Ka‘ū News Briefs Sunday, November 5, 2017

Kupuna and Keiki share in the pounding of poi at the cultural booth at Ho‘okupu Hula  No Ka‘ū Cultural Festival in Pāhala on Saturday, organized by Uhane Pohaku Na Moku O Hawai`i and supported by O Ka`u Kakou, Ka`u Coffee Mill and Punalu`u Bake Shop.  See more photos below. Photo by Julia Neal

FINISHING RENOVATIONS OF SENIOR HOUSING IN PĀHALA is high on state Rep. Richard Onishi's agenda, he told the County Council last week. Onishi, who represents east Ka‘ū into Hilo, also mentioned a senior housing facility in Kea‘au and said, "Both sadly are in tremendous need of repair and upgrade so I've been working with Hawai‘i Housing to move those projects forward." He said he recently was assured that "hopefully, Pāhala will be done next year. No guarantees though because I've been working on it for the past five years."

      Concerning the state Department of Education schools, Onishi said, "Every year I participate with the DOE’s walk through of all of the schools within my district, and that process is basically to look at the prioritization of repair and maintenance projects and that will then be folded into the DOE’s request for repair and maintenance funds to the legislature." He said any important school projects that are not high on the DOE's list in his district could possibly be funded through separate Capital Improvement Program funding at the legislature.

Native Hawaiian weaving arts were taught during Uhane's cultural festival weekend, led by Kawehi and Debbie Ryder. Photo by Julia Neal

     Onishi said he is also working on establishing a “residential community farm on land that belongs to the Public Safety Department. Some of you may know its called ‘Field 33’. It’s almost 500 acres, I believe, and its currently not used. It used to be used for their ag program where they did their cattle and pig farming and training,” he said, advocating to its revival for farm work and education for inmates. 

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EDUCATION IN AGRICULTURE at the public schools through weaving it into the Science Technology Engineering Math Component is a goal of state Rep. Richard Creagan who represents west Ka‘ū.
    Not only in the schools, but agricultural training could be inportant to those who have been incarcerated, said Creagan, applauding Rep. Richard Onishi’s work with the Department of Public Safety to establish a residential community farm to help incarcerated people reintegrate in

Mamaki, a native tea that grows wild around Ka`u, and attracts the endangered King Kamehameha Butterfly, was on display and to taste at the cultural festival. Photo by Julia Neal

to society. Creagan said, “Agriculture is a way they can return and be successful, but they need to have both the training while they’re in prison and then some follow up afterwards. So, I think what he’s proposing is great.”
       Creagan also said that "It is time to do something about the growth of cannabis, either in the form of marijuana or hemp.” He said he supports a controlled legalization.
       He also said he will continue to advocate for the protection of the Islands from invasive species.
Creagan said “the Invasive Species Council should become the Invasive Species Authority. He said that during the 2017 Hawai‘i Legislature, the idea made traction but died in conference committee due to "no clearance for financing." He said he will push for it again. On this island, he named a few invasive species. "Little fire ant is a really dangerous thing, rat lung disease is terrible, coqui frog is a major nuisance."
     The House member, who lives on a farm, mentioned that he is working on ag theft bills. “Ag theft is critical. Most of our farmers are small farmers, a little loss is a big loss, right? Even someone who

Free sandalwood trees were given out on Saturday as part of the Ho‘okupu Hula No Ka‘ū Cultural Festival in Pāhala. Photo by Julia Neal

has a few fruit trees in their front yard… If someone comes in and steals all their breadfruit or lychees or their mangoes, thats devastating to that family, right? I mean, they depend on that for themselves, or their family and neighbors and they come home and their tree is stripped bare after waiting for months… people are very upset."
     Also concerning farming, Creagan said he will join Sen. Russell Ruderman in pushing again for rat lungworm research funding. The disease, which is carried by small snails on fresh produce, has made some people afraid to buy vegetables from local farmers, even though washing them thoroughly prevents people from eating the snails. Creagan called it “insulting” to Ruderman and his district to have the funding denied during the last legislature in a conference committee for “very bad reasons” and “backroom politics.”
      Concerning disease spread from animals to people, Creagan said he thinks its important for a state public health veterinarian to be stationed in the health department, not jus the state Department of Agriculture, and pointed to other states who have both. He said it would help combat “zoonosis - a disease that goes from animals to people - and those are very devastating diseases often, brucellosis certainly can be, leptospirosis can kill you, rat lung disease can kill you, or severely impair you.” He asked the Hawai‘i County Council for support. He mentioned that David Sasaki, a world expert on leptospirosis, had formerly been the state public health veterinarian but that since his departure, the state has “let that position lapse.”

Big guy from the sate Department of Land & Natural Resources talks to a little guy about enforcement of laws that protect honu and other sea creatures, during he cultural fest in Pāhala Saturday. Photo by Julia Neal

        On Creagan's hit list for 2018, is banning Chlorpyrifos, which he called "a very potent dangerous pesticide/insecticide that is related to sarin gas. I mean they act just the same way, they came from the same research... It’s a little safer than sarin gas as far as acute toxicity, but it works the same way." He said that Chlorpyrifos causes injuries in the fetus - "severe injuries, and that's called a teratogenic effect." He said the EPA actually banned the pesticide for indoor use in 2001.” According to Creagan, the EPA was supposed to ban Chlorpyrifos entirely in the U.S. but the appointment of Scott Pruitt as head of the agency, prevented the ban. “There are safer things, there are replacement things" for Chlorpyrifos, he said, and promised to reintroduce a bill in 2018 to ban it. "because the EPA didn’t do it."
      Concerning raising the minimum wage to $15, which is strongly supported by Sen. Russell Ruderman, who represents east Ka‘ū, Creagan said, “minimum wage, I think, is controversial but, you know, again, the benefits outweigh the negatives.”
    A physician, Creagan has long supported the the Physician Assisted Suicide bill, also called Death with Dignity, which is legal in five other states for people with incurable illnesses. He predicted it will pass the 2018 Hawai‘i Legislature.

Kanaka Ma`oli: OHA teaches about taro on the grounds of Pāhala Community Center. Photo by Julia Neal

     Concerning tax hikes, particularly those to offset loss of revenue for the County of Hawai‘i, in order to fund the rail system on O‘ahu, Creagan said he will revisit the issue in the 2018 legislature. He said the Transient Accommodations Tax, levied on hotels, vacation rentals and bed and breakfasts, was raised during a special session of the legislature. "I think that's pretty egregious," he said, concluding that property taxes rose here, because the Transient Accommodations Tax, which is used to help fund county government has been capped, to help rail.
    Creagan applauded Hawai‘i County Council for inviting the state legislators for a discussion on plans for 2018, and he emphasized the benefit of continuing to be a team, supporting both state and