Ka`u News Briefs Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014

The Keanu family of Ka`u welcomes the Trust for Public Land board members to Ka`u's shoreline areas. The Trust is exploring the possibility of assisting Hawai`i County and interested people of Ka`u to acquire and protect Kaunamano, down the coast from completed projects Honu`apo and Kawa. Photo from TPL

KA`U’S REP. RICHARD CREAGAN is looking for more improvements at Ocean View water well, according to a story in Hawai`i Tribune-Herald. Creagan told reporter Nancy Cook Lauer that the water is saltier than it should be. He proposes a small, solar-operated desalination unit with a smaller faucet where residents could draw drinking water. He also wants to start a second well that would provide more water as the state plans a school in the area.

Ka`u's state Rep. Richard Creagan

      Creagan, who has operated the 100-acre Kiolaka`a Mountain Farms for 20 years, told Cook Lauer he also wants to work on agricultural issues, making more water and land available for small farmers and reducing restrictions on the number of dwellings allowed on a farm.
      Creagan is also working on a resolution asking the federal government to expedite U.S. citizenship for Marshall Islands immigrants in Hawai`i. Creagan said that will not only help the Marshallese, but it will also help the state get its share of federal dollars for their presence in the population. Creagan worked in the Marshall Islands for the Peace Corps and speaks the language fluently.
      “It’s the right thing to do” for residents of an island that was subject to U.S. nuclear tests after World War II, Creagan said. “What we did to their islands … we’re asking the federal government to make up for some of the things they haven’t done for the Marshallese. Many people, they’ve been here 20 years, and they’re still not citizens.”
      According to the story, five percent of Creagan’s constituents are Marshallese.
      Other priorities Creagan mentions are a replacement hospital for Kona and a four-year university for West Hawai`i.
      Creagan is on the Consumer Protection & Commerce, Judiciary, Health, Housing and Human Services committees.
       “I’m very pleased that I was appointed, and I’m going to try to do a real good job,” Creagan told Cook Lauer.

      See hawaiitribune-herald.com.

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Trust for Public Land board members view Kaunamano from Honu`apo Lookout.
Photo from TPL

TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND BOARD MEMBERS VISITED Ka`u this past weekend to tour possible lands for acquisition. The group visited Kaunamano, where the county has nominated 1,363 acres for purchase and preservation. The proposed location of a sewage treatment facility is near the preservation site. Both are state property makai of Hwy 11 near mile marker 63, between Honu`apo Scenic Lookout and Na`alehu School.

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SURVEYING OF MORE WATER SOURCES FOR AG USE by Ka`u Agricultural Water Cooperative District members will occur in March, reported Olson Trust representative John Cross at the group’s meeting Thursday.
         Mel Davis, representing Ha`ao Springs & Mountain House Water Co-op, reported that Paul Matsuda, of Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, is exploring possibilities of developing unused water sources mauka of Ha`ao for potable water to service Hawaiian Homes tenants.
      KAWCD’s next meeting takes place Thursday, Feb. 20 at 4 p.m. at Royal Hawaiian Orchards field office in Pahala.

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Ocean View Community Center offers videoconferencing of Hawai`i County
Council meetings.

HAWAI`I COUNTY COUNCIL MEETINGS take place today and tomorrow. Today, Planning Committee meets at 9 a.m., and Finance Committee at 11 a.m. 

      On the agenda of Public Safety and Mass Transit Committee, which meets at 2 p.m., is Ka`u Council member Brenda Ford’s Bill 109, relating to restrictions of genetically modified organisms. Ford’s bill would prohibit cultivation, development, or use of any GMO, or genetic modification of any specific or non-specific parts of an organism’s genome. It would exempt state or federally licensed medical or agricultural research institutions provided all activity is located in a biosafety level three containment facility. The bill would allow those currently engaged in GMO practices to continue for a period of 30 months, provided operations are not increased or expanded, and calls for those operations to be registered with the Department of Environmental Management within 90 days of the effective date of the ordinance with a registration fee of $100 per location per year.
      Ford’s bill calling for $150,000 to plan and construct a main water line from Ocean View Well to Kahuku Park is on tomorrow’s County Council meeting agenda.
      Ka`u residents can participate in the meetings via videoconferencing at Ocean View Community Center.

      Agendas are available at hawaiicounty.gov.

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NATIVE HAWAIIAN EDUCATION COUNCIL is seeking input from the Ka`u community and recently held meetings in Pahala and Na`alehu. Betty Clark, of Tutu & Me, who attended the Na`alehu meeting, said she encourages residents to fill out a survey. The survey aims to assess community needs in education by asking about ability to access native Hawaiian services and educational programs.

      Tutu & Me will be distributing the surveys to all enrolled families this week. Those who want to pick up a physical copy of the survey can do so from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Na`alehu Community Center on Wednesdays and Pahala Community Center on Thursdays.

     The Native Hawaiian Education Council website says NHEC is interested in applicants from all islands representing `Opio to Kupuna for membership on its council. NHEC is particularly interested in consumers of Native Hawaiian education, such as students or family members of students. The deadline to submit nominations is February 8.
      The mission of the organization in Hawaiian is Ma ka `uhane aloha o ke Akua e koi `ia ka `Aha Ho`ona`auao 'Oiwi Hawai`i, e ho`olauka`i, e ana loiloi, e ho`ike mana`o, a e ho`omau i ka `ike po`okela o ka ho`ona`auao `oiwi Hawai`i. Translated to English: In the spirit of Aloha Ke Akua, the Native Hawaiian Education Council will coordinate, assess and make recommendations to perpetuate excellence in Native Hawaiian education.

      See www.nhec.org, or call 808-523-6364.

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KA`U HIGH GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAMS hosted Waiakea yesterday. Scores were: Junior Varsity, 
Ka`u 20, Waiakea 41
 and 

Varsity, 
Ka`u 45
,
 Waiakea 65.

USGS volunteer Ben Gaddis, at left, presents tonight's After Dark in the Park program.
Photo from HVO

KILAUEA VOLCANO’S MOST VIOLENT ERUPTION of the 20th century is the topic at this evening’s After Dark in the Park beginning at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Ben Gaddis, a long-time volunteer at Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, tell the story from the perspective of the people who lived through it. Free; park entrance fees apply. 

CYNDY LEINANI MARTINEZ shares the art of kapa kuiki, traditional Hawaiian quilting, tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on the lanai of Kilauea Visitor Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The workshop, part of the park’s ongoing `Ike Hana No`eau: Experience the Skillful Work series, is free; park entrance fees apply.

USGS HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY scientists Jim Kauahikaua and Janet Babb offer a virtual road trip from Kahuku in Ka`u to Kapalaoa in North Kona tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. at NELHA Gateway Visitor Center in Kona. During this Volcano Awareness Month event, they talk about the volcanic history, stories and impacts of the Mauna Loa and Hualalai lava flows visible along the highways.
      For more information, call 967-8844 or email askHVO@usgs.gov.

HA`AO SPRINGS & MOUNTAIN HOUSE AG WATER CO-OP meets Thursday at 4 p.m. at Wai`ohinu Park.

Advance registration is available for `O Ka`u Kakou's annual Keiki Fishing Tournament
coming up this Saturday. Photo from Fred & Mary Ramsdell

`O KA`U KAKOU HOSTS ITS ANNUAL Keiki Fishing Tournament Saturday. The event usually draws more than 600 people to Punalu`u to fish from the limu-covered rocks, measure the catch and return the small fish to the ocean. Keiki win prizes and visit educational booths. Children one to 14 can enter. 

      Early registration is available at Mizuno Superette, Pahala Gas Station, B&E Union 76, Ace Hardware and Kahuku Mini-Mart.
      Check-in is from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., and fishing begins at 10 a.m.
      For more information, call Wayne Kawachi at 937-4773.

KAHUKU JUNIOR RANGER DAY IS SATURDAY from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Kahuku Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Keiki of all ages join park rangers for a day of activities and connect the culture, people and `aina through `oli, GPS and compass while taking a short and easy walk. Ka`ohu Monfort shares her knowledge of the island’s native medicinal plants and how they are used to heal and nourish. Register at 985-6019.

KA`U HOSPITAL URGES RESIDENTS to complete its Community Health Needs Assessment at surveymonkey.com/s/93HQ5MX. The deadline is Jan. 31.

SEE THE DIRECTORY from the Ka`u Chamber of Commerce at http://snack.to/fzpfg59c.

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

Ka`u News Briefs Monday, Jan. 20, 2014

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. visited Hawa`i in 1959 and spoke at the state Legislature about Hawai`i's progress in race relations.

TODAY THE NATION HONORS THE LEGACY of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. King visited the newly formed Hawai`i State Legislature on Sept. 17, 1959, where he spoke on Hawai`i’s accomplishments and the nation’s status in race relations at the time.

Marchers wore lei to symbolize their peaceful intentions
during the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery.

      “I come to you with a great deal of appreciation and great feeling of appreciation, I should say, for what has been accomplished in this beautiful setting and in this beautiful state of our Union,” King said. “As I think of the struggle that we are engaged in in the South land, we look to you for inspiration and as a noble example, where you have already accomplished in the area of racial harmony and racial justice, what we are struggling to accomplish in other sections of the country, and you can never know what it means to those of us caught for the moment in the tragic and often dark midnight of man’s inhumanity to man, to come to a place where we see the glowing daybreak of freedom and dignity and racial justice.
      “We have come a long, long way. We have a long, long way to go. I close, if you will permit me, by quoting the words of an old Negro slave preacher. He didn’t quite have his grammar right, but he uttered some words in the form of a prayer with great symbolic profundity and these are the words he said: ‘Lord, we ain’t what we want to be; we ain’t what we ought to be; we ain’t what we gonna be, but thank God, we ain’t what we was.’ Thank you.”

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“THIS WEEKEND, WE HONOR THE LEGACY of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a civil rights icon whose powerful voice spoke out for the oppressed and marginalized, said U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz. “When faced with intolerance, injustice and hatred, Dr. King responded with compassion, hopefulness and service. His values and principles have made us a stronger people and a greater country.

      “Having recently made marriage equality a reality in Hawai`i, it is fitting to recall the words of Dr. King to our state Legislature in 1959 when he described Hawai`i as ‘a place where we see the glowing daybreak of freedom and dignity and racial justice.’ We can be proud that Dr. King saw these virtues in our people, and that we are carrying on in dignity and honor the cause of equal rights for all.”

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Duke Aiona visited Ka`u during his 2010 campaign for governor.
Photo by Julia Neal

FORMER LT. GOV. JAMES “DUKE” AIONA plans to run for governor, according to Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Aiona told reporter Derrick DePledge that he would wait until he has formed campaign and fundraising organizations to make a formal announcement of his candidacy.

      Aiona came to Ka`u numerous times during his tenure as lieutenant governor for the Linda Lingle administration, speaking at schools and the Ka`u Chamber of Commerce.

      “I think I’ve got a better perspective right now — knowing what we went through for eight years and then seeing what this administration has done in the last three years,” Aiona told DePledge. “I know for a fact that I am qualified and I have the skills and the ability to be the next governor of the state of Hawai`i.”

      Although Aiona hasn’t raised the amount of money usually needed for a gubernatorial campaign, some believe Gov. Abercrombie may be vulnerable to a “creative, low-budget campaign,” according to the story.
      “I think that in the end he can overcome what would be a disadvantage when it comes to money,” said state Republican Party chair David Chang.
      See staradvertiser.com.

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IN ANTICIPATION OF HIS FOURTH State of the State Address, Gov. Neil Abercrombie shared his administration’s accomplishments over the past three years with the state Legislature, news media and the general public.

One of his accomplishments Gov. Neil Abercrombie mentions is advancements
in education. Photo from Office of the Governor.

      The accomplishments highlight the Abercrombie Administration’s commitment to growing a sustainable economy, investing in people, and transforming state government.
      “This administration has made significant strides in restoring the state’s fiscal health, strengthening the local economy and paving the way for universal access to preschool in Hawai`i,” Abercrombie said. “Prior to my State of the State Address, I felt it important to take stock and review our progress in order to gain perspective and guide our way forward. None of these accomplishments would be possible without dedicated and creative public employees, who work tirelessly, each and every day, to make Hawai`i a better place for all of us.”
      The highlighted accomplishments are available at governor.hawaii.gov.
      The governor’s State of the State Address is scheduled for 10 a.m. tomorrow at the Hawai`i State Capitol, House Chambers.

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HAWAI`I COUNTY MAYOR BILLY KENOI travels to Washington, D.C. today to join more than 280 of the nation’s mayors as well as congressional leaders and members of President Obama’s cabinet at the U.S. Conference of Mayors 82nd Winter Meeting. 

      Kenoi, who is chair of the Hawai`i Conference of Mayors, will attend the meeting with Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell, Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa and Kaua`i Mayor Bernard Carvalho. Mayor Kenoi is also a member of the U.S. Conference of Mayors National Advisory Board.

      The mayors will join President Barack Obama and members of his cabinet at the White House for a discussion of issues that affect municipalities, including trade, technology, climate change and affordable health care.
      Participants at the conference will include U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, Secretary of Department of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx.
      The U.S. Conference of Mayors is designed to strengthen federal-city relationships, and promote effective national urban and suburban policy.
        Managing director Wally Lau will be acting mayor until Mayor Kenoi returns.

HAWAI`I COUNTY OFFICE OF AGING is accepting accepting nominations for its 48th annual Outstanding Older Americans award. Any club, organization or individual nominate candidates by submitting a nomination form, which requires background information and contributions of each individual. Also required is a clear photo of each nominee. Nominees must be 65 years and older and a resident of Hawai`i County.
      Nomination forms for the award can be obtained at 961-8600. The announcement of individual winners will be made at the annual Older Americans luncheon on Friday, May 2.
      A panel of community judges will be selected to determine the winners. Submittal deadline for nominations is Friday, March 7.

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Miss Ka`u Coffee 2013 and attendants at Ka`u Coffee Mill. The 2014 pageant
takes place Sunday, May 4. Photo by Geneveve Fyvie

CALLING ALL CONTESTANTS FOR MISS KA`U COFFEE: The Miss Ka`u Coffee Pageant has been scheduled for the evening of Sunday, May 4 at Ka`u Coffee Mill, one of the opening events of the nine-day-long Ka`u Coffee Festival. Miss Peaberry contestants must be 6 to 8 years old by the date of the pageant. Miss Ka`u Coffee contenders must be 16 - 24 years of age. Contestants must have either been born, have grown up, or now live in Ka`u. Winners receive scholarships. Talent, public speaking and gown categories are included. There is no swimsuit competition. Chair of the event is Gloria Camba, assisted by Nalani Parlin and MIss Ka`u Coffee, Tiare-Lee Shibuya. 

      For more information, call Camba at 928-8558.

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EARTHQUAKES AND EXPLOSIONS: Shocking events at Kapoho and Halema`uma`u in 1924 is the title of tomorrow’s After Dark in the Park program at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Ben Gaddis, a long-time Hawaiian Volcano Observatory volunteer, tells the story of Kilauea Volcano’s most violent eruption of the 20th century from the perspective of the people who lived through it. Free; park entrance fees apply.

A VOLCANO AWARENESS MONTH PROGRAM on Wednesday examines the prominent lava flows and volcanic landscapes along highways from Ka`u to North Kona. USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists Jim Kauahikaua and Janet Babb take attendees on a virtual road trip from Kahuku to Kapalaoa, during which they talk about the volcanic history, stories and impacts of the Mauna Loa and Hualalai lava flows visible along the highways. The program begins at 5:30 p.m. at NELHA Gateway Visitor Center in Kona.
      For more information, email askHVO@usgs.gov or call 967-8844.

THIRD-GENERATION QUILTER CYNDY LEINANI MARTINEZ shares the traditional art of kapa kuiki, traditional Hawaiian quilting, Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on the lanai of Kilauea Visitor Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The workshop, part of the park’s ongoing `Ike Hana No`eau: Experience the Skillful Work series, is free; park entrance fees apply.

KA`U HOSPITAL URGES RESIDENTS to complete its Community Health Needs Assessment at surveymonkey.com/s/93HQ5MX. The deadline is Jan. 31.

SEE THE DIRECTORY from the Ka`u Chamber of Commerce at http://snack.to/fzpfg59c.

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

Ka`u News Briefs Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014

Lava flows from Ka`u to North Kona are topics at a Volcano Awareness program Wednesday. Photo from USDA Forest Service

FOLLOWING ITS ACQUISITION OF KAHU-FM from Ka`u Community Radio, Inc. in August, Hawai`i Public Radio has launched a $150,000 capital campaign to raise money needed to cover costs of bringing a new transmitter to Hilo so that more Big Island residents can hear HPR-2, according to a story in Pacific Business News.

      Acquisition of KAHU-FM allowed HPR to broadcast its HPR-2 network on Hawai`i Island, said vice president and assistant general manager Valerie Yee. KAHU-FM broadcasts HPR’s news, information, jazz and blues programs from Pahala while planning for improved transmission. 

      Areas of the Big Island have had HPR-1, the fine arts and classical music stream, since 2000. HPR-2 has been available in areas of West Hawai`i since Feb. 2013.
      “We’ve been building awareness of this campaign quietly on the ground in Hilo,” Yee told PBN. “So far, we have received 73 gifts totaling $13,408.”
      HPR also announced a matching pledge from KTA Super Stores being made in memory of Koichi and Taniyo Taniguchi, founders of KTA Super Stores and K. Taniguchi Ltd. The company will match contributions when community support amounts to $20,000.
      See bizjournals.com/pacific.
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Russell Kokubun

FORMER STATE SEN. RUSSELL KOKUBUN, a Volcano resident, is Big Island campaign chair for U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa in her run for U.S. Senate, according to a story in West Hawai`i Today. 

      Kokubun served 10 years in the state Senate, ending as vice president under Hanabusa. He retired from his gubernatorial appointment as chair of the state Department of Agriculture in December.
      Hanabusa discussed her accomplishments and future role in Washington with reporter Nancy Cook Lauer after the candidate’s meeting with supporters in Hilo. Hanubusa said her accomplishments were numerous, including serving as president of the state Senate. She listed helping craft the Felix Consent Decree that required the state to provide services to special needs students, taking the first official legislative hearings to neighbor islands on a Hawaiian homestead issue and a  middle-school crystal meth prevention program. 

      “We need someone who can get things done,” Hanabusa said.
      Cook Lauer said Hanabusa has better statewide name recognition than opponent Sen. Brian Schatz “because of her tenure as state Senate president and a deathbed endorsement from the greatly respected” late Sen. Daniel Inouye.
      Regarding her three years in the U.S. House representing Hawai`i’s urban O`ahu 1st District, according to the story, Hanabusa said, “It’s difficult to gauge success in Congress by specific bills passed.” She noted her status as a ranking member on the Armed Services Committee, where she said she has worked to ensure Hawai`i’s role in a proposed rebalancing of military priorities.

Richard Ha

      See westhawaiitoday.com.

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KA`U’S STATE SEN. RUSSELL RUDERMAN should recuse himself from all discussions and votes regarding genetically modified organisms, said Richard Ha, owner of Hamakua Springs Country Farms and a supporter of GMOs in agriculture. In an opinion piece in Civil Beat, Ha said that because Ruderman owns Island Naturals, a chain of natural foods stores, “it certainly seems to be a conflict of interest for him to be supporting the Big Island’s anti-GMO movement.” 

      Ha writes, “We need to hold Sen. Ruderman to a higher standard than he’s holding himself to, because he’s our elected official and making decisions on behalf of all of us. I have asked Sen. Ruderman many times how his stance, which does not even seem to be supported by science, will help the Big Island and its food security status. How will it help the rubbah slippah folk in his district? I have never received an answer.”
      See civilbeat.com.

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Sizes of Hawai`i's volcanoes are related to their eruption rates, according to
the latest issue of Volcano Watch. Map from USGS/HVO

VOLCANO SIZE AND ERUPTION RATE ARE RELATED, according to the latest issue of Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s Volcano Watch. The issue asks whether Kilauea is a “small bump on Mauna Loa’s side” or separate volcano. This information is important, not only for understanding the evolution of Kilauea and other Hawaiian volcanoes, but also their hazard potential, the article says. 

      Kilauea has been erupting vigorously for about 100,000 years. Yet, if Kilauea is considered to be a small volcano, its eruption rate over that period must be low, since size and eruption rate are related. In this sense, the last several decades of continuous eruptive activity may be unusual (and might not continue far into the future), according to the article.
      If, on the other hand, Kilauea is considered to be a large volcano, the eruption rate over the past 100,000 years must have been high, and the current eruptive activity would be normal. 

      "The same holds true for other volcanoes of Hawai`i Island—if we know their size, we can deduce their long-term eruption rates,” the article concludes.
      See hvo.wr.usgs.gov.

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HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK WAIVES entrance fees tomorrow. Ka`u residents can celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by volunteering to remove invasive ginger along the summit of Kilauea from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Participants meet at Kilauea Visitor Center and should bring a hat, raingear, garden gloves, daypack, snacks and water and wear sturdy hiking shoes and long pants. No advance registration is required. Entrance is free all day.

After Dark in the Park explores Kilauea's
violent eruptions. Photo from NPS

VOLCANO AWARENESS MONTH CONTINUES at After Dark in the Park Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Using USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory logs, geologic field notes, National Park Service reports, newspaper accounts, photographs, and other records from 1924, Ben Gaddis, a long-time HVO volunteer, tells the story of Kilauea Volcano’s most violent eruption of the 20th century from the perspective of the people who lived through it. In April 1924, Kapoho residents were evacuated as hundreds of earthquakes shook their village. In the weeks that followed, huge explosions wracked the summit of Kilauea Volcano. Free; park entrance fees apply. 

FROM KA`U TO NORTH KONA, another Volcano Awareness Month program, examines the prominent lava flows and volcanic landscapes along Queen Ka`ahumanu and Mamalahoa Highways Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at NELHA Gateway Visitor Center in Kona. USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists Jim Kauahikaua and Janet Babb take attendees on a virtual road trip from Kahuku to Kapalaoa, during which they talk about the volcanic history, stories and impacts of the Mauna Loa and Hualalai lava flows visible along the highways.
      For more information, email askHVO@usgs.gov or call 967-8844.

KA`U HIGH GIRLS VARSITY BASKETBALL team won their game at Kealakehe Friday, with a final score of 57 – 40. Denisha Navarro scored 37 points. Junior Varsity, with Deisha Gascon scoring 29 points, lost 36 – 43.
      The teams host Waiakea tomorrow at 6 p.m.

KA`U HIGH BOYS JUNIOR VARSITY basketball team won their home game against Hawai`i Preparatory Academy yesterday. The final score was 57 – 43, with 
Evan Manoha scoring 19 points. Ka`u Varsity 
lost 38 – 70. 
Larry-Dan Al-Navarro scored 16
 points.
      The teams travel to Kohala Tuesday.

KA`U HOSPITAL URGES RESIDENTS to complete its Community Health Needs Assessment at surveymonkey.com/s/93HQ5MX. The deadline is Jan. 31.

SEE THE DIRECTORY from the Ka`u Chamber of Commerce at http://snack.to/fzpfg59c.

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