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Thursday, April 25, 2024

Kaʻū News Briefs April 25, 2024

The drying of māmaki leaves for Shaka Tea, which had its start with māmaki from Wood Valley. See www.shakatea.com
 Photo from Shaka Tea Hawai'i
See www.shakatea.com,
SHAKA TEA HAWAI'I, WITH ITS ROOTS IN WOOD VALLEY'S MĀMAKI Native Hawaiian tea farms, has made it into another chain store with national distribution and also into this weekend's Mana Up event in New York. 
    Shaka Tea Hawai'i sent out an announcement on Thursday, saying its tea is "brewed with sustainably grown māmaki leaves from Hawai'i, bringing you island vibes with zero sugar, calories or carbs!" It is newly available at target stores across the country, following its launch years ago into 7-11 convenience stores.
    Shaka Tea Hawai'i will be on tap at Mana Up Hawai'i's first shopping event in New York City on Friday through Sunday at Shopify Spaces in SoHo for The Aloha Market celebration of lei day. 
   Aloha Market will have many additional Hawai'i products, interactive events and workshops led by Hawaiian entrepreneurs. There will be lei making, Hawaiian food tastings, live cooking demos, keiki activities and other special events. It will start at 10 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 4 p.m. on Sunday.
    Shaka Tea, with its factory base in Hilo, is described on its website as "brewed with one of the rarest herbal teas in the world, only found in the Hawaiian Islands: māmaki. Shaka Tea practices direct trade, sourcing māmaki leaves from local farmers that are sustainably-grown in volcanic, mineral-rich soil. Our teas are infused with premium botanicals in refreshing, tropical flavors to share with the world and provide herbal hydration to support your wellness journey."
    It notes that "Planting māmaki is an act of conservation providing critical habitat for the native, pollinator butterfly of Hawai'i — pulelehua," the endangered Kamehameha butterfly.

Māmaki, the native Hawaiian tea and favorite food of the endangered Kamehameha butterfly is now 
in target stores and this weekend at Mana Up in New York through Shaka Tea Hawai'i.
 See www.shakatea.com. Photo from Shaka Tea Hawai'i

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A NEW SISTER CITY RELATIONSHIP TIES HAWAI'I ISLAND TO HATSUKAICHI, JAPAN. Mayor Mitch Roth made the announcement on Thursday. A statement from his office says the "partnership marks a significant step in strengthening cultural and economic ties between our communities, building on the deep historical connections many of our local Japanese families have with this region of Japan."
    The relationship was affirmed by a signing ceremony with Roth, Hatsukaichi Mayor Tarō Matsumoto, members of Hawaiʻi County Council, Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Hawaiʻi, Honorary Consul of Japan in Hilo, Art Taniguchi, and members of government from Hatsukaichi. 
Mayor Mitch Roth with new Sister City reps from 
Hatsukaichi, Japan.
    Roth said,  "Many of our residents have family roots that trace back to Hiroshima, making this partnership not just a formal relationship but a rekindling of familial bonds and history,. Through this sister city connection, we hope to honor and deepen the rich cultural heritage that many of our Japanese-American families bring to Hawaiʻi."
    Hatsukaichi, known for its picturesque Itsukushima Shrine and vibrant history, shares many cultural and environmental similarities with Hawaiʻi County. This relationship will foster exchanges in tourism, culture, education, and business, enhancing mutual understanding and cooperation, says the statement from the Mayor's office.
    Hawaiʻi County and Hatsukaichi representatives said they plan to collaborate on student exchanges, business delegations, and cultural festivals, to promote global friendship and understanding.
    Hiroshima and Hawai'i state libraries signed a sisters relationship in October of 2022. The Hiroshima Sister State relationship with Hawai'i is more than a quarter century old.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar. See upcoming events, print edition and archive at kaunews.com. See 7,500 copies the mail and on stands.

THE STATE OF HAWAI'I GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE FUND WILL disperse $62 million for solar
systems, the funding provided by the federal Environmental Protection Agency for homes in this state.
    The federal Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, is providing the money from a $27 billion federal investment top cut the cost of electric bills and carbon emissions nationwide.
    The funding will finance residential rooftop solar, storage systems, and community-owned solar systems for low-income households.
    "For years, the benefits of household solar — such as the significant savings on energy bills — have been out of reach for too many in Hawaiʻi,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “With this new EPA investment of over $62 million, residents across Hawaiʻi, including those in our disadvantaged communities, will now be able to adopt solar and reap the advantages of this climate change-fighting technology.”

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar. See upcoming events, print edition and archive at kaunews.com. See 7,500 copies the mail and on stands.

A DECOMPOSED BODY IN OCEAN VIEW has led to a Hawai'i Police Department investigation.
On Tuesday, April 23, shortly before 12:40 p.m., detectives assigned to the Area II Criminal Investigations Section responded to a property located on the 92-8700 block of Lotus Blossom Lane for a report of a decomposed body on the property. Upon their arrival, they discovered the body of a male which had injuries that were suspicious in nature. Due to the body being in advanced stages of decomposition, the identity of the male and the exact cause of death could not be determined.
    An autopsy has been scheduled to determine the exact cause of death.
    Anyone with information relative to this investigation is encouraged to call the Hawai’i Police Department’s non-emergency number at (808) 935-3311. They may also contact Detective Donovan Kohara at (808) 960-3118; or via email at donovan.kohara@hawaiicounty.gov.

A 60-YEAR OLD TRUCK DRIVER FROM NA'ALEHU WAS ARRESTED AFTER HIS DUMP TRUCK OVERTURNED with a load of asphalt near Kawaihae. According to the police report, Jefferey Anderson was arrested for DUI and released pending further investigation. A statement from HPD says that Hawai’i Island police are investigating this traffic crash that lead to the closure of Akoni Pule Highway for three hours near Kawaihae Harbor on Wednesday, April 24.
    Responding to a 2:30 p.m. call, police determined that a 2001 Peterbilt dump truck was traveling west on Akoni Pule Highway near the 3-mile marker, when the driver lost control of the truck, veered off of the roadway, struck a guardrail and overturned, spilling its load of asphalt.
    The driver of the dump truck was able to extricate himself from the truck. He sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was treated and released at the North Hawaii Community Hospital.
    The incident closed Akoni Pule Highway until crews arrived to remove the vehicle and debris from the roadway.
   Police ask anyone who witnessed the crash to contact Officer Richard Nery at 808-887-3080 or via email at richard.nery@hawaiicounty.gov.
  
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Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Kaʻū News Briefs April 24, 2024

Science and nature taught in the Hawaiian language are the focus of new teaching tools developed
by University of Hawai'i Hale Kuamo'o Hawaiian Language Center and Hawai'i Conservation Alliance.
Photo from Hawai'i Conservation Alliance

NEW SCIENCE TEACHING TOOLS IN HAWAIIAN have been developed by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance in partnership with the Hale Kuamoʻo Hawaiian Language Center at University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. They are designed for Hawaiian language medium students and teachers in grades 6-12. The six curriculum units focus on environmental stewardship in Hawaiʻi, in particular information including cultural perspectives on native species and ecosystems initially shared at the 2022 Hawaiʻi Conservation Conference. "The units are presented solely in the Hawaiian language, providing an important pathway to meaningfully support Hawaiian language medium learners and instructors as we collectively advance the ways we care for our island home," says the statement from the producers, who also provided their announcement in Hawaiian:
    Hauʻoli mākou ʻo ka Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance me ko mākou pakanā hoʻomohala ʻo ka Hale Kuamoʻo e kaʻana aku i mau ʻōpaʻa haʻawina hou no ka ʻEpekema ma nā Papa 6-12. Ua hoʻomohala ʻia ua mau ʻōpaʻa nei ma o ka ʻike kuʻuna Hawaiʻi a kia hoʻi ma nā kumuhana kūikawā o ka hoʻomaluō. He mau kumuwaiwai manuahi kēia no ke kumu a me nā haumāna ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi e ʻimi ana i ʻikepili hou no loko a waho o ka lumi papa. No ka hoʻohana ʻana i kēia mau kumuwaiwai manuahi, e kele aku i nā loulou ma lalo iho nei. E ola a mau loa aku ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi ma ka hoʻomaluō.
    The units are available via the links below and can also be accessed online at http://hawaiiconservation.org/hooulu_maluo, They are titled:
    Kāhuli Hou i ke Ao: Endemic Land Snail Conservation
    ʻO Nāpuʻu, He ʻĀina Aloha: Place-Based ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi Research for Perspective on Everchanging ʻĀina;
    Ka Noʻeau Kilo Kau a Kau: Exploring the Huli ʻIa Process for Deepened Relationship to ʻĀina and Kai;
    E ʻAi i Kekahi, E Kāpī i Kekahi: Limu Conservation;
    ʻĀina Momona: Soil Science as a Pathway to ʻĀina Momona;
     I Ola ka ʻĀina, I Ola ke Konohiki: Conservation Insights from Konohiki Traditions.
    The announcement says, "Na wai hoʻi ka ʻole o ke akamai, he alahele i maʻa i ka hele ʻia e oʻu mau mākua. Centuries ago, Kamehameha II Liholiho described wisdom as a pathway well-traversed by our
predecessors. Centuries later, this timeless ʻōlelo noʻeau continues to ring true. ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, the Hawaiian language, is an official language of the state of Hawaiʻi and is increasingly recognized as vital in shaping how we experience, understand, and care for Hawaiʻi's unique natural environment. While important progress has been made to revitalize ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi across the pae ʻāina, there remains a need to engage learners of different age groups across disciplines including the natural sciences."
   This curriculum project is the latest in a series of efforts by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance focused on culturally-grounded conservation efforts. For more information, visit https://www.hawaiiconservation.org/our-approach/culturally-grounded-conservation/
    Individuals involved in informing, developing, reviewing, refining, and sharing these resources include: K. Irwin, K. Ahuna, P. Iaea, M. Kobashigawa, ʻI. Nāhuewai, K. Stoleson, U. Chong, M. Heimuli, K. Poepoe, P. Ravey, J. Silva, D. Sischo, A. Anderson, K. Davis, S.ʻO. Gon, K. Kong, K. Sagum, K. Seto, K. Tanaka, K. Winter, P. Pascua, N. Kurashima, N. Whitehead and the Kamehameha Schools ʻĀina Pauahi Group.

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THE COUNTY WILL BE ABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY MANAGE VACATION RENTAL PERMITTING with passage of a law at the Hawai'i Legislature that could come as soon as next week. The measure is designed to give each county the power to ban or permit vacation rentals.  
    On this island, there are neighborhoods where vacation rentals have displaced many long term rentals. In some, affordable short term accommodations for visiting families and short term workers are in short supply. Under the new law, which has passed the Senate and House conference committee, each county would determine its own restrictions and places to restrict vacation rentals.
Gov. Josh Green announces his support for a new law to allow counties to phase out vacation rentals. Photo from the Governor
   Gov. Josh Green announced on Tuesday, as he stood before a group of Maui Strong supporters who want vacation rentals turned into longterm housing to alleviate the housing shortage after the Lahanai fire, that he would sign the bill. The Governor posted on his facebook: "It’s time we take a stand to house our people by phasing out illegal short term rentals.
"Today, alongside Lahaina Strong, Hawai‘i’s Hoteliers and Hotel Labor Unions, we united in support of counties’ authority to phase out Short Term Rentals (STRs). We know the majority of STRs in Hawai‘i are illegal, owned by non-residents, and contribute to skyrocketing housing costs.
"We support Senate Bill 2919 to empower countiesto regulate STRs and potentially phase them out. Mahalo to Lahaina Strong and the strong community and industry support of our efforts to house our people."
   
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Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Kaʻū News Briefs April 23, 2024

Berta Miranda tells her story of fleeing El Salvador, toiling as a picker on the mainland and landing here to become a coffee field worker, saving money to buy land and becoming a successful coffee farmer and business owner. She is featured in the series Where Coffee Takes You. See the film on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSxFk4rZVgE.

THE STORY OF BERTA MIRANDA'S ESCAPE FROM THE EL SALVADOR CIVIL WAR to Kaʻū and the creation of the successful Miranda's Kaʻū Coffee farms is the subject of a new film. It is called Massacres to Miracles: One Woman's Incredible Journey to Hawai'i's Best Coffee, Where Coffee Takes You: Kaʻū.
    The production is the work of Kirk Berossian, founder of Angelino's Coffee in Los Angeles, and was filmed at Miranda's Coffee farms and, in part, at Pāhala Plantation House. It is one in a series titled 
Where Coffee Takes You filmmaker Kirk Berossian and Berta
 Miranda, star of new film on Miranda's Coffee. 
Where Coffee Takes You that illustrates the personal stories of coffee farming in 48 countries.
    Berta and her husband Jose came to Kaʻū in 1996. In the film, she says they arrived as agricultural laborers, picking 1,000 lbs. of coffee a day for 12 years, and saved money towards their dream to own a coffee farm.
     In the film, Berta explains why she left El Salvador. She says that during the Civil War, when she was 14, she witnessed bombs going off and people dying. She says four men came to her family home, asking for money and guns. She says her family had no money and the intruders killed her brother and grandpa, broke her mother's arm, and hung her father with a belt. Her mother cut him down and saved him. The family left El Salvador when she was 17 and picked fruit on the West Coast before coming to Kaʻū.
    Berta describes the first harvest of her family's own coffee in Kaʻū and says that after 16 years of working to buy land they achieved "the American Dream." They purchased their farm in Moa'ula and entered a cupping competition, earning first place for Kaʻū Coffee and first place in the state.
     Mirandas now own 40 acres of Kaʻū Coffee, including their farm near South Point Road along Hwy 11 where they also serve food and operate a coffee tasting and gift store. "I love to be every day in the field.... My coffee trees are my babies," says Berta, as she teaches the filmmaker how to pick coffee.
    Berta's daughter Maria Miranda is a former Miss Ka'u Coffee and an ambassador of the local industry, as well as a partner in the Miranda coffee business.
     See the film on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSxFk4rZVgE.
     Learn more about Miranda Farms at www.mirandasfarm.com
     Learn more about Kirk Berossian, Angelino's Coffee and Where Coffee Takes You at https://angelinos.com/.

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SIGN UP BY MONDAY, APRIL 29 TO ATTEND KAʻŪ HIGH & PĀHALA ELEMENTARY
SHOWCASE of students from  Kindergarten through Grade 12 on Wednesday, May 1.
    The event takes attendees from door to door to classrooms where students present special projects. 
    A statement from the school says, "Our Learning Intentions are to:
    "Provide students an opportunity to practice their presentation skills and demonstrate their learning;
    "Create opportunities for students to share their class projects with other students, community partners, and family;
    "Build pride in our students, school, and community by showcasing various student and school projects done in collaboration with the community such as project-based learning, technology integration, and other real-world projects;
        "Practice and prepare for Capstone presentations in grades 6, 8, and 12 starting in Spring SY 24-25."
    Here is the schedule for the Student Showcase:
      9:15 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.: Check in at the District Gym MPR (open until 12pm for any later arrivals)
    10:00 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.: Visit 7-12, Showcase Classrooms
    11:25 a.m. - 12:25 p.m.: Visit K-6, Showcase Classrooms
    Those interested in attending can complete this Google Form by Monday, April 29.

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Experience Volcano Festival is set for the weekend of July 27, and is offering opportunities for 
vendors and volunteers. Photo by Jesse Tunison

THE FIFTH ANNUAL EXPERIENCE VOLCANO FESTIVAL has announced its call for vendors. It will be held Saturday, July 27 and Sunday, July 28 at venues throughout Volcano Village. Learn more, sign up to be a vendor or volunteer and join the Experience Volcano organization at www.experiencevolcano.com or email experiencevolcano@pb06.wixemails.com
    To see more on the festival, visit www.experiencevolcano.com.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar. See upcoming events, print edition and archive at kaunews.com. See 7,500 copies the mail and on stands.