Ka`u News Briefs Feb. 14, 2011

Huana Ke Aloha won the Grammy
for Best Hawaiian Music Album.

DANIEL HO WON ANOTHER GRAMMY AWARD YESTERDAY for producing the album Huana Ke Aloha with the vocals of Tia Carrere and original Hawaiian lyrics by Amy Ku`uleialoha Stillman. Both Stillman and Ho have helped to lead music workshops at Pahala Plantation House, and Ho helped a group of local residents to compose the song Kaiholena, after local Nature Conservancy field director John Replogle took them to the mountain with a spring where early Polynesians are believed to have set up a nursery for the food plants they brought by canoe to Hawai`i. 

Daniel Ho's Polani was also nominated
for Best Hawaiian Music Album.

     Kaiholena was sung by Carrera on Ho’s album He Nani, which was nominated for a Grammy last year. The new Grammy-winning album features classic piano tunes by Brahms, Puccini and Beethoven with lyrics by Stillman and piano arrangements by Ho. Stillman, who grew up in Hawai`i, has a doctorate in music from Harvard and teaches at the University of Michigan. Tia Carrere grew up with Daniel Ho on O`ahu, where they were childhood friends and started out their music careers in Brown Bags to Stardom. 

     Jeff Peterson and Ledward Kaapana, who frequently teach at the Keoki Kahumoku music workshop each year in Pahala, were also nominated for Best Hawaiian Music Album. So was a compilation album called Amy Hanaiali`i and Slack Key Masters of Hawai`i, featuring workshop teachers Jeff Peterson, Sonny Lim and Dennis Kamakahi. Also on the album is Cyril Pahinui, who is currently teaching slack key weekly for students at Ka`u High School. 

KAHU, on Maile Street in Pahala, will host a
fundraiser on Sunday, March 6 to send
One Journey to Brown Bags to Stardom.

BROWN BAGS TO STARDOM is a goal of a new band from Ka`u called One Journey. The group is made of some of the members of the Ka`u High ensemble class. They will have a CD release party and fundraiser for their journey to Brown Bags. The event will be held at KAHU Radio station on Sunday, March 6 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. to raise money for their trip to O`ahu for the Brown Bags to Stardom contest. One Journey’s music video is already being shown on OC16 television. 

THE BILL CREATING THE PROGRAM for inmates to work on historical sites selected by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs comes up for hearings at state Legislature this Wednesday. Introduced by Sen. Gil Kahele and by Rep. Robert Herkes, the program would work with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and state Historic Preservation Office to design work projects for the prisoners. The bill has the support of the Department of Hawaiian Homelands. Its chair, Alapaki Nahale-A, wrote that the restoration of historic sites “has incredible potential to support the successful transition of inmates from prison to their communities while establishing a connection to Hawaiian culture.” The Office of Hawaiian Affairs said it supports cultural programming, pa‘ahao, for incarcerated individuals and encourages additional funding to support the program.

ALSO COMING UP FOR HEARINGS are bills that would: give a state lease preference to Hawaiian fishponds; require, where feasible, the use of native Hawaiian land plants for landscaping of public buildings; and a requirement for all environmental assessments and environmental impact statements to include a cultural impact statement with public and Office of Hawaiian Affairs review of the cultural impact statement. 

Sen. Gil Kahele hikes along the coast toward the four ahupua`a that
could become the South Kona Wilderness Area.

THE PRESERVATION OF 13 miles of coastline and lands extending 6,000 feet inland from Honomolino to Manuka as part of the South Kona Wilderness Area went to public hearing Saturday. The bills were sponsored by Rep. Bob Herkes and Sen. Gil Kahele. Department of Land and Natural Resources Chair William Aila testified that his agency supports the protection of the coast from urban/resort development and preservation of important historic, cultural, scenic, environmental and biological resources in the five ahupua`a, but would need additional funding to take care of the resources.
     Attorney General David Louie asked that the bill be held back to deal with the issue of fair real estate values of some of the private lands that would be acquired. The bill would reclassify all the land to conservation and prohibit subdividing it, which would change its value. This could be considered as a “taking,” reducing the income of the private landowners whose land would be acquired for the South Kona Wilderness Area, said the attorney general.
     The ahupua`a to be preserved would be: Honomolino, Okoe, Kapu`a, Kaulanamauna, and Manuka. Any existing homes would be exempt from the wilderness area, which would span across more than 7,780 acres.

ANYONE CAN TESTIFY ON BILLS before the Legislature by going to the Hawai`i state Legislature website and submitting testimony online. You can also search for subjects of your interest and read bills and testimony that have been submitted.

Ka`u News Briefs Feb. 13, 2011

Volcano Art Center CEO Tanya Aynessazian, with microphone, auctions
artwork at last night's Love the Arts fundraiser.

PUBLIC HEARINGS are set for Teusday, Feb. 15 at the state capitol for a number of bills that support Ka`u agriculture. A hearing will be held for a bill introduced by Sen.  Gil Kahele that would authorize the Agricultural Development Corp. to issue revenue bonds to finance marine transportation to help agriculture and mariculture in transporting products to local markets. Another introduced by Kahele would establish a process for preferential rates for electricity used for agricultural activities. 

     In testimony, Russell Kokubun, who now chairs the state Board of Agriculture, says the Department of Agriculture supports the intent of the measure to reduce the cost of electricity to qualified agribusiness but defers to the Public Utilities Commission regarding the feasibility. A similar bill would establish preferential water rates for ag activities. The Chair of the Public Utilities Commission testified that there is concern that electric rates for other users would go up and lead to an unreasonable discrimination between localities or between users or consumers….” The Hawai`i Farm Bureau supported the preferential rates.

Beekeepers are hoping that honey sold in
stores will be labeled with place of origin
to help promote locally produced honey.

     On Feb. 15, a bill will be taken up to decide whether to require grocers to list country of origin of all honey sold. A hearing will be held on providing a grant to 4 Ag Hawai`i for its Buy Local, It Matters program to promote eating locally grown food.

SOME REAL ESTATE ACTIVITY has been brewing in Ka`u recently with some homes selling at affordable prices. The median sales price of houses in Ka`u between November 10 and Jan. 11 was $169,000 in Pahala, $181,350 in Na`alehu, which includes Kamaoa and South Point Roads and Discovery Harbour; $135,000 in Ocean View and Ranchos; and $195,000 in Volcano. Here are some examples of recorded sales prices in January: a sale for $105,000 on Princess Kaiulani Boulevard in Ocean View, a sale for $129,000 on Haehae Loop in Discovery Harbour, and a $361,564 sale on Pukeawe Circle in the Volcano golf course area. These statistics were gathered by The Honolulu Star Advertiser and Trulia.com.

THE HAWAI’I POLICE DEPARTMENT has published its community satisfaction survey. Here are some of the results. More than 55 percent of participants said that this island is a safe place to live and a safe place to work and visit. Less than 10 percent disagreed. Regarding their relationship with police officers, about 35 percent said the interaction in the last year was a casual encounter, while 30 percent said they had made a police report, 24 percent a 911 call, and 16 percent had been involved with a police community program.
     More than 50 percent of participants said their interaction was such that they believe the officers expressed interest in helping them and that the police officers demonstrated professionalism with aloha and respect. More than 40 percent of respondents said they were concerned with the way the police department responds to crime. Police Chief Harry Kubojiri said he will use the survey to help improve operations.

John Matsushita creates an ice sculpture at last night's
Love the Arts fundraiser for Volcano Art Center.

VOLCANO ART CENTER’S seventh annual Love the Arts fundraiser had a full house last night at the new educational center in Volcano Village. CEO Tanya Aynessazian took on the role of auctioneer to raise money for the center’s arts and educational programming. Guests enjoyed hors d’oevres, entrees, homemade truffles, wine and champagne. The evening’s theme was Fire and Ice. Rose Adare and Alex Stitt wowed spectators as they spun flaming batons accompanied by music, with an ice sculpture by John Matsushita in the background. 

THE 2011 DIRECTORY, published by the Ka`u Chamber of Commerce, is being circulated this week throughout Ka`u and Volcano. The 80-page, color book of businesses, community organizations, churches, and government listings features a cover photo by Peter Anderson. There are many photos of Ka`u, a phone-book style listing of people and businesses, maps of all the communities and important public information.

AREA RESTAURANTS ARE OFFERING special occasions for Valentine’s Day.
     In Na`alehu, South Side Shaka’s has shrimp and steak specials tonight, as well as entertainment by Boni Narito from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Call 929-7404 for reservations.
     Hana Hou Restaurant is offering Sweetheart Dinners tonight and tomorrow night. Call 929-9717 for reservations.
     Tomorrow night, Kilauea Military Camp has a Valentine Chef Special from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Crater Rim Café. At the Lava Lounge, couples can enjoy a special Occasion to Remember dinner. Call 967-8354 for reservations.

Ka`u News Briefs Feb. 12, 2011

Puna Geothermal is a closed system using hot water and steam from underground,
 injecting it back into the volcano.

MORE GEOTHERMAL power will be produced under a new agreement between Hawaiian Electric Light Company and Ormat Technologies, which owns Puna Geothermal Venture. It also provides geothermal on the mainland, in Brady and Jersey Valley, Nevada; in Mammoth, Herber, Ormesa and Brawley, California; in Steamboat, Colorado; and in Guatemala, Kenya and Nicaragua. They are also working on three geothermal plants in Oregon.
     Ormat’s Puna Geothermal plant currently provides 30 megawatts of power and will increase its output to 38 megawatts under the new contract, which fixes the price of the power for the next 20 years. Previously, the price of the geothermal was tied to the cost of oil. A statement from the electric company says the deal will hedge against rising oil prices. The geothermal power could generate lower electric rates, and the contract soon goes before the Public Utilities Commission for approval. Hawaiian Electric Industries, the parent company of HELCO, posted a profit of $25 million last quarter.

AVERAGE CREDIT CARD DEBT in Hawai`i was second highest in the country last month, according to a story in Pacific Business News and CreditKarma.com. New Hampshire had the highest average credit card debt in the nation last month at $8,607. The average in Hawai`i was $8,439. 

SMOKING COULD BE ALLOWED in the 400 bars across the islands if O`ahu Senator Mike Gabbard has his way. The bars would pay permit fees of $1,000 to $3,000 a year. Restaurants with bars would still be prohibited from allowing smoking, as would all other public places. The bill is supported by the Hawai`i Smokers Alliance but opposed by most health coalitions. 

Dr. John Wilkinson

A NEW EMERGENCY ROOM DOCTOR is settling in at Ka`u Hospital. Dr. John W. Wilkinson has practiced Emergency Room medicine for over 30 years in California and Honolulu. He is also an assistant clinical professor at the John A. Burns School of Medicine. “I am eager to serve this community and the hospital – I look forward to working closely with the very strong medical family at this hospital,” he said. 

DECISION-MAKING FOR TAX CREDITS proposed for biofuel producers has been delayed in legislative committees until next Tuesday, February 15. Discussion around the measure centers on whether tax credits should be for capacity of the biofuel plant or for its actual production and whether both small and large biofuel efforts should receive the tax credit.

Looking down into the vent at Halema`uma`u Crater.

A CIRCULATING LAVA LAKE has been coming within 260 feet of spilling over onto the floor of Halema`uma`u Crater in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The activity includes a heave and ho of the lava rising and falling inside the vent. The lava lake has been visible on web cam. The glow can also be seen from the Jaggar Museum, and a glowing plume can be viewed at night from Hwy 11. Dozens of earthquakes this past week included a 2.4, 2.7, 3.2 and 3.8, all south and east of the crater. See the Hawai`i Volcanoes Observatory website for more. 

A PROGRAM COVERING Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s confirmation ceremony at Pahala Plantation House in December airs tonight at 10:30 p.m. on Channel 54. The program is scheduled to air every Saturday this month at 10:30 p.m. and every Tuesday at 9 p.m. It was filmed by Wendell Ka`ehu`ae`a, general manager of KAHU-FM 91.7, Ka`u’s Community Radio station.

THE FRIENDS OF HAWAI`I VOLCANOES National Park sponsor a hike to the top of Mauna Ulu and back tomorrow at noon. Call 967-8648 to pre-register.