Ka`u News Briefs Friday, Aug. 7, 2015

VOLCANO AND OTHER BIG ISLAND citizens are forming a Hawai`i Chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. The Brady Campaign was formed when a mentally troubled young man with easy access to a firearm permanently disabled Jim Brady, the Press Secretary to President Ronald Reagan, in a shooting attempt on the life of the President. 

      Member Ross Rammelmeyer said that after the Newtown gun slaughter of a classroom of students, their teachers and the school principal, the Volcano group vowed to act. Rammelmeyer said the chapter will focus on the current epidemic of gun violence, the threat posed by the flood of guns and the violence they create as a public health hazard. According to Rammelmeyer, gun violence is the second largest cause of death and injury to Americans between the ages of 14 and 55. 

      “As with many of us, I’m no newcomer to the tide of gun violence in the United States,” Rammelmeyer said. “Twenty years ago, the Kmart big box retail store in Bridgehampton, New York, opened a ‘sporting goods’ department, featuring assault weapons, semi-automatic pistols, large capacity ammunition magazines and Saturday Night Special pistols next to the store’s toy department. I had two young grandsons in school near the store. One other person and I conducted a darned cold and snowy two-week protest vigil near the store’s entrance. The ‘sporting goods’ department was removed.
      “Fast-forward two decades and about 340 million guns flooding America later. Today in America a man, woman or child is shot dead about every 15 minutes. Streets in several American cities are more deadly than the streets of Kabul or Baghdad. With mass shootings becoming so banal that they are not even considered worthy of news attention, I decided ‘Enough is enough!’
      “In Hawai`i, gun violence resistance may begin with just 'a few, we happy few.' But that’s how most things start. Anyone who thinks we can remove 340 million guns from America is just plain nuts. But we may be able to convince most of us in Hawai`i to cope with and combat the enormous threat to our lives and safety that they represent.”

      For more information about the national organization, see bradycampaign.org.

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HILDA IS NOW A HURRICANE on its way toward the Central Pacific. According to the National Hurricane Center, Hilda should be steered westward to west-northwestward by a deep-layer subtropical ridge to its north for the next 48 hours or so. After that time, a mid- to upper-level low is expected to develop north of the Hawaiian Islands, which should cause the storm to turn generally northwestward before reaching Hawai`i. 

      The forecast calls for Hilda’s continued strengthening at a slower rate through 36 hours. After 48 to 72 hours, the cyclone is expected to encounter strong southwesterly vertical shear and decreasing sea surface temperatures, and this combination should cause significant weakening.
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SEN. MAZIE HIRONO CALLED FOR RESTORATION of landmark legislation signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson that prohibits discrimination in voting.
      “Fifty years ago, the Voting Rights Act gave millions of Americans a voice in our democracy,” Hirono said. “For the first time, federal protections guarded minority voters against unfair and inhumane literacy tests and discrimination. While our nation has come a long way in fighting disenfranchisement, we still have a long way to go in ensuring every American has the right to cast a vote.

      “The landmark VRA came just months after civil rights activists endured injury and indignity during the Bloody Sunday march for voting rights from Selma, Alabama to the state capital of Montgomery. In March, I joined civil rights leaders in Selma in commemorating the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday where I was reminded of the perilous history of this fight. 

      “Today, though it has been grievously weakened by the Supreme Court, the VRA continues to protect the right to vote in the United States. Thanks to VRA provisions, Hawai`i voters who speak English as a second language have access to Japanese, Ilocano and Mandarin Chinese ballots.
      “However, there is much work to be done to live up to the promise that those on the Edmund Pettus Bridge fought for fifty years ago. The Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision gutted key provisions of the VRA. Today, I stand with President Obama, Attorney General Loretta Lynch and my friend Congressman John Lewis in calling for the full restoration of the Voting Rights Act.

      “One of the founding principles of our nation is that all are created equal. But our fight to ensure all are protected is not done. Every election, voters report bias at the polling place. We must continue fighting to uphold and strengthen the VRA, and other pieces of critical civil rights legislation, to ensure that everyone is protected and no one is discriminated against, no matter who they are, who they love, where they live, or what they look like.”

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KAHUKU UNIT of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park offers free programs this weekend. Tomorrow at 9:30 a.m., participants see different volcanic features and formations and identify many parts of Mauna Loa’s Southwest Rift Zone on a guided, easy-to-moderate hike. 

      Learn about the vital role of `ohi`a lehua in native Hawaiian forests, the many forms of the `ohi`a lehua tree and the lehua flower Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Visitors will be able to identify the many differences of the most prominent native tree in Kahuku on this program, which is an easy, one-mile or less walk.
      Call 985-6011 for more information.

VOLUNTEERS HELP REMOVE INVASIVE Himalayan ginger from park trails tomorrow from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Meet at Kilauea Visitor Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Free; park entrance fees apply.

VOLCANO RAIN FOREST RUNS are two weeks from tomorrow. Registration continues for the sixth annual event taking place in Volcano Village on Saturday, Aug. 22.
      The Half Marathon begins at 7 a.m. followed by the 10K at 7:45 a.m. with the 5K at 8 a.m. All runs start and finish at Cooper Center on Wright Road.
      Keiki can register for free 100- or 200-yard dashes on race morning until 9:30 a.m. The Keiki runs sponsored by Kilauea Lodge begin at 10 a.m.
      The Half Marathon is also the final event for the Big Island Half Marathon Triple Crown Series. All participants will have completed the Hilo, Kona and Volcano Half Marathons.
      For more information, maps, FAQ’s and registration information, see volcanorainforestruns.com or call 967-8240.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.