Ka`u News Briefs June 13, 2012

`Alala may be reintroduced into the wild in the Ka`u Forest Reserve. Photo from San Diego Zoo program at Volcano

A RECORD EIGHT `ALALA CHICKS HATCHED IN MAY AND JUNE at the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center on Kamehameha School lands in Volcano. The San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research runs the hatchling program for the endangered Hawaiian crow, last seen in the wild in 2002.

Helping hands peel back a shell to allow
an `Alala chick to hatch safely.
Photo from Keauhou Bird Refuge in Volcano

     Richard Switzer, a director of the program wrote yesterday in the organization’s Hawaiian Birds news that “May 13 was an exciting day: our first `alala of the 2012 season …eagerly awaited and anxiously nurtured through its first few days. Over the past three weeks, another seven `alala chicks have hatched. Crucially, on May 31, we celebrated reaching the major milestone of 100 ‘alala in the entire world ...This is quite an achievement for a population that was down to a low of 20 individuals in 1994 and is currently considered extinct in the wild. In fact, following subsequent hatches, the population currently stands at 102 birds. We are hoping for several more chicks in the weeks to come.”

     Several hatchlings’ necks were trapped in a position so they could not use their beaks to break out of the shells on their own. Refuge workers peeled back the shells to help the hatchlings escape. See more at http://blogs.sandiegozoo.org/category/conservation/hawaiian-birds/.
     A proposal to reintroduce the `Alala into a high altitude section of the Ka`u Forest Reserve is contained in the management plan for the state land. Call Ron Terry at (808) 969-7090 or email rterry@hawaii.rr.com.
     To download the Ka`u Forest Reserve Management Plan EA, visit http://oeqc.doh.hawaii.gov/Shared%20Documents/EA_and_EIS_Online_Library/Hawaii/2010s/2012-05-23-DEA-Kau-Forest-Reserve-Management-Plan.pdf.

Rep. Mazie Hirono

REP. MAZIE HIRONO blasted congress this week for blocking her initiative to put $333.4 million into the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency. The money would have gone into the development of alternative energies and would have come from trimming fossil fuel research funding to $420.6 million.
     Instead of supporting alternative energy, the majority in the House of Representatives is pushing through an “Energy & Water Development Appropriations bill that promotes an outdated focus on fossil fuels, keeping Hawai`i and our nation dependent on foreign oil,” Hirono wrote.
     She referred to the U.S. Census, saying that “last year oil was Hawai`i’s top foreign import costing us $4.5 billion. When oil prices go up, all of us feel an immediate impact: families are forced to stretch paychecks further and businesses have to find even more room in their budgets just to keep their doors open.”
     The congresswoman said that “Hawai`i’s families know that we need to embark on a new direction on energy. But the House Majority’s bill slices in half a program to promote saving money through energy efficiency and rolls back efforts to decrease carbon pollution.”
     She said the House majority also cut investments by $75 million in clean energy innovation through the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy, which supports projects such as algae-based biofuels, smart grid technology and electric cars. “Yet, the bill increased funding for research on fossil fuels to $554 million, an increase of over $200 million from last year’s amount.”
     Hirono recently met with clean energy leaders of Hawai`i who told her to keep supporting R&D for clean energy. Warren Bollmeier of the Hawai`i Renewable Energy Alliance told Hirono: “The path we need to take to energy independence is one where we level the playing field for clean energy.”
     Hirono said there are more than 11,000 jobs in clean energy in Hawai`i generating $1.2 billion for the local economy. “The clean energy industry keeps jobs and money in Hawai`i, and moves us one step closer to energy self-sustainability,” Hirono declared.

Naval war games and weapons testing moves to waters around Hawai`i,
extending to California. Photo from greengopost.com

NAVAL WEAPONS TESTING AND WAR GAMES IN WATERS AROUND HAWAI`I and extending to California are necessary to protect the country, says the Executive Summary in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement that goes to public meeting in Hilo tomorrow. The summary says, however, these activities can have an impact on the environment:
     “Major conflicts, terrorism, lawlessness, and natural disasters all have the potential to threaten national security of the United States. National security, prosperity, and vital interests are increasingly tied to other nations because of the close relationships between the United States and other national economies. The Navy carries out training and testing activities to be able to protect the United States against its enemies, as well as to protect and defend the rights of the United States and its allies to move freely on the oceans. Training and testing activities that prepare the Navy to fulfill its mission to protect and defend the United States and its allies potentially impact the environment. These activities may trigger legal requirements identified in many U.S. federal environmental laws, regulations, and executive orders.”

Proposed Hawai`i Range Complex Study
Area for U.S. Navy. Image from U.S. Navy

     The Draft EIS says, however, that these Navy operations have far less impact on turtles, marine mammals and other sea life than the fishing industry and pollution. ““Compared to potential mortality, strandings or injury resulting from Navy training and testing activities, marine mammal and sea turtle mortality and injury from bycatch, commercial vessel ship strikes, entanglement, ocean pollution and other human causes are estimated to be orders of magnitude greater (hundreds of thousands of animals versus tens of animals),” the document says.
     Read the entire Draft EIS and all about other Navy activities in Hawai`i by visiting http://www.govsupport.us/navynepahawaii/.
     The public meeting to submit comments will be held tomorrow at the East Hawai`i Cultural Center at 5 p.m. in Hilo. Comments can also be submitted through July 10 online and to Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, Attn: HSTT EIS/OEIS Project Manager-EV21.CS; 1220 Pacific Highway, Building 1, Floor 3, San Diego, CA 92132-5190.

Keoki Kahumoku

KEOKI KAHUMOKU teaches free `ukulele and slack key guitar classes today and every Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Olson Trust Building in Pahala. He also offers the classes on Fridays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Na`alehu United Methodist Church. Call 935-0463.

KA`U FARMERS MARKET begins its second week at Shaka Restaurant in Na`alehu today. Shaka general manager Rory Koi offered the grounds after the market was shut down without notice from Ace Hardware, following a customer threatened a lawsuit after falling down at a previous Ka`u Farmers Market.

HA`AO SPRINGS AG WATER COOPERATIVE meets tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. at Wai`ohinu Park.
     Residents are in the preliminary stages of forming a co-op to restore the springs and sugar plantation water delivery systems and develop new delivery systems so that water can be available for crops grown for personal use or markets. All interested parties are invited.

RED CROSS VOLUNTEERS MEET at H.O.V.E. Road Maintenance Corp. office in Ocean View tomorrow night at 7 p.m. Current volunteers and those interested in becoming volunteers are welcome. For more, call Hannah Uribes at 929-9953.

Artist Ken Charon teaches in Volcano tomorrow. Photo from charon-artfarm.com

NATURE DRAWING, taught be Ken Charon, is offered tomorrow at Volcano Art Center Gallery in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. From 10:30 a.m. to noon, Charon teaches basic drawing techniques and offers tips before waking to a scenic location suitable for sketching. Bring sketch pad/drawing paper and pencil (portable chair optional) or borrow supplies for a donation. Ages 8 and up register that day on a first-come, first-served basis. Free; park entrance fees apply. Donations are welcome. For more, call 967-8222.

VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED Friday for the Volunteer Forest Restoration Project in the Kahuku Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., volunteers will help locate native plant seedlings and clear vegetation around them in preparation for controlling pasture grass in the area. Pre-registration is required, call 985-7373 or email forest@fhvnp.org.

KICK ICE sign waiving takes place Friday from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Participants are asked to meet in front of the Na`alehu School gym.

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Ka`u News Briefs June 12, 2012

Loggerhead turtle escaping from a net with a turtle excluder device. Photo from NOAA

LEATHERBACK AND LOGGERHEAD sea turtles could be taken accidentally in larger numbers by the Hawai`i-based, shallow-set pelagic longline fishing fleets if a proposal by the National Marine Fisheries Service passes.
      The federal government issues 164 longline permits, and about 25 to 30 vessels are active, mostly going after swordfish, also called shutome and a`u, in the colder currents of Hawaiian waters.
      The rules allow for the incidental entanglement and hooking of a limited number of endangered turtles without fines or shutting down the fishery for the season. Once the limit is reached, however, the federal government closes the fishery for the rest of the year. Such rules that allow limited taking increase cooperation between conservationists and the fishing industry and have led to such innovations as installing turtle excluder devices in fishing nets.

Leatherback turtles are caught in Hawaiian longline
fishing nets. Photo from Scott Benson/NOAA

      The limit on loggerheads and leatherbacks was set by Fisheries in 2004 to a maximum annual accidental taking of 16 leatherbacks and 17 loggerheads for the entire Hawaiian waters fishery. However, Fisheries now proposes increasing that limit to 26 leatherbacks and 34 loggerheads per year. When a similar proposal was approved in 2008, the community groups KAHEA, Turtle Island Restoration Network and the Center for Biological Diversity sued the federal government. The court rejected the increase and set the limit for taking the endangered turtles back to the 2004 level.
      The comment period on the newly proposed increase in the limit is open through July 11. Opinions can be mailed to National Marine Fisheries Service regional administrator Michael Tosatto, 1601 Kapiolani Blvd., Suite 1110, Honolulu, HI 96814-4700. Email through an online form at regulations.gov, where the proposed rules are identified as NOAA-NMFS-2012-0068.

ED CASE AND MAZIE HIRONO are tied in the race for the U.S. Senate seat that would represent Ka`u. A Civil Beat poll released today shows each with 46 percent, from a survey of 731 voters taken statewide between June 5 and June 7. Both Case and Hirono have provided support to the decade-long effort to preserve the Ka`u Coast, resulting in federal funding during both their terms in Congress. Hirono also supports the idea of a biofuel plantation and refinery in Ka`u to provide alternative energy production for the rest of the state, according to her letter posted on the website of the creators of the project, `Aina Koa Pono. Her letter says, “I am excited that `Aina Koa Pono is leading the way to making this goal a reality for the islands.”

THE COST OF SHIPPING GOODS to Hawai`i will drop slightly for customers of Matson container vessels. The company announced yesterday that it will reduce its fuel surcharge from 45.5 percent to 42 percent on June 17 due to the drop in the cost of bunker oil. The reduction is 3.5 percent, but follows a five percent hike in February.
      Surcharge changes are allowed by the state Public Utilities Commission to reflect the ups and downs in fuel prices. Separate from the fuel surcharge, Matson also won a price increase in January of $225 per shipping container, further increasing the cost of shipping goods between the mainland and Hawai`i. A written statement from Matson says that “escalating energy costs have impacted all businesses, as well as consumers this year, with transportation companies especially hard hit.”

Terry Lee, Brandy, Kassie, Tiare-Lee, Dane Boy and Dane Shibuya in
Honolulu for the Miss Hawai`i Pageant.

BRANDY SHIBUYA and her  family are back from Honolulu after Brandy won the Children’s Miracle Network competition last weekend in the Miss Hawai`i Pageant. Said Brandy, “We went as a family from Ka`u, deeply rooted in our culture, values and community to compete for the Miss Hawai`i title, and we came home as a family from Ka`u.” She placed in the top ten in the Miss Hawai`i Pageant, the precursor to the Miss America Pageant, and continues her reign as Miss Aloha Hawai`i. “Winning the Children’s Miracle Network award was the most heartfelt moment because it was presented by Cody, our Champion child, and his father,” said Brandy. “I really devoted my time toward contributing to the foundation to help our sick and injured children here in Hawai`i. I made miracles happen, and so can you! It’s the best feeling in the world.” She thanked the Ka`u Coffee Pageant committee for hosting the event where she became Miss Ka`u Coffee, the committee for the Kona Coffee Pageant where she won Miss Aloha Hawai`i and the team from the Miss Hawai`i Pageant, as well as many sponsors including the Edmund C. Olson Trust II. “It wouldn’t have been possible without the support from my family, friends and community. Thank you Hawai`i, Big Island and Ka`u for believing in me!”

Graecin Beebe, of South Point, shows her handmade clay finger puppets.
Photo by Geneveve Fyvie

KA`U SCHOOL OF THE ARTS hosted its free Summer Creations event at Pahala Plantation House yesterday. Participants received guidance from local artists in macramé, batik, jewelry making, clay miniatures, acrylics and more. 

      KSA has ongoing opportunities to participate in the arts, with the Ka`u `Ohana Band and Ka`u Community Chorus rehearsing weekly. Visit kauarts.org or call 929-7544 for more information.

A HALF-MILE OF SHORELINE at Manuka Natural Area Reserve offered up 500 pounds of marine debris, including 200 pounds of derelict fishing nets at the latest Hawai`i Wildlife Fund Cleanup. Nineteen volunteers combed the shoreline around `Awili and Humuhumu Points. Jenn Randall and the NARs crew joined in this third annual cleanup. Volunteers were from Hawai`i Island and as far away as South Africa and Thailand.
      Megan Lamson of Hawai`i Wildlife Fund also reports that the removal of “heaps of non-native plant species and sediment from in and around the Ho`onoua anchialine pools during the past six months. The small volunteer groups are nearly done with the sediment removal in the largest pool and will be shifting gears to sediment removal in the second pond during July. “If you’d like to help with the ‘muck sucking’” or Seashore paspalum pulling, sign up in advance for the Ho`onoua Anchialine Pools Workday on Wednesdays, July 11 and July 25. RSVP to meg.hwf@gmail.com for more information. Space is limited.
      Hawai`i Wildlife Fund volunteers from Ka`u are helping the Surfrider Foundation in Hilo this weekend for their International Surfing Day cleanup event. See https://www.facebook.com/pages/Surfrider-Foundation-Hilo-Chapter/213691888646842 or contact James Kuriyama at jkuriyama@hawaii.edu.

      The next Ka`u beach cleanup will be Saturday, July 14. Volunteers meet at Wai`ohinu Park at 7:45 a.m. with sturdy footwear, sun/wind protection, bag lunch, snacks, refillable water bottle, “and a smile,” said Lamson. Four-wheel-drive vehicles are needed. Sign up with Lamson at 769-7629 or kahakai.cleanups@gmail.com.

KA`U FARMERS MARKET begins its second week at Shaka Restaurant in Na`alehu tomorrow at 8 a.m. Shaka general manager Rory Koi offered the grounds after the market was shut down without notice from Ace Hardware following a customer falling on the grounds there.

KEOKI KAHUMOKU teaches free `ukulele and slack key guitar classes tomorrow and every Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Olson Trust Building in Pahala. He also offers the classes on Fridays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Na`alehu United Methodist Church. Call 935-0463.

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Ka`u News Briefs June 11, 2012

King Kamehameha, who united the Hawaiian Islands.

THIS IS KAMEHAMEHA DAY, a public holiday. June 11 celebrates the life of the king who unified all the Hawaiian Islands from the Big Island to Ni`ihau in the decades just before the arrival of missionaries. Kamehameha I formally established the Hawaiian Kingdom as an internationally recognized government in 1810. During King Kamehameha’s reign from 1795 to 1818, fur traders and merchants, picking up local sandalwood on their way to markets in China, stopped in Hawai`i on their sailing ships. Pineapple and coffee crops were introduced.

      Kamehameha’s great-grandson Kamehameha V established the holiday in 1871, and Kamehameha Day quickly grew to include such events as carnivals, horse and foot races, parades featuring pa`u riders – the flower-bedecked horseback contingents representing each island – hula competitions and ho`olaule`a. The holiday continued as Hawai`i became a part of the U.S. It was one of the first holidays to be written into law when Hawai`i became a state in 1959.

King Kamehameha statue in the U.S. Capitol. Photo by Julia Neal

      There are four statues of Kamehameha, one in Hilo, another in Kapa`au, a third in Honolulu and a fourth in the new U.S. Capitol visitor center in Washington, D.C. All are the sites of lei ceremonies each year on Kamehameha Day.

FREE MEALS FOR SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN are being provided all summer long at both the Pahala and Na`alehu Public School campuses. The Hawai`i state Department of Education’s School Food Services branch is providing meals at 49 public schools without charge this summer – Monday through Friday except for today, June 11, 22, 29 and July 4 – to all children 18 years old and younger. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. An eligible school must have 50 percent or more of its regularly enrolled students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunches and some type of summer program on campus, but meal recipients do not have to be enrolled in those programs.
      For more information, for Pahala, call 928-2088, and for Na`alehu, call 929-3413.

FREE HALF-DAY SUMMER COURSES are being given to Ka`u public school students, funded through the $75 million Race to the Top federal grant. The program began June 2 and runs through June 28 with classes from 8 a.m. to noon. The classes are designed to enrich youth learning and to help some students catch up to their grade level. Students receive free transportation. The summer program supplements the regular school year, which has longer instructional days.

Brenda Ford

BRENDA FORD, A KA`U COUNTY COUNCIL candidate and sitting Kona Council member, is objecting to comments from Bradley Westervelt, who is running against her in the race for District 6 County Council on Aug. 11. Westervelt accused her last week of costing taxpayers money by supporting the addition of another charter amendment on the election ballot in November. Said Ford, “It costs nothing to add another charter amendment or initiative to the ballot. The ballot is the size it always has been, and it can hold many more amendments and initiatives than the few that will be on the ballot in November.” She gave examples of the number of charter amendments on the ballot in previous general elections. In 1990, there were 18; in 2000, there were 16; and in 2010, there were 19. The proposed charter amendment, which would have asked voters to decide whether to elect the county attorney, failed at County Council on Friday and will not be on the ballot. 

      Westervelt accused Ford last week of “political posturing” for supporting the charter amendment. She said she believes there could be less political jockeying if the county attorney were publicly elected rather than appointed by the Council and mayor. She said she also wants to make it clear that the measure was initiated by County Council chairman Dominic Yagong. “I supported that bill. However, I did make amendments to the bill to create qualifications for that office. The bill still belongs to Mr. Yagong.” She said she also wanted to make it clear that she did not serve on the Charter Commission.

THE PAHALA FILIPINO COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION recently awarded four scholarships worth $300 each to Ka`u students who graduated in May and are planning to attend Hawai`i Community College, University of Hawai`i and UH-Hilo this fall. The recipients met PFCA eligibility requirements as well as participated in extracurricular activities such as volunteering their services to the community.
      The awardees are Tyler Blanco-Louis, who graduated from Ka`u High and will be attending Hawai`i Community College, studying automotive mechanics in hopes of pursuing further education in carpentry and welding; Sheryl Sebastian, who graduated from Ka`u High and will be majoring in accounting at Hawai`i Community College; Leslie Acre, who graduated from Ka`u High and will be majoring in liberal arts and advancing into the Professional Registered Nurse Program at UH-Hilo; and Tiare-Lee Shibuya, who graduated from Kamehameha High and will also be attending Hawai`i Community College, studying liberal arts and transferring to the nursing program at UH-Hilo, majoring and specializing in Oncology. She wishes to return to Ka`u as a registered nurse and eventually become a traveling nurse.
      The PFCA has also supported community functions with monetary donations to Pahala Dojo Karate League and plans to assist other community groups, the Senior Citizen’s program and Ka`u Hospital maintenance program.

Suzshi Lang adds patina detail to an Uhu
piece of copper.

KA`U SCHOOL OF THE ARTS celebrates Kamehameha Day with its Summer Creations event for all ages today from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Pahala Plantation House. Alma Gorali, Jym Duncan, Terri Chapot, Bobbie Beebe, Suzshi Lang, Suzanne Dix Kaliko, Pops Hosoi, Kepi Davis, Kirsi Klein and others will guide participants in art activities in a safe, encouraging environment. Some activities may have a modest materials fee. Call 929-7544 for more information. 

KA`U `OHANA BAND, a program by Ka`u School of the Arts, is looking for clarinet and flute players. No experience is necessary, and KSA provides instruments and instruction. The band rehearses every Wednesday and Thursday from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center. Call Cinnie at 930-4697.

OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION’S Green Market happens on Fridays from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. whether rain, wind or shine. “The market is comfortably out of the elements when weather is challenging,” said OVCA member Madalyn McWhite-Lamson. “It is also a time to socialize with your friends and neighbors.” The market features fresh produce, food, gifts and craft items “from the land or by your hand.”
      Local musicians and dancers have entertained at past markets, and there will be music when groups are available. Vendor fees are waived for now.
      The Green Market also has a masseuse available. Sign up in advance by calling Dee at 430-1084. For more information about the market, call Elaine Meier at 561-6900 or OVCA at 939-7033.

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