Ka‘ū News Briefs, Monday , Sept. 6, 2021

     A Fact Sheet on the measure says:

      "The American economy is not working for most Americans. While corporations and the wealthy continue to capture the rewards of a growing economy — working families and middle-class Americans are being left behind. From 1980 to 2017, average incomes for the bottom 90 percent of households increased just 1.1 percent, while average incomes for the wealthiest 1 percent increased more than 184 percent. 

    "This inequality is not a natural product of a functioning economy. It is the result of policy choices that have stripped workers of the power to join together and negotiate for decent wages, benefits, and working conditions. The Protecting the Right to Organize Act restores fairness to the economy by strengthening the federal laws that protect workers’ right to join a union. Unions are critical to increasing wages and creating an economy that rewards hardworking people, but special interest-funded attacks on labor laws have eroded union membership. 

    "In 1956, roughly one in every three workers were union members. After a decades-long effort to weaken and exploit toothless labor laws, just 10 percent of American workers are unionized today. The Protecting the Right to Organize Act protects the basic right to join a union by: 1. Introducing meaningful, enforceable penalties for companies and executives that violate workers’ rights 2. Expanding workers’ collective bargaining rights and closing loopholes that corporations use to exploit workers 3. Strengthening workers’ access to fair union elections and requiring corporations to respect the results."

    Read the entire ProAct Fact Sheet at https://edlabor.house.gov/imo/media/doc/PRO%20ACT%20-%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf

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WILIWILI IS THE SEPTEMBER PLANT for Lāʻau Letters: Native Plants of Kaʻū, the monthly column in The Ka'u Calendar newspaper by Jodie Rosam and artist Joan Yoshioka. The column features the plants' moʻolelo (stories), uses, preferred habitats, and opportunities to adopt them for stewardship. It seeks to encourage making new plant friends and to reunite with others.
    Wiliwili, Erythrina sandwichensis, is the subject of Mary Kawena Pukui's ʻŌlelo Noʻeau: Pua ka wiliwili nanahu ka manō: When the wiliwili tree blooms, the sharks bite.
    Description: Wiliwili is an endemic tree in the pea family (Fabaceae), and much like last month's featured lāʻau ʻohe makai, it is drought-deciduous (it drops its leaves during the dry season). The showy orange, red, salmon, peach, light green, yellow, or even white flowers bloom during the summer months after the leaves drop, and the nearly heart-shaped leaflets emerge in threes during the fall. Wiliwili cangrow quite large, exceeding 45 feet tall with an impressively wide crown. Wili means to twist, screw, or wind, and wiliwili means repeatedly twisted, referring to the seed pods that twist to expose the bright, coral colored seeds. Did you know wiliwili were on the brink of extinction in 2005 when an infestation of the Erythrina Gall Wasp (EGW) began killing a number of trees? Fortunately, the release of the Eurytoma parasitoid wasp as a biocontrol in 2008 successfully and significantly reduced the EWG and saved our wiliwili!
    Uses: Because of its low density, the wood of wiliwili was used for ama (outrigger canoe floats) and mouo (fishing floats). Most notably, wiliwili wood was the preferred choice for papa heʻe nalu (surfboards), specifically for olo, or longboards, which were ridden by the aliʻi. The shiny orange and red seeds are still used in lei.
    Habitat: Wiliwili grow in harsh environments including barren lava flows and dry forests up to 1,950 feet elevation. Waikōloa is known for its large wiliwili population, but Kaʻū is arguably home to just as many! Look for the brightly colored flowers across the lowland dry forests makai of Waiʻōhinu during the summer (now!). Three wiliwili sisters formerly guarded Puhiʻula Cave at Pāʻula (Kaunāmano Ahupuaʻa), and are still alive in moʻolelo (stories) shared today.
   Growing and Purchasing: Seeds must be scarified (I use nail clippers to knick the seed coat on the opposite side of the seed's piko) and soaked for 12-24 hours to increase germination success. Pot soaked seeds in a well-drained mix (cinder soil mixes), and fertilize regularly until they are planted (because fix Nitrogen, no additional fertilizer is required once they are in the ground). Be sure to choose a sunny area for your drought, heat, and wind tolerant wiliwili to thrive. Plants may be available for purchase through Future Forests, or contact the author.
    About the artist: Joan Yoshioka says she is a conservationist at heart and has dedicated her life to preserving the native plants and animals of Hawaiʻi through her work with federal, state, and private organizations over the past 30+ years. She describes herself as an outdoor-lovin' opti- mist, biologist/botanist, and habitual creator of art-stuff. She says the key to our most fundamental and truest part of ourselves is found in nature and she constantly draws on it for inspiration.
    About the author: Jodie Rosam says she has a deep love for native plants and a passion for exploration, with over 15 years of experience in working in the restoration of Hawaiʻi's forests. As a mother and an educator, she says the next generation has the power to lead the world to a sustainable future, and is committed to teaching her children (and others) from a place-based perspective.