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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Ka`u News Briefs Jan. 30, 2013

Ka Lae Quilters and Red Hat Ladies of Ka`u begin their month of fundraising activities for Ka`u Hospital
 Emergency Room on Friday with a craft and bake sale at the hospital. Their annual spaghetti dinner is
 scheduled for Feb. 23. Photo by Julia Neal
STATE SENATOR JOSH GREEN, whose district extends through West Ka`u, chairs the Senate Health Committee and has introduced a slew of measures to the 2013 Hawai`i Legislature, from bills to control firearms to reducing taxes for low-income people and establishing a tax on sweetened beverages. Many were co-introduced with East Ka`u Sen. Russell Ruderman.
      SB 932 would prohibit any person who is a danger to self or danger to others from possessing, having custody or control of, receiving, purchasing, or attempting to receive or purchase firearms or other dangerous or deadly weapons. It would create a reporting system for persons who seriously threaten a readily identifiable person or persons to a mental health professional. It would require the Department of Public Safety to create a database and list of persons prohibited from possessing, having custody or control of, receiving, purchasing, or attempting to receive or purchase firearms and other dangerous or deadly weapons, which would be accessible to law enforcement, mental health professionals and sellers of firearms. It would require the Department of Public Safety to make a list of persons whose license for firearms or other dangerous or deadly weapons has been revoked.
      SB 69 would appropriate $100,000 to the county police departments to initiate a gun buy-back program. 
      SB 98 would reduce the tax liability for low-income people by creating a tax credit that would reduce a person’s income tax to zero when federal adjusted gross income falls below federal poverty guidelines. It would reduce a person’s income tax liability by 50 percent when federal adjusted gross income falls between 100 and 125 percent of federal poverty guidelines.
     SB 201would authorize the director of Business, Economic Development & and Tourism to allow the sale of motor vehicle gasoline that does not contain ethanol unless sufficient quantities of locally produced ethanol or biofuel crops have been produced and are available to meet the requirements under existing law.
     SB 481 would establish the Instructional Office of Hawaiian Studies for the purpose of providing instruction to public school students on Hawaiian history, culture, arts, and language.
      SB 610 would direct the state Department of Education to name the next completed public high school the Daniel Ken Inouye High School.
Sen. Josh Green
     SB 616 would prohibit smoking at public bus stops, parks, beaches and in vehicles when a minor is present in the vehicle. 
     SB 1999 would establish a two-year Hawai`i colorectal cancer screening pilot program using the Hawai`i comprehensive breast and cervical cancer control program as a model.
      SB 343 would require the state director of Health to participate in the national oral health surveillance system. It would permit dental hygienists to apply preventive sealants in a school-based dental sealant program. It would require the state Department of Health to establish and administer a school-based dental sealant program in a high-need demonstration school and report to the Legislature about the department’s efforts to prioritize prevention of tooth decay. It would appropriate funds to the program, including plans to implement the program on a statewide level.
     SB 638 would require all cellular telephones, including refurbished and remanufactured cellular telephones, sold or leased by a retailer in the state to bear a label that warns consumers of the potential dangers of electromagnetic radiation emitted by cellular phones.
     SB 59 would increase the monthly board rate distributed by the department of human services for foster care services for children.
     SB 639 would reclassify pseudoephedrine as a schedule V drug that would only be dispensed with a prescription. It would exempt cold products that contain other active ingredients, with certain conditions. Requires pharmacies to maintain pseudoephedrine-related records for five years. Pseudoephedrine is a crucial chemical in the making of METH or ICE.
     SB 640 would prohibit manufacture, sale, or distribution of child-care products and toys for young children that contain bisphenol-A or phthalates beginning Jan. 1, 2014. It would require manufacturers to choose safe alternatives. It would prohibit use of packages and packaging containing lead, cadmium, mercury, and hexavalent chromium beginning Jan. 1, 2014. It would prohibit Hawai`i Health Systems Corp. from purchasing and using vinyl intravenous solution bags and vinyl tubing beginning Jan. 1, 2014.
     SB 643 would mandate that all public school teachers receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation training and certification.
     SB 646 would establish a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, syrup and powder with the revenues generated to be deposited into the community health centers special fund and the trauma system special fund.
      SB 647 would adopt the California Environmental Protection Agency emission standards for low-emission vehicle standards beginning Jan. 1, 2015.
      SB 1238 would establish the maternal mortality review committee to conduct comprehensive reviews of maternal deaths in Hawai`i, which would include collecting, analyzing, and disseminating maternal mortality information. It would require the committee to hold meetings and submit an annual report with findings and recommendations to the Legislature.
      The bills are available online at capitol.hawaii.gov/memberpage.aspx?member=green.


Consumer Advocate Jeffrey Ono
THE CONSUMER ADVOCATE for the state of Hawai`i has issued new questions for `Aina Koa Pono and the utility companies planning to build a refinery in Ka`u to manufacture diesel for the Kona power plant. Consumer Advocate Jeffrey Ono asks for the identity of people responsible for preparing responses to the questions asked about the AKP process and financial plan, and the identity of any witness who would be responsible during any evidentiary hearing. He also asks for specific reasons for withholding any “privileged” information about the AKP project. AKP and the utility companies have withheld the price of the fuel in the proposed 20-year fixed price per gallon contract that would raise electric bills on O`ahu and the Big Island. 
      The Consumer Advocate asks for the hui to “state all claimed privileges and objections to disclosure; state all facts and reasons supporting each claimed privilege and objection; state under what conditions the Company is willing to permit disclosure to the Consumer Advocate (i.e. protective agreement, review at business offices, etc.), and if the Company claims that a written document or electronic file is not discoverable…identify each document or electric file…date, author(s) and addressee(s).”
      The Consumer Advocate also asks whether any additional infrastructure will be necessary to burn biodiesel supplied by AKP. He asks about the source of all inputs used in Hawai`i Electric Co.’s calculations and how they compare with inputs in HECO’s Integrated Resource Planning. Ono also requests an updated projected sales forecast and discussion on how it compares to the forecast in HECO’s integrated Resource Planning. He also asks for discussion on whether HECO has performed any analysis on the quantity and unit cost of firm resources (geothermal, use of oil and biofuel) assumed to be needed to complement intermittent resources (wind, solar and hydro).”
      The Consumer Advocate’s information request and other documents on the case are available at puc.hawaii.gov. Docket number is 2012-0185.
      Deadline for the utilities and AKP to respond is Feb. 15.

The Directory 2013 is now available
throughout Ka`u.
MANAGEMENT OF KAWA and the more than 700 acres acquired by the county for a park and natural resources protection will be the subject of a meeting this evening at 5 p.m. at Na`alehu Community Center. Representatives of Hawai`i County have been meeting with the families with connections to the coastal area that is Ka`u’s favorite surfing beach as well as a shoreline fishing, hiking and picnicking area. The meeting is co-sponsored by the state Department of Land & Natural Resources.

THE DIRECTORY, the annual publication of The Ka`u Chamber of Commerce, is now available at many business and other public locations around Ka`u. The guide to Ka`u with business, community organization and governmental listings also features photos and stories of Ka`u. It can be found at CU Hawai`i Federal Credit Union offices in Pahala and Na`alehu, Bank of Hawai`i in Pahala and other locales across the district. Funds raised from advertising in The Directory are used for scholarships for Ka`u students. 

RED HAT LADIES OF KA`U and Ka Lae Quilters hold a Bake and Craft Sale at Ka`u Hospital on Friday at 10 a.m. Proceeds support improvements to the hospital’s emergency room. Contributions are welcome. Another sale is set for next Friday and Saturday at 8 a.m. at Punalu`u. Call Barbara Beatty at 929-9072.

Tom Peek Photo from VAC
TOM PEEK HELPS WRITERS GET their stories, poems, essays and ideas out of their heads and onto the page at a workshop Saturday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. at Volcano Art Center’s Ni`aulani Campus in Volcano Village. Open to all levels and genres; no writing experience is necessary. Fee is $85 or $76.50 for VAC members. Call 967-8222.
 
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.