transferable and must be placed through the hind leg of the animal immediately after each kill. ATVs will be allowed in the area and must remain on designated roads. 

     ATVs will be allowed in the area and must remain on designated roads.