Ka`u News Briefs March 18, 2012

Sen. Gil Kahele looks on as the Senate's only Republican, Sam Slom, pushes for lower taxes and less government.
Photo from Sam Slom

AN IMPROVING ECONOMY means more tax revenue for the state and no major increases in state taxes or fees at the Legislature this year. The only major hike is punitive, one that would tax more kinds of tobacco the way cigarettes are taxed, reports Civil Beat in its review of money bills at the state Legislature. The new tobacco tax would increase the general excise tax to $3.20, or 70 percent, of the wholesale price (whichever is higher) on most cigars and pouch tobacco. The GE is already $3.20 per pack, or 16 cents a cigarette. “Cigarettes are selling for about $9 a pack these days,” Civil Beat reports, noting that “cigarette and tobacco taxes brought in more than $106 million in revenue for the state last fiscal year.”

A SUGAR TAX proposed by Big Island senator and physician Josh Green stalled. Green proposed distributors pay a penny tax for every teaspoon of sugar contained in a beverage, syrup or powder for sale. This could have led to taxing approximately ten cents per can of soda. Green announced his campaign for the new Senate District that will include Ka`u through Ocean View, Na`alehu, Discovery Harbour, Green Sands, Kalae and Honu`apo.

BUDGET PROPOSALS are making it through the Legislature, which is pau by May 3. An $11.16 billion dollar state budget passed the House of Representatives for debate in the Senate. The spending bill is approximately $54.5 million above Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s proposed budget for 2012-2013. Last year the Legislature passed an $11.05 billion budget. Civil Beat reporter Nanea Kalani sums up other important budget proposals:

The State of Hawai`i and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs are
attempting to settle land disputes by the end of the
2012 Legislature.

OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS would receive compensation for state-held Hawaiian lands by accepting urban land in Honolulu at Kaka`ako. The bill crossed over from the Senate to the House for final consideration. 

 
THE INVEST IN HAWAI`I ACT “is an aggressive $500 million general-obligation-bond-funded capital improvement plan intended to spur the economy, create jobs and tackle maintenance backlogs,” Kalani reports. It “aims to streamline the building process by exempting contracts of $1 million or less from the state procurement code, as well as exempting projects from county-level permitting and licensing requirements…. Not surprisingly, the bill has strong support from construction and subcontractor groups. The Sierra Club opposes the measure, calling it misguided.”

A Clean Economy Bank would help finance clean energy
projects. Photo from Good Environment

A CLEAN ECONOMY BANK is proposed “to lessen the burden on the state and other participating entities to finance qualified renewable energy,” Civil Beat reports.

THE STATE BANK, which could help take on mortgages in cases where homeowners qualify for making payments, passed the House and is under consideration by the Senate. Ka`u Rep. Bob Herkes sees it as a way to keep money in the state and people in their houses, particularly those whom he sees as victims of unfair banking practices that helped create the recent countrywide recession. North Dakota has such a bank, which was founded by farmers to help their local economies. Private banks oppose the measure. Another measure to help homeowners would set up a state Housing Finance and Development Corp. program to purchasse mortgages in trouble, Civil Beat reports.

BIODIESEL JOBS are being offered by Pacific Biodiesel during a job fair at its Kea`au plant in the Shipman Industrial Park on Saturday, March 24 from 8:30 a.m. until noon. The company is looking for a facilities manager, plant operators, shift managers, shipping and receiving agents and an administrative assistant. 

Singer and songwriter Jack Johnson supports the
sustainability model of Pacific Biodiesel founders
Kelly and Bob King. Photo from Pacific Biodiesel

      Pacific Biodiesel received the Green Jobs award last year and was voted one of the best places to work by Hawai`i Business Magazine. It promotes small-scale renewable energy development. The job fair is co-sponsored by Hawai`i Community College, Workforce Hawai`i and the Hawai`i Economic Development Board. The new biodiesel plant is expected to produce five million gallons a year. 

OVER $4,000 WAS RAISED for scholarships at Ka`u Hospital Charitable Foundation’s auction and rummage sale this month. Any resident of Ka`u enrolled in health or medical education classes may be eligible. Applications can be downloaded at www.facebook.com/kauhospital?sk=notes. Board members express their gratitude for all the hard work and support from members of the Ka`u community who made this event a success, said the event organizer Ursula D'Angelo.

HELP FROM THE Hawai`i Small Business Development Center is available to Ka`u residents who are starting or running small businesses. The organization provides business consulting, business-related research, workshops and training. It works with pre-venture exploration of business ideas, start-up operations and existing businesses. 

      Senior business consultant Hazel Beck recently held a free workshop in Na`alehu and will hold another on April 19 at Yano Hall in Captain Cook. To sign up, contact Jane Horike at 961-8496 or jhorike@co.hawaii.hi.us.
      To request counseling services, visit www.hisbdc.org.

MAYOR BILLY KENOI and directors of county departments meet with Ka`u residents tomorrow from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Na`alehu Elementary School. The talk story is hosted by Hawaiian Civic Club of Ka`u and Ka`u Rural Health Community Association.

KA`U COFFEE FESTIVAL meeting takes place Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Pahala Community Center leading up the festival on May 12 and an education day on May 13. Members of the public who would like to help the farmers promote their award-winning coffee and put on the event to thank the community for their support can join in.

 
VISIT OUR SPONSORS AT WWW.PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND WWW.KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM.

Ka`u News Briefs March 17, 2012

The Kohala Center shows growing and consuming locally produced food crops leads to better health.
Photos from The Kohala Center

GROWING MORE FOOD LOCALLY could decrease hunger, increase community food security and strengthen the island’s economy, according to a report from The Kohala Center, state Department of Agriculture and Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research Hawai`i. The Health Impact Assessment addresses the Hawai`i County Agriculture Development Plan, which underscores island food self-reliance in supporting community well-being. The county Ag Development Plan aims to guide government, local businesses and industry organizations to revitalize agriculture as a basis for economic development. 

      Recommendations in the health impact assessment include:
* Modifying state procurement practices to allow schools and other government institutions to purchase locally produced foods more easily;
* Promoting agricultural career pathways at the high school and college levels;
* Making the purchase of fresh local food more convenient and affordable in rural areas;
* Increasing local food processing capacity through public-private partnerships.

      Betsy Cole, a former businesswoman in Ka`u who now serves as a deputy director of The Kohala Center and co-authored the report, said, “We found that increasing local food production and providing some of that food to our school lunch programs would have positive economic impact and a number of more direct health benefits — for example, shaping children’s preferences for healthy food and making more fresh fruits and vegetables accessible to all island residents.” 

Na`alehu School has a garden and supports healthy eating
with its food service program. Photo by Julia Neal

      “As most people know by now, increased consumption of produce is linked to lower rates of obesity and associated chronic diseases,” Cole said.
      The report cites links employment from expanded agricultural production to better family health outcomes, while home production increases physical activity and improved mental health. The research was supported by a grant from the Health Impact Project, a collaboration of The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. See it at: www.kohalacenter.org/research.html.

MORE ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PROJECTS would be allowed on agricultural land,  but only “small scale systems” for agricultural use, rather than residential or industrial development, according to House Bill 2150. It passed the state Senate Agriculture Committee this week and is headed for the Senate Committee on Energy, Water, Land and Housing. Hydroelectric, photovoltaic and biogas are among the renewable alternative energies in the proposal. The language said it must be “solely for use in the agricultural activities of the fee or leasehold owners of the property.” The bill has the support of Department of Agriculture chief Russell Kokubun but only for “bona fide farmers,” he testified. 

Biofuel refineries like this one in Danville, IL would be allowed on land
classified Agriculture in Hawai`i. Older industrial plants from the defunct
sugar companies around the islands are on lands zones for industry.
Photo from Renewable Energy Group

      Kamehameha Schools presented testimony saying that allowing more production of alternative energy on ag land would reduce costs of running irrigation pumps. Kapu C. Smith testified that one pump costs Kamehameha Schools $20,000 a month in electric bills. He said the ability to provide photovoltaic systems to support farm operations “is an important tool to fight for economic feasibility.” He noted that a hydroponic farmer on Kamehameha Schools lands spends $10,000 a month to operate a diesel fuel pump. 

THE AG BILL also includes language allowing biofuel refineries on ag land where biofuel crops are grown “provided that biofuels processing facilities and appurtenances do not adversely impact agricultural land and other agricultural uses in the vicinity.” HB 2150 describes appurtenances as “operational infrastructure of the appropriate type and scale for economic commercial storage and distribution, and other similar handling of feedstock, fuels, and other products of biofuels processing facilities.” A biofuel processing facility is defined as producing “liquid or gaseous fuels from organic sources such as biomass crops, agricultural residues and oil crops, including palm, canola, soybean and waste cooking oils; grease food wastes; and animal residues and wastes that can be used to generate energy.”

Alapaki Nahale-a
Photo from DHHL

ALAPAKI NAHALE-A is resigning as chief of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands on May 15, he announced yesterday. The 44-year-old resident of Pepeekeo said the decision was personal, as he has a family here on the Big Island. In a press release, Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who appointed him, said “Alapaki is a man who has and will do good things for Hawai`i, especially Native Hawaiians. While I am saddened by his resignation, I am very proud of the work that he has done. He has reminded me of the sacrifice that many state workers are making to better Hawai`i.” 

MAYOR BILLY KENOI and directors of county departments hold a talk story this Monday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Na`alehu Elementary School. The event is hosted by Ka`u Rural Health Community Association and Hawaiian Civic Club of Ka`u.

AN EVENING OF GREEN, HAWAIIAN STYLE, takes place today at 7 p.m., at Kilauea Military Camp’s Kilauea Theater in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Brittni Paiva, Keoki Kahumoku and Aloha Bluegrass perform. Tickets are $20 for VAC members, $22 for non-members. For more, call 967-8222. Park entrance fees apply.

Entries are still being accepted for FHVNP's
photo contest. Photo by Jack Jeffrey

IMAGES FROM THE EDGE, a photo contest sponsored by Friends of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, is accepting entries through Monday, April 2. The contest is open to anyone with an original photograph taken in the park within the last three years. Photos may be color or black and white and can cover any subject matter. Entries can be submitted through Monday, April 2. All images will be considered for inclusion in a slideshow on Saturday, April 28 at Kilauea Visitor Center, and all finalists’ photographs will be exhibited from June 9 to 17 at Volcano Art Center Gallery. 

      For full contest rules and to enter, visit www.fhvnp.org. The entry fee for up to three photos is $25, payable online by credit card.

WATCH FOR THE HURRICANE a week from today. The original three-act murder mystery is set for next Saturday at 4 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center. The performance benefits the Food Pantry. Attendees are asked to bring canned food equivalent to $10 or a check to Hawaiian Food Pantry for the same amount. For more information, call 929-7236 or email marge@hawaii.rr.com.

VISIT OUR SPONSORS AT WWW.PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND
WWW.KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM.

Ka`u News Briefs March 16, 2012

Volunteers cleaned two miles of the Ka`u Coast last Saturday. Photo from Hawai`i Wildlife Fund

DEVELOPMENT OF A GEOTHERMAL energy transmission system that could deliver electricity from the Big Island to other larger population centers through an undersea cable will face federal regulations. They could also be strapped with paying leases, much like offshore oil wells. According to a Civil Beat story by Sophie Cocke, “For the first time, the federal government will charge companies in Hawai`i for placing renewable energy projects in its waters, which extend from three miles to 200 miles offshore.” She quotes a Department of Interior report showing that the fed collected $156 billion in the past 50 years. Other alternative energy projects that may be on the Hawai`i horizon include offshore windmills, and they too would require federal leases. Civil Beat reports that a state and federal task force has started talks to understand how the leases could affect energy projects here. See more at civilbeat.org. 

Mark Kimura documented results of volunteers' efforts along Ka`u's Coast.

LATEST KA`U COAST CLEANUP results are in. Hawai`i Wildlife Fund reports that 43 volunteers cleaned four different coves from Pulehua, south of Ka`alu`alu Bay, to the `Onikinalu lava flow to the south, covering more than two miles of coastline last Saturday. “We estimate that 3,742 pounds of marine debris were removed, including 300 pounds of derelict fishing nets,” said coordinator Megan Lamson. Findings included 2,000 oyster spacers from international mariculture, tinsel, several plastic helmets and a metal plaque with Japanese writing. As usual, plastic was the biggest component of the rubbish at almost 95 percent, followed by rubber, cloth, metal and less than a half-percent each of wood and glass. 

      HWF also sponsors cleanups of anchialine ponds in Ka`u, with the next one set for Tuesday, March 27. Volunteers can sign up with Lamson at 769-7629 or meg.hwf@gmail.com.

COMMENTS ON THE KA`U DISTRICT Gym & Shelter Draft Environmental Assessment are due a week from today - next Friday, March 23. The draft lists alternatives, including renovating or replacing the old gym, which would leave the open, grassy field. Demolition or retrofitting would have cost a lot of money and reduced funds to be used for a bigger and better gym. Also, the land around the old gym would have precluded construction of the newer, bigger gym. The EA also pointed out that the old gym is on the Register of Historic Places. 

Other open spaces at Ka`u High were considered but deemed too small for
the shelter and gym, according to the draft EA. Photo by Julia Neal

      Alternative sites within Pahala school grounds and within the district were also considered. Open areas other than the grassy field would limit the size of a new building to a size comparable to the existing gym, according to the draft EA. While using another site at the school would have maintained view planes from houses in the town and left the grassy field open for other recreation, the goal of creating a bigger gym and a disaster shelter with a large capacity could not have been met, the EA says.
      Alternative locations considered within the district included Na`alehu and Ocean View. According to the EA, however, a facility is already proposed for Ocean View that would supplement the Pahala shelter gym to meet full shelter needs of the district’s existing and projected population. “Both facilities are needed,” the draft EA states. “The advantage of locating the project in Pahala over Na`alehu is primarily to have the facility available for elementary, middle, and high school.” Another advantage to placing the project in Pahala is that school buildings “already serve as the district shelter, so the project does not introduce any new traffic impacts to Pahala as a shelter,” the draft EA states.
      The Draft Environment Assessment is available at Pahala and Na`alehu Public Libraries and online at hawaii.gov/health/environmental/oeqc/index.html. Comments can be sent to Tammy Kapali, Planner, PBR Hawai`i & Associates, Inc., 1001 Bishop Street, Suite 650 Honolulu, HI 96813 or faxed to 808-523-1402. Comments can also be sent to County of Hawai`i Department of Public Works, Attn: David Yamamoto, Aupuni Center, 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 7, Hilo, HI 96720 or faxed to 808-961-8630.

MAYOR BILLY KENOI and directors of county departments meet and talk with Ka`u residents about projects and issues important to their communities this Monday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Na`alehu Elementary School. The visit is hosted by Ka`u Rural Health Community Association and Hawaiian Civic Club of Ka`u.

A GARAGE & BAKE SALE is offered in the Volcano Golf Course Subdivision tomorrow from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., with proceeds benefiting Halau Hula Kalehuaki`eki`ekia`iu.

David Richey and Aloha Bluegrass offer An Evening of
Green tomorrow at Kilauea Theater.

AN EVENING OF GREEN, HAWAIIAN STYLE, a music concert hosted by Volcano Art Center, is held tomorrow at 7 p.m., at Kilauea Military Camp’s Kilauea Theater in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Brittni Paiva, Keoki Kahumoku and Aloha Bluegrass perform. Tickets are $20 for VAC members, $22 for non-members. For more, call 967-8222. Park entrance fees apply.  

A WRITING WORKSHOP, Zen Pen, takes place at Volcano Art Center’s Niaulani Campus tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tom Peek leads participants in deepening the conversation with their souls by using writing as a means to explore the human spirit, foster compassion for others, understand suffering and ease anger and conflict. The workshop is $77 for VAC members and $85 for non-members. Call Julie at 679-8222.

A ST. PATRICK’S DAY DINNER SPECIAL is offered by Kilauea Military Camp’s Crater Rim Café in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The dinner includes roast lamb, corned beef & cabbage, soup, salad, potatoes, green beans and dessert priced at $14 for adults and $7.50 for children 6 to 11 years old. Open to authorized patrons and sponsored guests. Park entrance fees apply.

`Alala, bred at Keauhou Bird Conservation Center,
are extinct in the wild. Photo by NPS/Jay Robinson

A TOUR OF THE KEAUHOU BIRD CONSERVATION CENTER, which is closed to the general public, is offered by the Friends of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park on Friday, April 6 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. By using intensive captive propagation and release techniques, the center strives to re-establish self-sustaining populations of critically endangered birds in the wild. Friends general manager Julie Mitchell said, “Since the tour is during the breeding season, we may even have the unique chance to see chicks being fed.” $20 for Friends members, $30 for non-members and students with valid ID are half-price. A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to the conservation center. To register, call 985-7373 or visit www.fhvnp.org. 

THE HURRICANE, an original three-act play about a murder that occurs during an approaching hurricane, is set for Saturday, March 24 at 4p.m. at Ocean View Community Center. Marge Elwell says the play is “an old-time whodunnit!” Attendees are asked to bring canned food equivalent to $10 or a check to Hawaiian Food Pantry for the same amount. During intermission, cookies and beverages will be served, and prizes for the best answers will be awarded. Doors open at 3:30 p.m. For more, call 929-7236 or email marge@hawaii.rr.com.

VISIT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM.