Ka`u News Briefs Monday, July 17, 2017

     The Conservancy has hired more than 22 interns through KUPU, a local nonprofit that provides environmental programs and career opportunities for Hawai‘i’s young adults. KUPU interns have supported strategic communications and have worked in Conservancy preserves doing forest restoration and marine conservation.
     Other internship and volunteer activities with youth in Hawaiʻi have included: High school and college students from Hilo and Kaʻu learning about nature and conservation and helping at Kaʻu and Kona Hema Preserves; high school students removing invasive algae using the Super Sucker; young adults and kids of all ages visiting Kākoʻo ʻŌiwi to learn about local agriculture, taro lo‘i, and fish pond restoration; high school students visiting Waikamoi Preserve to learn about native forests, birds,

Interns come from the inner city to Ka`u for a work adventure with The Nature Conservancy.

and restoration; students from fourth grade and up helping with beach cleanups, preserve and trail maintenance, weed removal, seed collection, and native plant growing; youth of all ages learning about nature and conservation at the annual Earth Day celebration; and young adults and high school students participating in Kīholo fish pond restoration.
     “We value youth engagement in Hawaiʻi. With continued donor support, we hope to be able to continue, or even expand, these kinds of programs,” said Woodside.
     Surveys of conservation interns indicate that many find work as park rangers, environmental engineers, environmental science teachers, and in careers helping to connect future generations to nature at some of the world’s largest environmental organizations. Over 30 percent of surveyed LEAF alumni go on to pursue environmental careers, and over 50 percent volunteer for environmental causes in their communities.
     National conservation activities created by LEAF and The Nature Conservancy's Youth Engagement Programs are made possible through support from Lowe's. The company has supported the Conservancy’s work for more than a decade, contributing more than $11 million to protect freshwater and forest lands across North America, and to advance environmental youth programs and help build the next generation of conservationists. 

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PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER reported today a 7.4 magnitude earthquake at 1:34 p.m., off Kamchatka, in the Komandorskiye Ostrova Russia Region, between Siberia and Alaska. No tsunami reached Hawai`i, Alaska, nor the west coast of the U.S. Their was a brief tsunami alert for the Aleutian Islands.

SECURITY CLEARANCE SHOULD BE SUSPENDED for White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner, announced Ka`u Senators Mazie Hirono, Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Al Franken (D-Minn.) Today, they demanded that his security clearance of be immediately suspended, pending a review of newly revealed information about Kushner’s contacts with Russian lobbyists and government-linked agents.

Jared Kushner Photo from Wikipedia

    "Following the revelation of a meeting Kushner, along with Donald Trump Jr. and Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort, held with Russian government-linked agents, Kushner’s very presence in the White House – including his significant access to some of our nation’s most highly classified information – may pose a danger to this country," says a statement from the three Senators.
     Their letter to Marcia Lee Kelly, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of White House Management and Office of Administration, says “Mr. Kushner attended a meeting which was held with the stated purpose to receive Russian government information intended to influence a U.S. election. Mr. Kushner omitted this fact on his security clearance reform. Most disturbingly, Mr. Kushner sought a secret channel to communicate with the Kremlin. Given the enormity of the outstanding national security concerns regarding his conduct, Mr. Kushner should not retain access to our nation’s most critical secrets.”
     The letter follows a June request by Hirono, Blumenthal and Franken for a review of Kushner’s security clearance "after troubling allegations Kushner had concealed meetings with Russian officials – among them Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, and VEB Chairman Sergey Gorkov – on his security clearance application," the statement says. The full letter is available here.