Ka`u News Briefs Sept. 30, 2012

This blue fish bin was studied for radiation and invasive species. It floated to Hawai`i after the Japan tsunami.
Photos from University of Hawai`i

KA LAE BEACHES are expected to receive some of the heaviest concentrations of debris from the March 11, 2011 Japan tsunami. Some of the highest concentrations of plastics, fishing nets and other items drifting onto Hawaiian island shores land at Kamilo and other Ka Lae beaches through prevailing winds and currents throughout the year. The tsunami flotsam has reached the currents and could be blown ashore. Hawai`i Wildlife Fund and government agencies have said they will help with the cleanup.

The fish bin came from Y.K. Suisan in Japan, picking up
sea life as it drifted to Hawaiian waters.

      The state Department of Land & Natural Resources released a statement Friday saying it is working with stakeholders to assess and monitor the movement of Japan tsunami marine debris. “The Japan Ministry of the Environment estimates that five million tons of debris washed into the ocean (not the 25 million tons according to initial estimates). They further estimated that 70 percent of debris sank near the coast of Japan soon after the tsunami.” The DLNR reports that models and estimates completed by NOAA and the University of Hawai`i reveal that some high-floating debris may have passed near or washed ashore on the main and Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as early as this summer. During the summer, debris was found along the Pacific Coast of North America from Alaska southward to California.
      “Because most tsunami debris was washed out to sea before the release of radioactive materials from the power plant and because of its extended exposure to the elements, it is highly unlikely that the debris would be contaminated.

Capt. Charles Moore looks for debris
in Hawaiian waters. Photo from
Algalita Marine Research Institute

      “Even though the likelihood of discovering radioactive contamination on marine debris is low, the state Department of Health has been conducting shoreline surveillance since April 2011 in order to establish normal background radiation levels around the islands. The state Department of Health continues to conduct quarterly shoreline environmental surveys on O`ahu, Maui, Kaua`i, and the Hawai`i Island. Results of the surveys performed displays consistency with normal background radiation levels. Additionally, the state Department of Health has partnered with NOAA to perform shoreline and debris monitoring on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
      Anyone finding debris is urged to send a photo and detailed description, date found, location and finder’s contact information to dlnr@hawaii.gov.”
      The DLNR is also looking for a missing dock believed to have drifted from the coast of Japan after the earthquake and tsunami. It has been spotted in Hawaiian waters. The dock is a hazard to navigation, and DLNR warns boaters, fishermen and pilots to report any sightings and, if possible, provide a GPS description. Call 587-0400.
      The first confirmed piece of tsunami debris was a floating blue fish bin that was tested for radiation and invasive species, and found no threats to Hawai`i. For more on the Hawai`i Wildlife Fund cleanup efforts see www.wildhawaii.org.

SEN. DAN INOUYE is objecting to a Linda Lingle campaign ad for the U.S. Senate race that indicates Lingle, a Republican, would partner with Inouye, a senior Democrat, to benefit Hawai`i. The video, released on Friday, features retired Hawai`i National Guard Gen. Robert F. Lee, who praised Inouye and said that he and Lingle could work together. In a statement, Inouye fired back stating: “I am not supporting Linda Lingle’s Senate candidacy, and I would ask Gen. Lee to stop using this misleading ad.” Inouye stated that if Lee or Lingle had talked with him about the ad, “I would have objected because it is grossly misleading and suggests a relationship that has never existed…. After watching the ad, I would like to state that I am Daniel K. Inouye, and I do not approve that message.”

Newly completed rock walls will protect Kahuku Park users from a 12-foot cliff. Photo from Robin Lamson

A MAJOR IMPROVEMENT AT KAHUKU PARK in Ocean View is in progress. Friends of Kahuku Park was able to hire Frank Choy of Big Island Rock to construct two four-foot by 80-foot rock walls in a terrace to protect park visitors from a dangerous 12-foot cliff below Kahuku Park’s basketball court. A six-foot fence will be placed on top of the upper wall to complete the project. “None of this would have been possible without an anonymous donor and additional funding from the Edmund C. Olson Trust,” said Robin Lamson, chairman of Friends of Kahuku Park.

CU Hawai`i in Na`alehu is the site of
Chamber of Commerce's art show.

THE BEAUTY OF KA`U, Ka`u Chamber Of Commerce’s art show and contest for The Directory 2013, is open to the public tomorrow through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday from 9 a.m. to noon and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. 

      Each day during the show, the public may sign in and receive a ballot to vote for their favorite exhibit. The adult winner of the popular vote will be featured on the cover of The Directory 2013, and all first-prize winners will appear inside with appropriate credit given. Each category will be rewarded with first, second and third prize ribbons, and, if appropriate, as many as two honorable mentions.
      A reception to view all the winners and greet the artists will be held Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. with light refreshments at CU Hawai`i credit union.

GROUNBREAKING FOR THE KA`U DISTRICT GYM & SHELTER is Wednesday at 9 a.m. The public is invited to join Gov. Neil Abercrombie, Sen. Gil Kahele, Rep. Bob Herkes, Mayor Billy Kenoi, Councilmember Brittany Smart, county Department of Parks & Recreation chief Bob Fitzgerald and Public Works chief Warren Lee at the event. Also onsite will be contractor Summit Construction, Inc. president Jack Parker, project superintendent Kenneth Petrisko, project manager Melvin Inouye and project engineer Rex Tajiri. Also attending is Aaron Fujii, of design and engineering company Mitsunaga & Associates. Superintendent of Schools for Ka`u, Kea`au and Pahoa, Mary Correa, also plans to attend, along with representatives of Ka`u High & Pahala Elementary School, including Principal Sharon Beck.

Have Lunch with a Ranger at the Kahuku
Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.

THE ANNUAL INTERFAITH SERVICE FOR KA`U, coordinated by priests, pastors, ministers and other spiritual leaders in the district, will be held a week from today on Sunday, Oct. 7 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Na`alehu Hongwanji Mission. All faiths are invited. The theme is Oneness of Mankind. There will be music and singing from various religious traditions, hula, drums, chanting and prayers. 

      A potluck will follow the service. “We are starting Thanksgiving early, being grateful for living on this beautiful island,” said Marge Elwell, one of the organizers. For more information, call 929-7236 or email marge@hawaii.rr.com.

A NEW FREE PROGRAM AT KAHUKU UNIT of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park invites the public to bring bag lunches and learn about subjects related to Kahuku. Rangers choose varied topics ranging from land management and conservation issues to environmental and cultural history and guide an open discussion with visitors at 12 p.m. on next Sunday, Oct. 7 and Saturday, Oct. 20. Check the Activities Boards at the Kahuku Visitor Greeting Area for the day’s Lunch with a Ranger topic and location. 

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS NOW OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/KAUCALENDAR.

Ka`u News Briefs Sept. 29, 2012

Ka`u Shelter & Gym will strive to meet LEED guidelines, says a statement from Hawai`i County.

THE NEW KA`U GYMNASIUM & DISASTER SHELTER “plans, design, and construction will strive to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) guidelines put forth by the U.S. Green Building Council,” according to a statement from Hawai`i County. “For a building to achieve LEED certification, its construction must meet criteria in six performance standards: a sustainable site, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design,” says the statement released yesterday.
       The public is invited to the groundbreaking at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3 on the field between Pahala tennis courts and Pahala School Cafeteria, where the facility will be constructed. Construction is scheduled to begin the week of Oct. 11 and projected to take 18 months to complete. The $17 million facility will be built by Summit Construction, of Honolulu. The architect and engineering firm is Mitsunaga & Associates.

Floor plan for Ka`u District Gym & Shelter shows
layout of basketball and volleyball courts.

       Through the state-county partnership, the state is financing design and construction and providing the site for the facility. The county is responsible for design and construction of the facility through the Departments of Public Works and Parks and Recreation. The facility will be used jointly by the school and the community.
      The facility will accommodate three regulation Hawai`i High School Athletic Association basketball or volleyball courts. Accessory rooms will include locker and training rooms, restrooms, lobby, courtyard, kitchen, ticket booths and office space. There will be storage areas for the state Department of Education, county Parks & Recreation and the American Red Cross.
      “The 43,300-square-foot Ka`u District Gym & Shelter will expand athletic and recreational opportunities in the Ka`u district. It will also serve as a destination for community events and as an emergency shelter during natural disasters,” the county statement says. It notes that coming to the groundbreaking will be Gov. Neil Abercrombie, Mayor Billy Kenoi, Department of Education officials and Ka`u High School principal Sharon Beck.
      Also expected to attend are current County Council member Brittany Smart, who took up the cause of building the gym from former County Council member Guy Enriques, and Rep. Bob Herkes and Sen. Gil Kahele, who also championed the project.

MORE TESTIMONY on the `Aina Koa Pono case before the Public Utilities Commission is posted on the state PUC website. 

      Dianne Neufeld Heck, of Ocean View, writes on the proposed trucking between the refinery planned off Wood Valley Road and up Hwy 11 to the Hawai`i Electric Light Co. power plant near the Kona airport and also the trucking of inputs for the refinery. “These routes would be from receiving ports on the island, probably Hilo, and to the HELCO generating plant near Kailua-Kona. In addition, raw materials will need to be imported from the mainland, another shipping expense. And lastly, the developers of this project have said that they will sell the biodiesel to a company on the mainland, more trucking and then shipping across the Pacific. I am sure they are asking for a guaranteed rate to be paid by the electric customers of Hawai`i to cover all their costs of all of this shipping, which will use extremely large amounts of fossil fuel, the thing we are trying to find alternatives for.”
      Ed Wagner, of Mililani on O`ahu, who also testified against the `Aina Koa Pono proposal last year, submitted testimony for this year’s proposal “against the HECO-AKP biofuel application, round two.” He urges the PUC to look at other examples of sustainable energy and pointed to Denmark, where “wind mills are scattered throughout the country providing 20 percent of Denmark’s power needs. Wind mills are purchased by farmers with the help of government subsidies and used to provide the farm and excess power is sold back to the utility.”
      Wagner says the utility in Denmark, Dong Energy, “receives all the power generated into its own batteries to stabilize the intermittent wind power, and sends it back out to customers.”
      Wagner contends that “this approach will probably be required when HEI is forced to become a transmission only company, instead of the fox guarding the henhouse by both producing and distributing power.”
      He said, however, that Denmark’s approach to wind power is not the same as trying to use 20 percent of Lana`i as a wind farm and sending the power via undersea cable to O`ahu. “That is outright wrong,” Wagner testifies.

`Aina Koa Pono's depiction of its refinery shows four microwave reactors.

      He writes that Denmark is also the world leader in biomass technology, “including biomass to bio-fuel Microwave Depolymerization, with the only commercially operational facility in the world.” He says, however, the Denmark “facilities are investor owned without any involvement with electric ratepayer surcharges. The primary focus is transportation fuel, as it rightfully should be, not generation of electricity.”
      Wagner claims that “Hawai`i is such an anti-business state as a direct result of HEI’s 100 year monopolistic control of all aspects of our energy future to ensure its profits continue to skyrocket at the expense of its ratepayers, at the expense of Hawai`i's future, and at the expense of mature commercial technologies like those of OFT (the Danish biofuel producer) instead of relying on the continued lab experiments by novices like AKP and HECO/HELCO.”
      Wagner argues: “It would be so easy for Hawai`i to become 100 percent free of foreign oil in 10 years or less if we eliminate HEI from the scene completely.” He writes that “oil burning power plants would he a thing of the past in 10 short years.... The bottom line - reject this application 2012-0185 as you did 2011-0005 last year because there is a much healthier way to completely end our dependency on foreign oil in 10 short years than by relying on a utility monopoly that is solely interested in increasing profits at the expense of ratepayers and our energy future. If AKP wants to continue conducting lab experiments, then it should do so on its own dime, not already overburdened ratepayers.” He also asks the PUC to consider why the creators of the `Aina Koa Pono microwave process have no operating plant in their own country. He also asks whether the PUC has done due diligence by visiting the North Carolina site where the lab experiments are ongoing.
      See more testimony at puc.hawaii.gov in the `Aina Koa Pono docket documents.

ENTRIES FOR KA`U CHAMBER OF COMMERCE’S art show and Directory 2013 art contest are being accepted today until 11:30 a.m. at CU Hawai`i credit union in Na`alehu. Entry fee is $5 for each artwork in categories of Graphics, Sculpture, Wood, Photography and Craft. The entry fee for Keiki is $1 in categories of Graphics and Photography.

TO CELEBRATE NATIONAL PUBLIC LANDS DAY, Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park is waiving entrance fees today. Volunteers are stationed at the entrance to solicit donations to support projects and restoration activities in the park. For more information, contact the Friends of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park at 985-7373, admin@fhvnp.org or fhvnp.org. 

KILAUEA MILITARY CAMP in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park holds an open house today, inviting all park visitors to experience how KMC serves America’s troops. All facilities and services are available to the general public.

HAWAI`I ELECTRIC LIGHT CO. invites the community to its Community Energy Fair today from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Prince Kuhio Plaza in Hilo.
     Through educational displays, interactive exhibits, and hands-on activities, attendees can learn about electricity generation, power distribution, renewable energy, electrical safety, emergency preparedness, and customer services. The fair also features demonstrations by school robotics programs, electric vehicles, and keiki IDs. Starting at 10 a.m., performances begin with Halau Na Lei Hiwahiwa O Ku`ualoha, Energy in Motion Dance Company, and Waiakea Intermediate School Ukulele Band.
     Attendees who visit each of the exhibits and submit a completed “energy passport” will receive a free reusable bag.

KA`U PLANTATION DAYS is a week from today, Saturday, Oct. 6. Cane haul trucks and pa`u riders travel down Pikake Street to the manager’s house, with displays, photos, storytelling, food and dance from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, contact Lynn Hamilton at 928-0303 or lynnbybay@aol.com.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL NOW OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/KAUCALENDAR.

Ka`u News Briefs Sept. 28, 2012

One of the new ideas for spaceports in Hawai`i would have passengers lifted into high altitude but suborbital flights between O`ahu and the Big Island.  Photo from Rocketplane Global

COMMERCIAL SPACE LAUNCH licensing is in the sights of the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism, which was recently awarded a $250,000 matching grant from the Federal Aviation Administration and at least another $250,000 from local sources. Space Transportation Infrastructure grants also went to Colorado and California.
      U.S. Transportation secretary Ray La Hood said, “These investments will help us continue to develop a safe and robust commercial space industry in the United States."
      FAA acting administrator Michael Huerta said, “Government and private sector partnerships are essential to carrying out our national space policies. Today’s grants help keep America competitive by investing in space transportation infrastructure development.”

      The Hawai`i grant will be used to conduct environmental and other feasibility analysis for potential FAA Commercial Launch Site Operator’s License. The FAA grant requires that a minimum of 10 percent of the total project cost come from private funding. According to an FAA statement, “the United States’ space program has three sectors – civil, military and commercial. The FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation is responsible for licensing, regulating and promoting the commercial space transportation industry. 

One plan on the state website shows weddings in space during the flight
between O`ahu and the Big Island.

      “Since the office was created in 1984, the FAA has issued licenses for more than 200 launches, licensed the operation of eight FAA-approved launch sites known as spaceports and has helped ensure that no loss of life or serious injury has been associated with these efforts."
      During past proposals for spaceports, Ka`u, with its uninhabited coastal lands, has been a top candidate. One plan, for which an Environmental Impact Statement was written. was for what are now former sugar plantation-owned lands makai of Pahala. The plan called for traffic along Hwy 11 to be halted during spacecraft liftoff.
      According to Wikipedia, in 1961, “Ka Lae was on the list of final sites to be considered by NASA to launch manned rockets to space. However, it was considered too remote. From 1964 to 1965, a space tracking station was operated there, and in 1979 as a missile launching site. The low latitude of the location also made it (and nearby areas that are as remote) attractive as a site for private rocket launches, but these plans were dropped in the face of high costs and local opposition.”
      The newest spaceport plan does not necessarily involve Ka`u. One plan posted on the State of Hawai`i website calls for two planes that would travel at high altitudes, but suborbital, between a spaceport near Keahole Airport and another in Honolulu. The package would include luxury lodging for customers at existing five-star luxury resort developments on O`ahu and the Kohala Coast. Anothre calls for suborbital weddings.
      The plan says $2 billion dollars could come in during the first five years of the space tourism industry for Hawai`i.

Archaeological and cultural surveys will be undertaken by the county in
its planning for Kawa to become a public park and preserve.
Photo by Julia Neal

ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL SURVEYS will be undertaken by the county in its planning for Kawa to become a public park and preserve. A story in this morning’s West Hawai`i Today says the 784 acres, recently acquired by the county with state, federal and county 2 percent funding, was the subject of Native Hawaiian families with ties to the area, meeting yesterday with representatives of the state Office of Historic Preservation. Families claim gravesites and house sites on the property, for which they want access and stewardship. The Nancy Cook Lauer story quotes Mayor Billy Kenoi saying, “We’re going to take care of Kawa Bay by working with the families, protecting the cultural and archaeological sites. We want to put our management plan in place and then execute a transition. It’s all about doing it right.” 

      In question is whether the county will allow Abel Simeona Lui, who says he has been living at Kawa for 20 years, to stay on the county property as a caretaker. Lui has gone to court numerous times claiming his family inherited the land, a claim that some other families connected with Kawa reject. The courts have authorized the county to evict Lui and other people living there, but the mayor says he wants to resolve the situation in a peaceful way.

Dr. Josh Green, center front, who championed funding for rural doctors,
celebrates donations to the cause yesterday in Honolulu.
Photo from Gov. Neil Abercrombie

THE NEW HAWAI`I HEALTH CORPS received an extra boost yesterday at a press conference where Gov. Neil Abercrombie announced government and private support. The initiative is a mission of Dr. Josh Green, the incumbent state senator, whose district has been changed to include Kona to Honu`apo. Green got his start in medicine in Hawai`i at Ka`u Hospital and lived in a house at Punalu`u Beach. The new Hawai`i Health Corps will help doctors pay off medical school loans in exchange for serving rural areas like Ka`u. HMSA and The Queens Health Systems donated $150,000 to the program yesterday to match federal funding.
      The 2012 Legislature passed Senate Bill 596, championed by Green, allowing the state to spend a maximum of $40,000 a year for educational expenses of physicians when they serve the most needy communities in the Hawaiian Islands.

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN DISTRICT 3 is looking for precinct officers in the 7th Precinct, where the polling place is Ka`u High School cafeteria. Registered Democrats who might be interested in being involved can contact District 3 chair Ed James at 966-6380 or edjames808@gmail.com.

A portion of Oct. 13 Roller Derby ticket sales go to Hawai`i Wildlife Fund.

HAWAI`I WILDLIFE FUND thanks the community for its support of the group’s conservation efforts on Hawai`i Island. Fundraising opportunities to help the group continue its efforts include donating HI-5s to HWF at Mr. K’s Recycling & Redemption Center in Hilo. Also, through this Sunday, Sept. 30, Foodland, Sack ‘n’ Save and Western Union locations will match any donations up to $249 when shoppers use Maika`i cards at check-out and select Hawai`i Wildlife Fund #77187 from their list of organizations. On Saturday, Oct. 13, a portion of ticket sales from Paradise Roller Girls roller derby bout will be donated to HWF. Big Island Babes Junior derby scrimmages at 5:45 p.m., and bout starts at 7:30 p.m. Presale tickets are $8 and $10 at the door. Be there and cheer on HWF’s very own “Smash Yo Face” Stace #111. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact her at sk8ofmind111@gmail.com. For more information about HWF’s efforts, visit wildhawaii.org. 

KA`U HIGH TROJANS almost won their first football game of the season through a forfeiture decision by the Big Island Interscholastic Federation. Konawaena forfeited its first three wins for having an ineligible player on the field, who did not live in the Konawaena High School territory. While the Sept. 8 game against Ka`u was the third game of the season, and Konawaena won 86 to 0, the league allowed a preseason game against a Maui team to be counted in the forfeitures, leaving the win against Ka`u in place.

ENTRIES FOR KA`U CHAMBER OF COMMERCE’S art show and Directory 2013 art contest are being accepted today until 5 p.m. and tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at CU Hawai`i credit union in Na`alehu. Entry fee is $5 for each artwork in categories of Graphics, Sculpture, Wood, Photography and Craft. The entry fee for Keiki is $1 in categories of Graphics and Photography.

NATIONAL PUBLIC LANDS DAY is tomorrow, and to celebrate, Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park is waiving entry fees. Friends of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park will station volunteers at the entrance to solicit donations to support projects in the park and offers restoration activities. For more information, contact the Friends at 985-7373, admin@fhvnp.org or see www.fhvnp.org. 

ALSO IN CELEBRATION of National Public Lands Day, Kilauea Military Camp in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park holds an open house, inviting all park visitors to experience how KMC serves America’s troops. All facilities and services will be available to the general public. Call 967-8371 for more information. 

OKTOBERFEST CELEBRATION at St Jude’s Episcopal Church on Paradise circle in Ocean View is a week from today, Friday, Oct. 5. Dinner includes sauerkraut and bratwurst, boiled potatoes, dill pickles, cookies and beverages. Doors open at 6 p.m., and dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. A live polka band will add to the fun. There will also be a drawing for a hand-quilted wall hanging. Tickets for dinner are $13 each or 2 for $22. Tables may be reserved for larger parties. Half of the proceeds will be donated to Ocean View Food Basket. “This was a popular event last year, so get tickets early,” said publicity committee member Madalyn McWhite-Lamson. Call 939-7555 for tickets or to sign up to help at the event.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS NOW OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/KAUCALENDAR.