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| Kaʻū High's 2,500 sq. ft. media/makerspace where the Esports Club launched a winning season this week against teams from throughout Hawai'i, Alaska and the West Coast. Photo from Kaʻū High Esports Club |
KAʻŪ HIGH ESPORTS CLUB LAUNCHED INTO FALL SEASON COMPETITION and won.
This week, in the Super Smash Brothers competition against 41 Hawai'i high schools, Kaʻū beat Assets High School on O'ahu, 3-2. The Kaʻū team consists of Gavin Anger, Stephen Throne, Fred Kauwe, Anaza Nielson and Elizabeth Greedy. Super Smash Brothers consists of teams of three players in a best of five matches, where each match is a best of three sets between individual. players from each team.
In Overwatch 2 competition against 95 high schools in Hawai'i, Alaska and the West Coast, Kaʻū beat Lancaster High School of California, 3-1. The Kaʻū team consists of Krystal Eder, Stephen Throne, Jasmin Sanchez, Fred Kauwe, Chairmane Kaye Rosaria and Josph Mykhaylchenko. Overwatch 2 consists of teams of five players in a best of five games consisting of Control, Hybrid, Flashpoint, Push and Escort game modes.
Fall season runs from Sept. 25 to Nov. 13. Teams who make the playoffs potentially continue playing up until Winter Break. Spring season begins in February.
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| Kaʻū High School's Esport Club team members, under the guidance of Eric Honma who runs the student technology and design lab. Photo from Kaʻū High Esports Club |
The Esports Club is entering its seventh year under advisor Andrew Honma, the school's tech coordinator who also runs the student technology and design lab, a 2,500 square-foot media/makerspace.
Esports Club President is Chairmane Kaye Rosario, who earned the position by beating out all others who wanted the presidency in an Overwatch 2 Deathmatch.
In addition to participating in competitive matches agains other high schools, Esport Club welcomes members who simply want a safe, nourishing space to play video games together.
The Club also engages in Karaoke and members said they will be the first in line if high schools in Hawai'i would start a competition.
College planning is also a strong theme of the Esports Club. Seven of nine students who took advantage of University of Hawai'i- Hilo's recent, on-the-spot admissions are Esports Club members. They signed up for college one week after a trip touring the UH Hilo campus with sit-downs with professors from a variety of departments.
The Hawai'i Super Smash Brothers Ultimate League results can be tracked at https://app.playvs.com/explore/leagues/hawaii-hhsaa-smash-ultimate/standings.
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HAWAI'I SUPREME COURT UNANIMOUSLY RULED AGAINST ALLOWING FARM DWELLINGS FOR VACATION RENTALS. The decision came down on Tuesday and received praise from Hawai'i's Attorney General Anne Lopez, former General Doug Chin and Gov. Josh Green. In addition to ruling on use of farm dwellings, the Supreme Court backed the principle of supporting decisions of government agencies that have expertise, experience and local knowledge.
The Governor said, “Using agricultural lands for genuine agricultural purposes and ensuring that housing is allocated for our residents are two of the most crucial issues facing our state today.”
The AG said, “I commend that Hawaiʻi Supreme Court for making the right decision for the people of Hawaiʻi. Today’s decision makes clear that deference to administrative agencies is a principle with continued vitality in Hawaiʻi. This decision reaffirms the importance of agency expertise under Hawaiʻi law.”
The Governor said, “Using agricultural lands for genuine agricultural purposes and ensuring that housing is allocated for our residents are two of the most crucial issues facing our state today.”
The AG said, “I commend that Hawaiʻi Supreme Court for making the right decision for the people of Hawaiʻi. Today’s decision makes clear that deference to administrative agencies is a principle with continued vitality in Hawaiʻi. This decision reaffirms the importance of agency expertise under Hawaiʻi law.”
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| Doug Chin successfully argued the case to keep vacation rentals off of agricultural land. |
Former AG Chin, who served as Special Deputy Attorney to argue the case before the state Supreme Court, said, “This was a win for preserving agricultural lands in Hawaiʻi. Short-term vacation rentals are transient accommodations effectively for vacation or tourist use and do not belong in the agricultural district. That was the Land Use Commission’s finding when a dozen Hawaiʻi island landowners applied to rent out their farm dwellings as short-term vacation rentals.The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court unanimously upheld the LUC’s thoughtful and well-reasoned decision.”
The case is Rosehill v. State of Hawaiʻi, Land Use Commission. The Rosehill plaintiffs are a collection of owners of high end vacation rentals on Hawai'i Island agricultural properties whose permits were denied.
UNDERSTANDING MAGMA STORAGE AND MIGRATION IN KILAUEA'S ACTIVE EAST RIFT ZONE is the title of this week's Volcano Watch, writted by USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geophysicist Ninfa Bennington and EHT Zürich colleagues Federica Lanza and Alicia Rohnacher.
As signals created by earthquakes move through the ground, they are influenced by the structure of the volcano, including the presence of magma and/or fault zones. These structures can cause the seismic waves to travel faster or slower inside the Earth and are recorded on seismometers. Seismologists can take advantage of these changes, to create images of where magma is located and to track its path underground.
The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) has about 80 permanent seismometers on the Island of Hawaiʻi. Using only data from these permanent seismometers provides a fuzzy picture of underlying magma storage structures. However, if the number of seismometers at the surface is increased, more of the seismic waves traveling through regions of magma storage will be recorded yielding a crisper picture of the subsurface.
The case is Rosehill v. State of Hawaiʻi, Land Use Commission. The Rosehill plaintiffs are a collection of owners of high end vacation rentals on Hawai'i Island agricultural properties whose permits were denied.
In addition to the Supreme Court Judges' ruling that farm dwellings in the agricultural district cannot be used as short-term vacation rentals under Hawaiʻi law, the justices further held that courts must generally defer to agencies when interpreting ambiguous laws. They also disagreed with a 2024 U.S. Supreme Court case that overruled the 40-year-old case of Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., which also involved the expertise of agencies.
A statement from the AG says, "The County of Hawaiʻi has an ordinance that generally prohibits short-term vacation rentals in the agricultural district. In 2020, both the County of Hawaiʻi and certain owners of land in the agricultural district of the County of Hawaiʻi petitioned the state Land Use Commission (LUC)![]()
for declaratory orders regarding the legality of this prohibition under state law.
"The LUC held that a short-term vacation rental is not a permitted use of a farm dwelling in the agricultural district. On appeal, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court agreed with the LUC, holding that a farm dwelling may not be used as short-term vacation rentals because 'short-term vacation rentals undermine' agricultural purposes. In making this decision, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court expressly deferred to the LUC’s interpretation of ambiguous Hawaiʻi law, stating: “In Hawaiʻi, we defer to those agencies with the naʻauao (knowledge/wisdom) on particular subject matters to get complex issues right.”
In making this decision, the court also expressly disagreed with the reasoning of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 decision of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, Department of the Attorney General which overruled longstanding principles of federal judicial deference to agency interpretation of statutes.
A statement from the AG says, "The County of Hawaiʻi has an ordinance that generally prohibits short-term vacation rentals in the agricultural district. In 2020, both the County of Hawaiʻi and certain owners of land in the agricultural district of the County of Hawaiʻi petitioned the state Land Use Commission (LUC)
"The LUC held that a short-term vacation rental is not a permitted use of a farm dwelling in the agricultural district. On appeal, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court agreed with the LUC, holding that a farm dwelling may not be used as short-term vacation rentals because 'short-term vacation rentals undermine' agricultural purposes. In making this decision, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court expressly deferred to the LUC’s interpretation of ambiguous Hawaiʻi law, stating: “In Hawaiʻi, we defer to those agencies with the naʻauao (knowledge/wisdom) on particular subject matters to get complex issues right.”
In making this decision, the court also expressly disagreed with the reasoning of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 decision of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, Department of the Attorney General which overruled longstanding principles of federal judicial deference to agency interpretation of statutes.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar. See upcoming events, print edition and archive at kaunews.com.
As signals created by earthquakes move through the ground, they are influenced by the structure of the volcano, including the presence of magma and/or fault zones. These structures can cause the seismic waves to travel faster or slower inside the Earth and are recorded on seismometers. Seismologists can take advantage of these changes, to create images of where magma is located and to track its path underground.
The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) has about 80 permanent seismometers on the Island of Hawaiʻi. Using only data from these permanent seismometers provides a fuzzy picture of underlying magma storage structures. However, if the number of seismometers at the surface is increased, more of the seismic waves traveling through regions of magma storage will be recorded yielding a crisper picture of the subsurface.
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| Map shows temporary seismic nodes across Kīlauea ERZ (red triangles). Earthquakes located in the ERZ between July 1, 2024, and September 22, 2024, are shown as black dots. Kaluapele (Kīlauea's summit caldera) is outlined in magenta. Blue line drawn between two nodes indicates the area where the velocity changes in were calculated. Shaded grey area approximates the ERZ of Kīlauea. |
In late June 2024, seismologists from ETH Zürich and HVO deployed 115 seismic nodes (tiny, portably seismometers) across Kīlauea's ERZ, fortuitously before significant unrest began in the ERZ. Data recorded on these nodes will be used to image the location and volume of magma within the ERZ at a level of detail not previously possible, and the resulting model will help us to better understand the volcanic hazards in this region. These densely spaced seismic instruments will continue to record seismic signals through October 2024. Given the timeline of their occupation, they recorded earthquakes associated with intrusions of magma into the ERZ in July and August, as well as the September 15–20 eruption in the middle ERZ. In fact, four of the nodes had to be rescued from the field to prevent them from being impacted by the recent eruption.
While the dense seismic array continues to record data, scientists have collected a subset of data from these instruments including late June through late August 2024. ETH and HVO seismologists are working together to analyze these newly collected data. Specifically, they are using an analysis tool called ambient noise interferometry—which takes advantage of continuous seismic signals created through the interaction between ocean swells and the ocean crust—to identify what was happening below the surface leading to the September eruption.
While the dense seismic array continues to record data, scientists have collected a subset of data from these instruments including late June through late August 2024. ETH and HVO seismologists are working together to analyze these newly collected data. Specifically, they are using an analysis tool called ambient noise interferometry—which takes advantage of continuous seismic signals created through the interaction between ocean swells and the ocean crust—to identify what was happening below the surface leading to the September eruption.
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| Changes in seismic velocity and earthquake rates at Kīlauea from July to mid-August 2024. Changes in seismic velocity with time are shown in the top panel. The bottom panel shows earthquake rates with time for the same period. The dashed magenta line indicates the opening of cracks and fractures as the magmatic intrusion began in the ERZ. The continued decrease in seismic velocity seen to the right of the magenta line reflects continued intrusion of magma into the region. |
Magma moving through a volcano opens and closes fracture systems causing changes in the speed that ocean noise signals travel through the ground. Scientists can monitor these ocean noise signals for signs that magma is accumulating beneath the surface.
Ocean noise traveling through the ground below the upper ERZ of Kīlauea volcano between early July and late August 2024 showed changes as magma began to enter this area. The most dramatic change we observe is a rapid velocity decrease that begins on July 21, indicating the opening of cracks and fractures due to magmatic intrusions in this region. At the same time, swarms of earthquakes were occurring due to stresses created from intrusion of magma into the subsurface.
This example shows how ambient noise interferometry, along with other volcano monitoring datasets, can be used to understand the changes occurring beneath the surface of a volcano. While this example focuses on changes in velocity at a single pair of nodes, future analysis will be carried out for the entire 115 instrument array, which spans Kīlauea's ERZ. This complete analysis will contribute to our understanding of where magma migrated across the ERZ in the time leading to the September 2024 eruption.
Volcano Activity Updates
Kīlauea is not erupting. Its USGS Volcano Alert level is ADVISORY.
The middle East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea that began September 15 around Nāpau Crater, within
Mauna Loa is not erupting. Its USGS Volcano Alert Level is at NORMAL.
Three earthquakes were reported felt in the Hawaiian Islands during the past week: a M3.2 earthquake 31 km (19 mi) SSW of Pa'auilo at 17 km (11 mi) depth on September 25 at 1:01 p.m. HST, a M4.0 earthquake 4 km (2 mi) S of Pāhala at 32 km (20 mi) depth on September 22 at 6:21 a.m. HST, and a M3.1 earthquake 24 km (14 mi) S of Volcano at 32 km (19 mi) depth on September 19 at 9:31 p.m. HST.
HVO continues to closely monitor Kīlauea and Mauna Loa.
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