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Monday, November 04, 2013

Ka`u News Briefs Monday, Nov. 4, 2013

American Honey Queen Caroline Adams met with enthusiasts at Pahala Senior Center this morning. Photo by Julia Neal
RECENTLY RELEASED KA`U COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN draft documents offer an analysis of Ka`u’s local economy, which the documents refer to as Na `Ohana Economy. 
      “Ka`u exemplifies the truly place-based understanding at the root of the word ‘economics’ – the Greek term oikonomia, which means ‘management of the household,’  states Appendix V4C. “Management of the household is not only about money. It’s about everything that makes for a healthy family, community and environment.
      “The people of Ka`u do not want to sacrifice their other values and priorities for the sake of economic development. In fact, their three core value areas – `aina, `ohana and rural lifestyle – only reference the economy in the context of agriculture’s role in the local lifestyle.
      “The concept of oikonomia mirrors that of `ohana in traditional Hawaiian culture,” the document states. “Mary Kawena Puku`i emphasizes this holistic ‘management of the household’ in The Polynesian Family System in Ka`u with her focus on the institution of `ohana. According to Puku`i, features of `ohana include:
Caroline Adams, American Honey Queen, met Pahala
residents and promoted the importance of bees.
Photo by Julia Neal
  • a cohesive force tied by ancestry, birth, and sentiment to a particular locality or `aina; 
  • a mutual benefit association that ‘manifests genuine community spirit;’ 
  • an economic community where relationships regulate personal, social and economic intercourse; 
  • an internal system that includes voluntary giving of food, utilitarian articles, and services as well as communal labor for large-scale projects. 
      According to the draft CDP document, a prime example of oikonomia and `ohana in Ka`u is the vibrant informal economy. “In the informal economy, money doesn’t change hands,” it says. “Instead, people live off the land, and the medium of exchange is reciprocity. … The people of Ka`u share what they have. Bounty from the garden or hunt is shared with `ohana, which includes far more people than those connected by blood. As one resident put it, ‘Only in Ka`u. We share, that’s the Ka`u style – with our family, our neighbors, everyone.’”
      The documents are available for review online at kaucdp.info and at area libraries and community centers. The Planning Department invites comments through Dec. 16, and a feedback form is available on the website.
      The documents will also be discussed at the Ka`u CDP Steering Committee meeting Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 5:30 p.m. at Pahala Community Center.
      To comment on of “like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

AMERICAN HONEY QUEEN Caroline Adams met with Pahala Senior Center enthusiasts this morning and talked about the importance of local gardens, like the very successful one at the center, to provide a variety of flowers, each with different nutrients, to keep honeybees healthy.
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Kathleen Kam was artist-in-residence at Na`alehu Elementary School in 2011.
MURALIST KATHLEEN KAM is spotlighted in the November issue of Hawai`i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts Enews. Kam has painted 18 public murals, with more on the way, she said. Her 75-foot by nine-foot mural at Ka`u Coffee Mill took two years to complete. Some other locations where her murals can be seen on Hawai`i Island are Punalu`u Bake Shop in Na`alehu, Keauhou Bird Sanctuary and Kilauea General Store in Volcano Village, KTA Superstores in Hilo and Hawai`i Plantation Museum in Papa`ikou. 
      As an artistic teaching partner with the Artists-in-the-Schools program, Kam has taught art at several Hawai`i Island schools, including Na`alehu Elementary and Ka`u High & Pahala Elementary, where another mural complete by Kam and students is located.
      To comment on or “like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

HAWAI`I COUNTY IS JOINING THE JAPANESE Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Hawai`i, Japanese Community Association and Kona Japanese Civic Association in the Aloha Oshima relief drive.
      Oshima Island, a sister city of Hawai`i County, was the place hardest hit when Typhoon Wipha ravaged coastal towns along Japan’s east coast on Oct. 16. Wipha brought torrential rains – a record-breaking 33 inches in 24 hours – that caused flooding and mudslides that destroyed nearly 300 homes. According to the most recent update, 32 deaths have been reported, and nine people remain missing.
Oshima Island has a sister-city relationship with Hawai`i Island.
Photo from wikimedia commons
      Through the end of December, donations to “Aloha Oshima” will be accepted at Bank of Hawai`i branches statewide. “I offer our aloha and deepest condolences to Mayor Masafumi Kawashima and the residents of Ohshima Island,” Mayor Billy Kenoi said. “Although the destruction caused by Typhoon Wipha is unprecedented, we know that the strength and resolve of the people of Ohshima will carry them through.”
      In Japanese, Oshima means big island. It is about 35 square miles with a population of 8,200 and is home to waterfalls, valleys, and Mt. Mihara, an active volcano 2,507 feet tall. Located 75 miles south of Tokyo, Oshima is the largest island in the Izu group, over a dozen islands extending south from the Izu Peninsula.
      Hawai`i County’s sister city relationship with Oshima Island was initiated in 1962 by the Board of Supervisors, the predecessor to today’s County Council. The chairman and executive officer of the Board of Supervisors, the predecessor to the office of the Mayor, was Thomas K. ‘Lofty’ Cook. Members of the Board of Supervisors at the time were Wing Kong ‘Winkie’ Chong, Elroy Osorio, Helene Hale, Sherwood Greenwell, Ikuo Hisaoka, and Elias Yadao.       
      A monument commemorating the sister city relationship was erected in 1992, the 30th anniversary of the relationship, in Lili`uokalani Gardens, by Oshima Mayor Nagaharu Shimizu.       The most recent visit to Hawai`i Island by friends from Oshima Island was in October 2012. Mayumi Jinguh and Zen Tanaka of Oshima visited on behalf of Mayor Masafumi Kawashima, delivering a letter and a 50th anniversary gift – a copper relief depicting a rainbow bridge between Hawaii Island and Oshima Island. Tanaka, and the people of Oshima Island, including Mayor Masafumi Kawashima, participated in crafting the piece.
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TROY KEOLANUI, CO-OWNER OF OK FARMS HAWAI`I in the Amau`ulu area of Hilo, told Colin M. Stewart, of Hawai`i Tribune-Herald, that he is committed to slowing the spread of coffee berry borers to other farms in East Hawai`i. Announcement of the pest’s presence in Hilo was made last week by the state Department of Agriculture.
OK Farms co-owner Troy Keolanui, seen here with visitors to the diversified ag farm, vows to
combat spread of the coffee berry borer recently found there. Photo by Andrew Hara
      “The insect has been found in less than .1 percent of our harvested cherry, and we are now 75 percent complete with the 2013 crop,” Keolanui said. “All cherry is processed and mechanically dried within 24 hours to prevent any insects from surviving. Any damaged beans are mechanically sorted out, leaving only high quality beans. No pathogens or contamination is carried by the beans or passed on to the consumer.
      “As a farmer, this is just something you have to deal with. Like you would if you had a dog that got fleas. You don’t kill the dog, you give it a flea bath, and you clean the area to remove the fleas … and you move on with life.”
      According to the story, Keolanui contacted the Tribune-Herald on Tuesday, saying that he felt transparency was the best way for Big Island coffee farmers to combat the destructive pest.
      “We’re not embarrassed. This was something that was inevitable. … Now, we just want to do our part to slow the spread. To protect other farms from having to deal with it,” he said.
      Keolanui told Stewart that workers first knew they had a problem about eight weeks ago, when they noticed damage to some beans after they had been processed.
      Keolanui said plans to control the beetle by managing pickers, spraying orchards with a natural fungus that kills the beetles, spraying neem oil, which he said impedes the insect’s growth and then using insectides.
      OK Farms Hawai`i is also planning to add five more acres of coffee orchards. “We think Hilo has a great future in coffee,” Keolanui told Stewart. “We don’t see this as the end of the world. It can be controlled.”
      See hawaiitribune-herald.com.
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THE FOLLOWING KA`U HIGH SCHOOL & Pahala Elementary School middle school students have earned a place on the first quarter honor roll: 
Grade 8
      Summa Cum laude (3.75-4.00): Rowlie John Flores, Revis Petitt and Sierra Yeager.
      Magna Cum laude (3.5-3.74): Malie Ibarra, Junel Candaroma, Scandy Echeilam, Junially Manantan and Ezra James Ramones.
      Cum laude (3.0-3.49): Junialla Manantan, Jim Esquida, Sheena Marie Flores, Daryl Moreira, Jr, Analei Emmsley, Shailei-Marie Penera, Zachary Ishii and Rodel Pascua.
Grade 7 
      Summa Cum laude: Aaron Delos Santos and Brennen Nishimura.
      Magna Cum laude: Jennifer Abalos, Keala Liu, Malia Nicole Corpuz and Zyrae-Jawn Kailiawa.
      Cum laude: Monique Hughes, Daedrie Kai, Therese Pascua, Justine Rosario, Karlee Fukunaga, Lei Chun Galban Kin In, Randall Patton, Jr, Naython Perry, Kanani Petrill-Abrojin, Chaunalisa Velez, Kalena Yeager, Ryan Ah Yee, Josiah Barrios, Mei Lin Galban Kin In, Taenna Holeso, Helena Nihipali-Sesson, Seazon Gouveia-Makuakane, Kayla Kainoa-Aukai and Terree Oyama.
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SUSAN CORDELL, SENIOR SCIENTIST and research ecologist for the USDA Forest Service’s Institute of Pacific Island Forestry, discusses forest management tomorrow at After Dark in the Park. The program begins at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. $2 donations support park programs, and park entrance fees apply.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

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