Ka`u News Briefs Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017

Ka`u Farm School held its second session on Sunday at Earth Matters Farm at the corner of South Point and Kama`oa Roads.

See story below. Photo by Raina Whiting

GOVERNORS WHO ARE REPUBLICANS AND GOVERNORS WHO ARE DEMOCRATS acknowledged the value of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, during the winter National Governors Association meeting in Washington, D.C. on Sunday. In the governors' session called Ending Childhood Hunger: Improving Lives and Investing in America's Future, they emphasized the importance of SNAP and the federally assisted National School Lunch Program, which provides free and reduced price lunches and breakfasts to help children stay healthy and fit for education. They also discussed the nutritional challenge for children in poverty during times when school is out of session, particularly during summer.

Huge images of children relying on federally funded food programs were projected
 at the National Governors Association meeting in Washington, D.C. on Sunday.
Photo by M. Martin Neal

     After the day's meetings, the governors headed to the White House to dine with President Donald and First Lady Melania Trump, with Hawai`i Gov. David Ige and First Lady Dawn Amano-Ige among them. During the White House dinner, which Trump called the Governors Ball, the President told the governors and companions that he will meet with the National Governors Association members about health issues on Monday, as they wrap up their three-day event.
      The session on childhood hunger was held at the National Governors Association meeting venue, the JW Marriott in downtown Washington D.C. Chef Hugh Acheson, known for his cookbooks, restaurants and for serving as a judge on the television show Top Chef, urged governors to help remove the stigma from children receiving free food at school. He also emphasized the importance of providing children with free breakfasts to give them a head start on each school day.
     The First Lady of Virginia, Dorothy McAuliffe, reminded governors that "For the first time, half of all public school children are eligible for free or reduced lunch," supported by the federal government. "Nutrition is an essential tool to help children focus and learn," she said.

Governors were reminded in large graphics that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
assistance in serving breakfasts to children lowers absenteeism at schools.
Photo by M. Martin Neal

   In Ka`u, the poverty rate is high enough that Ka`u High & Pahala Elementary and Na`alehu Schools are among the 30 schools in Hawai`i that qualify for all students to receive free federally subsidized meals, under the U.S. Department of Agriculture Community Eligibility Provision.
     In addition to working with the federal government to subsidize school meals, Hawai`i's governor and his administration recently launched a Farm to School program to source more locally grown food for school campuses. The fresh food will be served to staff and students who will have the opportunity to learn about farming, ranching and good nutrition. Other programs help establish school gardens on the campuses.
     Outside of school, the nutrition situation for children in poverty in Hawai`i is summed up in state Senate Bill 28 that was deferred this session. It says that the Hawai`i Legislature finds that because of Hawai`i's high cost of living and food prices, many low-income families struggle to purchase food. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program - food stamps - " is a crucial means of providing necessary assistance in the purchasing of food for some of Hawai`i's most disadvantaged citizens." However, fewer families sign up for the program than qualify.

Gov. David Ige at National Governors Association meeting.
Photo from Governor's staff

      Hawai`i secures over $500 million a year in federal SNAP funding but has ranked third from the bottom among states with the fewest percentage of eligible people enrolled in SNAP, according to a study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In March of 2016, for example, 341,802 people in Hawai`i were enrolled in Medicaid, which means they likely qualified for SNAP, but only 165,697 were enrolled in SNAP. If these additional people were enrolled, the state would be eligible to receive an estimated additional $274 million a year, substantially increasing the number of families receiving food subsidies through SNAP in Hawai`i.
     The legislators identify the problem as partly due to families being unaware of being eligible for SNAP or how to sign up for it. The legislation would allow health care providers to become involved by questioning their Medicaid patients about receiving SNAP and arranging an outreach. The data would also be reported to the legislature to "create a mechanism in which policy makers can better establish plans to maximize federal funding and fight hunger," the legislation states.
    The legislation also reports on the benefit of $247 million of additional SNAP federal funding being injected into the local economy.
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THE SECOND KA`U FARM SCHOOL CLASS on Sunday offered a session on soil and composting and drew an outlook on agriculture by Rep. Richard Creagan. He said that leadership positions in the state administration and in the Hawai`i Legislature are aligned for supporting small farms. He said that Gov. David Ige "wants to double food production, so this is a good time to develop opportunities for small farmers." Said Creagan, "It is very important to get small farmers going if we are going to have a lot of food production." Creagan, who lives in Ka`u, is chair of the state House of Representative Agriculture Committee and said that Sen. Mike Gabbard, who chairs the state Senate Agriculture Committee, and state Department of Agriculture chief and Board of Agriculture Chair Scott Enright "are all on board."

Rep. Richard Creagan addresses a Ka`u Farm School class on Sunday.
Photo by Raina Whiting       

     Creagan noted that, "So much of our agriculture in Hawai`i today has nothing to do with food production." He named macadamia nuts and coffee as examples of food that is mostly sold to tourists. "And seed corn  (grown to collect seeds for planting corn) goes to the mainland," Creagan said.

       He said, "We need to empower the small farmer with land, water, and capital. For labor, many families could help provide the work to grow the food." Creagan predicted that "food grown for families would ramp up to food for the communities, and then food for the state."
       Creagan said he is also interested in food from forests. He said he plans to introduce a resolution for the state Department of Agriculture and the University of Hawai`i to study the idea of the "a pig forest, where pigs would be wild and eating among trees like macadamia, guava and avocado, but separated out from the native forest and from wild pigs with disease. They would be harvested or hunted as needed." He said there is a good example of growing pigs among trees in Spain.
        Raina Whiting, one of the organizers of the Ka`u Farm School, said classes are open to friends, supporters and those interested in learning more about farming, agriculture and growing food in Ka'u. They are sponsored by Hawai`i Farmers Union United and the Kohala Canter, as well as Earth Matters Farm. Make contact through  kaufarmschool@gmail.com or 808-721-6977. For future class topics, see www.facebook.com/KauFarmSchool.

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HOVE Road Maintenance board of directors meeting, Tue, Feb 28, 10 a.m. 929-9910

Ka‘ū Food Pantry, Tue, Feb 28, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., St. Jude’s Episcopal Church in Ocean View.

Line Dancing, Tue, Feb 28, 2 – 3 p.m., Kahuku Park. Ages 6 – 12 register Feb 22 – 27. 929-9113

www.kaucalendar.com

Ka`u News Briefs Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017

Calm waters, no wind and an overcast sky made for perfect whale counting at Ka Lae on Saturday where 23 breaches were seen
 in 15 minutes during the second of this season's Ocean Counts for humpback whales. See story below.
File Photo from NOAA

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION was the opening topic of the National Governors Association meeting in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, attended by Hawai`i's Gov. David Ige. The governor told The Ka`u Calendar that "Early childhood education is important." Investment in early childhood education "pays huge dividends in the long term."

"#We the States" is the slogan for the National Governors Association meeting in
Washington, D.C where Gov. David Ige is supporting early childhood education.
Photo by M. Martin Neal

     He referred to his budget before the 2017 Hawai`i Legislature, which proposes the most money allocated in history to pay for teaching in Hawai`i's public schools. It includes preschool and other early childhood education funding. In addition, the governor is involved with the Executive Office on Early Learning, which coordinates programs and funding with his administration and the Hawai`i Legislature.
     Ige also told The Ka`u Calendar that Hawai`i has benefited from federal early childhood education grants supported by the bipartisan National Governors Association and that the organization has been helpful in gathering, developing and sharing "best practices." The Governors Association members, both Republicans and Democrats, lobby Congress for early childhood education funding, particularly Preschool Development Grants.

Gov. David Ige at the opening of the National Governors Association
meeting in Washington, D.C. on Saturday. Photo from Gov. Ige staff

    Said one NGA letter to Congress, "Governors understand that early childhood education is a key component of building a literate, knowledgeable and skilled 21st century workforce. Preschool Development Grants, including expansion grants, enable governors to build on their efforts to promote school readiness by accelerating state-focused innovation to improve access and quality in early childhood education. States use the program to better serve our youngest students, including English language learners and early learners with disabilities; improve the professional development of preschool teachers and administrators; and expand access to early education programs to thousands of students."

     During the meeting on early childhood education, Ige and governors of all political persuasions threw in their backing. The chair for the session, Gov. Robert Bentley, of Alabama, said, "The most important education is childhood education" and declared that he wants to make "early childhood education a priority across the nation."
     Mike Peters, President and CEO of one of the largest employers in some states, Huntington Ingalls, which builds aircraft carriers and other vessels, told the governors that early childhood education creates a stronger workforce. 

     Actress Jennifer Garner and Mike Shriver represented the non-profit organization Save the Children, which is dedicated to young people in need. They talked about the "house-visit model" that helps make mothers into educators. Garner focused on education from birth to third grade, the kind of program that is popular in Ka`u, called Tutu & Me.

     Many letters of support for early childhood education have been sent from Ka`u to the governor and Hawai`i Legislature to support funding of Tutu & Me. The traveling preschool moves around Ka`u and welcomes grandparents, aunties, uncles and parents to bring the keiki to start learning from birth until they attend public school. Tutu & Me also makes house calls.  

     Bills in motion at the Hawai`i Legislature include SB1152 and HB500, which would appropriate money to continue funding public prekindergarten classrooms and set up administration of charter school prekindergarten classrooms. HB498 and SB687 would enable the Early Learning Board to appoint the director of the  Executive Office on Early Learning. 
     To read and send in testimony on these early childhood education bills, which are coming before state Senate and House committees next week, click on the bill numbers above. To find related bills, go to the Hawai`i State Legislature at www.capitol.hawaii.gov and type in key words.

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WHALE COUNTING DREW MORE THAN 590 VOLUNTEERS on Hawai`i, O`ahu and Kaua`i Islands on Saturday during the second session of data gathering for the 2017 Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Ocean Count.

The second SanctuaryOcean Count of humpback whales this season
took place Saturday, sponsored by the Hawaiian Islands Humpback
Whale National Marine Sancturary. Photo from NOAA

    There were more whale sightings on Hawai`i Island this Ocean Count compared to last month's. Conditions were generally overcast across the sites with flat, calm waters and little to no wind, which allowed for great whale viewing conditions. Volunteers at South Point, at the Ka Lae Ocean Count site, had quite a show. In 15 minutes, they saw 23 breaches - the acrobatic display where the humpback uses its tail to launch itself out of the water then lands back on the surface with a splash.
     Ocean Count serves to promote public awareness about humpback whales, the sanctuary, and shore-based whale watching opportunities. The count is conducted three times per year during the peak whale season and provides a snapshot of humpback whales sightings from the shoreline. Participants tally humpback whale sightings and document the animals' surface behaviors during the survey.
     Volunteers collected data from 50 sites statewide on Feb. 25. A total of 174 whale sightings were recorded during the 11:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. time period, the most of any time period during the day's count.
    Preliminary data detailing whale sightings by site location are available at: http://www.sanctuaryoceancount.org/resources/. Additional information is available on the sanctuary's website at http://hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov.

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OCEAN VIEW SATURDAY MARKET was shut down by police about half way through the morning and didn't reopen, according to Mike Alexander, of Ocean View. He said the scare surrounded reports of live ammunition, reportedly being sold at the outdoor venue, which operates like a swap meet, with animals, food, plants, clothing, used furniture and other household goods, and a chiropractor who gives Saturday market adjustments. The ammunition turned out to be cannonballs someone was selling, said Alexander.

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Palm Trail Hike, Sun, Feb 26, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park’s Kahuku Unit. This free, moderately difficult 2.6-mile loop trail provides one of the best panoramic views Kahuku has to offer.

www.kaucalendar.com

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Ka`u News Briefs, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017

Pacific Biodiesel's plant in Kea`au. The company has been planting test plots on the Big Island and looking for land to
grow sunflower and safflower for food and utility oils. It blessed a sunflower farm on Maui today and Ka`u's Rep.
Tulsi Gabbard and Ka`u's Senator Mazie Hirono attended. Photo from Pacific Biodiesel & Think Tech Hawai`i

PACIFIC BIODIESEL, which operates a biofuel manufacturing plant at Shipman Industrial Park in Kea`au, is getting into the sunflower growing business to make more biofuel and food products. Sunflower and safflower test plots have been grown on the Big Island and a new effort to plant sunflower on 115 acres of former sugar land in central Maui was blessed on Friday. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Sen. Mazie Hirono both attended and gave remarks on the importance of developing more sustainable energy sources throughout Hawai`i.

Pacific Biodiesel founder Bob King with Rep. Tulsi Gabbard at the blessing of a
new sunflower farm to grow oils for food and fuel on Friday.
Photo from Tulsi Gabbard

     In 2015 Kelly King, vice president of Pacific Biodiesel, told Pacific Business News that the company wants to grow sunflower crops on tens of thousands of acres as feedstock to make biofuel. Under consideration have been lands owned by Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and private properties on the Big Island.
    Funding and research for the expansion into sunflower and possible safflower oils have come with help from University of Hawai`i and the U.S. Office of Naval Research, the Hawai`i Military Biofuels Crop Program and the Hawai`i Natural Energy Institute.
     Pacific Biodiesel has a manufacturing location in Shipman Industrial Park in Kea`au where used cooking oil and grease trap waste are the current feedstock for making transportation and utility fuel.
    The company has assisted with Hawai`i and other counties adopting biofuel to run their vehicles.
     King said the Kea`au plant is like a distillery and "exceeds all technology." She said it manufactures what is probably the highest quality biodiesel in the world. She said the number of employees totals at about 35 at Shipman and nearly 80 statewide. She said Pacific Biodiesel is proud to provide a variety of jobs and has hired students from Hawai`i Community College, which is teaching technology processing.

     Pacific Biodiesel sells its fuel for electric companies, the trucking industry, boating, back up generation, farming equipment and passenger cars. Kelly said that it is important to realize that electric cars often indirectly rely on imported oil, when it is burned to make the electricity for the power company that provides the electricity used when the electric car is plugged in. The electric car is clean when the electricity that it uses comes from solar or other alternative energies like biodiesel, she explained. 

     Kelly said that she looks forward to not only the biofuel value of sunflower and safflower but also their edible value and the opportunity for the oils to first be used for food, and secondarily to be upcycled into fuel for transportation and for the electric companies. At the Maui farm, she said, she expects to produce about 100 gallons of fuel per acre per harvest, with three harvests a year.
     See more at www.biodiesel.com

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THE U.S. CORAL REEF TASK FORCE met in Washington D.C. this week and Hawai`i Gov. David Ige attended on his way to the National Governors Association Winter Meeting this weekend. The United States Coral Reef Task Force was established in 1998 by Presidential Executive Order to lead U.S. efforts to preserve and protect coral reef ecosystems. The USCRTF includes leaders of 12 Federal agencies, seven U.S. States including Hawai`i, Territories, Commonwealths, and three Freely Associated States.

Gov. David Ige attending the Coral Reef Task Force Meeting in
Washington, D.C. on Thursday. Photo from the Governor

     The USCRTF helps build partnerships, strategies, and support for on-the-ground action to conserve coral reefs. During the meeting, Dr. Luis Solorzano, of The Nature Conservancy, made a presentation on Coral Restoration - why we should be hopeful? The organization also released its new Handbook on Coral Reef Impacts: Avoidance, Minimization, Compensatory Mitigation and Restoration. 
   Within the Hawai`i state government, the Department of Land & Natural Resources works closely with the Coral Reef Task Force, with Robert Nishimoto taking the lead. See more, including Hawai`i's Local Action Strategies for preserving coral reefs at www.coralreef.gov.

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THE FUTURE OF HEALTH CARE IN KA`U is a big part of the discussion between community members, policy makers and staff at Ka`u Hospital tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. The community is invited to attend and give input to the East Hawai`i Regional Board of the Hawai`i Hospital System Corp., which manages Ka`u Hospital and its clinic, as well as the Hilo and Kona Hospitals. 

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Na`alehu School children went out for track and competed and
won at Konawa`ena this month. Photo by Bob Martin

NA`ALHEU STUDENTS competed well at an island wide Track and Field event this month at Konawaena High School. Head Coach Linda Le and assistant coach Bob Martin report that Neiwad Boaz took 2nd place in the girls 11-12 shot put. Anthony Clark won 3rd Place in the boys 11-12 1200m. Layton Ka-ne-Kala took 1st Place in boys 6-8 Standing Long Jump and Ariel Cohen won 1st Place in girls 11-12 1200m.

COUNT THE HUMPBACK WHALES ON SATURDAY along the Ka`u Coast. Register at  hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov or 725-5923.

Love the Arts: Singin’ in the Rainforest, Sat, Feb 25, 5 – 9 p.m., Volcano Art Center in Volcano Village. The annual fundraiser features one-of-a-kind umbrellas painted by Hawai‘i Island artists. Fine wine, a luxurious gourmet buffet, spirited Hawaiian music and live and silent auctions. 967-8222

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Soil and Composting class at Ka`u Farm School on Sunday, Feb. 26 at Earth Matters Farm on the corner of South Point Road and Kama`oa Roa`oa Road, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Special guests include Rep. Richard Creagan, Chair of the Agriculture Committee of the state House of Representatives and Melanie Willich, Director of the Young Farmers Program at Kohala Center. Free, sponsored by Kohala Center and Hawai`i Farmers Union United. Donations accepted. RSVP to kaufarmschool@gmail.com or call 808-721-6977.

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