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| Brown smoke from the fire and dust at dusk blows across the Ka`u Desert, in clear view from Honu`apo Lookout. Photo by Julia Neal |
PAHALA FIRES PUFFED along the coastal plain yesterday evening, with winds blowing a stream of brown smoke toward Pahala village. Last week makai fires burned more than 4,800 acres of macadamia, pasture and wildlands and are proclaimed more than 60 percent contained. The mauka fire burned through more than 400 acres of eucalyptus, pasture and into some Ka`u Coffee farms at Pear Tree. It is assessed as 95 percent contained, with firefighters still stamping out hot spots.
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| Hwy 11 state road sign at Kamani Street entrance to Pahala melted. |
Firefighters from the county, volunteer units and Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park still hold the fires in check with firebreaks and dousing hot spots. While makai fires meander through remote wildlands on their own, rains Friday and Saturday and some possible sprinklings today help calm them. Lack of wind helps prevent flare-ups.
Wildlife workers plan to visit Kamehame Preserve early this week. Owned by The Nature Conservancy, the 26-acre beachfront makai of Pahala is a nesting place for endangered hawksbill turtles and is makai of the smoke and ash, as well as fires still traveling toward the coast.
Wildlife workers plan to visit Kamehame Preserve early this week. Owned by The Nature Conservancy, the 26-acre beachfront makai of Pahala is a nesting place for endangered hawksbill turtles and is makai of the smoke and ash, as well as fires still traveling toward the coast.
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| Fire jumped the road and burned into Ka`u Hospital's lawn next to houses and coffee trees along Hwy 11. Photo by Julia Neal |
Owners of property damaged by the fires include ML Macadamia with its orchards, State of Hawai`i with Hwy 11 and Ka`u Hospital, Kamehameha Schools with eucalyptus farms and WWK Hawai`i-Moa`ula, LLC, where Ka`u Coffee farmers grow their famous brand of beans and some 2,000 acres are planned for subdivision.
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| Pa`au`au Gulch from Hwy 11 looking makai, where fire still travels toward Kamehame. Photo by Julia Neal |
No lives or buildings were lost to the fires that started last Monday morning after a night and day of strong winds. There is some concern that ignition came from an arsonist. Investigations are underway.
PREGNANCY RATES AMONG TEENS are dropping in Hawai`i County, mirroring a trend nationwide, according to an article yesterday in Hawai`i Tribune-Herald. The Colin Stewart story reports that 2.5 percent of girls 15 to 17 years of age became pregnant in 2010, a drop from 3.5 percent a little more than a decade ago. Nationally, rates have been higher than in Hawai`i, but dropping from 5.2 percent in 2000 to four percent in 2008. The reason for fewer teen pregnancies? Perhaps the recession and more education. The story reports state adolescent health coordinator Noella Kong saying, “If you look back at the early ’90s, there was not that much of a concentration on teen pregnancy prevention way back then…. From about ’95 on, federal administrations started putting more effort in teen pregnancy prevention grants to the state, and we believe that has helped tremendously.” Kong pointed to the Hawai`i County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office’s new program to help spread awareness about pregnancy prevention among teens.
PREGNANCY RATES AMONG TEENS are dropping in Hawai`i County, mirroring a trend nationwide, according to an article yesterday in Hawai`i Tribune-Herald. The Colin Stewart story reports that 2.5 percent of girls 15 to 17 years of age became pregnant in 2010, a drop from 3.5 percent a little more than a decade ago. Nationally, rates have been higher than in Hawai`i, but dropping from 5.2 percent in 2000 to four percent in 2008. The reason for fewer teen pregnancies? Perhaps the recession and more education. The story reports state adolescent health coordinator Noella Kong saying, “If you look back at the early ’90s, there was not that much of a concentration on teen pregnancy prevention way back then…. From about ’95 on, federal administrations started putting more effort in teen pregnancy prevention grants to the state, and we believe that has helped tremendously.” Kong pointed to the Hawai`i County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office’s new program to help spread awareness about pregnancy prevention among teens.
The Tribune-Herald story says health officials are concerned about higher rates of teen pregnancy among native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders and quotes the 2011 Hawai`i County Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System: “Teen mothers are more likely to drop out of school, remain unmarried and live in poverty. Their children are more likely to be born at low birth weight, grow up poor, live in single-parent households, experience abuse and neglect, enter the child welfare system, become teen parents and be incarcerated.”
Dennis Kent, Miloli`i Emergency Response Team volunteer, noted, “A & B has shown a real commitment to improving one of the most remote communities in Hawai’i. We truly thank them for helping protect our people and preserving our way of life.”
More information on Miloli`i CERT can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/miloliicertsite. More on the A&B Foundation can be found at http://www.alexanderbaldwinfoundation.org.
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| Participants begin last year's Rain Forest Runs. Photos from Volcano Art Center |
VOLCANO ART CENTER’S Rain Forest Runs made a push into Kona yesterday as volunteers from Ka`u and Volcano joined the Kona Marathon Expo to help bring runners to the annual event on this side of the island.
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| Race director Sharron Faff at last year's Rain Forest Runs. |
On the grounds of the Keauhou Beach Resort, Volcano Art Center board members took registrations for the Rain Forest Runs while other volunteers, including race director Sharron Faff and Charlene and Amos Meyers, worked alongside Kona Marathon volunteers who will help with the 5K, 10K and half marathon races on this side of the island August 18. For more on the Rain Forest Runs, see volcanoartcenter.org.
PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Robert Frutos leads a four-hour photo tour of wildlife and natural features in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park Tuesday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. The tour begins at Volcano Art Center’s Niaulani Campus in Volcano Village then continues on to the national park for easy walking and photography. $125 or $95 for VAC members and kama`aina. Sign up at 967-8222.
HAWAI`I ISLAND: IN THE LINE OF FIRE is the timely topic at After Dark in the Park Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Elizabeth Pickett, executive director of Hawai`i Wildfire Management Organization, offers a presentation based on the Ready, Set, Go! program that describes what residents and communities can do to prepare for wildfire. Two-dollar donations support park programs; park entrance fees apply. Call 985-6011 for more information.
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