Ka`u News Briefs April 20, 2013

Incentivizing health care training and practice in rural Hawai`i is the theme of a health care conference last week in
Pahala and today and tomorrow in Honolulu. Photo from Ka`u Rural Health Community Association

SHORTAGE OF DOCTORS AND OTHER HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS, particularly in rural areas like Ka`u, is a main theme of the 2013 Hawai`i Health Workforce Summit: Improving Provider Satisfaction and Practice Sustainability, today and tomorrow on O`ahu. West Ka`u state senator and physician Josh Green hosts the event, moderates panel discussions and introduces Gov. Neil Abercrombie. Green spearheaded legislation at the 2013 Hawai`i Legislature to incentivize doctors and other health care practitioners to practice in Hawai`i.

Sen. Josh Green hosts a convention
today on attracting more health
care providers.

      Organizers of the event, including Dr. Kelley Withy, of the John H. Burns School of Medicine and its Hawai`i/Pacific Basin Area Health Education Center, has announced that the Big Island has a shortage of 194 physicians.

      Green said this morning that legislative support for incentives to draw health care providers here includes a bill for a residency program in Hilo that would result in outreach to rural places like Ka`u. He said another bill would help fund an `Imiloa program, which Green described as a pipeline to encourage and help pay for education for Native Hawaiians to become physicians.
      Green said his goal over time is to have one hundred physicians in the incentive programs to practice in underserved areas of Hawai`i in exchange for funding to help repay their medical school loans. He said the measures are likely to pass this year and predicts that the governor will sign them.
      Green said the conference today has attracted 250 health care professionals coming from each island. He said the event is paid from workforce funds collected through physician licensing fees that also go for data gathering and other research.
      A State Loan Repayment Program that was recently put in place encourages primary health care providers to work at designated Health Professional Shortage Areas in Hawai`i in exchange for providing relief in educational loan debt. Physicians, nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives and physician assistants are eligible. Physician specialties that qualify include family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, geriatrics and psychiatry. Health care professional can apply by Oct. 1. Nine physicians will be selected to receive $40,000 each to help pay off educational loans in return for a commitment of two years of practicing in underserved Hawai`i locations. Those selected are expected to be involved with workforce development activities like health career recruitment and teaching, in addition to practicing medicine.

Ka`u Hospital nursing director Nona Wilson and hospital clerk
Ty Chun, who trained on the job at home in Ka`u.
Photo from National Park Service

KA`U RURAL HEALTH COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION held its own conference last week in Pahala with a similar theme: Establishing a Ka`u Rural Health Academy: Focusing on Health, Education, Research Opportunities and Economic Sustainable Training Programs. Elisa Yadao, a senior vice president with health insurer HMSA, gave the keynote speech on The Impact of Establishing a Rural Health Academy in Ka`u. She talked about its value to preventative medicine, local health care services, enabling the elderly to stay in their homes and providing jobs for Ka`u.
      Ka`u Hospital director of Nursing, Nona Wilson, said the Ka`u conference was “all collaboration” with many representatives of agencies and educational and health institutions and community members participating. Wilson pointed out that Yadao “is homegrown, from Hilo, a Kamehameha School representative and former television news reporter. Her speech was down-to-earth as she explained how using technology can help rural Hawai`i.”

      Wilson talked about her own partnership with Ka`u Rural Health Community Association and its founder Jesse Marques to encourage better health care and economic opportunity. She discussed career ladders for registered nurses – to educate the youth of Ka`u for health care work while they stay in their home towns. She said she and Marques are talking to the community college, University of Hawai`i, University of Phoenix and other institutions. “Youth from Ka`u will be excellent health care providers. They understand the culture, and the people feel comfortable with them,” the Ka`u Hospital nursing director said.

      The issue of providing opportunity in Ka`u is about “growing your own,” said Wilson. “There is no reason we can’t do this,” she said, pointing to technology like Skype and other online educational tools. “We have all the tools we need to create opportunities for our own people to have meaningful careers, so they can support their families and stay at home and enjoy the community and the place that they love.” She suggested the Ka`u Rural Health Community Association’s Long Distance Learning Center, near the library in Pahala as an excellent place for education.
      In supporting education that keeps people at home, Wilson said, “One of the things that I get from the people of Ka`u is that they don’t want to give up their lifestyle, and their lifestyle is good.” She pointed to a certified nurses assistant training program initiated by Marques, from which Ka`u Hospital hired graduates. “That’s wonderful. Why can’t we do more?” asked Wilson.
      She described the staff at Ka`u Hospital as treating “everybody like family because they are family. You can’t teach people that. They have it. People take pride for providing services. Ka`u Hospital is homegrown,” she said.

Bills that passed the Legislature focus on efforts to modernize the state's
electrical grids.

BILLS INFLUENCING DECISIONS by the Public Utilities Commission have passed the state Legislature. 

      Senate Bill 1040 requires the PUC to consider in their decision-making the value of implementing advanced grid technology to accommodate more clean energy. “The increased scale, speed and accuracy of the information provided by advanced grid infrastructure systems can better support initiatives to break the state’s petroleum dependence,” the bill states.

      Senate Bill 120 directs the PUC to establish a policy to implement economic incentives and cost recovery regulatory mechanisms that would induce and accelerate electric utilities’ cost reduction efforts, encourage greater utilization of renewable energy, accelerate the retirement of utility fossil generation and increase investments to modernize the state’s electrical grids. The bill states that, using the current business model, “electric utilities are not incentivized to aggressively reduce energy costs or seek lower cost alternatives or efficiency gains.”

      “The current electric ratemaking process employs a single authorized rate of return that is applied equally to all utility plant investments,” the bill states. “This methodology does not differentiate between plant investments to modernize the electric grid, which should be encouraged, and investments to preserve old, inefficient fossil generation, which should be discouraged. Retiring old, inefficient utility fossil generation acts as a financial disincentive for electric utilities because the electric utilities can only earn a return on plant investment that is actually used and useful to provide utility service. The early retirement of utility fossil generation may create costs that are stranded and cannot be recovered from ratepayers. The continued operation of old, inefficient utility fossil generation therefore preserves existing utility financial returns.”
      The bills now go to the governor for consideration. The status of these and other bills is available at capitol.hawaii.gov.

“PLEASE PUT ASIDE POLITICS and consider the overall cost of using this unproven technology on the people of this Island as well as the entire state of Hawai`i,” writes Pahala resident Sara Witt to the Public Utilities Commission regarding the proposed contract for `Aina Koa Pono to grow feedstock and produce biofuel at a refinery in Ka`u. 

      Witt says AKP has “disregarded the concerns of the community over this project,” and refers to the question of whether an Environmental Impact Statement will be done.
      “The Island of Hawai`i pays the highest electricity rates in the state, affecting all commerce conducted on this Island. HELCO wants the public to pay for the expansion of their business, charging more and then passing on the cost,” Witt says. “As a business owner, this doesn’t make much sense to me. I was not aware that I could ask those in my community for money to expand my business and then charge them more for my services.
      “Not only is cost a factor of the `Aina Koa Pono, LLC fantasy, but the cost to our agriculture with the radiation from the huge microwaves.” Witt referred to research that microwaves harm bees.
      “The district of Ka`u wants to become the breadbasket of Hawai`i,” she said. “Let’s make decisions working toward this goal.”
      Although the period for public testimony on the proposed contract has passed, people can still send letters to the PUC at hawaii.puc@hawaii.gov or 465 South King Street, #103, Honolulu, HI 96813.

THE NATURE OF NATURE opens today at Volcano Art Center Gallery with a reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Elizabeth Miller and John Matsushita works offer journeys into the multi-layered dimensions of life on Hawai`i Island through paintings and sculpture. The exhibit is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through June 2.

DURING NATIONAL PARK WEEK, Kilauea Military Camp in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park invites all park visitors to experience how KMC serves America’s troops. All facilities and services, including guest rooms, available to the general public Monday, April 22 to Friday, April 26. For more information, call 967-8371.
      Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park also waives entry fees for these dates.

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

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

Ka`u News Briefs April 19, 2013

Miss Ka`u Coffee Pageant contestants practice on the new stage built at Ka`u Coffee Mill drying facility. Pageant
director is Nalani Parlin. The event is next Friday, April 26. Tickets are $10 and available from contestants.
Photo by Julia Neal

KA`U AGRICULTURAL WATER COOPERATIVE DISTRICT members met yesterday with great concern for funding for their irrigation projects using old plantation water tunnels between Kapapala, Wood Valley, Pahala, Na`alehu and Wai`ohinu. Funding and bonds were left out of several bills at the state Legislature, reported Ka`u Farm Bureau president Chris Manfredi. He said that he visited with key lawmakers this week in Honolulu to encourage them to help put the funding back into the state budget during the ongoing conference meetings between the state House and Senate before the 2013 Hawai`i Legislature ends. He said there is a good chance that funding for the irrigation system will either be restored in the state budget or make it into enabling legislation for funding through bonds. 

      Manfredi also said he has hope that significant funding to fight the coffee berry borer pest that is promised from the federal government would go through, with the state Legislature approving a smaller amount in required matching funds. Farmers and ranchers also said they are hoping that surveying will soon begin on the old plantation tunnels so that work can begin on restoring them and building water delivery systems to farms and ranches before previously approved money from the state expires.
      Farmers and ranchers reported on organizing their regional co-ops for such areas as Wood Valley, Mountain House, Hilea and other farm and ranch areas where water from the old plantation tunnels could be secured.

Kulani Prison could be reopened by July 2014.
Photo from Big Island Video News

FUNDING TO REOPEN KULANI PRISON has been approved by state legislators. East Ka`u Rep. Richard Onishi called the facility an economic driver that will provide about 90 jobs.
      Toni Schwartz, of the state Department of Public Safety, told Hawai`i Tribune-Herald reporter Tom Callis that the prison could begin housing inmates in July 2014.
      According to the story, 30 percent of Hawai`i’s 1,500 inmates are housed on the mainland, and Public Safety has a goal of housing all inmates in Hawai`i by 2018. “We definitely needed to find room here in the state, and that is one of the fastest, most immediate options,” Schwartz said.
      She also told Callis that the facility will include programs in agriculture and pu`uhonua, which emphasizes connecting Native Hawaiian inmates with their culture.
      See more at hawaiitribune-herald.com.

Patricia Medina Talbert

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY has gotten approval from Office of Hawaiian Affairs, with the Board of Trustees voting to invest $1.25 million into the Huena Power Consortium. The consortium was formed by Innovations Development Group to seek a contract to provide 50 megawatts of geothermal energy to Hawai`i Electric Light Co. If Huena gets the contract, OHA could get more than a 20 percent return on its investment, reports Tom Callis in today’s Hawai`i Tribune-Herald.
      Patricia Medina Talbert, an IDG legal advisor, told Callis that, although the investment is relatively small when compared to the $250 million price tag to build the facility, having OHA on board “is critical for IDG to fulfill its goal of using geothermal development to benefit indigenous populations.”
      According to the story, West Ka`u state Rep. Denny Coffman submitted testimony in favor of the investment.

      For more, see hawaiitribune-herald.com.

THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION this month is initiating a new approach designed to better prepare students for post-high school success. Students in grades 8 through 11 will take the ACT College and Career Readiness tests. The nationwide testing date for the ACT assessment test for juniors is Tuesday, April 23. All other grades will be taking their tests over a two-week window that also begins on the same date.
      With the system, the DOE for the first time will be able to comprehensively collect and examine college and career readiness data in reading, math, science and English.
      “The DOE’s decision to administer the ACT College and Career Readiness System is evidence of their strong commitment to preparing students for postsecondary success,” said Karen Lee, executive director of Hawai`i P-20 Partnerships for Education. “The data gathered from the assessments will be invaluable as we work … to reach the state’s goal of 55 percent of working age adults having a two- or four-year college degree in 2025.”
      The ACT College and Career Readiness System is based on expectations of higher education institutions and the workforce.
      The system aligns with Goal One of the DOE’s Strategic Plan, which calls for specific, measurable targets and goals for student achievement. It builds on key strengths and reform initiatives to ensure that all students graduate ready to succeed in college or careers.
      ACT’s student-level assessment data may also be used by counselors to improve the effectiveness of student intervention plans.
      In preparation for the tests, parents and students should be aware that each test lasts about four hours. Cell phones of any type and some calculators are not permitted in the testing areas as well.
      For further information on the testing, visit www.act.org/aap/Hawaii.
      For more about the DOE’s Strategic Plan and transformation in public education, visit hawaiidoe.org/curriculum/strategicplan.htm.

THE TRIPLE C RECIPE CONTEST for Candy, Cookie and Cracker recipes using Ka`u Coffee provide one free eight ounce package of Ka`u Coffee for each entry. Entry forms can be picked up at R&G Store in Pahala and at Ka`u Coffee Mill. Entries are in professional, amateur and student categories, and the grand prize is $500. Entries must be taken to Ka`u Coffee Mill on Wood Valley Road no later than 1:45 p.m. on Sunday, April 28. Judging begins at 2 p.m. The event celebrates the first birthday of Ka`u Coffee Mill, with entertainment by Keoki Kahumoku & the `Ukulele kids, tours of the Ka`u Coffee Mill and free Ka`u Coffee Tasting from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and the opportunity to meet the new Miss Ka`u Coffee, who will be crowned on Friday, April 26. For more, see www.kaucoffeefest.com and www.kaucoffeemill.com. Call 928-0550.

National Library Week is celebrated today with hula, music, art and more
at Pahala Library. Photo by Julia Neal

PAHALA LIBRARY celebrates 50 years of service today. Continuing throughout the day are performances by hula halau and students of Ka`u High and Pahala Elementary School. Hawaiian Civic Club of Ka`u offers craft demonstrations, and at 1 p.m., an airbrush artist offers temporary tattoos. 

     Students of Ka`u High and Pahala Elementary who entered and won the Haiku Poetry writing contest read their poems and receive prizes at 2 p.m. Also, winners of contests running this week are announced.
      Pahala Library is open three days a week, on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Plans are in the works to open the library five days a week with longer hours.

HAWAI`I WILDLIFE FUND representatives offer information about their efforts to clean up Ka`u and other shorelines and anchialine ponds this weekend at events in Kona and Hilo. Tomorrow, they have a booth at the Earth & Ocean Family Health Fun Fair at Kealakehe High School from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. They move their booth to Hilo Bayfront on Sunday for Ocean Day, which was originally planned for February but was rescheduled due to inclement weather. Family-friendly activities include fishing games, marine critter touch tanks, mask and puppet making, marine life block-printing, makahiki games, face painting, poi pounding, seed planting, music and more.

KUMU LEILEHUA YUEN and Manu Josiah demonstrate preparation, protocol and offering of traditional hula and chant tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. at the hula platform near Volcano Art Center Gallery in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Hands-on cultural demonstration take place from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.,
      The program is free; donations are welcome, and park entrance fees apply.

The Nature of Nature, an exhibit at Volcano Art Center, opens tomorrow.
Image 

THE NATURE OF NATURE opens tomorrow at Volcano Art Center Gallery. Elizabeth Miller and John Matsushita present works that offer journeys into the multi-layered dimensions of life on Hawai`i Island through paintings and sculpture. The exhibit is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through June 2. Opening reception is tomorrow from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

KA`U LADIES TROJAN SOFTBALL lost 9-25 to the Kamehameha Warriors yesterday at Pahala Ball Field. Trojans, including head coach Donald Garo, congratulated seniors Kaila Olsen, Kasey Koi, Jenna Gascon and Shaylin Navarro as they ran for the last time around Pahala Ball Field’s diamond. Ka`u’s pitcher was Shaylin Navarro. Cierra Kaopua, Shylee Tamura and Sky Kanakaole-Esperon each made two hits, with Kaopua hitting a triple. Assistant coaches were Donovan Emmsley and Corey Koi.

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

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

Ka`u News Briefs, April 18, 2013

Teachers overwhelmingly ratified a new contract with the state yesterday, bringing higher pay and more health benefits.
Photo from HSTA

THE UNION FOR HAWAI`I PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS voted to ratify a contract with the state of Hawai`i. The HSTA website reports that “After more than two years working without a contract, 95 percent of teachers statewide voted in favor of the tentative agreement presented by the State and the HSTA on March 24th.” The union reports that 70 percent of HSTA members participated in the vote.
      “Our goal from the start was to establish a fair and equitable contract that offers professional pay and improves working conditions to attract the best and the brightest into the classrooms in order to enhance student learning and produce real results,” said Wil Okabe, HSTA president.
      The HSTA states that after a tentative agreement was established, the HSTA conducted an aggressive outreach campaign to educate teachers about the proposed contract, providing electronic and hard copies of the agreement via e-mail, the HSTA Web site and in schools, engaging in forums on the HSTA Facebook page, and conducting informational briefings.

Ka`u teachers will not only receive more pay, they will be able to use a new venue
for sports, presentations, concerts and other activities at the new gymnasium in
 Pahala now under construction. Photo by Julia Neal

      The new contract will take effect July 1 - in time for the next school year. Teachers will see the equivalent of a 3 percent pay increase above the restored 5 percent cut in July 2012. In subsequent years, teachers will see increases of 3 percent and 3.2 percent, and health insurance premium percentages will also be restored. “These benefits will help to create better working conditions to stabilize the teacher workforce. Under the new contract, the State plans to establish a fair and thorough evaluation system in order to improve teaching practices and enhance learning environments for our students. Teachers will be represented during the decision process to establish the educator evaluation system. The State is committed to providing the necessary support to ensure the success of the evaluation system,” states the HSTA.
      Its leader added: “Through sign waving, e-mails, letters, and phone calls, HSTA members have shown unwavering commitment to education, putting pressure on the State to settle the contract in the best interests of the teachers and their students. With the support of our members, the HSTA plans to move forward by collaborating with all stakeholders to transform public education in Hawai`i.” 

County Council member Brenda Ford.

PROJECT UNIT DEVELOPMENTS should be taken out of the county code by the County Council, according to the opinion of County Council member Brenda Ford. PUD's are often used by developers who purchase agriculture lands to make some lots smaller than the 20-acres for which they are zoned. Along the Ka`u Coast, plans have included making small oceanfront lots and leaving large parcels mauka. Other plans have included making small lots for specialty farm estates and leaving unbuildable and unfarmable hillsides and gulches in large parcels.

          Ford called PUD's “a developers’ dream.” She said PUD's are being used “as mega variances and almost always, in my opinion, the variances are usually detrimental to the community surrounding the development. They are skewed in favor of the developers, who walk away with millions of dollars in profit without putting in sufficient and appropriate infrastructure. The end result is that at some point in the future, the taxpayers have to pay for the infrastructure.” 

         Ford also said that “developers love ag land because it is cheaper than land already zoned residential and with the variances, like PUD's, can change the use from agriculture to residential.             

        “PUD's, when misused, cause tremendous controversy in the community and may result in expensive lawsuits where the county must defend the decision of the Planning Director. These lawsuits can result in years of delay in the court system and ultimately, if appropriate infrastructure is left out, the taxpayers will ultimately pay the bill for the infrastructure that is needed. 

      “When ag land is sold in five or ten acres for millions of dollars, a real farmer cannot afford to buy that land. They will never be able to make a profit off of it, even if it’s coffee or other specialty market crops.”
      Legislation before the County Council that would require council approval of PUD's, Bill 291, will come up before the council planning committee on July 9. A separate measure that would retain the authority with the Planning Director but require an additional public hearing will also be considered. 

This coastal Ka`u land, owned by EWM Enterprises,was previously planned for
subdivision into estates but is now slated for preservation acquisition.
Photo from Hawai`i Pacific Brokers

      Ford said she objects to any planning director having the power to approve or disapprove PUD's. She said there is no requirement for the Planning Director to have a Masters Degree in Planning or other appropriate education and experience. The Planning Director is an appointee of the mayor. She noted that she is not singling out the current Planning Director but considering the overall process.
      “Massive piles of public testimony can be disregarded by a planning director” who is not accountable to the public since the planning director is not elected, Ford said.
      Ford talked about the current effort in the County Council to require PUD's to be approved by the County Council rather than the Planning Director. The problem with the council’s effort, she noted, is that the County Charter, which takes precedent over council decisions, allows the Planning Director to approve variances, including PUD's. She said the council’s effort could be stopped by the county attorney and that the mayor would probably veto it.
      She said the council, however, could vote to end the use of PUD's until a better code is written. “I would like PUD's yanked out of the code because they are continually abused. They are a developer’s dream. Developers are laughing all the way to the bank,” said Ford. 

Sen. Mazie Hirono hopes to ease visa requirements for visiting foreigners.

CANADIAN SNOWBIRDS will be able to stay longer in Hawai`i without renewing visas, under Sen. Mazie Hirono intiatives included in a bi-partisan immigration reform package being pushed in congress. 

      According to a release from Hirono’s office, including a story from Civil Beat, “The provision is a relatively minor portion of the historic and sweeping bill that provides a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants. Still Hirono’s office said it would make it easier for tourists to visit the state.”


      Hirono's staff said she will “further try to amend the immigration package to increase the length of visas for Chinese visitors from one to five years.
 Under what’s in the immigration bill, Canadian citizens older than 50 years old who own or rent accommodations in the U.S. would be able to stay 240 days under their tourist visas. They can now only stay 180 days,” the Civil Beat story reports. Gang of Eight member Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, who helped write the immigration bill, said, “Senator Hirono has been a leader in pushing smart foreign visitor visa reforms that create jobs and encourage foreign tourism,” the story says. 

MORE VISITORS TO THE NEIGHBOR ISLANDS is the goal of the Hawai`i Tourism Authority, whose vice president of brand management gave a talk on the Big Island this week. David Uchiyama’s organization reported that the number of tourists reached nearly eight million in 2012 and they spent $14.3 billion. He said that opportunities abound for the Neighbor Islands as visitors desire “new expericences, ones with more substance and authenticity than what they’ve seen or done before.” 

Hawai`i Tourism Authority promotes more visitation
of Neighbor Islands for such natural and cultural sites as
Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.
Photo from Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park

      He said the Tourism Authority also works toward more airlines coming here and the return of regular direct flights from Japan to Kona. He pointed to many new links between Hawai`i and domestic and foreign cities through Hawaiian Airlines. He also pointed to the cruise ship industry barriers, and talked about the possibility of applying for the cruise ships to gain a waiver for having to use the more expensive low sulfur fuel required in Hawaiian waters. Other benefits being sought by the cruise ship industry include making it easier to get permits and pay fees, allowing gambling in Hawaiian waters, building a passenger terminal in Kona and developing a master schedule to lessen crowding and to help improve passenger experience on shore.      

National Library Week brings hula, poetry and
much more to tomorrow's celebration at
Pahala Library. Photo by Julia Neal

PAHALA LIBRARY offers a book sale today from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and a celebration of 50 years of service tomorrow during National Library Week. The theme for this year’s National Library Week is “Communities Matter at Your Library.”
      Beginning at 10:30 a.m. and continuing throughout Friday are performances by hula halau and students of Ka`u High and Pahala Elementary School. Hawaiian Civic Club of Ka`u offers craft demonstrations. At 1 p.m., an airbrush artist offers temporary tattoos.
      At 2 p.m., students of Ka`u High and Pahala Elementary who entered and won the Haiku Poetry writing contest read their poems and receive prizes. Winners of contests running this week are announced.
     Funds raised help support both Pahala Public & School Library and Na`alehu Public Library with programs and materials. Donations can be dropped off at both libraries.
      Pahala P&S Library is open three days a week - Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Plans are in the works to open the library five days a week with longer hours.
      “Continue to support Pahala Public & School Library by using it often,” said Debbie Wong Yuen. For more information, call 928-2015.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS ATPAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM ANDKAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

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