Ka`u News Briefs May 29, 2012

Ka`u Hospital will be assisted through federal funding directed to HHSC by Gov. Neil Abercrombie.
Photo by Julia Neal

KA`U HOSPITAL WILL BENEFIT from federal funding for medical care for the poor. Gov. Neil Abercrombie has directed $6.8 million away from private hospitals to the quasi-state Hawai`i Health Systems Corp. to help pay for its $10.5 million shortfall. The story, by Derrick DePledge, was reported in this morning’s Honolulu Star Advertiser and quotes state Department of Human Services chief Patricia McManaman, who said that HHSC provides “services across the state to some of our most vulnerable populations.” It manages Ka`u, Hilo, Kona, Hamakua and Kohala medical facilities, and other remote hospitals on Lana`i, in Waimea on Kaua`i and Kula on Maui.

Sen. Josh Green

      In other funding, private hospitals and large nursing homes will likely receive more money through a bill passed by the 2012 Hawai`i Legislature to authorize a provider fee. The new law, which the governor is yet to sign, would qualify the state for millions of dollars in additional Medicaid fees. According to the Star Advertiser story, “private hospitals would pay about $42 million in fees and get $77 million in return. The state would get a seven percent cut — or $2.8 million — in the transaction.”
      Sen. Josh Green, who is running for Senate in communities from Honu`apo to Kona Airport, is urging the governor to sign the bill. The Star Advertiser story credits Green with saying that more federal Medicaid money is necessary for private hospitals since the administration chose to use most of the federal charity care money for HHSC. The Star Advertiser quotes Green: “It is critical for the governor to support both the public and private hospitals, so if he is committed to this change in funding plans, he must let the hospital sustainability bill become law.” Green said in an email, “Any other approach would be irresponsible and wrong.”

Pew Project on National Security, Energy & Climate recommends biofuel
for the military. Photo from Pew

PLANS FOR GROWING BIOFUEL CROPS for military and airline transportation took a hit in Congress last week when the U.S. Senate Armed Service Committee voted 13 to 12 to restrict military use of biofuel. The committee was working on the National Defense Authorization Act 2013, the military budget. The U.S. House of Representatives also dampened enthusiasm for buying biofuel by writing restrictions into its version of the military budget. The result is Congress directing the military to refrain from using biofuel until its cost goes down to equal or less than such fossil fuels as coal, natural gas and oil. 

      The Associated Press headlined its story: The Pentagon’s investment in green energy requires too much green paper for some in Congress. It quoted Sen. John McCain: “In a tough budget climate for the Defense Department, we need every dollar to protect our troops on the battlefield with energy technologies that reduce fuel demand and save lives.” McCain, top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said that “spending $26 per gallon of biofuel is not consistent with that goal. The committee’s action corrects this misplacement of priorities.”

Sen. John McCain

      Last year, the state of Hawai`i’s Public Utilities Commission turned down a proposal from Hawai`i Electric Co. to purchase biofuel that would be produced from crops in Ka`u. The PUC concluded that using biofuel would be too costly, causing electric rates to go up, and unfair to utility customers, even with the expectation that the cost of biofuel would be under the cost of fossil fuel in years to come.
      Biofuel for the growing military presence in Hawai`i and the expanding Pacific Theater was also considered as another use for biofuel crops that could be established on cattle-grazing lands between Pahala and Na`alehu. Test plantings for the kinds of grasses and canes that might work in the Ka`u environment are growing, and `Aina Koa Pono proposes a refinery just off Wood Valley Road.
      Phyllis Cuttino, director of Pew Charitable Trust’s Project on National Security, Energy and Climate, supports biofuel for the military: “The Department of Defense is one of the largest institutional energy users in the world, consuming more than 300,000 barrels of oil a day.” She described the action in Congress as a “step backward,” saying, “This will hurt the Department of Defense’s efforts to protect its budget from oil price shocks, diversify its energy mix and ensure security of supply.” See more of the analysis at http://www.pewenvironment.org/campaigns/pew-project-on-national-security-energy-climate/id/8589935509.

Iwao Yonemitsu and Toku Nakano, Ka`u vets of the
442nd, were honored at yesterday's Memorial Day
ceremonies at Kilauea Military Camp.
Photo by Julia Neal

MEMORIAL DAY CEREMONIES honored 442nd veterans yesterday afternoon at Kilauea Military Camp in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Rep. Jerry Chang gave the keynote speech, praising the “Go for Broke” Japanese American members of the 442nd Regiment during World War II. Honorees Iwao Yonemitsu and Toku Nakano enjoyed special seating near Rep. Bob Herkes. 

      Chang noted the excellent health care and educational opportunities given to veterans in past wars and called for more help for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. He said there is a new epidemic in mental health problems and that many vets wind up in the judicial system. Major Darrin Cox, executive officer of the 1st Squadron, 299th Calvary, also spoke. A high school Naval JROTC posted colors, with member Jayko Cheney singing Freedom is Not Free. Patrick Inouye sang Amazing Grace, God Bless America and This Land is Your Land.

KEN CHARON teaches basic drawing techniques on Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Participants meet at Volcano Art Center Gallery before walking to a scenic location suitable for sketching. Sign up on a first-come, first-served basis that day and bring paper and pencil, or borrow supplies for a donation. The event is free, and park entrance fees apply. For more information, call Emily at 967-7565.

Josh Ortega, top left, with his team.

BOYS VOLLEYBALL COACH Josh Ortega has hauled home the Red Division’s Coach of the Year award to Ka`u High School. Division Player of the Year went to Trojan Donald Garo, Jr. in the BIIF volleyball awards voted by league coaches. Ortega, who was on Ka`u High’s volleyball team and graduated in 2003, is a PTP teacher at the school and moved from assistant to head coach this season. He earned his volleyball coaching stripes with the assistance of former girls volleyball head coach Elijah Navarro and veteran high school and college coach and volleyball camp owner Guy Enriques. 

Fencing of the reserve's central portion is the preferred alternative in the Ka`u Forest
Reserve Draft Management Plan.

KA`U FOREST RESERVE’S Draft Management Plan is the topic at a public meeting this Saturday, June 2 at Na`alehu Community Center. The reserve, located between 2,000 and 7,000 feet in altitude above the villages of Pahala, Na`alehu and Wai`ohinu, has some of the most pristine native Hawaiian forest in all of the Islands. It is managed by the state Department of Forestry & Wildlife.
      The plan would be implemented over a 15-year time frame. To help preserve native species, it includes options for fencing portions of the 61,641 acre Ka`u Forest Reserve mostly in the upper elevations. The plan would provide trails for hunters and hikers.
      Copies of the plan’s Draft EA can be read at Pahala and Na`alehu Public Libraries and online at http://oeqc.doh.hawaii.gov/Shared%20Documents/EA_and_EIS_Online_Library/Hawaii/2010s/2012-05-23-DEA-Kau-Forest-Reserve-Management-Plan.pdf.
      Saturday’s meeting takes place from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Food and childcare will be provided. For more information, contact Ron Terry at 969-7090 or rterry@hawaii.rr.com.

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Ka`u News Briefs May 28, 2012

Water from the sugar plantation has served Ka`u for many generations. Photos from state Department of Agriculture

WOOD VALLEY WATER AND FARM COOPERATIVE is hoping to secure a backup source for potable water and also more water for agriculture by revamping Weda Tunnel. A proposal was made to the Ka`u Agricultural Water Cooperative District, which is helping to plan the use of state funding to repair old plantation water systems between Kapapala and Wai`ohinu. Weda Tunnel was developed during plantation days but fell into disrepair as the sugar industry abandoned the tunnel system. Weda would not only help agriculture but serve as a back up for Noguchi Tunnel, which serves Wood Valley residents with potable water under a state Department of Health license.

The state has released money to plan
for tunnel repairs.

      Wood Valley co-op has a restriction on adding more homes to its service until more water can be developed. Weda Tunnel, which is considered non-potable, would be used largely for ag, freeing up Noguchi to perhaps serve more homes and farms.
      Wood Valley co-op supplies water to an area encompassing approximately 1,000 acres of homestead agricultural and other agricultural land. There are five to six farms producing cut flowers, tea, macadamia nuts and coffee. Other users have cattle, animal breeding, tree farms, niche crops and small-scale agriculture. Approximately 20 percent of the current service area is in active agriculture. Many of the current users would likely increase the intensity of agriculture if more water became available.
      Development of Weda Tunnel would also provide a temporary emergency source of water should the primary source and/or supply main fail. Wood Valley Water and Farm Cooperative experienced a failure in the November 2000 flood which destroyed large sections of its supply main and distribution system.

THE REV. DENNIS KAMAKAHI took home the award for top Slack Key Album of the Year at the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards last night in Honolulu. The album is Waimaka Helelei and also features Stephen Inglis. Kamakahi teaches each year at Pahala Plantation Cottages at the Keoki Kahumoku music workshops where many local students receive scholarships and other students come from the around the world to study with the masters. Kamakahi says he will soon move to Na`alehu to teach and operate his recording studio. 

ROBERT CAZIMERO won Best Hawaiian Language Album at the Na Hoku Hanohano awards. He also frequents Ka`u and recently shared his music at an official Ka`u Coffee Festival dinner at Kalaekilhohana Bed & Breakfast on South Point Road. His album is called Hula.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR is Kaunaloa by Kuana Torres Kahele, a solo album from the star of Na Palapalai. Kahele has deep roots on he Big Island and has written songs about many places here, from Halema`uma`u to Miloli`i. Kahele also won Male Vocalist of the Year, Hawaiian Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Liner Notes of the Year. The awards are issued by Hawaiian Academy of Recording Arts. 

TODAY IS MEMORIAL DAY, and Kilauea Military Camp’s ceremony begins at 3 p.m. on the front lawn. Iwao Yonemitsu, Toku Nakano and Tsuneki Omija are Congressional Gold Medal recipients from Ka`u who will be honored along with other Gold Medal recipients of Hawai`i Island. Keynote speaker is state Rep. Jerry Chang, and guest speaker is Major Darrin Cox, executive officer of the 1st Squadron, 299th Calvary.

HAWAI`I WILDLIFE FUND has a busy week planned in Ka`u. A cleanup of an anchialine pond takes place tomorrow, and the third annual beach cleanup at Manuka Natural Area Reserve is on Saturday. Volunteers should be able hikers wearing sturdy shoes and bring bag lunches, water bottle, snacks and sun and wind protection. Sign up for the events with Megan Lamson at kahakai.cleanups@gmail.com or 769-7629.

Ranger John Stallman guides hikers at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park's
Kahuku Unit. Photo by Dave Boyle

KILAKILA O KA`U celebrates the lunar eclipse and Venus transiting the sun this Saturday, Sunday and Monday, June 2 – 4, at Aikala Ranch on South Point Road. Activities include Hawaiian Language Scrabble Tournament, astrology, palmistry, tarot cards, psychics, psychic mediums, gems, stones, Reiki and massage. For vendor spaces, call 968-1781; for camping, call 557-7043. 

FRIENDS OF HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK sponsor a sneak preview of Kahuku Unit’s Kona Trail on Sunday, June 3 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Park ranger John Stallman guides this four-mile roundtrip trek through highland pastures that offers participants excellent bird-watching opportunities along with information about the area’s natural and cultural heritage. $50 for Friends members; $70 for non-members. Students (K-12 and college with valid student ID) are half-price. Non-members are welcome to join the nonprofit Friends in order to get the member discount. Call 985-7373 or email institute@fhvnp.org.

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Ka`u News Briefs May 27, 2012

Japan industry and government are partnering with government, educational institutions and utilities for Smart Grids
development in Hawai`i, starting with Maui.

JAPAN AND HAWAI`I could become partners in figuring out the best and most efficient course for Pacific islands to become more energy independent. During a meeting this weekend in Okinawa, Japan, representatives of island nations discussed solar, wind and geothermal as future energy sources. They planned creation of “energy road maps, energy-efficient technology and private-sector involvement,” reports a story in this morning’s Honolulu Star Advertiser.
      Japan was described at the meeting as already the most energy-efficient country, with vast engineering and planning experience to help islands solve the problem. Participating were Hawai`i, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
      Star Advertiser reporter Allison Schaefers interviewed Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz, who has been working on the energy partnership. Schatz said that “Hawai`i and Japan are both overly dependent on foreign oil, and that’s why we are working together on clean energy projects…. We’ve got tremendous momentum because we feel the urgency.”
      Schatz said Japan is already working to install a Smart Grid project on Maui. The phase one, $37 million project partnered Hawai`i with Japan’s New Energy & Industrial Technology Development Organization, Japan Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and Hitachi Corp.
      Colton Ching, vice president of system operation and planning for Hawaiian Electric Co., told the Star Advertiser that his company met with Okinawa Electric several times in the last year regarding renewable resources, including solar and wind.
      “Hawai`i and Okinawa are similar in that we have small island electric grids and have a common goal of reducing our dependence on imported oil and increasing our use of renewable energy,” Ching said in an email to the Star-Advertiser. “We hope to continue this exchange on information going forward.”
      An Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit and Expo will be held Aug. 13 - 15 in Honolulu at the Hawai`i Convention Center. See www.asiapacificcleanenergy.com.

Small Hive Beetles are making their way across Hawai`i.
Photo from Department of Agriculture

BEE DISEASE should be reported immediately to the state Department of Agriculture to help save the $4 million honey and queen bee industries and to protect some 70 percent of Hawai`i food crops depending on bee pollination. 

      Already under attack by the varroa mite, beekeepers were notified Friday that small hive beetles, Aethina tumida, have spread to all the inhabited Hawaiian Islands except for Lana`i and Ni`ihau. Three days ago, the ag department confirmed the presence of small hive beetles on Kaua`i - about two years after their first detection on this island at Panaewa in April 2010.
       Department of Agriculture scientists said they are particularly concerned about potentially infected hive material being moved from one location to another, further spreading the pest. They issued an official Pest Alert for the beetle in January.
      Hawai`i residents, especially beekeepers, are reminded by the ag department that transporting bees or used beekeeping equipment between islands is prohibited by law without obtaining Department of Agriculture permits and prior inspection.

Small Hive Beetle larvae & adults eat through honeycomb.
Photo from Department of Agriculture

      Small hive beetle adults are about four to five millimeters in length. When young, they are yellowish-brown in color, turning brownish, then to black at maturity. They feed on most anything inside a beehive, including honey, pollen, wax, as well as honeybee eggs and larvae. As they feed, they tunnel through the hive, damaging or destroying the honeycomb and contaminating the honey. They can also spend their entire life outside the hive, living on local fruit.
      Symptoms of infestation include discolored honey, an odor of decaying oranges, and fermentation and frothiness in the honey. Heavy infestations may cause honeybee colonies to abandon hives.
      Small Hive Beetles are native to sub-Saharan Africa and were first detected in the U.S. in South Carolina in 1996 and Florida in 1998, as they spread to states in the South and Midwest, then on to California.
      Small Hive Beetles are pests under international regulation for queen bee export, and there is a concern some countries may restrict importation of queen bees from Hawai`i.
      Besides being honey producers, bees are critical pollinators for melons, watermelons, cucumbers, squash, lychee, mango, macadamia, coffee, eggplant, avocado, guava, herbs and some flowering plants such as sunflowers. Beekeepers who notice any suspicious beetles or larvae inside bee colonies are urged to contact the ag department immediately at hdoa.ppc@hawaii.gov or by calling 808-973-9525.
      To view the Pest Alert, go to: http://hawaii.gov/hdoa/pi/ppc/npa-1/NPA-SHB%201-12.pdf.

THE HAWAI`I TEACHERS UNION’S VOTE to approve its state contract is being called into question by Civil Beat, which wants to know how many members voted. Hawai`i State Teachers Association president Wil Okabe said the vote was 66 percent for the contract and 34 percent against it, but is yet to release the numbers, Civil Beat reported. Postings by HSTA members on its website call for publicizing the numbers. A re-vote on the contract negotiated between the union and the state was approved last week after the union rejected the same contract in January.
      Gov. Neil Abercrombie has called the contract no longer valid, but HSTA will go to the bargaining table with the teacher-approved contract in hand. Okabe notified U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, in hopes that progress with the state and teacher relationship will save a $75 million Race to the Top Grant for which Hawai`i is on probation. For that grant, the federal DOE has asked for more teacher accountability in terms of student progress.

Don Nitsche Photo from bougainvillea-
bedandbreakfast.com

PROVIDING POTABLE WATER FOR OCEAN VIEW is still in progress, and Don Nitsche, a longtime activist for securing a well for the community, said yesterday that he hopes it is finished before he exits this world. He is over 80 years of age and has been working on securing water for Ocean View for more than 20 years, including marching in front of the State Capitol and decades of lobbying the Legislature. Nitsche said the latest holdup is waiting for testing of potable water from the new well and consideration of whether the pump already installed is large enough to accommodate daily demand. He said there are also issues with the access road off Hwy 11. The county promised water by June, but has yet to announce a date. 

IWAO YONEMITSU, Toku Nakano and Tsuneki Omija are Congressional Gold Medal recipients from Ka`u who will be honored along with other Gold Medal recipients of Hawai`i Island at Kilauea Military Camp’s Memorial Day ceremony and buffet tomorrow. Yonemitsu and Nakano will attend the ceremony that begins at 3 p.m. on KMC’s front lawn. Keynote speaker is state Rep. Jerry Chang, and guest speaker is Major Darrin Cox, executive officer of the 1st Squadron, 299th Calvary. The buffet at Crater Rim Café from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. is $14.25 for adults and $8 for children.

Kaimana Klein paints at a previous
Creativity Day. Photo from KSA

THE PUBLIC IS INVITED to Summer Creations two weeks from tomorrow. Ka`u School of the Arts presents the event on Monday, June 11, King Kamehameha Day, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Pahala Plantation House. Guided art activities include macrame with Alma Gorali, stitchery dolls with Kepi Davis, poetrix with Jym Duncan, traditional Pacific Island dances with Betina Wajar, batik with Terri Chapot, clay miniatures with Bobbie Beebe, metal intaglio with Suzshi Lang, acrylics on textile with Iris Bishoff and more. The event is free, and some activities may have a modest materials fee.

      KSA aims to introduce and practice Aloha, `Ohana, Ho`olaulima, Lokahi, Malama and Kokua in an active art setting and provide a safe, encouraging environment for creativity within the community.

      Call Theresa at 938-9767 for more information.

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