Ka`u News Briefs Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015

HAWAI`I ISLAND HAWKSBILL Turtle Recovery Project will be conducting a nest excavation at Punalu`u, next to the lifeguard stand, today at 4:30 p.m. Nine volunteers are joining project manager Lauren Kurpita and the project’s field technician. Students from local schools have also been invited to attend.

      The Hawksbill Turtle Recovery Project is a partnership of National Park Service, Hawai`i Natural History Association, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Wildlife Service.

      According to the Turtle Recovery Project, some 80 honu `ea lay multiple nests each season, which can run from spring to early winter. After emerging from eggs, hawksbills spend their lives at sea dining on sponges, unlike the green sea turtles that bask on the shore at Punalu`u. Threats to the hawksbill include lights that disorient their journey to and from the ocean, fishing nets and other floating debris which can entangle and drown them, plastic bags and other choking litter, driving on the beach where vehicles can destroy nests, and development close to nesting sites. Mongooses, rats, cats, dogs and pigs can dig into turtle nests to eat hawksbill eggs and hatchlings.

      For more information about the Hawksbill Turtle Recovery Project, call 985-6090 or email HAVO_Turtle_Project@nps.gov. Report people harming sea turtles to 974-6208 and dead, sick or injured sea turtles to 327-7780.

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      “My heart goes out to the victims of gun violence and their families who have worked tirelessly to get their elected leaders to support common sense reform. I want to assure you that there is nothing more important to me than the security of our communities.”
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DR. CAREY GEAR WILL BE JOINING the medical staff of Ka`u Hospital Rural Health Clinic. Gear is a board-certified family physician. He has practiced both Family Medicine and Emergency medicine in small towns and big cities and has done volunteer medical work in China, Zambia, Nicaragua and Cambodia. 

      Over the years, Gear has enjoyed many family trips to the Hawaiian Islands, drawn to the ocean and warmth of the people and culture.
      He and Kim, his wife of 35 years, will be moving to Ka`u along will their entire family, so their intention is to make Ka`u their new home. They are going to be joined by their two married daughters, two sons-in-law and six grandchildren.
      “The Gears were really looking for a community, not just a job, and I think they have found it in Ka`u,” Ka`u Hospital Administrator Merilyn Harris said. “It was important to us to find someone who would want to stay here and call Ka`u home, so we’re very happy that Dr. Gear is looking forward to both serving and joining the Ka`u community. He says he is anxious to get to know his new patients and that he will give his best efforts toward helping them stay healthy.”
      In his new permanent position, Gear will be working in the clinic, caring for patients in the hospital and providing occasional coverage in the emergency department.

USDA RURAL DEVELOPMENT has funding available for grants and guaranteed loans to Ka`u small businesses and for-profit agricultural producers for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Grants will cover up to 25 percent of the total project cost of renewable energy or energy efficiency improvements. 

      Examples of energy efficiency improvements include high efficiency heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems; insulation; lighting; cooling or refrigeration units; doors and windows; electric, solar or gravity pumps for sprinkler pivots; switching from a diesel to electric irrigation motor; and replacement of energy-inefficient equipment.
      Applicants must meet U.S. Small Business Administration Small Business Size Standards. See https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/files/Size_Standards_Table.pdf.
      Deadlines are Nov. 2, 2015 for grant requests under $20,000 and May 2, 2016 for grant requests over $20,000.
      Information, forms and resources are available at http://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/rural-energy-america-program-renewable-energy-systems-energy-efficiency/hi.

      Contact John Antonio, Rural Development Business Programs Specialist at 933-8318 john.antonio@hi.usda.gov for more information. 

A VOLCANO VILLAGE AUTHOR’S book about living in the rainforest will be available in November. Rainforest Pu`uhonua is Kahikahealani Wight’s memoir of her awakening in the 1980s when she bought a cottage near the erupting summit of Kilauea and lived there for five years. She found pu`uhonua – sanctuary, refuge – in the endangered Hawaiian rainforest ecosystem, and she shares the feeling of being in a landscape alive with ancestral voices singing through mist and fire, native birds and insects, plants and ferns. 

      “Discovering the fullness of herself in these sacred uplands,” a press release states, “Wight inspires us to find our own healing places, to connect more fully with the intuitive knowing that springs out of ancient awareness embedded in our land, and continues to be chanted on the wind.”
      Wight grew up in a time when society did not value Hawaiian language, culture or landscape. Her Hawaiian father always emphasized learning Western ways and would not directly teach his daughter about their genealogical roots, although he couldn’t help but transmit to her his indigenous sensibilities and wisdom. Her New England mother, like most parents at that time, discouraged her daughter’s interest in her Hawaiian heritage.
      Wight grew up conflicted. She loved Hawaiian stories and songs and wanted to learn Hawaiian language and connection to the natural world, but she was discouraged from doing so.
      Wight’s rhythmic prose along with 62 paintings and photos by local artists convey the depth and magic of the Hawaiian rainforest and bring the ancestral songs to life.
      The author will be reading from her book and signing copies on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. at Volcano Art Center in Volcano Village.
      See rainforestpuuhonua.com.
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THE HAWAIIAN ROOM IS THE SUBJECT of a film to be shown today at 7 p.m. at Volcano Art Center in Volcano Village. Ann Marie Kirk’s film documents the hundreds of Hawaiian dancers, singers and musicians from the Hawaiian isles who became part of the legacy of the New York City venue from 1937 to 1966. 

      After the film, several original Hawaiian Room talents appear in person. Sammi Fo, who lives in Ocean View and teaches hula there, is a former Lexi Girl.
      VAC appreciates $5 donations.
      For more information, see volcanoartcenter.org or call 967-8222.

NOE NOE KEKAUALUA shares Hula Arts tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. during Aloha Friday at Volcano Art Center Gallery in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Free; park entrance fees apply.

HAPA HAOLE HULA WORKSHOP takes place tomorrow from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Volcano Art Center in Volcano Village. Participants learn how to hula with TeMoana Makolo, one of the Lexi Girls who performed at the Hawaiian Room in New York City’s Hotel Lexington. $15 members; $18 non-members. Register at 967-8222.

KA`U RESIDENTS CAN LEARN Orchid Cultivation Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., Volcano Art Center in Volcano Village. Participants take home knowledge and a plant. Fees are $20 for VAC members and $25 non-members. Register at 967-8222. 

SATURDAY IS KA`U PLANTATION DAYS. The fifth annual event takes place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Pahala Plantation House. The 2015 theme is For the Good Times. A parade begins at 9 a.m. at Pahala Community Center and travels down Maile Street.
      At one of many booths, local residents will display books containing photographs of camp housing and documenting stories related to them. Everyone who experienced the camps is encouraged to stop by and share their stories.

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

For Affordable Computer Help, call John Derry at 936-1872.