Ka`u News Briefs March 24, 2013

More than $3,500 was raised for Discovery Harbour's volunteer fire department at last weekend's rummage sale.
Photo by Liz Stabo

“A STRONGER JAPAN ECONOMY with hope, vision and confidence in the future will bode well for the Japan outbound tourism to Hawai`i,” said Dave Erdman, president and CEO of PacRim Marketing Group Inc. & PRTech LLC. His comments followed an announcement that the Japanese government plans to fund job creation and reconstruction efforts, enhance innovation, strengthen domestic demand and create global opportunities following the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the Tohoku region of the country two years ago this month.

      A story in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser said that Hawai`i Tourism Authority is projecting Japanese arrivals to increase by 13 percent and expenditures to grow by 16.4 percent this year. “In partnership with the Japan Association of Travel Agents, Hawai`i has committed to reaching two million Japanese visitors by 2016,” said HTA president and CEO Mike McCartney.

Toyoei Shigeeda

      Japan also is interested in “Two-Way Tourism,” inbound tourism from Hawai`i and the U.S., Erdman said. “Two-way tourism is good for all of us. Building bonds of friendship and giving our aloha spirit as we travel will encourage more first-timers to come to Hawai`i from Japan, and not just to O`ahu, but to visit our neighbor islands,” he said. “I encourage those thinking of an overseas vacation to consider going to Japan and exploring areas outside of central metropolitan cities to learn more about our friends and neighbors, and return to them the support that they need in this time of reconstruction and revitalization.”
      The Star-Advertiser story quoted Consul General of Japan Toyoei Shigeeda: “The people of Japan have been encouraged by the continued and generous support from Hawai`i. There has been a variety of financial and spiritual support, which has been the most precious. I have been asked to convey the gratitude of the Tohoku people and to encourage the people of Hawai`i to pay a visit to them.”

ALLOWING FOREIGN-BUILT SHIPS to carry cargo to Hawai`i from the mainland is the goal of House Resolution 119 introduced by Hawai`i state legislators last week. The resolution calls for a limited exemption to the Jones Act, which requires ships carrying cargo between United States ports to be built in the U.S.
      Rep. Gene Ward, of O`ahu, said in a written announcement that the high cost of building new ships at domestic shipyards is the main cost driver in Hawai`i shipping, and so residents would save money without it. Ships carrying cargo between two U.S. ports would still be required to have U.S. crews, owners and flags.
      Ward also said the exemption would help Hawai`i’s efforts to import liquefied natural gas as an alternative to oil to generate electricity. He said U.S. shipyards haven’t built ships to carry LNG since the 1970s.

Matson opposes the proposed Jones Act exemption. Photo from Matson

      The Hawai`i Shippers Council, an organization representing companies that ship goods on carriers including Matson, Inc., Horizon Lines and Pasha Hawai`i Transport Lines, said in a statement that allowing foreign-built ships to serve Hawai`i from other U.S. ports would make trade more competitive by lowering a major barrier to entry. “The proposed reform will create significant economic benefits that will flow through the system to businesses and consumers in Hawai`i and other noncontiguous jurisdictions,” the council said in a statement. The council estimates that U.S.-built ships cost five times as much as foreign-built ships.
      However, Matson opposes the proposed exemption, saying the cost of ships represents a small percentage of overall operating costs and that other U.S.-flag cargo transportation companies support building ships domestically. The company also said the U.S.-built requirement helps ensure the country has strong shipyards. “We should not become dependent on foreign shipyards to support the U.S.-flag maritime industry,” the company said.
      The exemption is similar to exemptions for Guam and cruise ships serving Hawai`i. Other introducers of the measure include Big Island Reps. Cindy Evans and Clift Tsuji.

SOFTBALL FIELD IMPROVEMENTS at Ka`u High and Pahala Elementary Schools are listed in Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s announcement of more that $26 million released for statewide capital improvement projects for education facilities. Projects may include field improvements, drainage improvements, new or replacement backstops and fences, dugouts, bleachers, scoreboards, walkways and grading.

       Other statewide projects include science facility upgrades at various high schools, minor renovations and improvements and noise and heat abatement.
      “These priority CIPs will help address the many needed repair, maintenance and upgrade projects that have accumulated at our public schools over many years,” Abercrombie said. “The majority of these funds will go toward statewide projects and programs aimed at providing the suitable, learning-friendly environment for students and teachers that they each deserve.”

COUNCIL MEMBER BRENDA FORD is seeking improvements to Kahuku Park in Ocean View. Ford has introduced five bills that break improvements down into phases. Four of the bills are on the County Council agenda for its upcoming meeting on Thursday, March 28. 

      Phase 1 lists water system improvements to address public health and safety relating to water for drinking, irrigation and an auxiliary source of potable water in a disaster).
      Phase 2 addresses improvements related to Americans with Disabilities Act and seeks $600,000 for installation of ramps to the pavilion and ball field.
      Phase 3, budgeted at $250,000, would add, replace, improve and repair children’s playground equipment, regulation matting, a gazebo and BBQ apparatus.
      Phase 4 calls for construction of a community center, gymnasium, restrooms, certified kitchen, storage for Civil Defense supplies and a second water reservoir to serve the community center. Funding for this $5,100,000-phase as well as the other phases would be provided from general obligation bonds, capital projects fund and/or other sources.
      The bill for Phase 5 is on the Finance Committee’s agenda for its meeting this Wednesday, March 27. It calls for $100,000 for grading to provide an additional area to the park for future use.

Ocean View Park & Ride bus lot at the corner of Hwy 11 and Prince
Kuhio Blvd. may be purchased and upgraded by the county
if Council member Brenda Ford's bill passes.

OCEAN VIEW PARK & RIDE BUS LOT is another item on the Finance Committee’s agenda. Council member Brenda Ford is introducing a measure to purchase property for a permanent bus station and park and ride location, along with design and construction of the facility and placement of a streetlight. The project would cost $94,000.
      Another measure introduced by Ford would authorize the Finance director to initiate any funding mechanisms required for acquisition of the parcel to be used for the Ocean View Park & Ride location and bus station. The parcel on the corner of Hwy 11 and Prince Kuhio Boulevard is owned by Oceanview Partners, LLC, of Honolulu. 

      County Council and committee meeting agendas, along with information on how to submit testimony, can be viewed at hawaiicounty.gov.
      Ka`u residents can participate in committee and Council meetings via videoconference at Ocean View Community Center, 92-8924 Leilani Circle. The system is available until 3 p.m. or later if public witness testimony has not been completed.
      For more information, call 961-8536 or edistrict6@co.hawaii.hi.us.

MORE THAN $3,500 WAS RAISED for Discovery Harbour volunteer firefighters at last weekend’s bi-annual rummage sale. Proceeds for Volunteer Company 11-Charlie will be used to equip new members with optional firefighting equipment that veterans already have, said organizer Suzanne Brady. The company also plans to investigate purchasing some radio equipment to improve communication among crew members. “These funds will need to see us through the next two years and will also go a long way in purchasing uniform items, service recognition awards, flashlights, batteries, water and snack bars, etc.,” Brady said. “It’s events such as this one that help us to keep each member’s personal expenses to a minimum.”

TWO BY TENN WITH TEA, a performance of two of Tennessee Williams’ one-act plays at Pahala Plantation House, takes place today. University of Hawai`i-Hilo drama department senior Julie Dobbs directs Dick Hershberger and Arlene Araki in Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen and I Can’t Imagine Tomorrow. The plays begin at 3 p.m. Tea and cookies will be served, and a potluck dinner follows.

Lehua Domingo's lauhala hats will be displayed tomorrow.
NPS photo by Jessica Ferracane

LEI HULU A ME ULANA PAPALE LAUHALA are topics tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on the lanai of Kilauea Visitor Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Kilohana Domingo demonstrates feather work and displays his na lei hulu (feather lei). His mother, Hawaiian artist and master weaver Lehua Domingo, shares the `anoni style of weaving pandanus leaves into a hat and other art objects with assistance from her granddaughter, Kawai Domingo. Free; park entrance fees apply. 

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

ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/KAUCALENDAR.

Ka`u News Briefs March 23, 2013

South Point Pali dropping off onto the west side of Ka Lae. South Point has long been considered a candidate
for space launches. Photo by European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli

THE BIG ISLAND is being considered once again for a space launch facility, as the state House of Representative’s Committee on Economic Development yesterday moved forward HCR226, a resolution urging the federal government to fund a study. Testimony for the resolution came from three parties, a company promoting the venture, the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism, and 87-year-old George Ariyoshi, who supported space launches in Ka`u when he was governor of Hawai`i from 1974 to 1986.
      Testimony from OisinGroup, LLC mentioned the Big Island specifically. Its testimony touts Launch for Future (also called L4F) and “establishment of the world’s most modern, green and technologically advanced space launch complex and space operations center on the Big Island of Hawai`i.”
      The testimony was given by its principal Fred Eissler, a graduate of U.S. Naval Academy and vice president of Kama Kekoa, a defense contractor for Yorktown Naval Weapons Station and for Navy integrated warfare and nuclear engineering programs. Eissler states that the space launch facility “will be powered by the latest green technology and will incorporate the most innovative, cost effective, and proven engineering practices, while maintaining and enhancing Hawai`i’s pristine environment and ecosystem. This space launch capability will provide long-term technology-based economic growth to Hawai`i, enhance capitalism in innovative technologies, grow local businesses, support development of environmentally friendly infrastructure, enhance technology-intensive education and expand employment opportunity in Hawai`i.”

A federal study could weigh spaceport options for the Big Island.
Image from spaceports.blogspot.com

      The testimony also contends that during the last 50 years, three studies on space launch capability in Hawai`i “did not focus on Commercial/Government partnership for finance and incorporation or the use of green technologies as the centerpiece for building the support infrastructure.
      “Now is the right time for this study!” proclaims the OlsinGroup,LLC. “Our partnership and the people of this great state make an environmentally responsible and technologically feasible space launch capability in Hawai`i achievable.”

      The testimony compares the Big Island site to Orlando, Florida, saying: “Orlando tourist locations during any given launch week saw a 50 percent increase in patronage than those weeks without launches…. L4F will provide jobs, economic growth, science and innovation to improve the lives of all Americans.”
      The testimony states that a launch facility “will provide job growth that will increase the tax base for the state and federal government.”
      The testimony contends that previous studies for space launch facilities on the Big Island (when both lands makai of Pahala and around South Point were considered) “lacked the following: A detailed economic plan; a detailed plan for unobtrusive construction execution; a plan to create and execute affordability in a private-public financing approach; a plan that addressed the desires of all stakeholders’ and a sense of urgency to link the plan to immediate needs and opportunities.”

Gov. George Ariyoshi

      In his testimony, former governor George Ariyoshi says, “Hawai`i’s strategic mid-Pacific/near-equatorial location, resident expertise in multiple aerospace-related technologies, and long-standing ties with space-faring nations throughout Asia and the Pacific, clearly afford strategic assets and capabilities that can be leveraged to realize humankind’s full potential in space, and in so doing enable our state to engage as both a major contributor to and beneficiary of the global space enterprise.
      “In particular, these factors collectively make Hawai`i an ideal location to support commercial space launch operations to both the equatorial and polar orbits, and to do so in a manner that will enable safer and more cost-effective launch operations in comparison with other launch sites on the U.S. Mainland.”
      Ariyoshi testifies that the study would evaluate “both the economic viability and long-term benefits of establishing a commercial space launch and control facility in Hawai`i.”
     The former governor puts forth: “Even more importantly, this analysis will assess the ability to conduct commercial launch operation in ways that are both sensitive and responsive to our state’s priorities for local economic development and technology-based education, as well as local cultural and environmental concerns.”
      The state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism testifies that the resolution “builds upon Hawai`i’s strategic mid-Pacific, near-equatorial location, advanced telecommunications and IT infrastructure, resident expertise in aerospace technology, and other assets and capabilities that make our State an optimal location to support commercial space launch activities. Such operations would not only advance our nation’s aerospace industry, but also expand local transportation and communications infrastructure while providing new technology-based training and employment opportunities to help diversify our economic base.
      “In addition, the proposed feasibility study would engage Hawai`i residents and be conducted in a manner that would ensure the proposed launch facility and operations would be responsive to local development needs as well as cultural and environmental concerns.
       A companion resolution in the state Senate has been introduced with no testimony introduced or hearing set. One of the authors is Sen. Gil Kahele.
      Read both proposed resolutions and submit testimony at capitol.hawaii.gov.

Iwao Yonemitsu, left, and Tokuichi Nakano, veterans of the 442nd
Regimental Combat Team, with Gov. Neil Abercrombie.
Photo by Geneveve Fyvie

HAWAI`I STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES’ Economic Development Committee has rejected a resolution asking the state to study potential social and economic effects of gambling in the state. Rep. Clift Tsuji said the proposal was rejected because it would be too expensive.
      East Ka`u’s Rep. Richard Onishi aligned with new Speaker of House Joe Souki in supporting some form of gambling. Onishi suggested that shipboard gambling would have less risk to the poor than putting gambling casinos on land in Hawai`i.
      Hawai`i and Utah are the only states without gambling.
   

Howard Shapiro, of Volcano, hands
over $1000 to Recycle Bowl winner.

KA`U RESIDENT TOKUICHI NAKANO, a veteran of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team of WWII, is attending events on O`ahu commemorating the team’s 70th anniversary. When the War Department called for volunteers for the Japanese-American combat unit, more than 12,000 signed up. The 442nd is recognized by the Army as having the most combat awards for a unit of its size.
      Events include a remembrance service, a tour of the U.S. Army Museum, a luncheon and a screening of the documentary Valor with Honor.
      On Monday, the state Senate and House of Representatives will honor the veterans at the State Capitol.

KA`U SCHOOLS ARE INVITED TO FORM environmental clubs and enter next year’s Recycle Bowl competition presented by Keep Hawai`i Beautiful. The organization recently announced Konawaena High School as the $1,0000 winner of its 2013 Recycle Bowl. Students were congratulated by Volcano resident Howard Shapiro, education director for Recycle Hawai`i. “By your efforts you’ve helped save energy, saved money for your families, school and community and made a statement that you care for the environment. You’ve also learned that we can create products from what we used to think of as trash,” Shapiro said.

      Keep America Beautiful, a nonprofit organization focusing on building and sustaining vibrant communities, recently held the nationwide Recycle Bowl competition for elementary, middle and high school students. The Recycle Bowl Competition reached more than a million students across America with schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia competing.
      The president of Keep Hawai`i Beautiful, Paul J. Burklarewicz, also acknowledged environmental clubs from Konawaena and Pahoa high schools. “Keep Hawai`i Beautiful is pleased that environmental clubs from Konawaena and Pahoa high schools helped their schools become state champs for two years running,” he said.
      Information is available at recycle-bowl.org.

Two by Tenn with Tea, a performance of two one-act plays
by Tennessee Williams directed by Julie Dobbs, takes
place tomorrow at Pahala Plantation House.

TWO BY TENN WITH TEA, a performance of two of Tennessee Williams’ one-act plays, takes place tomorrow at Pahala Plantation House. Dick Hershberger and Arlene Araki perform in Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen and I Can’t Imagine Tomorrow, directed by University of Hawai`i-Hilo drama department senior Julie Dobbs. The plays begin at 3 p.m. Tea and cookies will be served, and a potluck dinner follows.

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

ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/KAUCALENDAR.

Ka`u News Briefs March 22, 2013

The Ka`u Coast could be a study area for adding more land to the National Parks. Photo by Peter Anderson

PLAN TO STUDY THE KA`U COAST and other places in Hawai`i with the goal of expanding national parklands drew praise from conservation groups this week. The commentary followed Sen. Brian Schatz introducing S.618 – Pacific Island Parks Act of 2013, his first bill in the U.S. Senate. It would launch a three-year study on values, resources and costs. The legislation says the Secretary of the Interior “shall conduct a special resource study of each of the following sites:
(A) The Ka`u Coast on the island of Hawai`i, Hawai`i.
(B) The northern coast of Maui, Hawai`i.
(C) The southeastern coast of Kauai, Hawai`i.
(D) Historic sites on Midway Atoll.”

      The initiative builds on community efforts in Ka`u dating back to the doubling of the size of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, with help from the late Sen. Dan Iouye, and to a state task force on conserving the coast. The task force, set up through state legislation from Rep. Bob Herkes, encouraged funding from federal, state, county and private sources for the subsequent preservation of Honu`apo, Kawa and lands west of Punalu`u. Most of the lands had been put up for sale by speculators, and community groups organized to preserve them.

The late Sen. Dan Inouye joined Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park
superintendent Cindy Orlando at the opening of the park's Kahuku Unit.

      One of the areas that would be studied under the Schatz bill is the Great Crack between Pahala and Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, long on the acquisitions list for the National Park Service.
      Hawaiian Islands state director for the Trust for Public Land, Lea Hong, said: “Parks are a wise investment, supporting hunting, fishing, camping and other outdoor recreational activities that contribute a total of $725.5 billion annually to the U.S. economy and 6.15 million jobs, according to the Outdoor Industry Association. More broadly, outdoor recreation, nature conservation and historic preservation contribute a total of $1.06 trillion annually to the economy, supporting 8.4 million jobs – or one out every 16 jobs in the U.S.”
      Hawaiian Islands Land Trust executive director Ted Clement said, “We support Senator Schatz’s efforts to expand national parks in Hawai`i because Hawai`i’s long-term well being, environmentally, economically, and otherwise, is directly linked to the land and the choices we make about it. Indeed, Hawai`i’s state motto proclaims, ‘The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.’ The proposed legislation will help keep Hawai`i a world-class destination and highly desirable place to live, work and visit – factors critical to our economy.”

Lea Hong

      The Nature Conservancy’s Hawai`i State director Suzanne Case said, “The federal Land and Water Conservation Fund was enacted nearly 50 years ago to use revenues from the extraction of offshore oil and gas to support the conservation of other precious resources – our land and water. Today, the LWCF is the primary federal financing tool to conserve our national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges. Legislation like that introduced by Senator Schatz today proposes to identify some of those precious resources in Hawai`i and the Pacific that are at risk of being lost but have the potential for protection through the Land and Water Conservation Fund.”
      Robert D. Harris, director of the Sierra Club of Hawai`i, said, “The Sierra Club appreciates and strongly supports Senator Schatz’s efforts to protect Hawai`i’s special places. Recognizing the looming impacts of climate change and sea level rise, this is an important step toward preserving Hawai`i’s unique cultural and natural heritage and ensuring our children have amazing beaches and wild places to explore.”
      The latest action on the bill is that it has been referred to the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources.
      Comments may be made by selecting the “new parks” from the topics drop-down menu at www.schatz.senate.gov/contact.

Sen. Josh Green

GMO LABELING IS SHELVED, and a study will be conducted on the costs and value of identifying for the public which foods are genetically engineered. The state Senate’s Agriculture Committee, in a joint meeting with the Consumer Protection and Health Committees, almost cancelled a public hearing on the issue yesterday, over the objections of West Ka`u Senator Josh Green. The Honolulu Star- Advertiser this morning quoted Green, who chairs the Health Committee: “I think the reason we have to have a hearing and we have to have labeling is just because of public trust.” Writer Sara Zoellic also reported Green saying: “Had we not had a hearing, it would have been easy to see people blame government in a conspiratorial way. That’s not OK.”
      Testimony on the issue came from all sides, with workers from Monsanto and other GMO seed producers lining up to testify alongside GMO labeling proponents.
      The committees voted to shelve the bill and authorize a study, noting that the state attorney general found flaws in the language that could deem it unconstitutional. Similar bills to label GMO are being heard at legislatures around the country.

IN TESTIMONY OPPOSING THE PROPOSAL for `Aina Koa Pono to sell biofuel that would be manufactured at a refinery off Wood Valley Road to Hawai`i Electric Light Co., Life of the Land concluded that “the contract should be rejected based on the proposed high price” and “the proposed secret price.”

  

      Life of the Land's testimony submitted last week to the Public Utilities Commission also noted that the utility's own testimony covers how the `Aina Koa Pono project would meet the utility's system requirements and also covers the price to be charged for the fuel. However, the utility has delayed its presentation of a  Life Cycle Analysis, which would evaluate the input costs versus the output value for the  `Aina Koa Pono project, and an evaluation of externalities that could result (such as traffic, pollution of air and groundwater and displacement of food producing agricultural operations).

      Life of the Land recommended that with the applicant opting "to file the Life Cycle Analysis/externalities data at a later date, the Commission should only issue preliminary approval of what is essentially a term sheet: prices and fuel characteristics. Final approval must await the submission of documentation regarding the Life Cycle Analysis/externalities. At that point the parties/participants and the public would have an opportunity to opine on the new submittals. The parties/participants would then propose a new schedule (information requests, testimony, and a possible evidentiary hearing) restricted to evaluating the Life Cycle Analysis/externalities.
      “If the Commission approves or modifies the proposed price, then we advocate that the Commission only give preliminary approval to the first two issues (meeting the utility’s system requirements; and the price), and defer ruling on the third issue (Life Cycle Analysis/externalities) pending further filing of relevant documentation by the applicant.”
      See this and more testimony at puc.hawaii.gov. Docket number is 2012-0185.

Pahala Public & School Library celebrates 50 years of service next month.
Photo by Julia Neal

THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY of Pahala Public & School Library will be celebrated Friday, April 19 at the library located at 96-3150 Pikake Street. As part of National Library Week, the event begins at 10:30 a.m. with local hula halau, students of Ka`u High & Pahala Elementary School and a crafts demonstration from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. with Hawaiian Civic Club of Ka`u. At 2 p.m. the winners of the Haiku Poetry Contest will be announced, and the haiku recited. Contests, door prizes and refreshments will be offered throughout the day.
      Pahala Library is now open three days a week on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.
      For more information call 928-2015.

TALK TO ME LIKE THE RAIN and Let Me Listen and I Can’t Imagine Tomorrow are the titles of two one-act plays by Tennessee Williams that will be performed Sunday at 3 p.m. at Pahala Plantation House. University of Hawai`i-Hilo drama department senior Julie Dobbs directs Dick Hershberger and Arlene Araki in the rarely performed plays. Tea and cookies will be served, and a potluck dinner follows.

TOMORROW IS A BUSY DAY for Ka`u sports. At home, the boys volleyball team plays Kohala/St. Joseph’s at 10 a.m., and the softball team meets Konawaena at 1 p.m. A Judo tournament takes place in Hilo at 9 a.m. Track and field team members travel to Laupahoehoe for a meet at 9 a.m., along with the tennis team, whose match begins at 10 a.m.

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

ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/KAUCALENDAR.