Ka'u News Briefs Nov. 9, 2011

Kawa is a popular place for local camping, surfing and fishing. Photo by Julia Neal

NEARLY 800 ACRES OF KAWA LAND are now in the public domain. The county’s latest purchase of more than 550 acres for $3.9 million has closed with the assistance of the community, nonprofit organizations and government agencies, as well as a price discounted by several million dollars by the Edmund C. Olson Trust. “I have loved Hawai`i since I first came here for business in the 1960s. I am happy that this shoreline land will remain in public hands in the future. Hawai`i has been good to me, and I am pleased to give back to the community,” said Olson. Olson purchased the land from local landowner and macadamia grower Thomas Okuna after the two were introduced with the idea of Olson buying Kawa land to preserve it. Olson vowed to hold onto the property until the community could raise funds to buy it for preservation.

Federal and state funding for Kawa is aimed at protecting the
estuaries at Kawa. Photo by Julia Neal

      The effort to preserve Kawa and the Ka`u Coast began years ago. In July of 2004, then County Council member Bob Jacobson appealed to government agencies in Hawai`i and Washington, D.C. to help protect wetlands at Honu`apo, Kawa and Punalu`u, even if it meant borrowing money to buy them.
       In October of 2004, the film Saving Ka`u’s Coast was released, promoting preservation of Kawa, Honu`apo and Punalu`u. The award-winning film, directed by Danny Miller and co-produced and funded by The Ka`u Calendar newspaper, was provided to government leaders, nonprofits and other funders, as well as distributed to public libraries and community groups.

       The film identified Kawa, Honu`apo and Punalu`u coastal areas as Ka`u’s three most easily accessed coastal areas for fishing, surfing and recreation for local residents and as important wetland habitats for wildlife. It also identified the three as the most likely coastal areas to be developed in Ka`u.
       The film included community leaders such as Guy Enriques, John Replogle, Bill Gilmartin, the Trust for Public Land’s Josh Stanbro, and Abel Simeona Lui. 

A surf contest draws vehicles all the way to the beach for
oceanfront parking. Photo by Julia Neal

       In the film, Simeona Lui, who has now lived on the Kawa property for more than 20 years, said that Kawa should be preserved for everyone, with Simeona Lui as the host and caretaker. Despite his protests and claims that his family was the rightful owner, former Ka`u realtor Marcia Johnson and partners purchased 235 acres from Okuna. The hui put the land up for sale on the open market in 2005 with advertisements in real estate magazines calling Kawa “one of the best bays in Ka`u.”

      In 2008, the county was able to purchase the Kawa land that was advertised for sale. The parcels just purchased by the county from Olson completes the effort to put Kawa in the pubic domain. 

      Simeona Lui, however, still lives there and objects to public ownership, has been turned down by government agencies and courts in his attempt to stop it, and said he would fight any eviction that could be planned by the county. He and his followers fly the flags of Hawaiian sovereignty.
      Mayor Billy Kenoi said that county officials have been meeting with community and cultural stakeholders for many weeks, listening to their concerns and recommendations. Kenoi said the wishes of the entire Ka`u community will drive the county’s actions at Kawa.

Camping at Kawa has increased in recent decades.
Photo by Julia Neal

      State Board of Land & Natural Resources chair William Aila, Jr. described the preservation of lands at Kawa as “a good example of how federal, state, and county funds can come together to protect a valued community resource.”

      According to a joint release from government agencies, the Trust for Public Land and the Olson Trust, “A public-private partnership consisting of the County, the State Legacy Land Conservation Program under the State Department of Land and Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Recovery Land Acquisition Program, the Trust for Public Land, and many community members and stakeholders, made the $3.9 million purchase possible.” 

     The state provided $1.5 million, the federal government provided $1 million, and $1.4 million came from the Hawai`i County’s Open Space Land Fund.

THE EXACT SITE OF THE CELLULAR TOWER planned for land on Maile Street in Pahala is yet to be revealed, according to a spokesman for Crown Castle U.S.A. The 60-acre parcel is the old mill site and includes potential cell phone tower locations across from houses, near a preschool and the community clubhouse. It also includes potential cell tower sites below the old sugar mill warehouse, away from buildings. A notice published in the Hawai`i Tribune Herald asks for public comment by Nov. 28. Crown Castle must comply with the federal National Environmental Policy Act, which requires such public notice.
       The notice says that “Crown invites comments from any interested party on the impact of the proposed tower on any districts, sites, structures or object significant in American history, archaeology, engineering or culture that are listed or determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
      “Specific information regarding the project is available for comments by calling Janis Merritts at 480-735-6931 during normal business hours” in Arizona.

Strawberry guava. Photo from NPS

STRAWBERRY GUAVA, considered an invasive plant that threatens native forests, is the target of control by the release of a Brazilian insect into the environment. The state Department of Agriculture made the announcement yesterday, saying it will first release the scale bug Tectococcus ovatus in Volcano and the Ola`a Forest Reserve. The ag department’s environmental assessment concluded release of the insects would result in no significant environmental impact. 

KILAUEA MILITARY CAMP hosts a Veterans Day ceremony on Friday at 3 p.m. in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Keynote speaker is Circuit Court Judge Edward Kubo. Guest speaker is Lt. Colonel Joseph D’Angelo. A buffet follows at 4:30 p.m. at the Crater Rim Café. Fees apply. 

Brittany Smart

A VETERANS DAY CELEBRATION will be held in Na`alehu Park, sponsored by the Ka`u Multicultural Society. The Ka`u `Ohana Band will provide several marches to set a tone for the event, said band spokesman Robert Domingos. Speakers will include County Council member Brittany Smart. The event will include games for kids, displays of veteran photos and memorabilia. It begins with a blessing at 9 a.m., with entertainment to follow from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

MISS KA`U COFFEE, BRANDY SHIBUYA, will be welcomed home after winning the islandwide Miss Aloha Hawai`i competition in Kona. She will dance hula this Friday at the Veterans Day Concert, which will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Pahala Plantation House. Also on stage will be One Journey; the Ka`u High School Ensemble; the Rev. Dennis Kamakahi; David Kamakahi; George Kahumoku, Jr.; Moses Kahumoku; John and Hope Keawe; James Hill; Anne Davison and more. Plate lunches and bottled water will be on sale as a fundraiser for the Ka`u High Ensemble. They will be joined by the Miss Ka'u Coffee Pageant Court.

A KA`U BEACH CLEANUP is scheduled for this Saturday. Volunteers meet at Wai`ohinu Park to carpool to Kamilo Beach near South Point. To sign up, contact Megan Lamson at 769-7629 or kahakai.cleanups@gmail.com.

Ka`u News Briefs Nov. 8, 2011

A Crown communications tower between Pahala and Na`alehu with
KAHU radio founder Wendell Ka`ehu`ae`a.  Photo by Julia Neal

A CELLULAR PHONE TOWER is planned for Maile Street in Pahala, according to a small legal-style notice that was published in the Hilo newspaper on Nov. 2. The cell tower is proposed by Crown Castle USA, which owns more than 23,000 cell towers across the United States. The notice describes the address as 96-3207 Maile Road in Pahala. There is no Maile Road in Pahala, and the notice is likely referring to the old mill site on Maile Street. 

     Castle already owns two cell towers on the old cane haul road between Pahala and Na`alehu. The notice says that “Crown invites comments from any interested party on the impact of the proposed tower on any districts, sites, structures or object significant in American history, archaeology, engineering or culture that are listed or determined eligible for listing the National Register of Historic Places.”
     Specific information regarding the project is available for comments by calling Janis Merritts at 480-735-6931 during normal business hours in Arizona. The notice says that comments must be received by Nov. 28, 2011. However, the notice has neither a postal nor an email address for comments.

SCHOOL LUNCH PRICES will go up, according to a measure passed by the state Board of Education last month. A story by Colin Stuart in the Hawai`i Tribune Herald says that the Department of Education needs to raise $6 million to pay for instruction and other expenses. 

Brian De Lima

     Stuart quoted Big Island BOE member Brian De Lima as saying the decision to hike lunch prices was difficult. “We were discussing the next supplemental budget, and we knew that one of the things that needs to occur is we want to spend more money in the classroom,” De Lima said. “So the question came up: ‘Is providing lunch a core function (of the school system)?’” 

     The price of lunches will go up 90 percent, and the BOE is hoping to phase in the increase over two years, the Tribune Herald story says.
     Reduced prices and free lunches for qualifying students of low-income families would remain the same price.

A WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED TO THE PUBLIC regarding an offer for a high interest savings rate offered by Advanced Financial & Consulting Group, LLC. An advertisement was circulated offering six percent and five percent interest rates. According to the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Division of Financial Institutions, the company is not licensed by the state banking division. The department verified with the FDIC that the company is not insured by the FDIC. Consumers are asked to file a complaint with DFI if they have invested funds with this company. A DFI complaint form is available on DFI’s website at http://hawaii.gov/dcca/dfi, or the consumer may file a letter complaint.

Miss Ka`u Coffee and Miss Aloha
Hawai`i, Brandy Shibuya

MISS KA`U COFFEE, BRANDY SHIBUYA, will be welcomed home on Friday after winning the islandwide Miss Aloha Hawai`i competition in Kona. Shibuya will be welcomed at the Veterans Day Concert this Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Pahala Plantation House. She will perform hula. Also on stage will be One Journey; the Ka`u High School Ensemble; the Rev. Dennis Kamakahi; David Kamakahi; George Kahumoku, Jr.; Moses Kahumoku; John and Hope Keawe; James Hill; Anne Davison and more. Plate lunches and bottled water will be on sale as a fundraiser for the Ka`u High Ensemble. 

NOVEMBER VISITOR ARRIVALS to Hawai`i, statewide, are up eight percent, along with higher hotel occupancy rates. The improving visitor industry posted $2.14 billion in revenue in the first nine months of this year, up 13.4 percent over the same period last year and 21 percent higher than 2009. The hotel occupancy rate remained relatively low on the Big island in September, but increased to 58.3 percent from 51.9 percent for September last year. The statewide occupancy rate was 74.5 percent, with the highest on O`ahu at 84.1 percent, followed by Kaua`i at 71 percent and Maui at 65.9 percent.

Bill Chapman

THE HISTORY OF VOLCANO HOUSE is the topic of After Dark in the Park tonight at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitors Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Historian and archaeologist Bill Chapman, a professor at University of Hawai`i-Manoa, will focus on the first Volcano House. He works on documenting historic buildings and sites within the national park when he comes here each summer with a class of college students.

OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY CENTER is the site of the Ka`u Community Development Plan Steering Committee tonight at 5:30 p.m. Much of last month’s meeting was postponed to listen to community concerns about an idea to incentivize for new homes in Ocean View to be built in a more centralized neighborhood closer to Hwy 11, utilities and other services. Most of those who spoke said they like living remotely, while planners said that fast growth could make their dwellings no longer remote and create traffic and other problems as experienced in the last decade in Puna. Tonight’s meeting will focus on the overall progress of the Ka`u Community Development Plan. 

Ka`u News Briefs Nov. 7, 2011

Michael Smith, inventer of the Green Power House, chosen for the U.S. booth at APEC this week.

ALGAE AQUA-CULTURE TECHNOLOGY will be represented by Volcano residents David Howard Donald and Anne Lee at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s CEO Summit in Honolulu this week. Lee and Donald are proposing AACT’s Green Power House energy solution in their bid to operate Volcano House. The Green Power House will be one of five innovations displayed in the booth sponsored by the United States at APEC’s Medium Enterprise Innovation Exhibit. Other companies chosen for the U.S. booth are Kai Medical; Oceanit; Open Entry; and Planned Systems Alternative. The companies were chosen after a nationwide search for enterprises in the fields of education and training, health, information and communications, green/clean technology and food and agriculture. 

David Howard Donald

Anne Lee

     AACT’s inventor, Michael Smith, will also be on hand. He described the Green Power House as “three billion years of renewable energy engineering experience at work.” He was referring to the algae, one of the planet’s most ancient and evolved plants. “Algae efficiently converts solar energy into bioenergy. Algae grows faster than most other plants around,” Smith said. 

     The Volcano Project team proposes to meet electrical needs at Volcano House with a Green Power House. “This is an ideal answer for the National Park Service’s need to reduce its carbon footprint,” Donald said.
     Lee said that “the Volcano Project has proposed AACT’s Green Power House as a safe and eco-friendly self-sustaining, self-managing greenhouse using cutting-edge technology and nature’s own processes to generate green electricity, consume invasive species, and provide endemics for reforestation of the Park.”

Mufi Hannemann
Photo by Julia Neal

MUFI HANNEMANN, WHO HELPED BRING APEC TO HAWAI`I when he was mayor of the City & County of Honolulu, traveled through Ka`u over the weekend. Hannemann is running for Congress and hopes to take the seat of Rep. Mazie Hirono, who is running for the Senate. 

     Hannemann helped break ground for the Bay Clinic’s new Ka`u Family Health & Dental Center on Saturday and said he will work for more federal funding for the new facility. The Bay Clinic location is nearly across the street from Hannemann’s former house, which is now Punalu`u Bake Shop. He also lived in Papaikou and was vice-president of Corporate Development and Marketing for C. Brewer, which owned the sugar plantation here and developed Punalu`u Bake Shop.
     Hannemann said he believes he has an understanding of rural Hawai`i and the huge Second Congressional District, which includes four counties and six islands that cannot be neglected.
     He said that one of the best skills he has to offer is the ability to network and pointed to his background in business and government. In addition to being Honolulu’s mayor, he was state director of Business & Economic Development and is currently president and CEO of the Hawai`i Hotel & Lodging Association. He said the organization is now more inclusive. He said tourism is “not an old industry, it is an evolving industry – more green, sustainable and maintaining a sense of place.”
     Hannemann said tourism can help Ka`u Coffee, and he talked about ag-tourism, environmental tourism and health tourism. Hannemann also talked about Hawai`i becoming a showcase for alternative energy, with geothermal, wind, hydroelectric and other alternatives being developed.

Hau trees are members of the hibuscus family.
Photo from University of Hawai`i

THE BIGGEST TREES IN HAWAI`I are the subject of a public search encouraged by the state Department of Land & Natural Resources. 

     DLNR chair William Aila said there are no trees currently on the national register of Big Trees. “We hope that including Hawai`i on the national Big Trees register will help educate and encourage conservation of our native and culturally important trees. It is our goal to eventually create our own State of Hawai`i Big Trees Program,” said Aila.
     The DLNR asks for species and location by GPS, as well as the height, width and size of the tree’s crown. The state is looking for the following species: wauke (Broussonetia papyrifera), coconut (Cocos nucifera), hau (Hibiscus tiliaceus), manele (Sapindus saponaria) and `a`ali`i (Dononaea viscosa). 

`A`ali`i is usually a small tree, but some of the
largest may be in Ka`u.  Photo by
A. Tsuneyoshi

     Candidates for biggest tree can be emailed to Sheri.S.Mann@hawaii.gov. Visit the American Forests website for measuring tips and more on the nationwide contest at www.americanforests.org/our-programs/bigtree/big-tree-measuring-guidelines/.

SPEAKING OF TREES, the proposed Ka`u Forest Reserve Management Plan Environmental Assessment will be the topic of discussion at the Ka`u Chamber of Commerce meeting on Friday, Nov. 18 at 4 p.m. at Punalu`u Bake Shop. The speaker will be Ron Terry, of Geometrician Associates.

INDIGENOUS HEALTH is a new master’s degree planned by the University of Hawai`i School of Medicine. The two-year program will begin in the fall of 2012. It will focus on health care for Pacific Islanders, Native Americans and Maori.

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES is flying 85 percent full, with 16.4 percent more passengers and 20 percent more capacity over October of last year, according to a report in RTT Global Financial Newsletter.

THE KA`U COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN steering committee will meet tomorrow at Ocean View Community Center at 5:30 p.m. The public is invited and can read updates and history of the development plan at hawaiicountycdp.info/kau-cdp.

HAWAI`I’S FIRST VOLCANO HOUSE is the topic at After Dark in the Park tomorrow. William Chapman, of UH-Manoa’s historic preservation program, discusses the history of Volcano House beginning at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Park entrance fees apply.