Ka`u News Briefs April 5, 2011

ML Macadamia husking plant between Pahala Village and Highway 11.  Photo by Julia Neal

A MEASURE THAT WOULD ALLOW THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION to approve automatic rate increases to help cover the costs of such projects as the `Aina Koa Pono refinery planned for Pahala is making its way through the state Legislature. Senate Bill 1347 would also allow the electric company to raise rates for all of its customers to cover costs of alternative energy in particular places. Last month, the PUC turned down a proposal to raise rates in Hawai`i, O`ahu and Maui Counties to cover the cost of the proposed Ka`u refinery. The electric company and `Aina Koa Pono went to the Legislature to change the law, testifying that cost sharing around the state is needed to help pay for alternative energy. 

`Aina Koa Pono's depiction of their
proposed Ka`u Energy Farm.

     The $320 million mill would be located up Wood Valley Road on Meyer Camp Road. `Aina Koa Pono is promising 300 union construction jobs and 200 permanent jobs with minimum union pay of $22 an hour. The refinery would use giant microwaves to vaporize wood, grasses and other biomass to make diesel. More than a million gallons of fuel plus catalysts and other additives for the processing plant would be stored on site. The synthetic fuel would be shipped by tanker trucks up Hwy 11 to the Keahole power plant near Kona Airport.

ML MACADAMIA ORCHARDS reported a net loss of $1.5 million and a negative net cash flow of $526,000 for last year. The 2010 loss was primarily the result of a severe drought in the Ka`u region where production declined by approximately four million pounds or 31 percent over 2009 levels, cutting annual revenue by approximately $2.4 million, ML reported. The drought also resulted in lower kernel recovery and the expenditure of approximately $1.2 million in additional irrigation costs. ML acquired 880 acres of macadamia orchards and related assets from IASCO, its largest farming client, for $12.5 million last August.

Tsunami-smashed car next to empty lot where a house
washed away at Manini Beach.  Photo by Julia Neal

A FUNDRAISER FOR HAWAI`I VICTIMS of last month’s tsunami will be hosted by Rep. Bob Herkes. It will be held at the prestigious Pacific Club in Honolulu. Some of the victims with houses washed off their foundations are old kama`aina families in Honolulu with beach homes at Kapua, Honomolino and Okoe Bay near Miloli`i. The funds raised, however, will go to the Hawai`i Red Cross to help those hardest hit, with damages to their businesses, homes and employment in Kona, and to prepare for the future. More than 200 employees of Kona Village risk losing their jobs permanently. The Four Seasons at Hualalai is also still closed, with many employees working fewer hours. 

     “It’s wonderful how Hawai`i’s community has banded together to support Japan and other communities around the world in recent and past years natural disasters. That should continue, but at the same time we also must remember and support our neighbors here in Hawai`i. Even now as the recovery continues, we need to be prepared for the future to ensure a quick response,” said Herkes. The Breakfast with Bob event costs $100 a person and will be held next Wednesday, April 13. Call 808-539-3482.

THE EXPLOSIVE 1790 ERUPTION OF KILAUEA is the topic at After Dark in the Park tonight at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium. Geologist Don Swanson, along with Bruce Houghton and Samantha Weaver of UH-Manoa, present the results of their most recent research into what happened and if it could happen again.

Cooper Center

Mongolian Barbecue

THE MONGOLIAN BARBECUE is on for this Saturday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Cooper  Center in Volcano Village. Wok masters will cook up stir-fried vegetables, tofu, chicken, beef and pork and charge 60 cents an ounce for each personalized creation. The event has been held twice a year for more than two decades. Funds raised go to the Cooper Center. Entertainment includes Komakakino from the Paul Neves Halau. See thecoopercenter.org or call 985-9508. 

THE LINEUP FOR THIS YEAR'S KA`U COFFEE FESTIVAL is building quickly. Headliners include Cyril Pahinui, Moses and Keoki Kahumoku, Lorna and Maryann Lim, Henry Dulan, Halau Hula O Leionalani, Lorie Lei Hula Studio and the Ka`u `Ukulele Kids. Ka`u residents and visitors can get ready to enter the annual Ka`u Recipe Contest. Booths are available for the all day Ho`olaule`a on Saturday, May 14. See kaucoffeefestival.com for more.

Cyril Pahinui, who teaches at Ka`u High, will perform at the Ka`u Coffee Festival on May 14.  Photo by Julia Neal

Ka`u News Briefs April 4, 2011

Honu`apo Lookout is one of the spectacular stops on the proposed State Scenic Byway in Ka`u.  Photo by Julia Neal

HAWAIIAN ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES and `Aina Koa Pono are hoping the state Legislature will change the Public Utilities Commission law to support their project for a refinery near Pahala and an energy farm between Na`alehu and Pahala. The House Finance Committee last week deferred a measure that would allow the PUC to approve the electric company spreading the cost of new projects across its customer base. That would include raising rates in O`ahu and Maui Counties as well as Hawai`i County by an average of under $2 per month to pay for the $320 million Aina Koa Pono refinery and farm.
     The PUC had ruled that `Aina Koa Pono biofuel would be used only on the Big Island and not in the other counties. Current law prohibits charging other customer bases for energy they do not receive, and the electric company and `Aina Koa Pono went to the legislature to change the law.
     They testified that the change in the law would allow would help the electric company comply with state demands to use more sustainable, alternative energies. The bill is scheduled for decision-making today in the House Finance and Consumer Protection Committees at 5:30 p.m. at the state capitol. The bill number is SB1347, and the public can go online and submit comments. 

Richard Lim

     Richard Lim, the new Director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism testified last week that he supports the bill to allow utility affiliates to aggregate their renewable portfolios so that costs can be shared around the state. The bill would also allow electric utility companies to use an automatic rate adjustment clause to recover costs for renewables. Lim said that aggregating costs can bring down rate impacts for residents on the neighbor islands and encourage more renewable energy development and lead to economic growth and jobs for these communities.

THE BUDGET BATTLES continue in the County Council this week. Council Chair Dominic Yagong proposes that county police officers and firefighters absorb a minimum five percent pay cut. He noted that all other county workers have taken furloughs and seen their income decrease, while police and fire have twice seen a more than 20 percent increase in pay during the last four years. Police and fire union contracts expire at the end of June, and cuts would have to be negotiated with the labor leaders. Yagong also wants to continue county worker furloughs, which Mayor Billy Kenoi wants to end on July 1.

THE KA`U CHAMBER OF COMMERCE has filed a nomination for Highway 11 in Ka`u to be designated as a State Scenic Byway. The Chamber established a committee with members: Chair Marge Elwell; Rell Woodward and Dallas Decker, of the Ka`u Chamber; Laura Schuster, Rita Pregana and Lora Gale, of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park; John Replogle, of The Nature Conservancy; Kenny Joyce, of Kalaekilohana; Wendy Vance, of Ka `Ohana O Honu`apo; Blossom De Silva and Lehua Lopez, of the Hawaiian Civic Club; Doug Sensenig, of Hawaiian Islands Land Trust; Lee McIntosh, of `O Ka`u Kakou; and Dennis Elwell, of Na`alehu Main Street. The committee chose a theme: “The Slopes of Mauna Loa,” and stressed the large stretches of untouched landscape. The Ka`u Chamber will meet at the Ocean View Community Center at 6:30 p.m., Monday, April 25, where Elwell will review the Scenic Byways program and nomination application.

SIGN UP TODAY FOR THE FREE Kahuku Junior Ranger Day on Saturday, April 9. Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park and the Queen Lili`uokalani Children’s Center invite keiki to bring the families to explore Kahuku and learn about ancient traditions of navigation and modern-day global positioning systems. The program is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and lunch will be provided. To register, call 985-6019. 

     The Kahuku Unit is now open to the public on most weekends. 

THE DRIVERS LICENSE DEPARTMENT at the Ka`u Police Station in Na`alehu has a new direct phone number. It is 854-7214. Drivers license examiner Katherine Okamura asks that residents leave messages and she will call them back to schedule appointments. The office is open on Tuesday and Wednesday each week. Services offered are: written tests for motorcycle and vehicle permits, license renewals and replacements, out-of-state transfers and road tests. Hawai`i drivers licenses are renewable six months prior to the expiration date. 

This 1924 eruption at Kilauea was much smaller than the 1790 blast.

THE EXPLOSIVE 1790 ERUPTION OF KILAUEA is the topic at After Dark in the Park tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium. Geologist Don Swanson, along with Bruce Houghton and Samantha Weaver of UH-Manoa, present the results of their most recent research into what happened and if it could happen again.

Ka`u News Briefs April 3, 2011

Miloli`i Halau has a computer room and library and could have a classroom for telecommuting to school.  Photo by Julia Neal

SENATOR GIL KAHELE said yesterday that he sees a lot of hope at the 2011 state Legislature. Along his regular weekend journey through Ka`u to meet constituents and visit his birthplace, Miloli`i, he gave a rundown on proposals that could affect this area.

THE HAWAI`I 2050 Sustainability law will be incorporated into the Hawai`i State Plan, he said. It passed its last committee last week without amendment and will bring a balance to food security, energy security and economic development, Kahele predicted. “Now we need to take it and run,” said the senator. 

Volcano School of the Arts & Sciences
seeks new classrooms.

VOLCANO SCHOOL OF ARTS & SCIENCES is another mission of Kahele, who said he is trying his best, during tough budget talks, to fund the design of new classrooms. He said he may also approach the Office of Hawaiian Affairs since many of the students are Hawaiian. 

BOTH KULANI PRISON, near Volcano and Hawaiian Homelands near Hilo could be used to bring home inmates from expensive prisons, far away from their families on the mainland. Kahele said that it is unfortunate that so much money is being spent each year to house prisoners on the mainland, with little connection to their culture, families and the kind of programs that could help them become productive citizens when they are released in Hawai`i. He said that many prisoners are of Hawaiian descent and that the Hawaiian community is eager to help them here. He said putting at least one of the prisons closer to Hilo will also save transportation costs of going to court, work projects and rehabilitation programs. 

Kulani Prison between Hilo and
Volcano could be reopened.

THE MEN OF PA`A was credited by Kahele as Hawaiian men working together to mentor recently paroled prisoners to help them find work and positive meaning in their lives. He said such programs can go a long way to helping inmates heal.

EDUCATION FOR MILOLI`I children who are very isolated is another program that Kahele wants to work on. He talked about possible telecommuting to school from the Halau at Miloli`i, with successful Hawaiian mentors helping the children to receive good education while respecting their backgrounds.

TRANSPORTATION FOR STUDENTS, taking them long ways to campuses, is becoming a huge economic burden to the state. Kahele called plans to cut some of the bus funding “very scary.” He recalled the days of the one-room schoolhouse in Miloli`i and his family members walking the coastal trail to the school.

VOLCANO ART CENTER’S Spring Art Market continues today at the Niaulani Campus in Volcano Village. Free ongoing art demonstrations, guided family nature walks, creative keiki activities and more are in store until to 3 p.m., and original works of art are available for purchase directly from the artists.