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| Ka`u livestock producers next year could have an option to hauling their animals to distant processing plants. Photo by Julia Neal |
LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS FROM KA`U gathered at Pahala Community Center yesterday to discuss and learn more about a mobile slaughterhouse proposed to handle small numbers of cattle, sheep and pigs. Like their counterparts on the mainland, many meat producers on Hawai`i Island face significant barriers to starting and maintaining their businesses. The island currently imports a significant amount of its beef and more than 95 percent of its pork, lamb and goat products due to competition from imported meat products, high operational costs and insufficient access to U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected slaughterhouses.
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| Rep. Richard Onishi |
Hawai`i Island Meat is a producer-owned and operated cooperative. Its 36-foot trailer, made possible with funding from the Hawai`i Department of Agriculture, will meet USDA sanitation standards and be capable of processing eight to 10 head of cattle,15 pigs and 30 lamb or goats per day.
State Rep. Richard Onishi lent support to the group that includes Carol Zimmerman, who owns a 360-acre ranch at South Point and Kama`oa Roads where she raises cattle alongside Earth Matters vegetable farm. Barney Frazier, with his lambs that serve as lawnmowers in his orchards, said he acquired sheep and lamb to clean his orchards, leading to people wanting the meat from his farm west of Wai`ohinu. Mick Sharp said he will need slaughterhouse services for his lambs on Ka`alu`alu Road. Former state senator and state Department of Agriculture chief Russell Kokubun, of Volcano, said he is preparing paddocks to raise sheep, goats and pigs.
Mike Amando, who has a 200-acre ranch in Pa`auilo, said he is looking forward to a mobile service that is humane and provides the best services for home, store and restaurant consumption. He said Hawai`i has the disadvantage of being 2,500 miles away from many services for processing livestock. Several producers talked about existing services on the island requiring long drives and long waits for Ka`u ranchers.
Melanie Bondera, of the Kohala Center, said the mobile slaughter facility is designed for small and diversified producers. She said the mayor’s advisory committee on agriculture is very supportive, as is the state Department of Agriculture.
The mobile slaughterhouse would come to Ka`u, perhaps to one or two places, when there are enough animals scheduled. The locations, yet to be determined, would have to have accessibility, a restroom and a few other amenities. They could be on private or public land.
Several farmers and ranchers from outside Ka`u also attended, including Phil Bath, of Puna Pigs.
More information about the program is available at HawaiiIslandMeat.com or via email at HawaiiIslandMeat@gmail.com.
To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.
State Rep. Richard Onishi lent support to the group that includes Carol Zimmerman, who owns a 360-acre ranch at South Point and Kama`oa Roads where she raises cattle alongside Earth Matters vegetable farm. Barney Frazier, with his lambs that serve as lawnmowers in his orchards, said he acquired sheep and lamb to clean his orchards, leading to people wanting the meat from his farm west of Wai`ohinu. Mick Sharp said he will need slaughterhouse services for his lambs on Ka`alu`alu Road. Former state senator and state Department of Agriculture chief Russell Kokubun, of Volcano, said he is preparing paddocks to raise sheep, goats and pigs.
Mike Amando, who has a 200-acre ranch in Pa`auilo, said he is looking forward to a mobile service that is humane and provides the best services for home, store and restaurant consumption. He said Hawai`i has the disadvantage of being 2,500 miles away from many services for processing livestock. Several producers talked about existing services on the island requiring long drives and long waits for Ka`u ranchers.
Melanie Bondera, of the Kohala Center, said the mobile slaughter facility is designed for small and diversified producers. She said the mayor’s advisory committee on agriculture is very supportive, as is the state Department of Agriculture.
The mobile slaughterhouse would come to Ka`u, perhaps to one or two places, when there are enough animals scheduled. The locations, yet to be determined, would have to have accessibility, a restroom and a few other amenities. They could be on private or public land.
Several farmers and ranchers from outside Ka`u also attended, including Phil Bath, of Puna Pigs.
More information about the program is available at HawaiiIslandMeat.com or via email at HawaiiIslandMeat@gmail.com.
To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.
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| Puna CDP map of zoning in Kea`au. |
AN EXAMPLE OF HOW COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLANS guide planning is occurring in Puna, where a proposal coming before the Planning Commission on July 2 recommends bringing the county General Plan, another guide to land use recommendations, into concert with that district’s CDP. While the General Plan recommends and does not force zoning changes, it guides them when landowners make requests.
The proposal from Hawai`i County Council focuses on Kea`au, where 587 acres makai of Hwy 11 would be classified as medium density urban, which currently applies to 52 acres in the commercial area of town. The proposal includes 112 acres currently designated as important agricultural lands that would be recommended for urban zoning in the General Plan.
According to a story in Hawai`i Tribune-Herald by Tom Callis, Hawai`i County Council requested the change to make the General Plan consistent with the Puna CDP and help the county plan for public services needed in the area of expected growth.
County planning program manager Daryn Arai told Callis the medium density classification does not allow for industrial development, which would have been permitted if the previously proposed urban expansion designation had been adopted.
See hawaiitribune-herald.com.
To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.
According to a story in Hawai`i Tribune-Herald by Tom Callis, Hawai`i County Council requested the change to make the General Plan consistent with the Puna CDP and help the county plan for public services needed in the area of expected growth.
County planning program manager Daryn Arai told Callis the medium density classification does not allow for industrial development, which would have been permitted if the previously proposed urban expansion designation had been adopted.
See hawaiitribune-herald.com.
To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.
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| Sen. Josh Green |
KA`U’S STATE SEN. JOSH GREEN discusses past accomplishments and future efforts in the state Legislature on his Facebook page. “Working together over the last 11 years, we have achieved extraordinary results for our community with over $1 billion committed to improve roads, schools and hospitals in West Hawai`i,” Green said. Of that funding, over $75 million annually comes from the Hospital Sustainability Act to strengthen Hawai`i’s hospitals, including Ka`u Hospital.
“At your urging I have sponsored important new laws to care for Hawai`i’s children,” Green said, “such as the 2015 mandates for insurance to cover autism and surgery for children with cleft palate. No state is more compassionate in its commitment to children’s health needs now, and in 2014 we were named the healthiest state in the nation. As health chairman, all of these many years, this particular designation made me very proud of the work we have done together.”
Green also list fighting against special interests to protect the environment and supporting renewable energy as additional accomplishments.
“In the coming years, I plan to work to improve opportunities for all of the people in Hawai`i,” Green said. “We need better employment options to help keep our children in Hawai`i. Housing must become more affordable, and we have to finally address the crises of homelessness and drug addiction, problems that have plagued our nation for generations.
“At your urging I have sponsored important new laws to care for Hawai`i’s children,” Green said, “such as the 2015 mandates for insurance to cover autism and surgery for children with cleft palate. No state is more compassionate in its commitment to children’s health needs now, and in 2014 we were named the healthiest state in the nation. As health chairman, all of these many years, this particular designation made me very proud of the work we have done together.”
Green also list fighting against special interests to protect the environment and supporting renewable energy as additional accomplishments.
“In the coming years, I plan to work to improve opportunities for all of the people in Hawai`i,” Green said. “We need better employment options to help keep our children in Hawai`i. Housing must become more affordable, and we have to finally address the crises of homelessness and drug addiction, problems that have plagued our nation for generations.
“Thank you for all of your personal notes, letters and words of encouragement over these years. As ever, I hope to continue to hear your best ideas on how to make our state a more extraordinary place to live. It's only paradise if we make it so.”
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| A reward is offered on this stolen truck. Photo from Ka`u Coffee Mill |
Contact Green at 808-586-9385 or sengreen@capitol.hawaii.gov.
To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.
KILAUEA DRAMA AND ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK’S summer musical production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I opens soon. Performances are July 10 - 26 at Kilauea Military Camp Theater in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.
The musical, the fifth by the team of composer Richard Rodgers and dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II, is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon, which is derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s.
To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.
A REWARD IS OFFERED FOR INFORMATION leading to the return of a truck stolen from Ka`u Coffee Mill late Saturday night. The 1985 Toyota Pickup was stolen and driven through a barbed wire fence to escape. Notify police and call Randy Stevens with any information at 368-3996.
To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.
KILAUEA DRAMA AND ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK’S summer musical production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I opens soon. Performances are July 10 - 26 at Kilauea Military Camp Theater in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.
The musical, the fifth by the team of composer Richard Rodgers and dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II, is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon, which is derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s.
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| The King and I cast members rehearse Getting to Know You. Photo from KDEN |
The musical’s plot tells of the experiences of Anna, a British schoolteacher, hired as part of the king’s drive to modernize his country. The king is largely considered to be a barbarian by those in the West, and he seeks Anna’s assistance in changing his image, if not his ways. The relationship between the king and Anna is marked by conflict, as well as by a love that neither can admit. Along with the score, which includes Shall We Dance, Getting to Know You and Hello Young Lovers, is the Jerome Robbins ballet, The Small House of Uncle Thomas.
Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $14 general admission, $12 for seniors and students and $10 for children 12 and under. Pre-sale tickets are available at Kilauea General Store, Kea`au Natural Foods and The Most Irresistible Shop in Hilo. Tickets are also available at the door.
For more information, call 982-7344 or email kden73@aol.com.
To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.
Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $14 general admission, $12 for seniors and students and $10 for children 12 and under. Pre-sale tickets are available at Kilauea General Store, Kea`au Natural Foods and The Most Irresistible Shop in Hilo. Tickets are also available at the door.
For more information, call 982-7344 or email kden73@aol.com.
To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.
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| Hawai`i Island native Lito Arkangel performs at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium Wednesday. Photo from NPS |
KA`U VOLUNTEERS WHO WANT TO HELP Friends of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park in their next Forest Restoration Project should register today. At the event on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., participants clear invasive, non-native faya plants in the Kilauea section.
Register at forest@fhvnp.org or 352-1402.
HAWAI`I COUNTY COUNCIL MEETS tomorrow at West Hawai`i Civic Center in Kona. Ka`u residents can participate via videoconferencing at Na`alehu State Office Building. The meeting is also streamed live. See hawaiicounty.gov and click on Council Meetings.
HAWAI`I COUNTY COUNCIL MEETS tomorrow at West Hawai`i Civic Center in Kona. Ka`u residents can participate via videoconferencing at Na`alehu State Office Building. The meeting is also streamed live. See hawaiicounty.gov and click on Council Meetings.
ENTERTAINER AND SONGWRITER Lito Arkangel shares his original compositions and other Hawaiian favorites Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. A native of the former plantation town of Ola`a (now known as Kea`au), Arkangel learned music by turning pages for his grandmother as she played piano for the local church. After decades of backyard jam sessions, he is now a full-time entertainer and musician and just released his debut album, Lito Arkangel … Me ke Aloha, produced by Grammy Award-winner Charles Michael Brotman. Arkangel was a finalist for Most Promising Artist at the 2015 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards.
Free; park entrance fees apply.
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.
Free; park entrance fees apply.
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.
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| See kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.swf and kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.pdf. |
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| See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_June2015.pdf. |
