Ka`u News Briefs Dec. 31, 2010

Fireworks, with permits, are legal between 9 p.m. tonight and 2 a.m. tomorrow.

NANI KAHUKU `AINA owners of 1,600 acres of land makai of Highway 11 between Ocean View and South Point Road plan to move forward on their hotel, golf course, condominium, townhome and single family residential proposal in early 2011. Spokesman Aaron Eberhardt said the hui plans to submit an Environmental Impact Statement to the state Office of Environmental Quality Control in January. He said the hotels will be low-rise, like Kona Village, and that there will be a 300-acre Heritage Village around Pohue Bay and its hawksbill turtle nesting sites. The hui also plans rodeo grounds along Hwy 11, a veterans center, civic center and retail commercial sites. 

A DOZEN new cruise ships with names like Seven Seas Voyager, Europa and Century plan to dock in Hilo in 2011, increasing passenger landings by some 15 percent and adding nearly $2 million to the economy of the east side, according to the Big Island Visitors Bureau. These visitors often come to Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park and as far as Punalu`u.

THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION is considering a hike in electric rates and also some incentives to drive the electric companies toward using more alternative energies. The approval also involves decoupling the rates from the amount of electricity sold, which allowed the utility to raise rates when it sold less electricity. HECO is also committed to a new goal of using 25 percent renewable energy by the year 2020 and 40 percent by the year 2030.
     “This is an important step in helping carry out our state's energy policy," said Dick Rosenblum, Hawaiian Electric Company president and CEO. "Ensuring the right regulatory model is in place will help move Hawai`i toward a clean energy future that will benefit customers and our economy, protect the environment, increase our energy security and allow the utility to better provide the services and support we need to get there." Residential customers are expected to experience a $3.57 hike in electric bills starting in January, which is going toward an energy efficiency program.

WITH DROUGHT LIFTING AND THE RAINS COMING BACK TO KA`U, the state Department of Health is asking everyone to prevent stagnant water from standing in yards, parking lots and empty containers. Standing water not only promotes mosquito breeding, mosquitoes can carry dengue fever, and the Department of Health is trying to prevent the expansion of this viral illness throughout the islands.

THE GIANT SHADE TREES AT Pahala Community Center will be spared for now, according to the staff of County Council member Brittany Smart. Jen Knippling said the Department of Parks and Recreation has determined that the remaining shade trees are well trimmed and in good health. At least eight large shade trees were cut down last spring after a church complained of the trees dropping branches and leaves on their roof and walkways of a building they constructed near the county park property line.

NEW YEAR’S CELEBRATIONS are planned throughout Ka`u and Volcano. Kilauea Military Camp has a New Year’s Eve fish luncheon from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., a New Year's Eve party, and a New Year's Day dinner buffet. Hana Hou in Na`alehu will feature Ernie Kalani and his Back to the 50s trio and a special meal on New Year's Eve. Shaka's in Na`alehu plans food and dance music with JoJo Akamu to ring in the New Year.

THE HAWAI`I FIRE DEPARTMENT is reminding everyone that fireworks are legal only between 9 p.m. on New Year's Eve and 1 a.m. on New Year's Day. Stay 1,000 feet away from the hospital, senior housing and school grounds, as the law protects these places. Most fireworks are being banned on O`ahu, and the same could happen here if the rules are disregarded.

CHRISTMAS TREES without ornaments and flocking are being accepted for recycling daily at Wai`ohinu transfer station.

Ka`u News Briefs Dec. 30, 2010

Sweet sorghum requires less fertilizer, water and labor than many other energy crops
and is being considered for Ka`u.

THE NEW ENERGY FEEDSTOCK PROGRAM established by the state legislature is mandated to “promote and support worthwhile energy feedstock production activities in the state.” Energy feedstock is comprised of crops from algae to sorghum to trees that can be processed to produce energy. Russell Kokubun, Ka`u’s senator who recently stepped down to become head of the state Department of Agriculture, is tasked with working with the University of Hawai`i to help with energy feedstock production. The legislature also cautions that the use of lands for energy feedstock must be in balance with the use of lands for growing food. Hawai`i imports both 90 percent of its fuel for energy and 90 percent of its food. 

     Plans are being made to use thousands of acres between Na`alehu and Pahala to grow energy crops and to establish a refinery to produce fuel from harvesting trees and plants. The refinery could be in Na`alehu or Pahala.

THE ECONOMY IS EXPECTED TO GROW by 10 percent in 2012 and may have grown by three percent in this fiscal year, according to the state Council on Revenues, which released its report yesterday. The expected growth could reduce the state budget shortfall by $99 million, helping Governor Neil Abercrombie and the legislature in its effort to balance the budget. The projected growth is due to the recovery in the tourism industry. Abercrombie said that the estimates “do not lessen the financial hardships that our families and businesses face right now.” He said his administration will focus on creating jobs and restoring government services.

CHEF ALAN WONG, a big supporter of Ka`u Coffee and a judge in the annual Ka`u Coffee Festival recipe contest, cooked for President Barack Obama and his family yesterday on O`ahu at his own restaurant. Ka`u Coffee was the official coffee at one of President Obama’s inauguration galas in Washington, D.C. in 2009 and was also served to members of Congress when it was taken again this month to D.C. – this time by the Ka`u Farm Bureau.

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES has put a $10 fuel surcharge on each ticket sold for flights going across the Pacific. Interisland airline ticket prices remain the same. Fuel costs have reached the highest prices in two years, according to a report in Pacific Business News.

HAWAI`I PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS are fighting a change in their life and health insurance plans that will lead to a 20 to 25 percent increase in their premiums. A judge has ruled that the plans can be changed, but the teachers must receive the same benefits. The new plan, called the Employee’s Beneficiary Association Trust, was set up by the state Legislature in 2010.

OCEAN VIEW, NA`ALEHU, AND PAHALA POST OFFICES will close at noon on New Year’s Eve. Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park post office will be closed for the entire day, and Volcano Village Post office will be open regular hours. All locations will be closed Saturday, January 1.

THE COUNTY OF HAWAI`I’S RUBBISH drop-off site at Kahuku Park in Ocean View will be closed for New Year’s Day on Saturday, January 1. The site will be locked, and everyone is warned to refrain from illegally dumping or littering around the closed facility. The site will open the day after the holiday, Sunday, January 2 and will resume the normal Saturday operation beginning January 8.

Aerial fireworks are allowed by permit only. Consumer fireworks can be used
between 9 p.m. New Year's Eve and 2 a.m. New Year's Day.

NEW YEAR’S CELEBRATIONS are planned throughout Ka`u and Volcano. Kilauea Military Camp has a New Year’s Eve fish luncheon from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., a New Year's Eve party, and a New Year's Day dinner buffet. Hana Hou in Na`alehu will feature Ernie Kalani and his Back to the 50s trio and a special meal on New Year's Eve. Shaka's in Na`alehu plans food and dance music to ring in the New Year. 

THE HAWAI`I FIRE DEPARTMENT is reminding everyone that fireworks are legal only between 9 p.m. on New Year's Eve and 1 a.m. on New Year's Day. Stay 1,000 feet away from the hospital, senior housing and school grounds, as the law protects these places. Most fireworks are being banned on O`ahu, and the same could happen here if the rules are disregarded.

CHRISTMAS TREES without ornaments and flocking are being accepted for recycling daily at Wai`ohinu transfer station.

Ka`u News Briefs Dec. 29, 2010

Back to the 50s Trio will play at Hana Hou on New Year's Eve.

REPRESENTATIVE BOB HERKES is holding a fact finding hearing at the state capitol in Honolulu on Thursday, Jan. 6 regarding progress on Ocean View’s new water system. Herkes set up an investigative committee to review the timetable, costs and design of the water system that will provide spigots so that residents can fill water tanks to take to their houses. The project includes a 300,000-gallon reinforced concrete water tank for storage of water pumped from a new well, as well as distribution lines to the new spigots at a fill station. Herkes is planning to give a report to the state Legislature when it convenes on Jan. 19. 

THE STATE’S REQUIREMENT that the electric companies in the Islands use more alternative energy has led to plans to farm large tracts of land to grow jatropha, sorghum and other plants to refine into oil. The state Department of Agriculture has released a report it will make to the 2011 Legislature detailing such plans. One finding is that meeting the electric companies’ needs for fuel would require 1.1 million acres of land, which is more than three times the acreage of cropland that exists in the Islands. On the other hand, growing algae and turning it into fuel would require only 14 percent of the state’s cropland.
     Plans are being made to use some of the cropland in Ka`u and to build a refinery in Pahala to make fuel to truck to the electric plants in Kona and Hilo.

EVERYONE CONVICTED of drunken driving, beginning this Saturday, will be required to install a device in their car that requires a breath test before driving and locks down the car and prevents you from driving if it detects alcohol in your breath. The Ignition Interlock Law goes into effect on Jan. 1 and has been successful in 39 other states. First time DUI offenders have to use the device for a year, second time offenders for 18 months, third time offenders for two years. Four time DUI offenders will have to have the breath test every time they turn on their car for five years. The Ignition Interlock device costs up to $150 to install and needs regular monitoring and calibration, which can cost hundreds of dollars a year.

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES is raising its rates for airline travel, following the lead of other carriers that swallowed huge expenses as bad weather caused many delays and thousands of cancelled flights on the mainland. The extent of the rate hikes is yet to be revealed.

WINNERS FOR THE 2010 Kilauea Military Camp Christmas decorating contest have been announced. First place went to the KMC Store and Gas Station employees. Second went to the KMC front office staff and third place went to the KMC Recreation and Bowling Center. The decorations and holiday lights will adorn the cottages at KMC through the holidays and into the first week in January.

NEW YEAR’S CELEBRATIONS are planned throughout Ka`u and Volcano. Kilauea Military Camp has a New Year’s Eve fish luncheon from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., a New Year's Eve party, and a New Year's Day dinner buffet. Hana Hou in Na`alehu will feature Ernie Kalani and his Back to the 50s trio and a special meal on New Year's Eve. Shaka's in Na`alehu plans food and dance music to ring in the New Year. 

THE HAWAI`I FIRE DEPARTMENT is reminding everyone that fireworks are legal only between 9 p.m. on New Year's Eve and 1 a.m. on New Year's Day. Stay 1,000 feet away from the hospital, senior housing and school grounds, as the law protects these places. Most fireworks are being banned on O`ahu, and the same could happen here if the rules are disregarded. 

CHRISTMAS TREES without ornaments and flocking are being accepted for recycling daily at Wai`ohinu transfer station.