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Sunday, July 22, 2012

Ka`u News Briefs July 22, 2012

Volunteers scrubbed Kamilo Point of debris, leaving natural materials, at Hawai`i Wildlife Fund's Ka`u Coast
  cleanup last Saturday. Photo from HWF
WOOD VALLEY COFFEE CO. took the top two spots in both the statewide Commercial Division as well as the Ka`u District awards at the Hawai`i Coffee Association cupping contest this weekend. For coffee grown on land owned by Asha Mallick, James and Brian Wolf won with #1 Peaberry, followed by their #3 Washed Typica. Among the Ka`u Coffees entered in the cupping, R&A Coffee Farm took 7th; Rusty’s Hawaiian #3 Typica took 8th; Ka`u Coffee Mill #2 Typica Natural took 10th; Paradise Meadows #2 R Field took 11th; Paradise Meadows #3 Miranda took 13th; Kailiawa Farm took 14th; Gascon Coffee Farm took 16th; Miranda Farms took 17th; Isla Coffee took 22nd and Wood Valley Coffee Co. #2 Natural Typica took 31st. There were a total of 104 entries from around the state. The event was held on Maui. Ka`u took more that a third of the top 32 spots in the commercial competition.
Wood Valley Coffee Company won the two
top spots in HCA's Commercial Division.
      Regarding Wood Valley winning the top two scores in the statewide commercial and Ka`u region competition, James Wolf said, “All the credit should go to Brian Riggs, the coffee farm manager, and his team for doing all the work to bring the coffee back to a quality production over the past several years through hard work and a lot of TLC.” The 22-acre coffee farm is located in Wood Valley along Center Road. Owner Asha Mallick said she plans to plant an additional 1,100 coffee trees there this week.
      Wolf said this morning that the coffees were milled at Ka`u Coffee Mill. Ka`u Coffee Mill founder Ed Olson said that “Wood Valley is a great coffee growing area and we congratulate the winners for producing great coffee. We are proud to have milled that coffee.”
      Wood Valley took 1st in the Ka`u District award with a wet process peaberry and 2nd with a wet process #18 screen. Rusty’s Hawaiian took 3rd.
Lorie Obra took third in the  Ka`u District competition
and the statewide Commercial Division.
Photo from Rusty's Hawaiian
      In the statewide Creative Division, Ka`u Coffees took a quarter of the top 27 spots in the competition. Rusty’s Hawaiian came in third with its #1 Typica/Bourbon. JN Coffee Farm came in 5th with its #1 Washed. Rising Sun came in 10th, Ali`i Hawaiian Hula Hands came in 11th, Rusty’s Hawaiian #2 Yellow Caturra Natural came in 15th, Joe Farm came in 18th, and JN Coffee Farm #2 Pulped Natural came in 27th.
      The Hawai`i Coffee Association also elected new officers. President is Greg Steele, a coffee grower from Piilani Kope on Maui. Vice president is Chris Manfredi, a coffee broker and representative of investors in land where Moa`ula and Pear Tree coffees are grown in Ka`u. Treasurer is Jonathan Sechrist, owner of Makahiki Farms in Captain Cook, and secretary is Gloria Biven, of Royal Kona Coffee in Kona.
      Coffee consultant Richard Loero, who has worked with several Ka`u Coffee growers, said that Ka`u Coffee has a very strong market that is outstripping supply which should lead to a very bright future for this new industry for Ka`u.
      Also on the board representing Ka`u Coffee is John Cross, of Edmund C. Olson Trust II and Ka`u Coffee Mill.

OFFICIALS AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC joined together Friday at Washington Place in Honolulu for the historic signing of the Native Hawaiian Roll. Described on the Office of Hawaiian Affairs website, Kana`iolowalu, the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission, is a year-long effort to create a base roll of Native Hawaiians who will then be eligible to participate in the formation of a sovereign government and also gather signatures from Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians on petitions declaring support for the reunification of Native Hawaiians and recognition of Native Hawaiians’ unrelinquished sovereignty.
Former governor
John Waihe`e
      “We are collectively a people who are driven to do what is right, what is pono,” said former Hawai`i governor John Waihe`e at the ceremony. “This work only serves to formalize what Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians know intuitively – Hawaiian sovereignty, while dormant at times, has been unrelinquished, and does not harm our community at large but rather enriches us all.”
Gov. Neil Abercrombie
      Gov. Neil Abercrombie said, “I proudly proclaim today the start of the Year of Kana`iolowalu and encourage all people of our Aloha State to join us in celebrating the work and goals of the roll commission. This is about building a better future for all of us with respect to the continuing development of a reorganized Native Hawaiian governing entity.”
      In honor of his efforts on behalf of Hawaiian self-governance, U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka was the first person to join the roll and sign the petition. “Native Hawaiians are on a long and difficult journey to regain control of our collective future and transmit our culture, knowledge and values to future generations. Signing this petition affirms that, as a state, we recognize the rights of Native Hawaiians as the indigenous people of Hawai`i, to perpetuate the culture of our island home. It is time to holomua, to move forward together, and to express our commitment to the future of Hawai`i and her indigenous people,” he said.
Sen. Brickwood
Galuteria
      Sen. Brickwood Galuteria, chairman of the Senate Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, said, “Today’s signing is a great testimony to the courageous individuals who decades ago saw injustice and stepped forward. The inauguration of this roll marks the next step in the framework toward self-governance for the Hawaiian people.” 
Sen. Clayton Hee
      Sen. Clayton Hee, author of the measure that established the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission, said, “The signing of this legislation signifies an important stage in the long journey toward justice and self-determination for the people of the first nation of these islands. The people of Hawai`i and, in particular, the native Hawaiian people, have the opportunity and privilege to move forward together toward self-determination with a renewed sense of optimism for our future together as one.” 
Sen. Malama Solomon
      Sen. Malama Solomon, the chief negotiator of the measure, said, “The signing of the Native Hawaiian Roll moves forward the reconciliation process for mending relations between the State of Hawai`i and the Native Hawaiian people.“

VOLUNTEERS AT LAST SATURDAY’S Ka`u Coast cleanup sponsored by Hawai`i Wildlife Fund removed over 3,400 pounds of marine debris from Kamilo Point last Saturday. This included 1,000 pounds of derelict fishing nets and 2,413 pounds of miscellaneous non-net debris in 75 trash bags, or approximately 880 cubic feet of debris. Most of the haul was plastic, as usual. Other finds included a chair, a cooler, a large pole with kanji and a Japanese “Do Not Enter” construction sign. The next Ka`u Coast cleanup is on Saturday, Sept. 15. Sign up with Megan Lamson at 769-7629 or kahakai.cleanups@gmail.com.

Roberta Muller
STITCHING A LEGACY is the topic at After Dark in the Park on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Roberta Muller teaches the art of Hawaiian quilting. Two-dollar donations support park programs, and park entrance fees apply.

SOUTHSIDE ALATEEN MEETS tomorrow and every Monday at St. Jude’s Episcopal Church in Ocean View. Call Sandy at 557-9847 for more information.

KA`U SCENIC BYWAY COMMITTEE invites the public to its meeting Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at Punalu`u Bake Shop’s upper pavilion. Agenda items include a GIS training proposal, federal funding and project status.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM.