Ka`u News Briefs Feb. 26, 2011

Kona Nightingales wait for homes, away from development in Kohala and Waikoloa.

THE FUEL TAX BILL that would have allowed such communities as Ocean View to apply for money collected in gasoline tax at the pump in order to help maintain roads is recommended for deferral by the state House of Representatives finance committee. The measure supported in the County Council needed permission from the state Legislature. The idea is that residents of communities that maintain their own roads, like in Ocean View, also pay fuel taxes and deserve some of the tax income. It was also argued that the county allowed approval of substandard subdivisions without public roads and should share the fuel tax income to help them. One of the challenges of such a bill was that it singled out the Big Island to allow the fuel taxes to go to communities with private roads. However, the communities would have to apply for the funding, like applying for a grant. There would be a committee and oversight, said Ka`u councilwoman Brittany Smart.

Mauna Kea from the view of Kahea: The Hawai`i Environmental Alliance.

THE THIRTY METER TELESCOPE proposed for Mauna Key was approved by the state Board of Land & Natural Resources yesterday, at a meeting held on O`ahu, with a unanimous vote to issue a Conservation District Use Permit. However, the panel also granted a contested case hearing, which could take another six months and involve further mediation with the community. The telescope would be built some 500 feet below the existing 13 telescopes. Its campus would not only include the 184-foot-tall Thirty Meter Telescope but also a 14,000-square-foot building. The $1.3 billion investment would bring $26 million a year to the local economy, testified Randy Kurohara, the county director of the Department of Research and Development. It would also provide $1 million a year for local education. According to a report in this morning’s Honolulu Star Advertiser, Kurohara described Mayor Billy Kenoi referring to the Thirty Meter Telescope as “sacred science on a sacred mountain.”
     Kahea: The Hawaiian Environmental Alliance objected. Marti Townsend, Kahea’s staff attorney and program director, said, “This basically is a pay-to-degrade policy. There is no pay-to-degrade policy in the state rules. We don't have the option to let somebody pay in order to destroy the conservation district,” the Advertiser newspaper reported.
     Without further delays, construction could be finished in about 11 years.

THE PRICE OF SHIPPING TO AND FROM THE MAINLAND THROUGH MATSON will be hit with a 35 percent fuel surcharge. An earlier increase of 4.75 percent announced last month hits the bill of lading starting tomorrow. The total surcharge will rise to 39.45 percent. Matson told its regular customers that the rise in the fuel charge is due to higher oil prices stemming from turmoil in the Middle East. When Matson first starting using the surcharge to raise rates, it added on 3.25 percent. The 35 percent marks a new high. Horizon and Pasha ocean cargo companies are expected to follow suit.

Bird and Colin McIver rescue
horses and donkeys.

HOMES ARE BEING SOUGHT for Kona Nightingale donkeys that are considered a nuisance around Waikoloa and The Four Seasons hotel where they have run wild since they were no longer needed to work the Kona coffee farms and in sugar plantations. They also compete with cattle and horses for water and grass at ranches. Veterinarian Brady Bergin is fixing up the donkeys and neutering the males before making them available to the public. CB Horse Rescue in Puna is hauling them to this side of the island and is taking applications for adoption. Anyone interested has to prove they will provide a good home and commit to veterinary care. Those interested can call Bird or Colin McIver at 987-9064. Donations are also being accepted at CB Horse Rescue. Visit its website at hawaiihorserescue.com. 

Red Hatters and Kalae Quilters raise thousands for the Ka`u Hospital ER.

A SPAGHETTI DINNER is being held tonight at Na`alehu Community Center to raise money for the Ka`u Hospital Emergency Room. Sponsored by the Red Hats, Kalae Quilters and the Ka`u Hospital Foundation, the event will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. A golf tournament is also planned for Friday, March 18 at Volcano Golf Club. Find out more at the spaghetti dinner tonight. 

REPRESENTATIVES OF `AINA KOA PONO, who propose to develop a new biofuel processing facility near Pahala, are scheduled to make a presentation to the Hawai`i County Council Committee on Agriculture, Water & Energy Sustainability on Wednesday, March 2 at 2 p.m. The meeting will be held at Council Chambers in Hilo.

AT 6 P.M. ON THE SAME DAY, Wednesday, March 2, a public meeting about the Nani Kahuku `Aina development between South Point and Ocean View will be held at Na`alehu Community Center. That development includes a Heritage Park around Pohue Bay, hotels, condominiums, oceanfront estates, golf course and commercial centers.

Kathline Diane Pataray

CANDIDATES for Miss Ka`u Coffee, Young Miss Ka`u Coffee and Miss Peaberry are being welcomed in the community as they raise support for their pageant by accepting $5 donations for Friends of Miss Ka`u Coffee Pageant. The pageant is scheduled for Saturday, April 23 at 5:30 p.m. at Ka`u High School Gym. The girls are practicing at both Na`alehu Community Center and the Old Pahala Clubhouse. The pageant director is Gloria Camba, and Pageant choreographer is Nalani Parlin.

Ka`u News Briefs Feb. 25, 2011

Join Ka`u residents for a whale count tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 26 and again, Saturday, March 26.

THE U.S. CENSUS BUREAU has released numbers on the Big Island showing 185,079 people with 82,324 housing units. Most people are Asian, Native Hawaiian or Latino, while about one third are white. There are a many vacant housing units on the island, reflecting second homes of snowbirds and people working away from here. Vacant houses total 15,228.
     Because the Big Island’s population has grown more than the rest of the state, some political district lines may be changed, and there is a possibility that this island may get an additional state House of Representatives district. The reapportionment commission will come up with proposals.

     The Big Island’s population growth during the last decade was 24.5 percent, more than in Maui County's, which grew 21 percent, and more than Kaua`i County's, which grew 15 percent. O`ahu’s population grew 9 percent, reaching more than 950,000 residents. Ten years ago O`ahu was home to 72.3 percent of the state's popoulation. With slower growth than the Neighbor Islands, O`ahu's population dipped to 70.1 percent of the state total.
     Earlier U.S. Census taking showed that Hawai`i County lost 10.3 percent of its population between 1950 and 1960 during the days when sugar was the big employer, gained 3.5 percent between 1960 and 1970, 45 percent between 1970 and 1980, 30.7 percent between 1980 and 1990, 23.6 percent between 1990 and 2000.

LETTERS OF SUPPORT FOR A RESORT development between South Point and Ocean View, along the Ka`u Coast, have been received by the developers of Nani Kahuku `Aina, also known as Kahuku Villages, according to spokesman Aaron Eberhardt. He said the developers will soon be submitting an Environmental Impact Statement for the 16,000-acre property. He said that support letters have been received from residents in Pahala, Na`alehu, Discovery Harbour, Ranchos, Ocean View and Miloli`i after a lot of interaction with the people. He said the developers are “taking into consideration how they want the land to be treated.” The plans include a 300-acre Heritage Village around Pohu`e Bay, a nesting place for hawksbill turtles.
     The owners of the property will need state Land Use Commission classification changes for conservation and agricultural lands plus county zoning changes to implement their plan. They are holding a public meeting next Wednesday, March 2 at Na`alehu Community Center at 6 p.m.

Johnette Llanes-Masters
is a contestant for
Miss Peaberry 2011.

CANDIDATES FOR Miss Ka`u Coffee, Miss Peaberry and Young Miss Ka`u Coffee have started to practice for the pageant coming up on April 23rd at Ka`u High School Gym. Miss Ka`u Coffee contenders are Jaeneise Cuison, Brandy Nicole Eder, Kayla Nishimura, Brandy Shibuya, Diane Pataray and Alina Jerilong. Miss Peaberry contestants are Taylor Kekoa Burgos, Bernadette Ladia, Jayme Kaneshiro, Tatiana Ka`awa, Cherrisse Althea Calumpit, Johnette Llanes-Masters and Rebecca Lynn Kailiawa-Escobar. Young Miss Ka`u Coffee contestants are Aiyana Galletes-Alapai, Dacy Davis Andrade, Dayse Andrade, Malia Nicole Corpuz, Shailei Marie Penera and Alyssa Bivings. 

     They are selling $12 tickets, advertising for the pageant program and an opportunity to donate $5 to the pageant and become a Friend of Miss Ka`u Coffee.

A WHALE COUNT will be held along the coast of Ka`u tomorrow, Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. See sanctuaryoceancount.org or call 888-559-4253, ext. 253. Another whale count will be held on Saturday, March 26.

THE RED HATS, KALAE QUILTERS AND THE KA`U GOLF GROUP are making their final push for this year’s fundraising for Ka`u Hospital’s Emergency Room. They have brought in more than $4,000 so far this year, with baked goods and crafts at the hospital and Punalu`u beach park. Their fourth annual golf tournament will be held at Volcano Golf Club on Friday, March 18. Last year’s tourney brought in over $9,000. A spaghetti dinner fundraiser to support the ER will be held tomorrow night from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Na`alehu Community Center.

Ka`u News Briefs Feb. 24, 2011

Plans for land surrounding Pohue Bay will be explained at a meeting sponsored by the developers.

ELEMENTS OF A COMMUNITY BENEFITS PACKAGE are being promised to community groups in Ka`u at small meetings throughout the district. Aaron Eberhardt, spokesman for the Kahuku Villages, Nani Kahuku `Aina project, has suggested the restoration of Na‘alehu Theatre, building a veterans center, a civic center, a heritage park around Pohue Bay and a rodeo grounds along Hwy 11 near Ocean View. The development group, led by Val Peroff and his daughter, are seeking to build an oceanfront resort with 400 to 600 hotel rooms, 35 to 50 oceanfront condominiums, 250 to 300 golf villas, 75 to 80 one-acre oceanfront, single-family estate lots, 145 to 160 golf estates and another 160 to 200 estates of one acre or larger. There would be a golf course and commercial centers. The development site is between South Point and Ocean View on the 16,000 aces owned by the Peroffs.
     The developers are hosting a communitywide meeting to discuss their plans at Na`alehu Community Center next Wednesday, March 2 at 6 p.m. Everyone is invited to attend.

THE STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE has approved the use of a fungus on coffee trees to fend off infestation by the coffee borer. The fungus, which is already approved in all states on the mainland, is expected to become available within a week at Crop Production Services and BEI in Hilo and will cost between $70 and $130 a quart. The fungus, called Beauveria Bassiana, is naturally occurring in the soils in Hawai`i but may have died back during the recent drought allowing the coffee borers, which are killed by the fungus, to infest coffee farms in Kona. Some of the farms were devastated. Ka`u coffee farms were largely spared of coffee borer infestation, but having the fungus available to fight the borer is seen as a way to protect the precious new Ka`u Coffee industry. 

     The fungus is sold under brand names called BotaniGard ES and Mycotrol O.

HAWAIIAN ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, which owns Hawaiian Electric Light Co. here on the Big Island, is facing a strike that has been approved by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1260. The union and management met yesterday but with no result. Electric workers are waiting for instructions from the union. The call to strike follows a vote last week in which union members voted against a proposed contract. 

STATE BOARD OF LAND & NATURAL RESOURCES chair William Aila, Jr. is expected to be confirmed in his new position sometime next week. The Senate delayed the confirmation yesterday in reference to examining Aila’s testimony against laws that would ban tropical fish collecting. He held a commercial aquarium fish permit, and his wife has held a commercial fishing license. In respect to remaining fair in his new position, he said, they have both given up their licenses, which have been idle for several years. Sen. Clayton Hee predicted that the former harbormaster on O`ahu will be confirmed when the Senate goes back into session next Thursday, according to a report in the Honolulu Star Advertiser.

TUTU & ME IS COMING TO PAHALA. Registration is now open for enrollment in the traveling preschool’s new program that begins in March at Pahala Community Center. The program, open to grandparents and caregivers of children up to five years old, aims to help children improve on measures of school readiness and literacy and promotes appropriate learning activities and successful caregiving practices at home.
     For more information and to register, call 929-8571.

THE KOHALA CENTER IS OFFERING a Residential Energy Efficiency workshop today from 10 a.m. to noon at Na`alehu Community Center. Workshop participants learn how to understand their HELCO bill, how to use their electric meter to track down energy waste, how to determine the amount of electricity their electrical appliances and devices use, and how to make smart financial decisions to reduce their home energy usage.