Ka`u News Briefs June 8, 2011

The new edition of Eruptions of Hawaiian Volcanoes: Past, Present and Future focuses on eruptions
of Kilauea and Mauna Loa.

KA`U COFFEE CONTINUES to do well at the Grounds for Health Auction being held to fund health services for medically underserved coffee origins around the world. Donated Ka`u coffee, which can be bought through the auction, are grown by Bull and Jamie Kailiawa, whose coffee was bringing in the third highest bids internationally this morning; the Obra family’s Rusty’s Hawaiian; Willie and Grace Tabios’ Rising Sun; Leo Javar’s family JN Coffee Farms; Paradise Farms; Maile and Efren Abellera’s Kehau Coffee Farm; Fernandez Coffee Farm; Dacalio’s Pumehana Coffee; Gloria Camba and Bong Aquino’s R&G Farms; Ka`u Coffee Growers Cooperative; and Manuel Marques’ Ka`u Forest Coffee. 

     Anyone can bid on these coffees for this good cause. Go to GroundsForHealth.org and click on the auction site. The auction ends this afternoon at 4 p.m., Hawaiian time.

HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY is celebrating its one-hundredth birthday, which comes up in January, with the updated publication of Eruptions of Hawaiian Volcanoes: Past, Present and Future, by Robert Tilling, Christina Heliker and Donald Swanson. It is available as a free pdf online at pubs.usgs.gov/gip/117. It is also available for sale for $5 at the observatory. 

     The earlier edition, published in 1987, is popular with Hawai`i residents, teachers, and students, as well as thousands of visitors to Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The new edition focuses on eruptions of Kilauea and Mauna Loa, two of the world’s most active volcanoes. It highlights activity of Kilauea’s east rift zone eruption, which began in January 1983 and shows no signs of stopping.
     The new edition describes Kilauea’s summit activity within Halemaumau Crater, which started in mid-March 2008 and continues. It explains how HVO and other scientists monitor volcanic activity, using space-age techniques.

Sanjeev Bhagowalia

SANJEEV “SONNY” BHAGOWALIA is the new state Chief Information Officer who was appointed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie yesterday to transform the state’s information technology system. Abercrombie also signed into law House Bill 1060, which appropriates funding for the CIO and the recently created Office of Information Management and Technology. “Outdated and ineffective technology is perhaps the largest impediment to making our government work,” said the governor. “Sonny brings a background in technology and management coupled with more than 25 years of experience in senior government and private sector positions. I’m confident he will lead us into a new era of efficiency and service-oriented government.” 

     Bhagowalia said he looks “forward to collaborating with the many people who are already working hard to improve public services and create a more efficient government.” He currently serves as the Deputy Associate Administrator, Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies, U.S. General Services Administration in Washington, D.C.

COUNTY COUNCIL MEMBER Brittany Smart met with seniors yesterday at Pahala Senior Center. A major issue brought up was the need for better access to dialysis. Getting dialysis can take six hours three days a week, and getting transportation to coincide with appointments in Hilo or Kona is a challenge, said Julie Pasquale, who is with the center’s nutrition program.
     Other concerns brought up by the seniors were the need for more public restrooms, more streetlights near the senior center, and working tsunami sirens.
     Smart also said that the county is still waiting for Gov. Abercrombie to release $18 million budgeted to build a gym and shelter at Ka`u High School.

Ray Brown, Jr.'s latest album features
an all-star lineup of duets.

RAY BROWN, JR. BEGINS Volcano Art Center’s Summer Jazz season this Friday at 7:30 p.m. at VAC’s Niaulani campus in Volcano Village. Brown is the son of Ella Fitzgerald and jazz bass player Ray Brown. His vocals range from jazz and pop to rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm and blues. Tickets are $15 in advance and $17 at the door. Call 967-8222 or visit volcanoartcenter.org to purchase tickets. 

TWO DISTRICT 6 MATTERS MEETINGS take place in Ka`u this week. Today at 7 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center, Laura Dierenfield, executive director of People’s Advocacy for Trails Hawai`i, discusses pedestrian and bicyclist issues. 

     At Na`alehu Community Center tomorrow at 7 p.m., Council member Brittany Smart discusses her proposed resolution to delay Council action on any rezoning or general plan amendments in Ka`u until a Community Development Plan is completed and in place or December 31, 2012, whichever comes first. For more information, call 961-8536.

KA`U STUDENTS ARE INVITED to apply to attend Kona Community Hospital’s fifth annual MASH Camp which takes place July 18 and 19. During the camp, students learn directly from the hospital staff while exploring 10 different health care careers. The free program includes lunch, snacks, a set of scrubs and a certificate of completion.
     The camp is open to students in grades eight, nine and ten. Applicants must write essays giving reasons why they want to attend the camp and what they want to do as a career. Applications are due this Monday. For more information, call 322-6960 or email ebryant@hhsc.org.

THERE ARE ONLY A FEW DAYS LEFT to register for events at the Ka`u Family Fun Fest this Saturday. `O Ka`u Kakou is sponsoring this fundraiser for Bay Clinic’s building fund, and all donations up to $15,000 are being matched by an anonymous donor. A half marathon, 10K and 5K races begin at 7 a.m. at Na`alehu Park. Other events beginning at 9 a.m. at the park are a hunters’ obstacle course and tournaments in archery, Jan Ken Po, Portuguese horseshoes and basketball. Registration and fee schedules for the races and tournaments are available online at race360.com/15811. 

     Throughout the day at the park there will be information and food booths; a live auction; a jumping castle; bungee jumping; rock wall climbing and a dunking booth. Entertainers include the Hawai‘i County Band, Keoki Kahumoku, Dennis and David Kamakahi, the Lava Boys and One Journey. For more information, call 265-8251 or email kaufamilyfunfest@gmail.com.

Ka`u News Briefs June 7, 2011

Obon offerings of fruit and flowers to honor ancestors at Pahala Hongwanji this morning.  Photo by Julia Neal

OBON CEREMONIES are being held in Ka`u this morning, with services at the old Japanese graveyard and small temple up Wood Valley Road, followed by services at Pahala Hongwanji and graveyard, a luncheon for the Honpa Hongwanji community and visits to other graveyards in the district. The Rev. Earl Ikeda is leading the Obon services around Ka`u. Rev. Ikeda will be moving to a new position in Honolulu later this summer.

     The Bon Dance season kicks off this Saturday at Honomu Hongwanji and continues throughout July and into August. The nearest bon dance will be at Puna Hongwanji along Hwy 11 in Kea`au on July 1 and 2.

Bull Kailiawa

KA`U COFFEE is making a big splash on the Internet this morning, drawing high prices for an international charity auction for Grounds for Health, which provides health care to poor coffee farmers in underserved growing regions. The coffee was donated for the auction by the coffee farmers and the Coffees of the Year competition in Houston, where Bull and Jamie Kailiawa’s Ka`u Coffee took first place in the U.S. and Hawai`i and ranked in the top ten in the world. This morning Kailiawa Coffee was leading among the Hawaiian coffees at $23.10 a pound for unroasted green beans.
     Most of the Ka‘ū coffees were doing well, with the majority of other coffees from around the world drawing prices of under $10 a pound. The auction is taking place in Vermont at Stoneworks Specialty Coffee Auctions through 10 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday and can be seen live on the Internet today and tomorrow at http://auction.groundsforhealth.org. The entire auction is being held on the Internet, where you can watch prices for Ka‘ū Coffee soar.

     

PLANNING AND PREPARATION for natural disasters will be the topic at a half-day workshop in Hilo later this month. Experts at the workshop will cover emergency guidelines, evacuation planning, tsunami and severe weather warnings, homeowner guidance and retrofit measures, and flood and coastal inundation mapping. The workshop takes place at UH-Hilo’s UCB Lecture Hall on Saturday, June 25 from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Another workshop is scheduled in Kona on July 16. The workshops are free and open to the public.

Ray Brown, Jr.

RAY BROWN, JR. BEGINS Volcano Art Center’s Summer Jazz season this Friday at 7:30 p.m. at VAC’s Niaulani campus in Volcano Village. Brown is the son of Ella Fitzgerald and jazz bass player Ray Brown. His vocals range from jazz and pop to rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm and blues. Tickets are $15 in advance and $17 at the door. Call 967-8222 or visit volcanoartcenter.org to purchase tickets.

LA`AU LAPA`AU IS THE TOPIC at the Kilauea Visitor Center lanai tomorrow from 10 a.m. to noon. Ka`ohu Monfort teaches how plants including kukui, `olena, ha`uowi, noi, ki and guava are used to nourish and heal.

TWO DISTRICT 6 MATTERS MEETINGS take place in Ka`u this week. Tomorrow at 7 p.m., Laura Dierenfield, executive director of People’s Advocacy for Trails Hawai‘i, discusses the PATH program at Ocean View Community Center.
     At Na`alehu Community Center on Thursday at 7 p.m., Council member Brittany Smart discusses her proposed resolution that would delay Council action on any rezoning or general plan amendments in Ka`u until a CDP is completed and in place or December 31, 2012, whichever comes first. For more information, call 961-8536.

THE KA`U FAMILY FUN FEST happens this Saturday. `O Ka`u Kakou is sponsoring this fundraiser for Bay Clinic’s building fund. A half marathon, 10K and 5K races begin at Na`alehu Park. Other events at the park are a hunters’ obstacle course and tournaments in archery, Jan Ken Po, Portuguese horseshoes and basketball. Registration and fee schedules for the races and tournaments are available online at race360.com/15811.
     Throughout the day at the park there will be information and food booths; a live auction; a jumping castle; bungee jumping; rock wall climbing and a dunking booth. Entertainers include the Hawai`i County Band, Keoki Kahumoku, Dennis and David Kamakahi, the Lava Boys and One Journey. For more information, call 265-8251 or email kaufamilyfunfest@gmail.com.

Ka`u News Briefs June 6, 2011

Snow on Mauna Kea above farms on Wright Road.  Photo by Julia Neal

AN UNUSUAL SNOWSTORM on Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea gave Sunday drivers and walkers a spectacular look at snow-covered mountain peaks and volcanic cones yesterday in Ka`u. More than eight inches of snow were cleared from the road up Mauna Kea.

RUSTY’S HAWAIIAN 100 PERCENT KA`U COFFEE was a key ingredient at the World Barista Championships in Bogota, Colombia yesterday. Pete Licata, who won first in the U.S. Barista championship, took second in the world competition among 53 countries, using the Obra family’s Rusty’s Hawaiian 100 percent Ka`u Coffee. Lorie Obra said this morning that the win “brought Ka`u Coffee to another level. It cemented our reputation as one of the best in the world.”
     The first place finish went to Alejandro Mendez, of El Salvador. Other finalists were from Spain, Japan, Australia and the United Kingdom.
     Before selecting Rusty’s coffee for the competitions, Licata came to Ka`u, visited the farm and helped pick and process coffee beans. He made tea from the cherry, as well as coffee drinks to win top in the U.S.A. at the Specialty Coffee Association of America annual convention in Houston, which made him eligible to take Ka`u Coffee and his Fruit to Cup presentation to Colombia. 

U.S. Barista Champion Pete Licata (hatless) and
Miguel Meza (to his left) celebrate with the
Obra family at the competition in Houston.
Photo by Julia Neal

     Licata is quality manager at Honolulu Coffee Co. on O`ahu. As a barista, he creates espresso, cappuccino and other coffee drinks. His actual making of the Ka`u Coffee can be seen at worldbaristachampionship.com.
     After the competition, Licata described traveling to the mountains behind Pahala to 1,800 feet to pick red catura and yellow catura on the Obra farm. “I dried them for three weeks and let them cure in the fruit for three months.” He gave credit “to the farmers who work with me.… All this work has given me so much respect for the farmers,” said Licata.
     He also thanked Miguel Meza, whom he said “mentored me and taught me almost everything I know about production coffee.” Meza has also been a consultant for the Ka`u Coffee Growers cooperative.
     The Rusty’s coffee in the World Championships was about four and a half months aged from its picking date. Licata said that over time it became sweeter and better.
     Commentators explained that Ka`u coffee is grown at an extremely low altitude compared to other winning coffees, with Rusty’s growing at about 1,800 feet – and many other good coffees in areas closer to the equator growing at over 6,000 feet. Coffee in the extremes of higher and lower latitudes can afford to be grown at lower altitudes and still have some of the characteristics of very high-grown coffee. Hawai`i is one of the farthest north-grown coffees, they said.

`AINA KOA PONO is considering construction of a road from its proposed refinery on Meyer Camp Road to Hwy 11. The route, which would avoid trucks carrying feedstock and biofuel going through or skirting the town, would either cross Wood Valley Road at Meyer Camp Road and go out to Hwy 11 or would come toward Pahala and cut across by the old crop duster runway and then out to Hwy 11. `Aina Koa Pono is expecting about 40 trucks a day of feedstock coming in from farms and places where land is being cleared and eight tanker trucks a day going up Hwy 11 with biofuel to HELCO's electric plant in Kona. There is also talk of the old runway being upgraded for emergency medical air lifts from Ka`u Hospital, said engineer Sandy Causey.

Hawai`i County Economic Opportunity Council office
on Old Mill Road in Pahala.  Photo by Julia Neal

HELP WITH UTILITY BILLS is available for low-income people who submit copies of their utility bills to the Hawai`i County Economic Opportunity Council office on Old Mill Road in Pahala. An application must be filled out, along with gas or electric bills, by the end of June. Call 961-2681 for more information on this Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

THE BAY CLINIC MOBILE DENTAL VAN makes its monthly visit to Ka`u this week. It will be at the Bay Clinic in Na`alehu from tomorrow through Friday. Call 965-3073 for appointments.

TWO DISTRICT 6 MATTERS MEETINGS take place in Ka`u this week. On Wednesday at 7 p.m., Laura Dierenfield, executive director of People’s Advocacy for Trails Hawai`i, discusses the program at Ocean View Community Center.
     At Na`alehu Community Center on Thursday at 7 p.m., Council member Brittany Smart discusses her proposed resolution that would delay Council action on any rezoning or general plan amendments in Ka`u until a CDP is completed and in place or December 31, 2012, whichever comes first. For more information, call 961-8536.