Ka`u News Briefs Friday, Oct. 30, 2015

FOLLOWING THE SEVENTH HUMAN/SHARK encounter in the state this year, Dr. Carl Meyer, of the Hawai`i Institute of Marine Biology, said there are more tiger sharks in water surrounding the main islands now than at other times of the year. “Tiger sharks pup during the fall, and migrations from the northwestern Hawaiian Islands … during this time of year are proven facts. Native Hawaiian oral traditions clearly link the fall months to a risk of shark bites. This traditional knowledge is reflected in our current shark incident statistics.    

      “In recent decades, almost one third of all shark bites in Hawai`i have occurred during the months of October and November. It is also important to remember that shark bites occur in all months of the year in Hawai`i and that the number of encounters at any time of the year is extremely low compared to the number of people in the water.”

      In December 2013, a tiger shark bit a bodyboarder at the Ninole Horseshoe area of Punalu`u. The 29-year-old Captain Cook man was paddling out for his second session with two friends when a shark knocked him off his board. He received stitches at Ka`u Hospital.

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SEN. MAZIE HIRONO VOTED EARLY this morning to support a budget agreement that removes caps put in place by the Budget Control Act for two years and keeps the country from defaulting on its debt. The measure overwhelmingly passed the Senate 64-35.

      “This bipartisan measure is a reasonable compromise that protects our seniors, keeps our economy on track and takes a number of manufactured crises off the table for two years,” Hirono said. “By removing harmful sequester caps on both military and domestic spending, this legislation is the first step to enacting a National Defense Authorization Act that appropriately supports our military and avoiding a government shutdown in December. While this agreement is not the one I would have written, it is a pathway to negotiating appropriations bills that adequately fund priorities like education, housing and community development, medical research and job creation.”
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SEN. BRIAN SCHATZ VOICED his opposition to the Obama Administration’s announcement that it will deploy a small number of Special Operations Forces to Syria.

      “The Administration’s announcement that it will deploy Special Operations Forces into Syria to combat ISIL marks a major shift in U.S. policy – a shift that is occurring without congressional debate, is unlikely to succeed in achieving our objective of defeating ISIL and instead threatens to embroil the United States in Syria’s civil war and could bring us into direct confrontation with the Russian Federation military and Syrian government forces,” Schatz

 said.
      “In the 16-months since the United States began its participation in the regional fight against ISIL, our military involvement has escalated without a clear sense of how our escalating involvement will achieve our strategic objectives. With ISIL’s control of northern Syria, we cannot reasonably expect that the deployment of Special Operations Forces would be limited in scope or duration.
      “As we have seen from our failed train-and-equip program, U.S. support for moderate Syrian opposition has its limits. Rather than ratchet up our own involvement, we must look for other opportunities to strengthen the coalition’s ability to effectively prosecute the fight against ISIL. 

 “This shift in policy is a strategic mistake. Regardless of my views, the War Powers Resolution requires Congress to debate and authorize the escalation of U.S. military involvement in Syria.”
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Yoga participants at Na`alehu Hongwanji use a variety of props to maintain alignment and avoid injury. Photo from Stephanie Pepper

Janice Morimoto