Ka`u News Briefs Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013

      HELCO received bids from six companies for the geothermal power contract and was initially expecting to make a selection by September, according to the story. “It later pushed that timeline to the end of November,” Callis reported.
      Lee said, “We are really looking at these proposals very closely.”

      Of the 38 MW of geothermal power HELCO currently buys from Puna Geothermal Venture, 25 MW are linked to the cost of oil. PGV is one of the companies seeking the new contract.
      HELCO is also talking to some other power producers about renegotiating contracts to detach the cost of buying the electricity from the price of oil, Lee said. Some of them “are willing to talk with us and are talking with us,” Lee told Callis. “Some are not.”
      See hawaiitribune-herald.com.
      To comment on or “like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

HURRICANE SEASON ENDED NOV. 30 with more storms than expected. The National Weather Service reported that while the initial season forecast was for one to three tropical cyclones, a total of six either formed in or passed into the Central Pacific Basin. Only one, Flossie, threatened land. 

      Neutral El Nino Southern Oscillation conditions lingered throughout the season. Atmospheric conditions became favorable for development during late July through late August and coincided with the increase in tropical cyclone activity.
      The six Central Pacific tropical cyclones of 2013 represent an above-average year. Normally, four to five tropical cyclones occur in the Central Pacific Basin each year during the hurricane season, which extends from June 1 to Nov. 30.
      2013 was the second busiest year since 1998. The other two busy years during this stretch, 1997 and 2009, were both El Nino years.
      2013 tied with 1971 and 1983 as the sixth busiest season since 1970, and August was once again the busiest month during the season.
      Five tropical cyclones occurred during August 2013, and since 1970, 74 tropical cyclones have occurred during August. It is, by far, the busiest month of the season on average, NWS said.
      Since 1957, five or more August tropical cyclones have only occurred three times: 1978, 2009, 2013. August 2013 is tied with August 2009 for the second busiest August since 1957.

Ka`u residents can vote for Ulu in the Miss South Pacific contest at facebook.com/misssouthpacific2013.

      Summaries of Central Pacific hurricane seasons back through the 1950s can be found at weather.gov/cphc/summaries.
      To comment on or “like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

ALESHA ULUWEHI MAKUAKANE, former Miss Ka`u Coffee and current Miss Hawaiian Islands, is in the Solomon Islands participating in the Miss South Pacific Pageant 2013. The pageant includes contestants and delegates from Vanuatu, Fiji, Tokelau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Cook Islands, American Samoa, Hawaiian Islands and Tonga. 

      Ka`u residents can support Makuakane by voting for her photo on Facebook’s Miss South Pacific 2013 page, facebook.com/missshouthpacific2013. The contestant with the most votes becomes Miss Internet. 

      The pageant runs through Dec. 7, culminating with the crowning gala on Saturday night.
      To comment on or “like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

KA`U TROJANS GIRLS BASKETBALL plays the season opener tonight in Kea`au against the Kamehamaha Warriors.
            Coach Cy Lopez recently described his team to Hawai`i Tribune-Herald writer Matt Gerhard: “I give the girls credit. No matter what the score, from start to finish, they play 110 percent.”
           The story in today’s Tribune-Herald also quoted Trojan junior Deisha Navarro saying, “It’s basically just keeping our heads up and fighting no matter what the score is. We’re working hard, we’re improving, and I feel like as long as all of us keep our teamwork together, we’ll be fine.” She described Lopez: “He tells us to never give up. If we put our hearts on the court, we’ll get better results.”
        “Everybody fights until the end,” Navarro told the Tribune-Herald sports writer.

Coach Cy Lopez credited Leah Apia Dolan, No. 70  for her "animal instincts." Photo by Julia Neal

         Gerhard described the spirit of the team during the recent preseason tournament: “The score was out of hand and had been for some time, but you wouldn’t have known it by watching Cy Lopez or his Ka`u girls basketball team. Sophomore Lea Aipia-Dolan and her teammates continued to try to attack the basket as if the game was tied, while Lopez did everything he could to keep his team in the game. With the undersized Trojans trailing Waiakea by more than 40 points, the coach called three second-half timeouts to rally the troops.” 
        In another game, such strategy led to a win “when Lopez called a timeout with Ka`u trailing by one against Kealakehe in the waning seconds to draw up a ‘secret inbounds play.’ Bridget Pasion missed a shot from the perimeter, but Kerri Domondon corralled the rebound and hit a buzzer-beater to give the Trojans the victory,” reported theTribune-Herald.

          The story also reported that “the second-year coach would like to make winning a custom at Ka`u, but he knows that player development is crucial. Save for a long drive to the north or south, age-group club basketball options are sparse, and as a result Lopez said many of his players haven’t touched the ball before they get to high school. In addition, many of his players’ first focus is volleyball.” Gerhard wrote that Lopez and “his coaches are aiming to start a Parks and Recreation league in the district.

Trojan girls say their coach teaches them to never give up. Photo by Julia Neal

         “We live out in the sticks, and we’re a small school, but we can’t get intimidated,” Lopez told the Tribune-Herald.
          The sports writer sized up the team: “Ka`u, which has only one senior, can’t match up with most teams size-wise, but it will try to make up for it with quickness and will feature a three-guard lineup with juniors Navarro and Domondon capable of running the point. Pasion, a junior, is the best pure shooter on the team, and Aipia-Dolan, a sophomore, can play either guard or forward. At roughly five-feet eight-inches tall, junior Maka Flores-Carvalho is the tallest player on the roster and can provide muscle inside.
         Lopez also talked about the team: “Denisha is a real team leader, and Kerri has unreal quickness with the ball.” Lopez “praised Aipia-Dolan for her ‘animal instincts’ to always keep fighting on the court.”
          Lopez told the Tribune-Herald that “the Trojans may have to play some two-three zone defense to overcome lack of height, and he’d also like to see crisper passing develop so that Ka`u can play up-tempo on offense.”
         See more at hawaiitribune-herald.com.