Green Sand Beach is the subject of a story in San Francisco Gate this weekend, describing desecration of the place and surrounding lands and trails going there. Photo by Peter Anderson |
The story quotes Nohea Keawa, describing her as a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner and lifelong resident of the district. She told SFGate that “People are free to do as they wish and our cultural sites have been desecrated. Roads are created where they are not supposed to be, and when big rains occur, water floods and follows these roads that lead to sites, thus contributing to erosion at a faster pace.
“Loose dirt flows into the ocean, covering the reef, and then the fish population starts to decline because the coral starts to die. We all know that coral needs sunlight to live,” Kaawa told SFGate. “The traffic in the area has also decimated ohai, a native shrub with orange and red blossoms that now only grows wild in a few places along the coast. … There are families that carry ‘ohai’ in their name, so you know the plant was important to this area. We as Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) are connected to our native environment; plants are 'ohana.”
SFGate notes that illegal commercial vehicular enterprises are operating rides to Green Sand Beach. The story quotes Cedric Duarte, spokesperson for Department of Hawaiian Homelands, which owns the property in trust for Native Hawaiians. He told SFGate, “Any off-roading is illegal unless they are using the county dirt road down to Kaulana Boat Ramp.”
The story points out that the DHHL plan describes the shuttle service and its impacts: “The land has been exploited by individuals providing illegal shuttle services who care only about economic gain even at the expense of the land and resources.”
The DHHL spokesman told SFGate:“It’s very difficult for legislators to give us resources for
Nohea Kaawa. Photo from Hawai'i Wildlife Fund |
Marian Tusji, former CEO of Lanakila, and the head of Behavioral Health at DOH, has a long career of assisting people with disadvantage and disabilities. Photo from Department of Health |
A BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CENTER TO FOCUS ON ASIAN AMERICANS, NATIVE HAWAIIANS AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS in Hawai'i has received almost $3.5
million in federal funding. It will be operated through the state Department of Health with partners, including Papa Ola Lokahi and San Jose University. The funds will arrive over the next five years. Called The AANHPI Center of Excellence, it "will promote culturally and linguistically appropriate behavioral health information and practices; establish a steering committee with participants from across the country to identify emerging issues; and provide training, technical assistance, and consultation to practitioners, educators and community organizations," says a statement from Department of Health.
Deputy Department of Health Director, in charge of of Behavioral Health for DOH is Marian Tsuji. She said, "Truly responsive behavioral health services must address stigma and provide resources that address cultural trauma and culturally-informed treatment. We are honored to lead this national Center of Excellence to bring together cultural practitioners, behavioral health experts, and other stakeholders to ensure that we are meeting systemic behavioral health needs of our diverse communities."
Krystal Ka'ai, a Kamehameha School graduate and Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, called the program key in "efforts to eliminate health disparities affecting AA and NHPI communities. This new center will
Krystal Ka'ai is a Kamehameha Schools graduate and leads The White House initiative on AANHPIs Photo by Sydney Walsh/AsAmNews |
The DOH statement says "the AANHPI Center of Excellence will develop infographics and other materials that address behavioral health, including those that provide data disaggregated by race and ethnicity; provide guidance on best practices for improving engagement and retention of AANHPI behavioral health professionals; and serve as an accessible and trusted clearinghouse for evidence-based behavioral health resources and products.
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LEGALLY, FARM WORKERS MUST RECEIVE TRAINING, in order to enter a field within 30 days of the last pesticide applications if they apply or handle pesticides. They must be trained annually to comply with the federal Worker Protection Standard. That's according to a message from Andrea Kawabata and University of Hawai'i Cooperative Extensive Service, which works with many Ka‘ū food, coffee and macadamia farmers. One of the chemicals covered by the requirement is Preaxor Xemium, used to fight off coffee leaf rust in Ka‘ū Coffee farms.
To cover the requirement, Worker Protection Standard Webinars in English and Spanish are planned.
The message from Kawabata says, "Many, if not all farms regardless of organic or non-organic farming methods, use pesticides if applying a product to kill a beetle, bug, fungus, mite, rat, or weed.
"Learn how to keep yourself and your workers safe with the proper use, storage, handling, application, and disposal of pesticides.
"This class is open to all employers, owners, managers, and agricultural employees on farms, forests, nurseries, and greenhouses. The class will cover the current Worker Protection Standard provisions and requirements.
"This training can also be used to satisfy Section 18 WPS requirements for the use of Priaxor Xemium on coffee for the management of coffee leaf rust."
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HOKULELE BASKETBALL INTERMEDIATE BOYS TEAM from Ka‘ū won third place in the recent statewide PAL Basketball Tournament, sponsored by Hawai'i Police Activities League. Champion for Boys Intermediate was the team called Ikehu, followed by Lights Out Maui.
The Endless Summers HI-PAL Basketball Tournament was held August 27-28 in Hilo. The tournament consisted of four divisions to include Varsity Girls, Intermediate Girls, Elementary Girls, and Intermediate Boys. The tournament was organized by Hilo Community Police Officer Darren Abalos who coordinated with retired Police Major Randy Apele. Abalos said, “Due to the past COVID restrictions prohibiting children and families from participating in sporting events, I was happy to assist in coordinating this event with Mr. Apele to get the children back into sports.” Apele stated, “The participants were eager to play in the tournament and enjoyed being able to get back into playing basketball against other teams in friendly competition.”
Other winners were Kona Stingrays taking the Varsity Girls Division, followed by Honolulu Lightning and Hoopstars. The Intermediate Girls Division champ is Maui Sparks, followed by West Side Kaua'i and Kaua'i Ballers. The Elementary Girls Division champ is Swish, followed by West Side Kaua'i and Kona Stingrays.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar. See latest print edition at wwwkaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.html.