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Saturday, September 05, 2015

Ka`u News Briefs Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015

Ka`u High Trojan Rowlie Flores participated in a meet at Hawai`i Preparatory Academy Saturday. Photo by team assistant Jay-R Abalos

HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK has a new centennial logo. Founded on Aug. 1, 1916, Hawai`i Volcanoes was the 15th national park established in the U.S. and celebrates its centennial anniversary next year along with the National Park Service itself, which turns 100 on Aug. 25, 2016. The logo depicts the three elements that define the park: culture, geology and biology.
Hawai`i Volcanoes new centennial logo.
Image from NPS
      In the center, Halema`uma`u Crater erupts on Kilauea Volcano under a starry night sky. The ongoing eruption is characterized by a glowing lava lake and dramatic plume of gas and ash wafting skyward. 
      Massive, active volcano Mauna Loa, sometimes capped in snow during winter months, stands above the erupting crater, a scene visitors can see from the Keanakako`i side of Halema`uma`u. 
      A nene, the endemic and federally endangered Hawaiian goose, is seen in flight and is a reminder of the success of the park’s nene recovery efforts. 
      On the right, a Hawaiian petroglyph is reminiscent of an actual petroglyph found at Pu`uloa in the park, the largest concentration of petroglyphs in the Hawaiian islands. 
      On the left, the red bloom of the `ohi`a lehua symbolizes both the importance of the native `ohi`a tree found throughout the park and its significance as a sacred flower of Pele. 
      The stars represent the night sky that visitors can experience while in the park after dark. 
      For more info, see nps.gov/havo/getinvolved/100th-anniversary.htm. 
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Hurricanes Kilo, Ignacio and Jimena continue to surround Hawai`i.
Image from NASA'S Earth Observatory
WHY RECORD-BREAKING HURRICANE Trio Swirls Above the Pacific was the title of a Live Science report yesterday on news.yahoo.com
      The story by Stephanie Pappas described it: “A parade of tropical storms traipses across the Pacific in a new satellite image showing the once-in-a-lifetime (or more than one lifetime) event. This is the first time three major hurricanes have lined up across the central and eastern Pacific at the same time, according to meteorologist Eric Blake of the National Hurricane Center.”
      The story explained that the unusual event is “made more likely by the climate cycle called El Nino. She quoted Tom Evans, the acting director of the Central Pacific Hurricane Center: “The reason we’re getting so many tropical cyclones in our area is that El Nino is keeping the very warm waters well north of the equator. That’s one of the main contributors to the energy found in hurricanes.”
      Evans also told Pappas that El Nino interrupts trade winds and decreases vertical wind speeds that help to lessen tropical storms’ strength.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Firefighters were able to keep a house fire in Ocean View from spreading
to other properties. Photo by Jordan Anger
HAWAI`I ISLAND POLICE HAVE CHARGED an Ocean View woman with arson in connection with a fire Wednesday, Sept. 2 at the house she occupied. 
      At 9:20 a.m. Thursday, Sept., detectives from the Area II Criminal Investigations Section charged 36-year-old Emily Smith of Ocean View with first-degree arson and third-degree assault.
      The assault charge was for allegedly striking a firefighter who responded to the house on Reef Circle Mauka on Wednesday morning. He did not require treatment.
      After determining that the fire was set intentionally, police arrested Smith at the scene.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

EMPLOYEES OF MULTINATIONAL SOFTWARE corporation SAP who supported and participated in the annual Aloha Run contributed half of $60,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of the Big Island. The company matched their donations. SAP is a sponsor of the Aloha Run.
      Boys & Girls Club members also participated in an activity with SAP CEO Bill McDermott and professional golfers, World Cup soccer players and other athletes at the Fairmont Orchid. McDermott and the athletes encouraged and motivated the youths, showing how optimism, hard work and team performance can set them on paths to success.
      Another recent donation to the Ka`u Boys & Girls Club totaled $5,000 from Edmund C. Olson Trust II.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Michael Gibson
KA`U LANDING’S PUBLISHER, Michael Gibson, who lived in this district in 1992 when he founded and edited the monthly and grew it into Hawai`i Island Journal, is realizing a longtime dream. He is creating an agricultural hub for education, a farmers market and community enrichment. Gibson is realizing this goal, however, up the Hamakua Coast, and the project is called Hamakua Harvest.
Gibson's Hamakua Harvest showcases products from farmers
in that area. Image from Hamakua Harvest
      According to its website, the mission is to “promote and advance local farmers, enriching the region’s social fabric and promoting healthy rural lifestyles.” It says the idea was “conceived in direct response to the community’s desire to maintain its rural lifestyle based on sustainable family farms” and that the project “will provide a whole-systems, integrated agricultural hub, market and teaching model for the community at large. Its design, purpose and location ... reflect the region’s deep agricultural history and aims to demonstrate what a truly sustainable and agriculturally rich future could look like.”
      The farmers market opens tomorrow in Honoka`a. See hamakukaharvest.org.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

THE KA`U COFFEE TRAIL RUN, coming up in two weeks on Saturday, Sept. 19, is drawing an international field. Runners from Japan, Austria, Germany and the United Kingdom are competing. Runners will descend on Ka`u, with the start and finish at Ka`u Coffee Mill, from as far away as Alaska, Oregon and Alabama. Registration is open until race day for the 5K, 10K and half marathon for people of all ages. One 5K participant from Kamuela is 91 years of age. An eight-year-old and a 72-year-old will be coming from Honoka`a. There are numerous racers signed up from Pahala, Na`alehu, Ocean View and Volcano. 
      Events take participants into macadamia and coffee orchards as well as the rainforest on the edge of Wood Valley. Entertainment follows the race.
      To sign up, see www.race360.com/21357.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Ka`u High cross country team member Chloe Gan ran at HPA last Saturday.
Photo by Jay-R Abalos
KA`U HIGH CROSS COUNTRY RUNNERS participated in their first race of the season last Saturday, Aug. 29 at Hawai`i Preparatory Academy. The race was three miles long. Boys race first this year, and girls, second. Ka`u athletes are familiar with the steep hills on the HPA course. Rowlie Flores came in 160th out of 193, with a time of 28:33. Chloe Gan came in 56th out of 140 with a time of 29:44.
      The runners are at Kamehameha today, with more Ka`u athletes running in this race. “The team is training hard and looking forward to the next races,” Coach Erin Cole said.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

KA`U GIRLS VOLLEYBALL TEAMS continue their winning season. Yesterday, Ka`u won all sets when they hosted Parker. Varsity

 scores were 25-12 and 25-10; JV scores were 25-8 and 25-14.
      After playing three opponents at home this week, the wahine Trojans get some time off before traveling to Christian Liberty next Friday.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

PARTICIPANTS DISCOVER Hawaiian goddesses Pele and Hi`iaka and the natural phenomena they represent tomorrow from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Kahuku unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Visitors will experience the sisters coming alive through epic stories depicted in the natural landscape of Kahuku on this moderate one-mile walk. 
      Call 985-6011 for more information.

KA`U AG PRODUCERS ARE INVITED to Western U.S. Agricultural Trade Association’s FundMatch Workshop next Saturday, Sept. 12 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at West Hawai`i Civil Center’s Council Chambers in Kona.
      The county Department of Research and Development and the state Department of Agriculture are hosting this free workshop open to agribusinesses with products containing at least 50 percent U.S. agricultural content, exclusive of added water and packaging.
      WUSATA is now accepting applications for FundMatch 2016, formerly known as the Branded Program. This workshop walks attendees through the ins and outs of FundMatch, how to apply, leverage new export opportunities and more. A question and answer session follow.

      Participants learn how WUSATA can offset their companies’ international marketing budgets and how WUSATA can offset overseas marketing costs, including foreign trade show exhibition and travel, advertising, in-store promotions, international product labeling modifications and more.
      For more information, contact Glenn Sako at 961-8811 or Glenn.Sako@hawaiicounty.gov.

KA`U FARMERS UNION UNITED invites current and prospective members to Earth Matters Farm at the corner of Kama`oa and South Point Roads two weeks from today on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 10 a.m. Rep. Richard Creagan will talk about plans for the 2016 Legislature and his field trips on issues. Membership is not required to attend. Call 443-3300.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.
See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_September2015.pdf.