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Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Ka`u News Briefs Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Keiki can take swimming classes at Pahala Pool this summer. Photo by Tanya Ibarra
THE WIKI WIKI MART IN NA`ALEHU will soon be the last Sure Save store on the island after the Wiki Wiki near Ken’s House of Pancakes in Hilo shuts down following a closing sale. Sure Save shuttered its Island Market in Na`alehu earlier this year. The Wiki Wiki in Na`alehu, with its front end at the 76 station and a box store behind, is doing well and will remain open, according to Carl Okuyama, president of Sure Save. 
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WATER RATES ARE GOING UP. Hawai`i County Water Board yesterday approved rate increases of three percent in Fiscal Year 2016, which begins July 1, four percent in FY 2017 and five percent for each of the next three fiscal years. 
      Public hearings on these proposed rate increases were held in Kona on May 26 and in Hilo on May 27.
      The consulting firm of Brown & Caldwell was contracted to propose water rates that would adequately fund operations and capital improvements. “Nobody likes to see rate increases. It’s sort of a fact of life … that costs increase, and especially as revenues decrease, due to reduced water sales,” consultant Ann Hajnosz told Nancy Cook Lauer, of West Hawai`i Today. “The Department of Water Supply has an obligation to be financially self-sufficient, to plan for not only current operations, but future operations.”
      Waterworks Controller Rick Sumada told Cook Lauer that “expenses projected for five years are greater than revenues we project for five years.”
      See westhawaiitoday.com.
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COUNTY AND STATE OFFICERS made 10 arrests this morning on Mauna Kea, according to Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Those arrested refused to move out of the road when crews made their way toward the mountain's summit to restart construction at the site of the Thirty Meter Telescope. TMT announced a few days ago that construction would restart today.
      In a statement yesterday, Gov. David Ige said, “It is our belief that there will be mutual respect and aloha on Wednesday and in the days ahead as TMT restarts construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope.
      “TMT has the approvals needed to proceed with construction. We respect those who oppose the project and their right to peaceably assemble and to protest in an orderly and civil manner.
      “The state of Hawai`i’s primary concern is the health and safety of its people. The state and Hawai`i County are working together to uphold the law and ensure safety on roadways and on Mauna Kea, while allowing the people their right to peacefully and lawfully protest.”
      See staradvertiser.com.
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Gov. David Ige spoke yesterday about Hawai`i's
100 percent renewable energy goal.
GOV. DAVID IGE WAS A KEY SPEAKER yesterday for The Washington Post’s Powering Cities forum. Ige discussed Hawai`i’s commitment to clean energy, having signed Act 097 into law this month, making Hawai`i the first state in the nation to set a 100 percent renewable energy standard – generating 100 percent of its electricity sales from renewable energy resources – by 2045. 
      “Our energy costs are the highest in the country. We pay 37 cents per kilowatt hour, a lot more than anyone else (in the nation),” Ige said. “The challenge is storage. It’s about how we will be able to generate the power from the renewables when it’s available, store it and be able to deliver it to the customer when they want to use it in a reliable and safe fashion.
      “The technology we need (for 100 percent renewable power) exists today, but it hasn’t been produced at utility scale.”
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RED CROSS DISASTER-TRAINING CLASSES for new volunteers are coming up on July 11 and 18 at Pahala Hongwanji Mission. Interested persons can call or email Yukie Ohashi at 990-4777 or yohashi@hawaiiantel.net for online application instructions. Use of computers at Pahala Public Library can be arranged for individuals needing computer and Internet access.
      The need for local volunteers became apparent after a fire at Green Sand subdivision, when volunteers from Hilo, Kea`au, Volcano and Kona traveled to Ka`u to provide community outreach and individual assistance to affected families.

THERE’S STILL TIME FOR PARENTS to register their teens for Pahala-based Science Camps of America, returning to Hawai`i Island for its third summer. Camps offer teens entering grades eight through 12 the opportunity to take an active approach to learning about science outdoors. The first camp session, Land and Sea, starts this Monday, June 29 and runs through July 8. It focuses on volcanology, geology and oceanography. The second session, Air and Space, runs July 9 through 18 and covers astronomy, climatology and alternative energy.
Science Campers use field kits on there adventures. Photo from Science
Camps of America
      “The Big Island is such an amazing place geographically, climatically and culturally that I knew I wanted to create a camp that encompasses what makes this place so unique,” said founder Michael Richards.
      Campers will get the chance to explore the environmental diversity that the Big Island has to offer from beaches and rainforests to snow-covered mountains. Destinations include Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, Mauna Lani Sea Turtle Restoration Project, Mauna Kea Visitor Center, USGS Mauna Loa Climate Observatory and Punalu`u Black Sand Beach.
      Registration fee for each session is $2,395 and includes transportation to and from Hilo International Airport. Each 10-day session features six or seven travel days, and meals are included. To extend this experience to more local teens, Science Camps of America, a 501c3 nonprofit corporation, offers a limited amount of financial aid and also welcomes contributions from the public to the Science Camps of America Scholarship Fund.
      To register, call 678-619-0974 or visit ScienceCampsAmerica.com.

CAREERS IN HEALTH is the focus of a meeting at Ka`u Resource & Distance Learning Center at 96-3126 Puahala St. in Pahala, tomorrow at 9 a.m. Ka`u Rural Health Academy plans to offer a pilot Community Health Worker Program for those in need of employment, 18 or older, who who enjoy helping others, are trustworthy, have transportation, reading, writing, math and computer skills and can commit to weekly classes. Call Jessie Marques at 938-0101.

KA`U AGRICULTURAL WATER Cooperative District meets Saturday at 8 a.m. at Ka`u Coffee Mill. For more information, call Jeff McCall at 928-6456

 KA`U AGRICULTURAL WATER Cooperative District members are invited to a conflict resolution workshop Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Ka`u Coffee Mill. The workshop, sponsored by The Kohala Center, presents skills that current and future board members need in conflict prevention, management and resolution in order for co-ops to be effective.
      Scott Enright, Chair of Hawai`i Department of Agriculture, will present an update on water access through state agencies.

KA`U COMMUNITY ASTHMA PROGRAM welcomes participants. Led by Luzviminda B. Miguel, MSed, the project sponsored by Ka`u Rural Health Community Association, Inc., American Lung Association and University of Hawai`i Doctor of Nursing Practice Program is conducting a Demographic Survey and Asthma Control Test Survey. “Your participation will help nurses, doctors and other health care professionals help you to manage your asthma and form a Ka`u Community Asthma Support Group,” say fliers on bulletin boards in the community.
      Those with asthma or family members with asthma can call Miguel at 934-2654 or KRHCAI at 928-0101.

KA`U CLASSIC CRUISERS WILL CRUISE to Volcano and down to Pahala and up Wood Valley Road to Ka`u Coffee Mill on Thursday, July 2. The annual event draws classic cars from afar and takes place from June 25 with registration at Orchid Isle Ford in Hilo to July 5. Call Herbert Leite at 964-1235 or Russell Pacheco at 960-2016. See www.classiccruisers.com.

Ka`u keiki can sign up now for Pop Warner football. Photo by Nalani Parlin
KA`U LIONS POP WARNER FOOTBALL play begins in August. Open registration is ongoing for boys and girls from seven to 12 years of age. Parents need to supply a birth certificate, medical clearance for sports and a fourth-quarter report card. 
      Call organizers Kai Manini at 640-8409 or Bully Breithaupt at 339-1097. Practices will be a couple of days a week at Na`alehu Ball Field. Games will be islandwide. More coaches are needed, Manini said.

AMERICAN RED CROSS LEARN TO SWIM PROGRAM continues with sessions each week through July 28 at Pahala Pool. Call 928-8177. Head lifeguard Rina Martineau said there is room for more students in ongoing and upcoming summer sessions.
      Classes start with pre-school aquatics for two- and three-year-olds through July 2 and include Level One, Two, Three and Four Classes for everyone, with lower age limit set at five years of age. Each series of classes in Session C costs $15 from July 6 – 17. Session D is from July 20 – 28, and each series of classes costs $10. Call 928-8177.

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

See kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.pdf and
kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.swf.
See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_June2015.pdf.