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| Visitors from Brazil and the Netherlands have a friendly chat about the flow at the lava roadblock in Pahoa Town, which is otherwise open for dining and shopping. Photo by Julia Neal |
The 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. marathon saw steering committee members going page by page through sections of the document. The steering committee members for the Ka`u CDP and their contact numbers are: Patti Barry, 937-3124; Bob DaMate, 497-0384; Ron Ebert, 928-0027; Leina`ala Enos, 929-9022; Michelle Galimba, 430-4927; Loren Heck, 939-9454; Eldridge Naboa, 936-2189; Marino Ramones, 928-8240; Simon Torres, Jr., 928-6103; and John Cross, 987-4229.
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| Ka`u CDP chart shows number of vacant lots throughout Ka`u. |
After the meeting, committee member John Cross said, “I think we have an outstanding document, and the community will be surprised at how thorough it is.”
Patti Barry said there was agreement by committee members on most of the policies discussed. She said one member took exception with site-specific shoreline setbacks. The draft CDP calls for “establishment at the earliest stages of the land use planning and development process of setbacks either at one-quarter mile or as far as practicable from the shoreline using a science-based assessment and considering physical limitations of the property.”
Patti Barry said there was agreement by committee members on most of the policies discussed. She said one member took exception with site-specific shoreline setbacks. The draft CDP calls for “establishment at the earliest stages of the land use planning and development process of setbacks either at one-quarter mile or as far as practicable from the shoreline using a science-based assessment and considering physical limitations of the property.”
According to Barry, the dissenting member said he thinks such restrictions are too high and would impede economic development. Barry said she thinks most people in Ka`u don’t want the district to look like Kona or Waikiki. She said she, as a realtor, wants development – “smart development.” She said her great-great grandfather, who was the first civil engineer for the territory of Hawai`i, developed a plan that would have limited near-shore development of Waikiki, but the plan was not implemented.
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| Luquin's in the the classic Akebono Theater building draws in restaurant-goers with a musician. It is open for breakfast daily from 7 a.m. and remains open until 9 p.m. Photo by Julia Neal |
Many projections and considerations for the future are being discussed. Among the topics is the need for infrastructure, including roads, schools, water and other utilities that would be required even if no additional land were permitted for development. Included in the document is the fact that 82.5 percent of 15,234 existing lots in Ka`u are vacant. If one dwelling were to be built on each lot that is already zoned for development, population of Ka`u would be multiplied fivefold.
All of the documents can be read at kaucdp.info.
The Steering Committee continues its discussion of the draft CDP at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13 at Na`alehu Community Center. The public is invited.
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All of the documents can be read at kaucdp.info.
The Steering Committee continues its discussion of the draft CDP at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13 at Na`alehu Community Center. The public is invited.
To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.
EMPLOYEES OF PAHOA BUSINESSES, recently suffering from a downturn after the media blitz over the lava flow subsided and the town appeared to be off limits, say they appreciate that county Civil Defense provides the message in daily notices that Pahoa businesses are open. Pahoa is easily accessible.
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| "We are staying; we are open," says the sign at Pahoa Chiropractic, Therapeutic Massage and Vitality Clinic. Photo by Julia Neal |
Reina Kanakaoli, of Luquin’s Mexican Restaurant, said this morning that “people are still living, still moving around and doing the daily life every day” in Pahoa. Luquin’s is open from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. daily. Phillip Paolo and his staff at the Italian restaurant said yesterday that they are happy that Civil Defense is letting the community and visitors know that the town is open and welcoming locals and visitors.
Two visitors, one from Brazil and the other from the Netherlands, had a friendly conversation yesterday with a National Guardsman about the lava flow itself being off limits to the public. The guardsman told the tourists on their bicycles at the roadblock below that they weren’t alone in being held back from riding up to the edge of the lava. He said that he hadn’t even seen the lava flow.
Meanwhile, several blocks away, businesses in Pahoa were open on Sunday with workers emphasizing that the town is walkable and drivable. Should the shops and restaurants have to shutter, they will need all the income possible now to help pay for any relocation, they said.
Two visitors, one from Brazil and the other from the Netherlands, had a friendly conversation yesterday with a National Guardsman about the lava flow itself being off limits to the public. The guardsman told the tourists on their bicycles at the roadblock below that they weren’t alone in being held back from riding up to the edge of the lava. He said that he hadn’t even seen the lava flow.
Meanwhile, several blocks away, businesses in Pahoa were open on Sunday with workers emphasizing that the town is walkable and drivable. Should the shops and restaurants have to shutter, they will need all the income possible now to help pay for any relocation, they said.
To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.
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| Pahoa Used Books buys, sells and trades. Photo by Julia Neal |
VOG AIR SCRUBBERS GO ON SALE TODAY. Students at Hawai`i Academy of Arts & Sciences in Pahoa created the devices in response to poor air quality related to the continue lava flow that threatens their village. Dan Nakaso, of Honolulu Star-Advertiser, reported that the students used off-the-shelf items from the local ACE Hardware Store to build the units, and ACE will sell them, with some of the proceeds going to the school’s Science, Technology & Math program.
According to Nakaso, the scrubbers use fans to remove vog from air and neutralize the acidity with a compound similar to baking soda.
The vog scrubber is one of several innovations by the students. Others include protection for power poles similar to what Hawai`i Electric Light Co. is experimenting with, heat-resistant fabrics to allow cars to drive over lava that is still cooling and a water-cooled bridge to span lava-covered sections of road.
“We teach giving back, HASS STEM coordinator Eric Clause told Nakaso. “I also teach the kids, ‘You can work the problem — or you can let the problem work you.’”
The vog scrubber is one of several innovations by the students. Others include protection for power poles similar to what Hawai`i Electric Light Co. is experimenting with, heat-resistant fabrics to allow cars to drive over lava that is still cooling and a water-cooled bridge to span lava-covered sections of road.
“We teach giving back, HASS STEM coordinator Eric Clause told Nakaso. “I also teach the kids, ‘You can work the problem — or you can let the problem work you.’”
To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.
THIS IS AMERICAN EDUCATION WEEK, the annual observance that honors students, teachers, education support professional, parents and community members who help students succeed.
AEW was born out of national concern over illiteracy and was first celebrated in 1921 with National Education Association and the American Legion as cosponsors. The overarching goal of AEW is to generate public awareness and support for education. Ka`u residents can be a part of the celebration and through NEA’s Raise Your Hand for Student Success program. Taking the pledge show support for quality public education for all of America’s children.
AEW was born out of national concern over illiteracy and was first celebrated in 1921 with National Education Association and the American Legion as cosponsors. The overarching goal of AEW is to generate public awareness and support for education. Ka`u residents can be a part of the celebration and through NEA’s Raise Your Hand for Student Success program. Taking the pledge show support for quality public education for all of America’s children.
The pledge reads: “
I pledge to Raise My Hand for every child in America to have access to quality public education, regardless of family income or where they live; all educators to be respected and treated as professionals and participate in key education policy discussions; parents, families, communities and educators to come together and create partnerships to foster environments that are conducive for student learning; elected officials to do their part to ensure adequate tools and resources for all schools, include educators in key policy discussions and make sure that students have access to a world class education—from pre-k and beyond; public schools to have smaller class sizes, up-to-date textbooks and safe and clean environments.
“Signing this pledge, I commit to being an advocate for great public schools for every student, and I will tell my relatives, friends and colleagues to ‘Raise Your Hand for student success.’”
See more at http://www.hsta.org/index.php/news/raise-your-hand-take-the-pledge#sthash.ETZBJ3Q8.dpuf.
“Signing this pledge, I commit to being an advocate for great public schools for every student, and I will tell my relatives, friends and colleagues to ‘Raise Your Hand for student success.’”
See more at http://www.hsta.org/index.php/news/raise-your-hand-take-the-pledge#sthash.ETZBJ3Q8.dpuf.
To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.
KA`U `OHANA DAY IS SATURDAY from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Kahuku Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Recently returned from serving as an apprentice navigator aboard Hokule`a, Hilo-native Celeste Manuia Ha`o recounts her epic return to Faleapuna, her village of Samoa. Guided by the waves, winds, stars, and Ka Panana Hoku, the Hawaiian Star Compass, she navigated her way home using the knowledge of Hawaiian ancestors. Participants discover how, whether on sea or on land, they, too, can orient themselves and never be lost.
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| Ka`u resident Lui Sales' son Nainoa plays for the Lahaina Chiefs on Maui. Photo from Lui Sales |
NAINOA SALES, SON OF COUNTY FIREFIGHTER Lui Sales, who lives on Kama`oa Road and on Maui, plays for Lahaina Chiefs’ Peewee division who are the Maui champs.
The Chiefs play a statewide competition bowl game against an O`ahu team next week then head to Las Vegas in December to play another bowl game. Sales and the Chiefs have scored 18 touchdowns in the season with two games left.
To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.
KA`U `OHANA DAY IS SATURDAY from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Kahuku Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Recently returned from serving as an apprentice navigator aboard Hokule`a, Hilo-native Celeste Manuia Ha`o recounts her epic return to Faleapuna, her village of Samoa. Guided by the waves, winds, stars, and Ka Panana Hoku, the Hawaiian Star Compass, she navigated her way home using the knowledge of Hawaiian ancestors. Participants discover how, whether on sea or on land, they, too, can orient themselves and never be lost.
Sign up at 985-6019.
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| Tim Tunison leads an exploration of kipukas Saturday. Photo from VAC |
BOTANIST TIM TUNISON LEADS HIKERS through Kipuka Ki and Kipuka Pua`ulu forests in the Mauna Loa volcano section of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
As a retired employee of Hawai`i’s National Park Service and life-long naturalist, Tunison has decades worth of experience actively managing and interpreting these special ecological areas of the park.
“We’ll get off trail in both kipukas, discuss their rich history and ecology, identify native plants seldom seen anywhere else on the island, and I will share much more about why they are the most beautiful forests that I have ever seen,” Tunison said.
He emphasizes geological characteristic of the sites that make the forests exceptionally unique: 8,000-year-old Mauna Loa lava flows covered by two-meter-deep, Kilauea-sourced volcanic ash. This accounts for the enormous stature of the native canopy trees — most notably Hawai`i’s rare soapberry. Although both kipukas were historically damaged by cattle, pigs and goats prior to them being managed by HVNP, recent decades worth of park-led invasive species removal and native plant recovery efforts has helped them dramatically recover.
Participants should be injury-free, in average physical condition and bring rain gear, closed-toe shoes, a brown bag lunch and at least one quart of water. The day begins at VAC’s Niaulani Campus in Volcano Village, where carpooling to the sites will be arranged.
The event begins at Volcano Art Center’s Niualani Campus, where participants carpool to Mauna Loa Strip Road.
Fees are $45 for VAC members and $50 for nonmembers.
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.
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As a retired employee of Hawai`i’s National Park Service and life-long naturalist, Tunison has decades worth of experience actively managing and interpreting these special ecological areas of the park.
“We’ll get off trail in both kipukas, discuss their rich history and ecology, identify native plants seldom seen anywhere else on the island, and I will share much more about why they are the most beautiful forests that I have ever seen,” Tunison said.
He emphasizes geological characteristic of the sites that make the forests exceptionally unique: 8,000-year-old Mauna Loa lava flows covered by two-meter-deep, Kilauea-sourced volcanic ash. This accounts for the enormous stature of the native canopy trees — most notably Hawai`i’s rare soapberry. Although both kipukas were historically damaged by cattle, pigs and goats prior to them being managed by HVNP, recent decades worth of park-led invasive species removal and native plant recovery efforts has helped them dramatically recover.
Participants should be injury-free, in average physical condition and bring rain gear, closed-toe shoes, a brown bag lunch and at least one quart of water. The day begins at VAC’s Niaulani Campus in Volcano Village, where carpooling to the sites will be arranged.
The event begins at Volcano Art Center’s Niualani Campus, where participants carpool to Mauna Loa Strip Road.
Fees are $45 for VAC members and $50 for nonmembers.
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.
