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Sunday, May 21, 2023

Kaʻū News Briefs, Sunday, May 21, 2023

Collin Hanshew, who earned Magna Cum Laude and a Real Trojan Award for Electives, shown here after graduation, standing
with his mom Carma Hanshew, a staff member at Kaʻū High & Pāhala Elementary. Photo by Julia Neal



MANY STUDENTS RECEIVED HONORS at the graduation ceremony for Kaʻū High & Pāhala Elementary's Class of 2023 on Friday evening at the Robert Herkes District Gym.
      The Real Trojan Awards went to Catherine Quigley for English Language Arts, Caius Jensen for
ShaniaLee Silva received a Salute the Graduates
Award for Sports and also served as Secretary
for the Class of 2023. Photo by Julia Neal

Mathematics, Riley-ann Brown for Science, Sephson Lakjohn for Social Studies, Jance Kajiwara -Ke for Career in Technical Education and Collin Hanshew for Electives.
       Salute the Graduates Awards went to Sean Arken Ancheta for Scholastics, Jance Kajiwara-Ke for Leadership, Crystal Quigley for Literacy & Artistic Performance, Tayler Rasmussen for Information Technology and ShaniaLee Silva for Athletics.
     Senior Class President was Sean Arken Ancheta, Vice President was Toby Kekoa-Burgois. Secretary was ShaniaLee Silva and Treasurer was Patrick Riehle.
     Ancheta, who is 2023 Summa Cum Laude along with Senior Class President thanked Wikipedia, Air Drop and Google for helping the students make it to graduation. He celebrated the cultural diversity of his classmates, from Hawaiian to Filipino, Marshallese to Portuguese. He praised the diversity of the student body from ethnicity and outlook to abilities in sports to esports. He praised the students' tenacity in making it through Covid, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, along with earthshaking world events.
         Ancheta urged students to "Be true to yourself.... Embrace your unique quality," and remember that "Relationships are the foundation for success."

Sean Arken Ancheta, Senior Class President
and Summa Cum Laude, won a Salute
the Graduates Award for Scholastics.
   See more on the graduation ceremonies in Monday's Kaʻū News Briefs.
INFLATION CONTINUES AT THE SUMMIT OF KILAUEA VOLCANO with a possible eruption in the near future. Active lava was last seen on March 7. USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported on Sunday that summit seismicity remains elevated. Tiltmeters are showing gradual inflation. No significant changes have been observed along either of the volcano's rift zones over the past day.
    A Halemaʻumaʻu Lava Lake live-stream video of the crater is available at https://www.youtube.com/usgs/live.
    USGS reports that overall, inflation at the summit of Kīlauea is higher than conditions preceding the Jan. 5 summit eruption. On Saturday afternoon, Volcano experienced a flurry of earthquakes under the Namakani and summit regions. In addition, small flurries of earthquakes continue irregularly beneath Keanakākoʻi Crater, and the southern margin of Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera). 
    Overall, rates of summit earthquakes remain elevated, and additional earthquake flurries are possible. The most recent sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission rate of approximately 151 tonnes per day was measured on May 16, 2023.
    Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reminds the public that recent eruptions at the summit of Kīlauea volcano within the closed area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park produced volcanic gas, which are the primary hazard of concern. The hazard can have far-reaching effects downwind. Large amounts of 
Pele's Hair, made of glass fragments created during volcanic eruptions, is one
of the potential eruption hazards with the summit of Kīlauea volcano
continuing to inflate. Photo from USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
volcanic gas—primarily water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2)—are continuously released during eruptions of Kīlauea. As SO2 is released from the summit, it reacts in the atmosphere to create the visible vog (volcanic smog) that has been observed downwind of the volcano across  Kaʻū. Vog creates the potential for airborne health hazards to residents and visitors, damages agricultural crops and other plants, and affects livestock. 
    For more information on gas hazards at the summit of Kīlauea, see https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/fs20173017. Vog information can be found at https://vog.ivhhn.org. 
    Additional hazards during a summit eruption may include Pele's Hair and other lightweight volcanic glass fragments from lava fountains that fall downwind and dust the ground within a few hundred meters (yards) of the erupting fissure vent(s). Strong winds may waft lighter particles to greater distances. Residents should minimize exposure to these volcanic particles, which can cause skin and eye irritation. 
    Other significant hazards that also remain around Kīlauea caldera include  Halemaʻumaʻu crater wall instability, ground cracking, and rockfalls that can be enhanced by earthquakes within the area closed to the public. This underscores the extremely hazardous nature of the rim surrounding Halemaʻumaʻu  crater, an area that has been closed to the public since early 2008. 
     For discussion of  Kīlauea hazards, see  https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hawaiian-volcano-observatory/hazards.

BATTLE OF THE BITTER RAIN is the subject of After Dark in the Park this Tuesday, May 23 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Kīlauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park.
     Retired park ranger Jay Robinson transports the audience back into time when control of Hawai'i Island teetered on the brink at a place and time known as the Battle of the Bitter Rain. It was a time of feathered capes, shark-toothed clubs, and long spears, a time when warring chiefs battled for control of the islands. One such fierce battle occurred partially within, what is today, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. 
     The program co-sponsored by Friends of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Free, but park entrance fees apply.

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