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Monday, October 20, 2014

Ka`u News Briefs Monday, Oct. 20, 2014

Sunlight at dawn yesterday creates a backdrop of Hurricane Ana's clouds as birds fly in the skies near South Point.
Photo by Richard Taylor
HAWAI`I GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATES shared their views with Big Island residents during a forum in Hilo earlier this month. Duke Aiona, Mufi Hannemann and Sen. David Ige told attendees why they are running for the state’s highest elected office.
Duke Aiona Photos from
Big Island Video News
      Republic Duke Aiona said, “The reason I’m running is I want to take you in a new direction. I don’t want you to have the same system. … It’s really about going in a new direction in regards to businesses, taxes and fees and everything else we face in this island state of ours.
      “But the real reason is I believe my calling is for my grandchildren and my children. I’m at that stage in life right now where I believe I have that one last season of life, and just this past couple of years my wife and I were blessed with a granddaughter Riley and a grandson. … For those of you who are brand-new grandparents, you understand my feeling and my emotion toward my grandchildren. In looking at them, and also looking at my children, you know it was upon me, upon a challenge from my wife. This is what I really wanted to do, which was to walk away from all this. Really, I had really thought about this and prayed about this, and if I would be able to look myself in the mirror and say I did everything I could to make things better for my grandchildren and my children.
      “And obviously the calling was simple. So, I’m here to give you an option taking you in a new direction so that you don’t have to just change out the players and have the same system in place.”
Mufi Hannemann
      Independent candidate Hannemann said, “I want you to think of yourself as an employer. You’re looking to hire the next leader for the state of Hawai`i, and when you do that, you look at their experience; you look at their qualifications; you look at their previous track record.
      “This is a job for someone who has executive experience. This is a big job – 52,000 employees, billions of dollars in an operating budget. You have to be clear that that person can hit the ground running from day one. 
      “It’s also a job that requires a governor to go to Washington, D.C. We’ve lost our perennial powerhouse back there in Sen. Daniel Inouye, and so now more than ever, with a very young delegation, that governor has to go there and ask for federal assistance. I have a proven track record of doing work in Washington, D.C., having worked with our delegation to save Pearl Harbor Shipyard from closing.
      “It also has to be a governor that has an international breadth of experience in dealing in the Pacific Asian region. I was … talking to students at University of Hawai`i-Hilo. I told them our future is in the Pacific Asia Region and what better way than to have a governor who has traveled extensively in that part of the world, has relationships and can build upon those relationships to build a better place.”
Sen. David Ige
      Sen. David Ige said, “I have had the privilege of working with your representatives in the State Capitol for 29 years, three decades, and there have been so many projects that I am proud of to be associated with the Big Island. I still remember the first time I met with Larry Kimura and he just expressed his concern that we would be losing native speakers, that we are down to the last 50 native speakers, and when we lose the language, we lose the culture. I am so proud to have been a part of that groundbreaking up at UH-Hilo to open the Hawaiian College, committed to perpetuation of the Hawaiian language, because I understand that the language is the culture, and our host culture is so important to the state of Hawai`i. …
      “I am running for governor because this election really is about the future of Hawai`i. It’s about the future that you and I want to leave to our children and our children’s children. There are so many issues. As I traveled across the state, and I’ve listened and heard the concern from many of you that government has become disconnected with the people; that it is no longer serving. I’m running for governor because I believe and I’ve heard that you want a change in leadership style. You want a leader that can bring our communities together rather than divide them; a leader who can find common ground and, most importantly, find solutions that move our communities forward.”
      See more at bigislandvideonews.com.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Hurricane Ana churned the waters at South Point Saturday. Photo by Peter Anderson
WALK-IN VOTING FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION begins tomorrow at Pahala Community Center and continues weekdays through Friday, Oct. 31. Hours are 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Name These Waterfalls. Here are two of several waterfalls
that appeared on the slopes above Wood Valley during
Hurricane Ana. Photo by Julia Neal 
MANY KA`U RESIDENTS HAVE COMMENTED ON FACEBOOK that they have never seen so much water fall from the mountain slopes as they saw Saturday during Hurricane Iselle, when Ka`u got drenched with upwards of 7.5 inches of rain. The Ka`u Calendar continues to seek native Hawaiian names for waterfalls along Hwy 11 and in Wood Valley.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

DOWNED POWER LINES ALONG HWY 11 resulted in a loss of electricity this morning in Pahala, Punalu`u and Wood Valley, according to Hawai`i Electric Light Co. The outage occurred at 4:44 a.m., and power was restored at 8:15 a.m. A HELCO representative did not know what brought the lines down.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.  

RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES ARE VERY HIGHLY favored by Hawai`i residents, according to a report by the University of Hawai`i. A representative survey of 1,214 Hawai`i residents conducted to assess public attitudes about different technologies for generating electricity showed that 97 percent of the public support increased development of at least some forms of RE in the state.
      “This support for RE was motivated by concerns for environmental protection, sustainability, and energy independence and by frustration with local energy prices,” the report states. Solar and wind power were the most widely accepted forms of RE (with 92 percent and 86 percent favorable opinion, respectively), followed by hydroelectric (76 percent) and geothermal power (75 percent). Municipal waste (58 percent) and biomass combustion (53 percent) were less widely endorsed but were still acceptable to the majority of residents. Only a small segment of the public endorsed conventional sources of energy generation — nuclear (22 percent), oil (13 percent) and coal (12 percent). There were modest differences in attitudes as a function of age, gender, and education, but no differences across counties.
      See http://uhfamily.hawaii.edu.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

KAMUELA FARMER ANNA PEACH presents The Pumpkin Primer, a program about her sustainable farming methods, at Ka`u public libraries this week. Programs are at Na`alehu Public Library tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. and Pahala Public & School Library Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.
      See squashandawe.com.

TOMORROW’S AFTER DARK IN THE PARK program features Ka`u Learning Academy co-founder Joe Iacuzzo with a talk entitled Thomas Jefferson to Johnson Space Center: America’s Fossil History
      The free program begins at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.
      Park entrance fees apply. $2 donations support park programs.

KA`U CHAPTER OF HAWAI`I FARMERS UNION UNITED meets at Na`alehu Community Center Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Guest speaker Tane Datta, of Adaptations, Inc., discusses how to bring produce to market.
      The public is invited to all Ka`u Farmers Union United meetings. Farmers and backyard growers are invited to bring food to share.
      To join the Farmers Union, call 503-575-9098.

HO`OKUPU HULA NO KA`U CULTURAL FESTIVAL takes place in Pahala on the grounds of the Old Plantation Managers House this Friday and Saturday. All entertainment is open to the public with no fees. Friday and Saturday night will feature emcee Skylark and chanter Na`auao Vivas.
      On Saturday evening at 4 p.m. will be an opening pule performed by dancers who attend the morning hula workshop, along with an introduction of Kumu Hula. At 4:30 p.m. will be Hands of Time. At 5 p.m. will be Halau Hula O Kawaimaluhia with Kumu Hula Keoni Jennings. At 5:45 p.m. will be Hula Halau Kahoku Kauhiahionalani with Kumu Hula Sammy Fo. At 6 p.m. will be the Gomes `Ohana. At 6:30 p.m. a Kukui Ceremony; at 6:45 p.m. Keaiwa, featuring Demetrius Oliveira and Halau Hula O Leonalani, with Kumu Hula Debbie Ryder and Haumana from Japan, Okinawa, O`ahu and Pahala. At 7:30 p.m. will be Ka `Imia Na`auao Kahiko from Ka`u School of the Arts and Kumu Hula Marsha Bolosan. At 8 p.m. is Victor Chock & Friends, with the evening ending at 9 p.m. with Hawai`i Aloha.
      For more, see www.hookupukau.com.
      See more on the festival in this week’s Ka`u News Briefs and in this month’s issue of The Ka`u Calendar

VOLCANO ART CENTER’S ANNUAL MEETING, which was postponed due to Hurricane Ana, has been rescheduled for this Sunday, Oct. 26 at 3 p.m. at the Niaulani Campus in Volcano Village.
      There will be live entertainment while ballots are being counted, with current board member, vocalist Desiree Cruz, joined by Loren Wilken on keyboard for a set of Jazz music.
      For more information, call 967-8222.

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

See kaucalendar.com/Directory2014.swf.