Ka`u News Briefs Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014

      Ford met with Ka`u residents and members of the Ka`u High Class of ’59 who advocated for the facility to be named in honor of Laurence Capellas, Sr., who was passionate about getting Ka`u students educated and starting team sports in Ka`u.
      After the death of former state Rep. Bob Herkes, Ford discussed the possibility of a joint naming with members of the Class of ’59. According to Ford, they said they “would be honored to have the names of both men on the facility.”
       “Bob was always concerned about public safety and worked diligently for Ka`u on this issue,” Ford said. “Because of the need for emergency shelters in Ka`u, Bob was instrumental in getting the gymnasium and shelters considered and funded by Gov. Neil Abercrombie. He worked with past Council members Guy Enriques, Brittany Smart, as well as me.

      “When Bob died, I spoke with his widow, Jo-Anna Herkes, about naming the facility for both Rep. Herkes and Principal Capellas. She was agreeable,” Ford said.
      Ford is introducing two pieces of legislation. Bill 316 names the facility in the County Code as the “Bob Herkes and Laurence Capellas Gymnasium and Shelters.” Resolution 566-14 establishes signage for the facility and recommends two plaques under the facility’s name – one for Capellas and one for Herkes – with permission for the Department of Parks & Recreation to make any changes necessary in the signage.
      “I need for the Class of ’59 and others to come to testify on Nov. 6,” Ford said. “Please make arrangements for several people to testify on the different and wonderful aspects of Mr. Capellas’ history and support of our children. I will also request Mrs. Herkes to testify as well as any others for Rep. Herkes. I hope all of you will support both of these worthy men to have their names on the state-of-the-art gymnasium and shelters.”

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MANY PAHOA BUSINESSES ARE OPEN, owners making every cent they can to save up for relocating, should the lava flow move from the edge of town into the heart of Pahoa village, where it could ignite and cover the historic buildings. On Halloween, restaurants and bars were full, and people roamed Pahoa in costumes. 

      Phillip Paolo staffmembers said they appreciate the population supporting their business and noted that Mayor Billy Kenoi came in to dine on Thursday night. The restaurant has served Pahoa for almost 21 years. Chef and owner Phillip Paolo said there have been a few offers for a new location should Pahoa become victim to the lava.
    Across the street, Ferreira and Company with imports, gifts and furnishings, was open late and hoping for customers who may not have come, some of them saying that news reports gave them the idea that the entire Pahoa village is shut down.
    Nearby, the Locavore store opened for its last day, the owners going mobile and heading deeper into lower Puna to serve a community that could be cut off from major roads by incoming lava.
    On the edge of Pahoa, Hawai`i and international media crews report daily on the lava's progress, focusing on farms, homes and wildlands in the path of the lava, recounting the story of the Kalapana community on the coast, which was slowly eaten away by active flows from Kilaeua Volcano for more than a decade.  To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.  

HAWAI`I COUNTY CIVIL DEFENSE reports that the flow front remains active but has not advanced since yesterday, remaining approximately 480 feet from Pahoa Village Road. All activity along the front has been limited to breakouts along the margins or sides of the flow as well as on the flow surface. Additional breakouts upslope of the flow front are being monitored, including one heading toward the transfer station.

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TO HELP THE PUBLIC UNDERSTAND the inconsistency of the June 27th lava flow threatening Pahoa, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists discuss the nature of pahoehoe lava in the current issue of Volcano Watch.
      “For the past few weeks, the flow has advanced in the way that slow-moving pahoehoe flows are notoriously famous for — fitfully — as a series of budding lava toes and lobes (small flows) that break out and spread, then stop and inflate with fresh, molten lava, before breaking out again as new toes and lobes.
      “Advancing lava toes typically spread laterally, as well as downslope. As they do, they often merge with other nearby toes, forming a larger lobe made of coalesced toes topped by a thin crust of hardened lava.
      “Beneath the crust is a liquid lava core that is continually replenished with new lava from the main lava tube upslope. As more lava flows into the liquid core of coalesced toes, the crusted surface rises (inflates), making room for additional lava to travel beneath the crust.

      “The liquid core of coalesced toes becomes the conduit through which fresh lava is delivered to the front of an individual flow. This provides for the eventual downslope growth of a lava tube.

      “Such spreading of pahoehoe lava has occurred not only at the tip of the June 27th flow (the part of the flow farthest downslope), but also at the leading edges of many separate lobes behind the flow front and along the margin of the flow. The lowermost 1.2 miles of the June 27th flow has spawned many such breakouts of toes and lobes from the lava tube during the past month.
      “Lava lobes advance at varying rates over a period of time — from a few minutes to hours to days — depending mostly on the amount of lava that is supplied to them through the lava tube. Larger surface flows or lobes along flow margins upslope from the flow front may be active for days to weeks and sometimes overtake the flow front to form a new tip.
      “In this way, surface breakouts and coalescing toes of pahoehoe lava form a complex patchwork of lobes and flows that contribute to the width, thickness and length of the overall flow as it moves downslope. Scientists often refer to the resulting patchwork as a flow field instead of an individual flow.

      “With several surface flows moving simultaneously, but at different speeds along different parts of the June 27th flow, it is often difficult to determine the flow’s advance rate on a daily basis. This can lead to anxiety and confusion when the numbers keep changing.”

      During the week of Oct. 19, “the leading edge of the June 27th lava flow slowed, stopped and advanced again. Between Monday, Oct. 20, and Wednesday, Oct. 22, it moved about 45 yards per day. During this same time, the flow front was passed by a narrow lobe, less than 55 yards wide, that was moving nearly 220 yards per day until Wednesday morning, when that rate nearly doubled. This lobe advanced quickly because it was confined, or channeled, by the local topography in a narrow gully.
      According to the article, the same pattern occurred beginning about Sept. 22, when the leading edge of the June 27th flow stopped advancing for nearly a week, but subsequent upslope breakouts, moving along the north margin of the flow at a rate of about 130 yards per day, overtook the flow tip.

      “Both of these slowdowns and temporary stalls in the forward advance of the June 27th lava flow correlate well with a measured decrease in the supply of lava from the Pu`u `O`o vent into the lava tube that feeds the flow front. Repeated measurements of the cross-sectional area of the lava stream within the tube indicate that lava discharge from Pu`u `O`o may have decreased by at least one-third in mid- to late September and by nearly two-thirds in mid-October.
      “Variations in flow rates are a normal part of pahoehoe behavior but require close monitoring when flows approach residential areas and critical infrastructure. Therefore, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and Hawai`i County Civil Defense continue to closely track the June 27th lava flow.”

      Daily updates are posted at http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/activity/kilaueastatus.php and http://www.hawaiicounty.gov/active-alerts/.

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KA`U COUNTRY FESTIVAL continues at Honu`apo to 5 p.m. today, with entertainment by Mary Mann, Sonny Ramos & Friends, Foggy and Bottle of Blue. The day features a Keiki Art Garden and food and educational booths. The gathering is a benefit for the Hawai`i Food Forest Project sponsored by Sanctuary of Mana Kea Gardens. See www.hawaiifoodforest.com/Festival.html.

PARTICIPANTS BRING LUNCH AND LEARN about the vital role of `ohi`a lehua in native Hawaiian forests, the many forms of the `ohi`a lehua tree and its flower during a free program tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. at the Kahuku Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.

TUESDAY IS GENERAL ELECTION DAY. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Cooper Center in Volcano Village, Ka`u High School cafeteria, Na`alehu School cafeteria, Ocean View Community Center and Miloli`i Halau.

HOW HAWAI`I BECAME A STATE is the topic at After Dark in the Park Tuesday. According to an announcement of the program from Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, “By uniting the islands under a single ruler, Kamehameha I laid the foundation for what would eventually become the fiftieth of the United States of America. Yet between those two events were attempts by France, Great Britain and Russia to take control of the islands for themselves. Hawaiian monarchs variously embraced or rejected American political and economic influence. So how did Hawai`i move from being a kingdom to becoming a territory, and then a state? What did the Hawaiian people think of this? Join historian Boyd D. Bond to unravel the events that led to statehood.” 

      The free program begins at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. $2 donations support After Dark programs.