Ka'u News Briefs Dec. 7, 2011

A 3,700-foot-long, flood-prone section of Hwy 11 at Kawa Flats is the topic of a public meeting tomorrow at 6 p.m.
at Na`alehu School cafeteria.  Photo from Hawai`i State DOT

CHARGING STUDENTS MORE FOR SCHOOL BUS RIDES is one of the options being considered by the state Board of Education and its newly appointed services chief Randy Moore, according to a report in this morning’s Civil Beat. According to the story by Katherine Poythress, during its meeting last night in Honolulu, board chair Don Horner talked about encouraging competition among private companies bidding on school bus transportation for students around the state. Some of the ideas include giving one company the contract for the entire state, allowing some of the older school buses to be placed back in service, raising fares and going to a four-day school week. 

Raising rates, again, to ride the public school bus is an
option being considered by the state Board of Education.

     A report to the Legislature, which is expected to work on the issue next session, is due this Friday. Civil Beat has been running a series of stories on school bus contracts in Hawai`i, showing that there has been a lack of competitive bidding on the service since 2007. The governor is asking for $54 million for the 2013 school bus budget. The Department of Education is asking for $71 million, and the Legislature appropriated $29 million. The DOE also receives tens of millions in federal funding to run the school transportation system. See more at civilbeat.org. 

AN INTERNAL AUDIT of the Department of Education was also approved at yesterday’s school board meeting, according to a report in today’s Hawai`i Tribune Herald. Big Island board member Brian DeLima told reporter Colin M. Stuart that the audit will be the first time that the BOE has charged an outside auditing firm with performing a prior risk assessment “of what departmental functions are at risk for creating problems for us on an ongoing basis.”

Everyone was invited to leave a comment at the public
meeting.  Photos by Julia Neal

CONSERVATIONISTS, HUNTERS AND RANCHERS turned up last night at Na`alehu Community Center to visit the public displays and give input into the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for managing goats, pigs, sheep, wild cattle and other ungulates in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Many of the comments from the public included allowing local families to hunt the animals and bring them home for food. One suggestion was to have a lottery for local hunters to determine who would be allowed to take out the animals. Another comment verbalized at the meeting was to allow hunters from outside Ka`u, including professional hunters, work on bringing down the number of ungulates one month, and local residents hunt the next month. One rancher talked about placing a bounty on the animals and letting the locals hunt them.

Ranchers, hunters and conservationists discussed
methods of saving the native forest.

     There was much discussion on keeping the area pristine, as Ka`u has the largest stands of native forests in all of Hawai`i, and there is concern that invasive plants and insects could be carried into the forest and cause damage. The removal of the pigs, sheep, goats and wild cattle is aimed at allowing the understory of the forest to flourish, which is important to native birds. Reducing pigs in the forest would lessen the number of standing puddles where insects breed and infect native birds with avian malaria. The park protects 50 endangered, threatened or candidate species. Not all of them are birds. The Ka`u silversword is one of the plant species being protected and damaged by ungulates.
     Comments are being accepted by email and written letters until Jan. 20. Written comments can be submitted at http://www.parkplanning.nps.gov/havo_ecosystem_deis or by mailing correspondence to Cindy Orlando, Superintendent, Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, PO Box 52, Hawaii National Park, HI 96718.
     Another meeting on the plan and EIS takes place this evening from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Outdoor Circle Educational Center at 76-6280 Kuakini Hwy in Kona.

THE KA`U FOREST RESERVE is the subject of another management plan that involves controlling pigs, goats, sheep and wild cattle. This plan is being written by the state, and a draft Environmental Impact Statement is being written. Ron Terry, of Geometrician Associates, is meeting with individuals and groups in Ka`u. He can be reached at 969-7090 or geometricianassociates.com.

KAWA FLATS improvements to eliminate flooding across Hwy 11 is the subject of a meeting tomorrow at Na`alehu School Cafeteria at 6 p.m. sponsored by the state Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration. Comments are being taken on the Environmental Assessment to raise Hwy 11 some ten feet above grade to 46 feet above sea level. An 84-foot-wide culvert, eight feet high, would be placed beneath the highway along a 3,700-foot section of the highway.
     “Flood waters from an intermittent stream frequently overtop the highway and completely close this round-the-island highway – the only route connecting the two main towns of Ka`u,” the EA states.
     The draft EA is available at Pahala and Na`alehu public libraries, and online at hawaii.gov/ health/environmental/oeqc/index.html.

BOTH STATE OF HAWAI`I AND U.S. FLAGS are flying at half-staff today to commemorate the enduring legacy of the events at Pearl Harbor 70 years ago. Japan’s surprise attack on Hawai`i led many Ka`u residents to sign up to fight in World War II. The military moved in, setting up shop at such places as the Pahala Hongwanji and Kilauea Military Camp. Ka`u residents were told to keep their lights off at night, fearing another attack. Military Jeeps and SPAM rations arrived and are among the cultural impacts that remain. 

HAWAI`I WILDLIFE FUND sponsors an anchialine pond restoration workday this Saturday. Volunteers meet at 7:45 a.m. at Wai`ohinu Park and carpool to Ho`onoua Pool North. To sign up, contact Megan at 769-7629 or kahakai.cleanups@gmail.com.

CHRISTMAS IN KA`U will be sponsored by Thy Word Ministries-Ka`u at the Na`alehu Hongwanji Building on Hwy 11. The event on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with song, hula, dance and free Hawaiian plate lunches is open to everyone. Vendor spaces are available by calling Pamela Taylor at 937-3386. 

 

VOLCANO ART CENTER’S free Holiday Lights Community Celebration takes place Saturday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at its Niaulani Campus in Volcano Village. The Christmas tree and light display features a children’s tree ornament contest. Other activities include an `ohi`a yule log hunt, holiday music, caroling, marshmallow roasting, light refreshments and a visit by Santa Claus.

JUNIOR “VOLCANO” CHOY presents A Night of Hot Jazz after the Holiday Lights Celebration at the Niaulani Campus from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at 967-8222 or volcanoartcenter.org. 

THE ANNUAL PAHALA CHRISTMAS PARADE is getting organized, with churches, community groups and other groups building their floats. Organizer Eddie Andrade, who has sponsored the parade for more than 40 years, can be contacted at 928-0808. Participants meet this Sunday at 11:30 a.m. at Pahala Armory for the parade that begins at 1 p.m. and winds through Pahala, with refreshments at the Catholic Church following the procession.

Ka'u News Briefs Dec. 6, 2011

The Pahala Christmas Parade takes place this Sunday at 1 p.m. Dominic Yagong joined Pahala Preschool in last year's
parade.  Photo by Geneveve Fyvie 

PRESERVATION OF NATIVE WILDLIFE by reducing the number of pigs, cattle, sheep and goats within Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park is the subject of a public meeting tonight at Na`alehu Community Center at 6 p.m. The park’s management plan and Environmental Impact Statement is up for public comment. The plan calls for fencing of park boundaries and some inner areas, along with aerial shooting and ground shooting of non-native ungulates and other measures to promote recovery and restoration of native vegetation and other natural resources, and to protect and preserve cultural resources.
     The draft plan/EIS is available for review at Kilauea Visitor Center and state public libraries. It is also available online at parkplanning.nps.gov/havo_ecosystem_ deis.

THE KA`U GYM AND DISASTER SHELTER PLANS are open for preliminary public comment through today. Comments can be made by calling 961-8321 or emailing public_works@co.hawaii.hi.us. Public meetings, called charrettes, will be held Dec. 19 and 20, when the architect and engineering firm, along with county and school officials, will meet with the public from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. both days at the Pahala school cafeteria.

Robert Rapier Photo from digitaljournal.com

BIOFUELS GROWN IN HAWAI`I should be reserved for transportation rather than electricity, according to an opinion piece by farmer and geothermal proponent Richard Ha and energy analyst Robert Rapier. The two wrote in Civil Beat yesterday that oil demand is outstripping worldwide supplies, leaving Hawai`i particularly vulnerable. “Hawai`i depends on oil for around 90 percent of its energy needs – a far greater percentage than any other state. It is divided roughly equally among ground transportation, jet fuel, and electricity generation. 

Advanced biofuels are being contemplated to replace some of the oil used for electricity. However, there are many ways to produce electricity, but few scalable substitutes for jet fuel. To the extent that we can produce biofuels sustainably, they should be allocated to jet fuel or ground transportation, not electricity. 

     “We should work toward geothermal to provide the 80 percent of electricity referred to as ‘base power.’ This is the day and night power that is stable and predictable and prevents your lights from flickering. The other 20 percent, referred to as ‘intermittent power,’ can be provided by wind and solar,” the editorial states.
     `Aina Koa Pono, which proposed making biofuel in Ka`u and building a refinery above Pahala, has said it is also interested in manufacturing fuel for transportation.

POST OFFICES ARE SAFE in Ka`u and Volcano, according to the list made by the U.S. Postal Service to cut more than $20 billion in expenses by 2015. Ocean View’s new post office, Na`alehu, Pahala, Volcano, and Hawai`i Volcano National Park post offices are not on the chopping block. However, the Postal Service announced yesterday that it is asking the U.S. Postal Regulatory Commission for cutbacks elsewhere, including consolidation of sorting centers on the mainland. This would mean overnight mail delivery would no longer be available, First Class Mail would take an additional day, Priority Mail would still take three days, and what is now overnight mail would take two days. Post offices may also close on Saturdays in Ka`u, Volcano and elsewhere. 

BLACK HOLES that are some 2,000 times larger than the black hole at the center of the galaxy where planet Earth is spinning have been discovered by scientists right here on the Big Island, working on Mauna Kea. A Stephens Media story by Erin Miller says the discovery will be the subject of a story in this month’s journal called Nature. The astronomical find was made with help of the Gemini observatory, where scientists said that the monstrous black holes are more than 300 million light years away, posing no threat to Earth, as they consume stellar material. They are the largest black holes ever discovered, scientists said.

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES drew some local residents to O`ahu yesterday to line up with more than 2,000 people looking for jobs. Hawaiian Airlines is ramping up for more flights and more employees even though it already has the most employees in its history. Requirements include no visible tattoos and being tall enough to reach your hands 85 inches above the floor of the plane to be able to help passengers with overhead luggage and to handle emergency equipment. 

     The interviewing for Hawaiian Airlines jobs yesterday lasted from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Hawaiian is one of the only airlines in the U.S. that is expanding the number of its flights, adding new destinations and new employees, and signing up for new planes.

One of three versions of the present-
day Medal of Honor.

THE CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR FOUNDATION is looking for nominations of U.S. Citizens who could be eligible for Citizen Service Before Self Honors. These honors go to Americans who become extraordinary through their courage and selflessness. They allow living recipients of the Medal of Honor to choose and honor the unsung heroes. Local citizens can be nominated by completing a form online at citizenservicebeforeselfhonors.org. The nomination period runs through Feb. 10. A panel of Medal of Honor recipients will choose 20 national finalists to be announced Feb. 27. A second panel of Medal of Honor recipients will select three from the finalists to receive the Citizen Service Before Self Honor on Medal of Honor Day, next March 23, near the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington Cemetery. Two Ka`u residents, Tokuichi Nakano and Iwao Yonemitsu, flew to Washington, D.C. in November to receive Congressional Gold Medals for their own service in World War II.

THE ANNUAL PAHALA CHRISTMAS PARADE is getting organized, with churches, community groups and other groups building their floats. Organizer Eddie Andrade, who has sponsored the parade for more than 40 years, can be contacted at 928-0808. Participants meet this Sunday at 11:30 a.m. at Pahala Armory for the parade that begins at 1 p.m. and winds through Pahala, with refreshments at the Catholic Church following the procession.

CHRISTMAS IN KA`U will be sponsored by Thy Word Ministries-Ka`u at the Na`alehu Hongwanji Building on Hwy 11. The event on Saturday, Dec. 10 from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. with song, hula, dance and free Hawaiian plate lunches is open to everyone. Vendor spaces are available by calling Pamela Taylor at 937-3386.

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS AT KMC go on next week. The annual Kilauea Military Camp cottage decorating contest allows employees of KMC to create a Christmas wonderland. The public can vote on the best-decorated cottage.

Ka'u News Briefs Dec. 5, 2011

THE STATE COMMISSION ON WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT needs two new volunteer members, and the state is soliciting for qualified people to serve. The motto of the commission is: The trustee who oversees the rightful sharing of water - Ke Kahuwai Pono. 

     Water management in Ka`u and beyond often involves interests of those wanting to preserve clean drinking water, farmers, ranchers, hunters, native wildlife conservationists, Hawaiian cultural practitioners and developers. 

     According to a Chad Blair story this morning in Civil Beat, the state has announced vacancies for the third time this year, as the seats of outgoing commissioners are yet to be filled. The mission of the seven volunteer commissioners is “wise and responsible management” to protect and enhance water resources throughout the state. Commissioners are state Department of Land & Natural Resources William Aila, Jr., state Department of Health director Loretta Fuddy, former DOH director Lawrence Milk, former sugar industry executive William Balfour, cattle rancher Sumner Erdman and Maui District conservationist Neal Fujiwara. Donna Kiyosaki, former chief engineer with the Honolulu Board of Water Supply and vice president of a development company, left her seat vacant as her term expired this summer, and a commission member is sought with her kind of experience.
     Requirements to fill another seat being vacated next year include “substantial experience or expertise in traditional Hawaiian water resource management techniques and in traditional Hawaiian riparian usage.”
     Applications and resumes should be sent to the Nominating Committee, Commission on Water Resource Management, 1151 Punchbowl Street, Room 227, Honolulu, HI 96813 and postmarked no later than December 16, 2011.

Vegetation and soils in Hawai`i Volcanoes
National Park are damaged by non-native
ungulates. Photos from NPS 

THE LOCAL KA`U AGRICULTURAL WATER COOPERATIVE DISTRICT has been meeting almost monthly for years in an attempt to help restore old sugar plantation water resources for agriculture. The cooperative brings together stakeholders from areas served by the old plantation sources. Around 1900, tunnels were dug horizontally into the Mauna Loa Volcano, and water dripping down through the porous rocks of the mountain collected in the tunnels to run downhill to old plantation distribution systems, many of them in disrepair, but with millions of gallons of water still coming out of the tunnels.
     Anyone with interest in agricultural use of water coming from Alili Tunnel, Moa`ula, Hilea, Mountain House, Ha`ao, Keaiwa, Wood Valley and Kapapala, where groups are organizing to improve water distribution, can call Jeffrey McCall at 928-6456. The next water meeting is Thursday, Dec. 15 is at 4 p.m. at the ML Macadamia conference room in Pahala.

Native plants recover from damage by
non-native ungulates in a fenced area
of Hawa`i Volcanoes National Park.

PIGS, GOATS, SHEEP AND WILD CATTLE are some of the ungulates that destroy native forest, and their control is the subject of a public hearing on Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park’s Environmental Impact Statement. The first public meeting is from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. tonight at Kilauea Visitor Center, and the second is Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Na`alehu Community Center. The park service will set up small stations where the public can ask questions and have comments recorded.

     The draft plan and EIS sets up a framework to manage the non-native ungulates for long-term ecosystem protection. It promotes recovery and restoration of native vegetation and other natural resources, and protects and preserves cultural resources.

     The draft plan/EIS is available for review at Kilauea Visitor Center and state public libraries. It is also available online at http://www.parkplanning.nps.gov/havo_ecosystem_ deis.

THE COUNTY CHARTER AMENDMENT PROPOSAL that would secure 0.25 percent of county property tax revenues to take care of public land purchased with property tax money goes to another reading by the County Council this Wednesday. The proposal would generate about a half million dollars a year with current property tax collections. If approved the amendment would go on the ballot in 2012.

THE FIRST ALL-ELECTRIC CAR to be marketed in Hawai`i arrives at the state Capitol today to be handed over with great ceremony to the first retail customer in the state. It is manufactured by Mitsubishi Motors North America and is called the iEV. The ceremony was scheduled for this morning in front of Father Damien’s Statue at the State Capitol Building. Mitsubishi describes the electric vehicle as “safe, reliable, sustainable and cost-efficient personal transportation.”

THE KAWA FLATS FLOOD MEETING for the public will be Thursday at 6 p.m. at Na`alehu School Cafeteria. Comments are being taken on the Environmental Assessment to raise Hwy 11 some ten feet above grade to 46 feet above sea level. An 84-foot-wide culvert, eight feet high, would be placed beneath the highway.
     “Flood waters from an intermittent stream frequently overtop the highway and completely close this round-the-island highway – the only route connecting the two main towns of Ka`u,” the EA states.

     The draft EA is available at Pahala and Na`alehu public libraries, and online at http://hawaii.gov/ health/environmental/oeqc/index.html.

Rory Koi (l), owner of South Side Shaka's Restaurant, and Jojo Akamu play at the Makahiki.

THE ANNUAL MAKAHIKI that celebrates Hawaiian values, culture, talent and food took place last weekend at Punalu`u Beach Park with everyone invited. Local bands volunteered, and free food was served up both days. Hawaiian crafts, including coconut frond hats, were made. 

Li`i Kaluna with coconut hats
made at the Makahiki.

THE PRELIMINARY DEADLINE for public comments on the regional disaster shelter and gymnasium that will be built on the Pahala school and county campus is tomorrow, Dec. 6. More than $16 million has been released by the governor to the county for the project. Points of discussion include whether the gym will have the equipment to clean its air during bad vog days, how many people it will be able to handle during a disaster, whether it will include a certified kitchen that could be used to make food during a disaster and to make food for community fundraisers during normal times, and the attributes of the gym and community center – how many sports courts, a fitness center, stage and other amenities. Some citizens have also asked that the gym be designed to fit in with the historic nature of Pahala village.
     Comments can be made by calling 961-8321 or emailing public_works@co.hawaii.hi.us.
     A second round of public input will be Dec. 19 and 20, when the architect and engineering firm, along with county and school officials, will meet with the public from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. both days at the Pahala school cafeteria. 

DONATIONS FOR CHRISTMAS IN PAHALA are being taken at KAHU Community Radio station on Maile Street in Pahala. Canned foods, toys, gift certificates and beverages can be donated for distribution to needy families at a caroling party around a lighted Christmas tree on Pikake Street in Pahala on Sunday, Dec. 18 at 5:30 p.m. To give frozen foods, like turkey, and to arrange donation pickups, call Keala Kailiawa at 928-0500.