Ka‘ū News Briefs, Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022

OCEAN VIEW RESIDENT ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY FOR COUNTY COUNCIL. Chrissey Joy says she is running for Hawai'i County Council District 6. A graduate from Konawaena High School, Joy has been a long-time resident of Ocean View. She works as assistant manager of Famous Footwear in Kona and is the mother of three children.

Chrissey Joy, of Ocean View, says she will run for County Council and is shown with her family.

    Over the many years that she has lived here, Joy said, she has witnessed the vast influx of people moving to Hawai'i and displacing local families from their homes. "I can't imagine, with the way the virus is happening, being able to buy my home in this," said Joy.
    Joy said those who move to and visit Hawai'i often take advantage of the aloha spirit of local communities and that she is interested in increasing dialogue about this issue. "Instead of sitting here and feeling sad about it, I want to try to speak up and do something," said Joy.
    In regards to development, Joy suggested empowering the community towards self-sufficiency, rather than just surviving off of tourism. Although Joy and her husband rely on tourism for employment, Joy explained that "we need to think of ways of surviving ourselves."
    Joy said she also believes strongly in reforming the local education system so that it is more place-based. As a mother herself, Joy said she advocates for the community to be more involved in the education of its children. "We are on a beautiful island, and the fact that we see trash on the island, that's not okay. We need to go back to the classrooms and teach the kids respect for the island, our home, so that this island can go back to the way that the Big Island was when I first got here 20 years ago."
    Joy said she believes that one of the biggest needs in Kaʻū is "to come together as a community." Her closing message is this: "Let's go back to old Hawai'i. Let's go back to the way it was when it was good."

    Current County Council member for Kaʻū is Maile David who is wrapping up her fourth term, the last one allowed in succession, under term limits.

    Filing to run for elective office is from March 1 to June 7.  The primary election is Aug. 13. The General Election is Nov. 8. See https://elections.hawaii.gov/candidates/candidate-filing/

    
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Peaches flew to California to her new home, as part of an opportunity for people beyond Hawai'i to adopt animals in  shelters on this island. Photo by Lisa Garaske

ANIMALS IN HAWAI'I COUNTY SHELTERS MAY FIND HOMES ON THE MAINLAND, with Hawai'i Police Department issuing a statement saying:
    "In order to expand its network of transfer partners to facilitate alleviating overcrowding and decreasing euthanasia of animals in Hawai'i’s municipal shelters, Hawai‘i Police Department announces that it has started a pilot project with Paws Across Water Hawai‘i to transfer shelter animals to mainland foster organizations who will facilitate finding lifetime homes for the pets."

     Paws Across Water Hawai’i is managed by Three Ring Ranch Exotic Animal Sanctuary, a 501(c3) nonprofit located in Kailua-Kona.
    “We’re excited to give these animals a new opportunity to find loving forever homes on the mainland,” says County Animal Control Director Regina Serrano. “Although our County is referred to as the Big Island, we are actually limited in the amount of homes that are willing or able to adopt a shelter pet.”
    The project got underway Thursday, Jan. 13, when a whippet mix named Peaches flew to California as an accompanied pet on Hawaiian Airlines to the Wagging Dog Rescue in Carlsbad, where she immediately was welcomed to live with one of Wagging Dog’s fosters.

Animal Control staff with Ann Goody, Director of Three Ring Ranch. Photo from Hawai'i Police Department

   As part of the pilot project, animal flying companions on Hawaiian or Alaska Airlines, traveling from Hawai‘i Island to San Diego, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Portland, can volunteer for a shelter animal to be added to their airline reservation. Flights need to be direct or when going to the Bay Area, with one brief inter-island stop. 
    Hawai'i Police Department's statement says, "County of Hawai‘i Animal Control will exhaust all efforts to determine local ownership of an animal before determining which shelter pets are suitable for the program, including senior animals. Animal Control will spay and neuter the pets, as well as conduct health screenings and vaccinations, while PAWHI will handle all the travel details and any travels costs for the animal, including a travel crate."
    The pilot program includes six mainland rescue organization partners in California and Washington. The mainland foster partners select a cat or dog from the available Animal Control pets to ensure the animal meets each rescue’s unique criteria. PAWHI will pair the pet with a volunteer traveling to that area and prepare the animal for travel, including meeting the traveler at the airport on date of departure. Upon landing, the traveler is met by the designated rescue organization’s representative, where the pet begins its journey towards a forever home.
    "The pilot program, which plans on transferring 50-100 animals in the next six to 12 months, will help reduce overcrowding in County animal shelters, as well as local non-profit animal rescue groups that are still accepting strays," says the statement from Hawai'i Police Department
    People interested in supporting the program or becoming an animal flying companion may contact Three Ring Ranch Exotic Animal Sanctuary at (808) 331-8778 or email ann@pawhi.org. Those who would like more information on becoming a transfer partner with County of Hawaii Animal Control contact hpdanimalcontrol@hawaiicounty.gov.

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Kama'ehuakanaloa, the underwater volcano  known as Lō'ihi, will take tens of thousands of years to reach the surface.  Image from Woods Hole

IS KAMA'EHUAKANALOA LIKELY TO EXPLODE LIKE HUNGA TONGA-HUNGA HA'APAI? Also known as Lō'ihi, meaning long, Kama'ehuakanaloa, the underwater 10,000 ft. tall seamount growing off the southeast coast of Kaʻū, was the subject of news stories around the state on Tuesday. FREE AT-HOME COVID TESTS ARE AVAILABLE. Hawaiʻi State Senate announced today that every home in the U.S. is now eligible to order four free at-home COVID-19 tests. The tests are completely free. Orders are expected to ship in seven to 12 days. To order tests, visit https://www.covidtests.gov/

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THE HIGHEST NEW COVID CASE COUNT TO DATE on this island was reported as 834 on Tuesday, following the second highest last Saturday with 720 cases reported.  The number of new cases reported in the last 14 days in Kaʻū and Volcano by state Department of Health were: 31 in Ocean View,  51 in Nāʻālehu, 34 in Pāhala, and 37 in Volcano.

    County Civil Defense issued the following statement: "For Hawai'i County, Department of Health reports 834 new cases, 5,170 active cases, and 41 persons hospitalized. Positive cases continue to be elevated. Mahalo for doing your part to protect yourself, your family, and your community from coronavirus by following the preventive measures of wearing face coverings, distancing, disinfecting your hands, limiting and avoiding gatherings, staying home, especially when sick, and vaccinating.

    "If you feel sick or believe you may have been exposed to a positive case, contact your primary care provider."

FEMA-funded help arrived Tuesday at Hilo Medical Center. Photo from HMC

KAʻŪ HOSPITAL'S SISTER FACILITY, HILO MEDICAL CENTER, welcomed 22 FEMA-funded personnel on Tuesday to help in the omicron surge.     

    Hilo Medical Center spokesperson Elena Cabatu said the facility is caring for 22 COVID patients, with eight of them vaccinated and one boosted, and 14 unvaccinated with one of them in ICU on a vent.
    On Tuesday, Hilo Medical Center opened up four additional acute beds and is prepared to open up 24 additional beds if demand further exceeds capacity, said Cabatu. 

     She encouraged all households to order four free at-home test kits distributed by the federal government. Go to https://www.covidtests.gov.               She also urged using health insurance to purchase test over-the-counter at a local pharmacy or store by going to: https://www.cms.gov/how-to-get-your-at-home-OTC-COVID-19-test-for-free.

    The Zoom, 90-minute workshop will be led by Pelika Andrade and is free and open to the public. Registration and further details can be found at: https://www.vibranthawaii.org/event-details/hooikaika-kilo    Hoʻoikaika Kilo "integrates Kuʻu Moʻo ʻŌlelo o Nā Pō o Ka Mahina, resources and tools to support ʻāina momona within ourselves, communities, and lāhui. As a participant, you will learn about an initiative here in Hawaiʻi that supports productive and thriving communities of people, place, and natural resources, natural cycles and seasonal indicators of place, and how to track and understand your own personal story and relationship to the moon."
    A native Hawaiian born and raised on the island of Kauaʻi, Andrade is a founder and Executive Director of Na Maka Onaona. She has a long history working with Hawaiʻi communities throughout the archipelago as a hoaʻāina, community member, sailor, cultural practitioner and researcher. For the past 12 years, she has been developing alternate approaches to monitoring Hawaiʻi's watersheds and supporting implementation of a management strategy that supports healthy, balanced communities in Hawai'i. She has a master's degree in Hawaiian studies with a focus on Mālama ʻĀina (Hawaiian Conservation) and is currently working on her PhD in Education and Curriculum Studies."

    Vibrant Hawai'i was a major supporter of the founding of the food hubs in Kaʻū and distribution of free food during the pandemic.

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PACIFIC INTERNSHIP PROGRAM FOR EXPLORING SCIENCE (PIPES) is accepting applications for this summer. PIPES is a 10-week undergraduate internship program running from May 31 to Aug. 5, offered through University of Hawai'i at Hilo. The goal of the program is "to connect under-represented undergraduate students, especially those who are Native Hawaiian or kamaʻāina, to internship opportunities with agencies and organizations responsible for research, management, and education relating to environmental issues in Hawaiʻi and throughout the Pacific region."
    All internships are paid experiences. Participants may be eligible for additional housing assistance. For more, see https://hilo.hawaii.edu/uhintern/. Deadline to apply is Jan. 31.

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