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Saturday, November 11, 2017

Ka‘ū News Briefs Saturday, November 11, 2017

First generation of windmills at South Point, years ago, since replaced by private company Tawhiri Power, with fewer, 
larger, more efficient windmills. Sen. Brian Schatz pointed out at the U.N. Conference that Hawai‘i has risen from
 6 percent to 20 to 25 percent energy self-sufficiency with investors seeing that clean energy is good business.
AT THE U.N. CLIMATE CONFERENCE IN GERMANY, Sen. Brian Schatz said on Saturday: "Climate change is the challenge of our generation. It’s our obligation as the indispensable nation to lead and take action. While the President may not be showing leadership on this, I have joined with some of my Senate colleagues at the COP23 UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, to show the world that #WeAreStillIn on the Paris Agreement."
    Schatz also said, "The message we are conveying at the climate talks in Germany is simple: The President is powerful but he cannot stop the clean energy revolution."
    The presiding country for the the Climate Change Conference is the nation of Fiji, which is a test case for islands affected by climate change. U.S. mayors, governors, CEOs and U.S. Senators, including Schatz, are involved in the climate talks to show their constituency is still "in tent," Schatz said. Other Senators attending with Schatz also live in coastal states: Ben Cardin, of Maryland; Sheldon Whitehouse, of Rhode Island; and Ed Markey, of Massachusettes.
Sen. Brian Schatz flew to Germany with other U.S. Senators to show
 support for climate change strategy, despite Pres. Trump's decision
to back away from such international efforts. 
     The Maryland Senator said climate change affects the disappearing Smith Island where people live and that the Chesapeake Bay blue crab fishing industry is challenged. "Marylanders really see that our way of life is at risk." Cardin talked about the attitude of people nationwide: "When they see the storms, when they see the wildfires, they see the rising sea levels, they see the erosions of the coast, they see the flooding just on a normal, rainy day,  let alone major events, they see it first hand, and they want us to take dramatic action, because they know what we're doing here on Earth affects climate."
   The Massachusetts Senator said that he and the Rhode Island Senator represent the fastest warming body of water on the planet along with the Arctic. Markey pointed to Cape Cod, which is named after cod fish. "Cod need cold water. As the water gets warmer and warmer, the cod are just going north towards Canada. It really affects even the identity of our state, much less the economy of the fishermen who have depended on the cod for 200 years." He also pointed to a Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts versus the EPA that recognized that green house gases contribute to the erosion of the coast.
Fiji is an example of an island nation faced with climate change,
a study case for the climate change talks attended by Sen. Brian
Schatz and other U.S. representatives in Germany. 
     The Rhode Island Senator said that if he went down to the fishing docks in Galilee ten years ago and talked to a fisherman about climate change, "I would be lucky enough to be thrown off the dock. Now they are coming in saying, 'This is not my grandfather's ocean out there. Sheldon, things are getting weird out there. What can we do?' All of that is backed up by all of our home state universities who are making very clear scientific warnings," said Whitehouse.
    Schatz said that due to climate change, Hawai‘i is experiencing coral bleaching, beach erosion and diminished fisheries. He noted that Hawai‘i is the first state with a 100 percent clean energy law. Fifteen years ago Hawai‘i experienced 6 percent in energy self-sufficiency. Schatz said it has risen to 20 to 25 percent. Hawai‘i is determined to have 100 percent clean energy by 2045, said Schatz, who contended that utiliies encourage wind and solar, because they are the most affordable.
    The senators also talked about smart businesses making more money because they recognize opportunity in the green industries, including offshore windmills and solar. They also said more traditional business owners are afraid of destruction by the kinds of storms experienced this year and are more willing to invest in prevention. The senators came up with a saying, "Climate Outlasts Presidents."
    See more on the United Nations Climate Change Conference at https://cop23.unfccc.int/.

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Veterans Day
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard meets a Go for Broke vet and gives a Veterans Day 
message, along with other congressional and state office holders.
 Photo from office of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard
VETERANS DAY MESSAGES are circulating from Ka‘ū's congressional and state legislature delegations and Gov. David Ige.
    Senator Mazie Hirono, who serves on the Senate's Armed Forced Committee, said, “Each Veterans Day, we are reminded of the bravery and commitment of the men and women who have served and are still serving our country. We honor our service members, our veterans, and their families for their dedication and sacrifices to defending the values of liberty and freedom.
      “We also recognize our brave servicemen and women by supporting their transition back to civilian life, including fighting for access to benefits and other services. As a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, I will continue to push for legislation and oversight that ensures all of our veterans receive the care and benefits they have earned.” 
     Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who serves in the Hawai‘i Army National Guard, said Veterans Day is "a day when I often get to spend time with fellow veterans from many different generations, share stories, and remember our brothers and sisters who never made that long trip home. We will never forget.
Go for Broke: An Origin Story covers the history of Sen. Dan Inouye
and other Japanese young men who chose to fight for the U.S.
in World War II. The premier will be at the Hawai‘i International Film
Festival on Nov. 12. See the trailer.
   "Sen. Mazie Hirono and I worked together for years on legislation that finally awards the well-deserved Congressional Gold Medal to World War II Filipino veterans—legislation that Barack Obama signed into law as one of his final acts as president. Last month, Mazie and I welcomed many of these veterans to the U.S. Capitol, where we presented this long-overdue recognition to heroes like Sixto Tabay, the last living WWII Filipino veteran on Kauaʻi, and around 200,000 others who served."
     Gabbard recently hosted a screening of the film Go for Broke: An Origin Story at the U.S. Capitol in honor of the 100th Infantry Battalion /442nd Regimental Combat Team, units created in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which were made up of young Japanese-American men who volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army, "despite facing bigotry and prejudice as their families and loved ones were thrown into internment camps. Our late Senator Daniel Inouye is featured in the film as a young man who volunteered to fight for freedom alongside thousands of others. Through their courage, valor, and sacrifice, the 442nd became the most highly decorated unit in Army history," Gabbard stated.   
Japanese men from Ka‘ū and around Hawai‘i fought in the U.S.
military even as their relatives were put in detention camps during
World War II. Image from the new film Go for Broke: An Origin Story
     She pointed to the "courage and sacrifice displayed by the men and women that I had the privilege of serving with during my deployments to the Middle East. People of all walks of life—different religions, races, political ideologies, and more—all setting aside differences and coming together with one common goal: service to our country.     
     "It is this selflessness by our nation’s veterans that should inspire us all this Veterans Day—and every day. They have shown us through their example and their lives what ‘service and sacrifice’ really means, and how we can all find ways to set aside our own differences, respect and treat each other with aloha, and work together for the good of our communities, our country, and
humanity. Today, let us reflect on how we can honor our nation’s veterans by living aloha and being of service in our own lives."
     Gov. Daivd Ige's team issued the following: "In observance of Veterans Day, we at Team Ige would like to take the time to honor our brothers and sisters, past and present, who served our nation in the military. We are reminded of our obligation to serve our veterans as they have served us.
   "The U.S. Military in Hawai‘i is part of our ‘Ohana. They play an essential role in protecting our country. So, today and every day, we honor our veterans and the loved ones who stand beside them for their bravery and sacrifice."
"The U.S. Military in Hawai‘i is part of our ‘Ohana,"
said Team Ige.
     State Sen. Josh Green, who is also a candidate for Lt. Governor, said: "On this Veterans Day, my family and I would like to offer our thanks to the men and women in uniform and their families, both active duty and former members, for their service to our country. We thank them for everything they have done to defend us and keep us safe, and honor them for their patriotism and sacrifice.
     "We would also like to offer a prayer for all of our service men and women on active duty, across the country and around the world, to come home safely for the holidays to Hawai‘i or wherever their families may be.
"And a final prayer for peace and an end to war in every part of the world, so that every family can welcome their sons and daughters home. Mahalo to our veterans."

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PRES. DONALD TRUMP'S TRIP TO ASIA, THIS WEEK'S LOCAL ELECTIONS NATIONWIDE AND THE REPUBLICAN BUDGET earned a review by Sen. Mazie Hirono this week on CNN's The Situation Room.
     Concerning tax proposals, Hirono contended that the tax bill in Congress will cut taxes for corporations and wealthy people by adding $1.7 trillion to the deficit and cutting $1 trillion from Medicaid and $.5 trillion from Medicare. "They are going to have to go after what some people describe as entitlement programs - Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security." She said Hawai‘i programs will face massive cuts.
    CNN host Wolf Blitzer said that Trump promised no change and no cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Hirono responded, "The President promises a lot of things but he does the exact opposite." 
    Concerning Trump's speech before the South Korean National Assembly this week, Hirono said Trump was quite subdued. "He was speaking from written remarks. I think it is a really low bar, when we are thankful that he didn't go off the rails in his remarks to one of our most important allies in the Aisa-Pacific region."
     Concerning efforts with the Chinese government to "squeeze" North Korea, she acknowledged there may be some effect, "but frankly we need to really show up and stress (Secretary of State Rex) Tillerson's efforts to have a diplomatic resolution to this crisis that we're facing in regard to North Korea." She noted that "We don't even have an ambassador to South Korea named yet. If the President considers this part of the world to be that important, which it is, we should at least have an Ambassador to South Korea named."
    Concerning the elections this week when many first time candidates across the country won local and state seats, she said, candidates were very motivated."I hope this is some kind of course correction for our country that we're going to come together and people will speak to the actual concerns of our voters, such as health care, such as infrastructure, job creation -  that those are the people who are going to prevail," in the 2018 elections.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter. See our online calendars and our latest print edition at kaucalendar.com.
   
RIDE SO THEY CAN WALK FUNDRAISER TO END POLIO continues through next Saturday, Nov. 18. Participants ride bikes on their own schedule, desired distance and place to raise funds to help end Polio worldwide.
     To sign up for Ride So They Can Walk at the Ride for polio website. For more information or for more help to sign up, contact Rotary Club Polio Plus Chair and Volcano resident, Charlene Meyers, by emailing charlene.rotary@gmail.com or calling 985-8800.








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HAWAI‘I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK ENTRANCE FEES ARE WAIVED on Saturday, Nov. 11, and Sunday, Nov. 12, in observance of Veterans Day.

‘ŌHI‘A LEHUA, an easy, guided, one-mile walk is from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 12, at the Kahuku Unit of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Learn about the vital role of ‘ōhi‘a lehua in native Hawaiian forests, the many forms of the ‘ōhi‘a tree and its flower. For more, visit nps.gov/havo.

LET'S GIVE THANKS CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT takes place at Ni‘aulani, Volcano Art Center in Volcano Village, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 12. Volcano Chambers Players, a string quartet, will play a classical chamber music concert to kick off the holiday season and celebrate Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. Tickets are $25 per non-member and $20 Volcano Art Center members. For more, call 967-8222 or visit volcanoartcenter.org.

A SEX TRAFFICKING SEMINAR will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to Monday, Nov. 13, at Ocean View Community Center. For more details, call 939-7033.

REGISTER BY MONDAY, NOV. 13, FOR THE INAUGURAL PIG HUNTING TOURNAMENT presented by the Ka‘ū Multicultural Society on Saturday, Nov. 18, with scales at Waiʻōhinu Park open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for weigh-in. Hunting is islandwide.
     Three-person teams are invited to enter for a registration fee of $55 per team. Registration forms must be postmarked by Monday, Nov. 13, or hand delivered to Kalani Vierra in Pāhala no later than Friday, Nov. 17, at 8 p.m. Categories include heaviest boar (lahoʻole), biggest tusk, heaviest sow, heaviest overall. Hunting will only be allowed with dogs and no guns and at least one teammate must have a hunting license.
     Team registration forms are available in Kaʻū at ACE Hardware, Wikiwiki Mart, Ka‘ū Gas, R&G Mini Mart, Kaʻū Business Services LLP, Kahuku Gifts and Garden Shop; in Hilo at Delʻs Feed Store, Miranda's and Hilo Surplus Store; in Mountain View at Aloha Gas; in Kurtistown at J. Hara's Store Inc.; and in Kona at Pearl's, Oshima's, Mauka Napa, Lako St. Chevron, Fujihara's Store and Paul's Place.
    For more information, call Darlyne Vierra at 640-8740; Kalani Vierra at 938-2005; or Liz K. at 339-0289. 

REGISTER KEIKI, AGES 6 TO 12, FOR MUSIC EXPLORATION at Kahuku Park on Friday, Nov. 17, from 1:45 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. Register Monday, Nov. 13, through Friday, Nov. 17. For more, call 929-9113 or visit hawaiicounty.gov/pr-recreation.

JOURNEY FROM HAWAI‘I TO MARS and learn how an "out-of-this-world" lava landscape helps scientists understand how to conduct research on Mars in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park's After Dark in the Park program on Tuesday, Nov. 14, in the Kīlauea Visitor Center auditorium at 7 p.m.  The event is free, but park entrance fees apply. for more information, visit nps.gov/HAVO.

HEALTH INSURANCE SIGN-UPS are offered at Ocean View Community Center on Tuesday, Nov. 14, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. For more, call 939-7033.

REGISTER KEIKI, GRADES K-8, NOW FOR A PAPER CUP TURKEY CRAFT class taking place Wednesday, Nov. 15, from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Pāhala Community Center. Register until Nov. 14. For more, call 928-3102 or visit hawaiicounty.gov/pr-recreation to see the full program of events.

HAWAI‘I COUNTY COUNCIL MEETS TUESDAY, NOV. 14, and Wednesday, Nov. 15. Participate via videoconferencing at Nā‘ālehu State Office Building. Agendas at hawaiicounty.gov.

A HĀLAU O AKAUNU PERFORMANCE takes place Wednesday, Nov. 15, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., in the Kīlauea Visitor Center auditorium of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. The event is free, but park entrance fees apply. For more details, visit nps.gov/HAVO.

OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION BOARD MEETS Wednesday, Nov. 15, at noon in the Ocean View Community Center. For more, call 939-7033.

See public Ka‘ū events for November including monthly meetings at 
kaucalendar.com/octnovdec/novemberevents.html
See Ka‘ū exercise, meditation, daily and weekly community events at 
kaucalendar.com/octnovdec/novembercommunity.html.
Pick up the November print edition of The Ka‘ū Calendar, 
free to 5,500 mailboxes throughout Ka‘ū, from Miloli‘i 
through Volcano. Also available on stands throughout
the district. See it online now at kaucalendar.com.
HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUB OF KA‘Ū MEETS Thursday, Nov. 16, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Nā‘ālehu United Methodist Church. For more, call Pres. Berkley Yoshida at 747-0197.

STORY TIME WITH AUNTIE LINDA FROM TŪTŪ & ME is set for Thursday, Nov. 16, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at Nā‘ālehu Public Library. For more, call 929-8571.

EXPERIENCE THE SKILLFUL WORK, ‘IKE HANA NO‘EAU Hawaiian cultural demonstrations will be given the Kahuku Unit of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park on the third Friday of each month from 10 a.m. to noon. The upcoming events are scheduled for Nov. 17 and Dec. 15. This event is free.

FRIENDS OF THE KA‘Ū LIBRARIES will man a booth at the annual Kauaha‘ao Congregational Church fundraising bazaar in Wai‘ōhinu on Saturday, Nov. 18. Donations of baked goods, books and good condition, slightly used, reusable rummage are being accepted to raise money for Friends of the Ka‘ū Libraries.
     Drop off donation at Nā‘ālehu Public Library or Pāhala Public and School Library no later than Friday, Nov. 17, by 3 p.m. or bring to the Libraries tent on, Nov. 18, at Kauaha‘ao Congregational Church grounds at 8 a.m. For more info, call Linda Morgan at 785-2058.

CHRISTMAS IN THE COUNTRY, FEATURING THE ANNUAL INVITATIONAL WREATH EXHIBITION BEGINS Friday, Nov. 17, and continues through Sunday, Dec. 31, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Volcano Art Center Gallery in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. This year’s event promises an abundance of art and aloha to kick start the holiday season. Free to the public, park entrance fees apply. For more, call 967-7565.

CU HAWAI‘I FEDERAL CREDIT UNION IS OFFERING EMPLOYMENT as a Member Service Representative in Nā‘ālehu. CU Hawai‘i seeks energetic individuals for full time positions who enjoy working with people and can provide professional, courteous and efficient service to valued members.
     The ideal candidate must be service oriented and possess good communication and computer skills. Cash handling and customer service experience is preferred. Must be able to work Saturdays. CU Hawai‘i offers medical, drug, dental, vision and retirement benefits.
     Email, mail or fax application to: Attn: Human Resources, 476 Hinano Street Hilo, HI 96720, Fax: (808) 935-7793. Applications can be found online at cuhawaii.com/careers.html.