Kaʻū News Briefs, Thursday, September 12, 2019

     Police and farmers talked about the days when coffee pickers drove into the farms with their own trucks to go to work and bags of coffee were left alongside roads for pick up, without a worry about thievery. More recently and more pronounced in Kona than Kaʻū, farmers are experiencing theft. To reduce it, they drive their pickers into the fields and bring them out, keeping track of the harvest and moving bags of coffee cherry to processing immediately. Farmers employ hidden cameras to catch thieves. They also participate in Neighborhood Watch programs with other farmers. When thieves know farmers are hunting for them, they go somewhere else, said Shibuya. He encouraged farmers to announce that they are combing their farms for thieves.
     Muramaru, who was known for his Parker Ranch Five-O approach in Kamuela, said that when thieves "know people are watching, that's big."

At the meeting in Pāhala, ag thief investigator Shane Muramaru urges farmers and land managers to call 911 if there's a theft in progress. Police  officers said they are willing to learn the lay of the land to help  locate thieves quickly. Photo by Julia Neal

     Shibuya said, "Bad boys are going to worry when they know we are out there," with the community watching.

     Both Muramaru and Shibuya stressed the importance of photos to convict thieves. They said security cameras have become more sophisticated and less expensive, and can communicate directly with the farmer, providing evidence and alerts that theft is taking place. Muramaru gave example of a taro farmer in Waipiʻo setting up a secret camera in his loʻi, taro patch, in the rocks at ground level, recording the people walking through. Even theft from an avocado tree in the yard of a house can be prosecuted, said Muramaru, pointing to three months in jail served by a thief.

     The police officers cautioned farmers against confronting thieves and urged a call to 911. It was suggested that those answering the 911 calls be educated in the locations of farms. Muramaru, with extensive experience at Parker Ranch and HawaiianHomeLandsin Kamuela, said that placing signage with the farms' names can help police find the spot when addresses are not obvious. Also suggested were the posting of Neighborhood Watch and No Trespassing signs.

     Learning to describe a thief is important, said Muramaru, and knowing the size of landmarks on the property can help. Knowing the height of a fence can help a farmer estimate the height of a thief if he is standing next to it. Being able to describe the design of a thief's tattoo has become an asset to identifying criminals. A photo of a tattoo can help catch a thief.

     Even when theft is unwitnessed, call the police non-emergency line at 935-3311, police urged. Shibuya said to always call in a theft in progress. "When it's in progress, we get excited." Muramaru said that Kaʻū is lucky, in that police officers working on Kaʻū ag theft are from Kaʻū and know the land.

     Read more in future Kaʻū News Briefson ag theft. Learn about requirements for farmers to keep receipts, and other proof of ownership and sales, to help police trace stolen agricultural products from the marketplace back to the innocent farmer.

PONC wants to preserve the area of Kawala, in white, where Manākaʻa  Fishing Village is located. Map from Big Island Video News

MANĀKAʻA FISHING VILLAGE in Kaʻū ranked number one in the scoring to prioritize properties to acquire through PONC in 2020. The 348 acre parcel is adjacent to the Waikapuna property that is under contract for acquisition through PONC and state funding.

     With approval of the meeting minutes by PONC, Manākaʻa Fishing Village site will be included in the 2019 annual PONC report to the mayor at the end of the year. After negotiations and the purchase from its owners, the land would be deeded to a nonprofit organization and stewarded with help from local volunteers and workers.

     Of the 17 proposals before PONC, the Haloa ʻĀina RoyalHawaiianSandalwoodForestin the ahupuaʻa of Kealakekua ranked second. Lands in North Kohalafrom Hapuʻu to Kapanala ranked third. PohueBay, makai of Ocean View, ranked number 12. See more on the PONC list in future Kaʻū News Briefs.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter. See our online calendars and our latest print edition at kaucalendar.com.

SEVERE AND WIDESPREAD CORAL BLEACHING DUE TO WATER TEMPERATURE RISE is happening in Kaʻū reefs and other Hawaiian waters, according to Department of Land and Natural Resource's Division of Aquatic Resources. Predicted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, this bleaching event is occurring more severely in areas with clean water, which may be due to the "shading effect of dirty water reducing some of the stress from direct sunlight on these corals," states the DAR team.

A MARSHALLESE WELCOME on Maui greeted the Golden Rule sailing peace boat yesterday after its trip from Hiloto Maʻalea Harbor on Maui. Golden Rule Project manager Helen Jaccard, on board the Golden Rule, said the crossing featured "the best weather you can get, given the difficulty of the Alenuihaha Channel. The boat rolled and corkscrewed a lot, so it was a difficult transit. The crew was able to sail without the engine for most of the time in the channel. All crew performed admirable and every one of them was a necessary part of the successful transit."

     More than 20 Marshallese arrived at the dock to welcome the crew with a traditional "jinlap" greeting, which includes singing and giving lei. Jaccard described the gifts as "beautiful seashell lei." The Marshallese honored the Golden Rule for its peace mission in the 1950s to stop nuclear testing, including blowing up Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, and its continued peace voyages throughout Hawaiʻi this Fall and to the Marshall Islands, Guam, Okinawa, Korea, and Japan next year on the 75th anniversary of the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima. The project is sponsored by Veterans for Peace.

     A statement from the Golden Rule Project regarding the voyage to the Marshall Islands: "In December, 2019, the Captain and crew of the Golden Rule will sail to the Marshall Islands, where the U.S. nuclear testing from 1946 to 1958 blew up several islands and atolls, and radiated many Marshallese, who are still suffering from the effects of the nuclear explosions. The combined explosive power of all the bombs dropped on the Marshall Islandsduring that 12-year period equals 1.6 Hiroshima-size explosions per day." See washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2015/11/27/a-ground-zero-forgotten/?utm_term=.e03eb948600.

     The 30th Hawaiʻi state legislature issued a certificate of welcome to the Golden Rule, wishing her crew a "successful journey" of two-and-a half years sailing the Pacific "to support the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, raise awareness about environmental and human costs of military and nuclear activities, and support efforts to stop the possibility of nuclear war."

     The crew on the leg of the voyage from Hiloto Maui was comprised of James Akau, of Pāhala, and from Hawaiʻi Island: Keith Oney, Joe Scarola, Alex Fanceschini, and Arron Blackman, along with Jaccard.

     To donate, and more, contact Helen Jaccard at 206-992-6364 or vfpgoldenruleproject@
gmail.com.
     Visit vfpgoldenrule.org.

Also contact Ann Wright, Veterans for Peace-Hawaiʻi, 808-7411141, annw1946@gmail.com.

       See the documentary online, Making Waves: The Rebirth of the Golden Rule at vimeo.com/250517563. Read more in yesterday's Kaʻū News Briefs.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter. See our online calendars and our latest print edition at kaucalendar.com.