Ka`u News Briefs Sept. 24, 2012

Linda Lingle, the only speaker at the forum for U.S. Senate candidates yesterday, introduced by Sherry Bracken
Photo by Andy Smith

REPUBLICAN LINDA LINGLE, FORMER HAWAI`I GOVERNOR, had the floor to herself yesterday during the forum for candidates vying to take the seat of U.S. Sen. Dan Akaka, who is retiring. Sherry Bracken, moderator of the event, said that Democratic contender Mazie Hirono, on Sept. 20, declined to attend, stating a scheduling conflict. Lingle’s website states, “It’s a shame Mazie Hirono has decided she doesn’t care enough about her own constituents to attend a single neighbor island forum, but we don’t have time to let her get her priorities straight. There is no time left in this election for posturing, and with the fiscal cliff our country is facing, we can’t afford her partisan gamesmanship any longer either – we need real leadership, real bipartisanship, in the U.S. Senate to solve these challenges we face together.”

Sherry Bracken, at right, moderated the candidate forum in Kona
yesterday, sponsored by Rotary. Photo by Andy Smith

      Hirono, however, has met with constituents on the Big Island, including a talk story at Kilauea Lodge and numerous other venues.

      Bracken yesterday facilitated Lingle answering 20 questions from the audience and talking story with attendees at Kealakehe High School. The forum was sponsored by Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce, Kohala Coast Resort Association, Hawai`i Island Board of Realtors, West Hawai`i Today, Mahalo Broadcasting, LAVA 105.3fm, Hawai`i 247.com, Rotary of Kona and Kealakehe High School.
      According to Carolyn Lucas’ report in West Hawai`i Today and bigislandnewscenter.com, “The hour-and-a-half-long event featured a variety of topics, including how Lingle would deal with anti-American sentiments and her thoughts on term limits, furloughs and the calling for a constitutional amendment banning abortion.” Lucas writes that a “top priority for Lingle is getting a subcommittee on tourism created in the U.S. Senate. She called not having such a subcommittee on an important industry that employs millions of people ‘a gross oversight.’ She envisions chairing the subcommittee, helping streamlining the visa process and supporting measures that attract and keep businesses strong,” writes Lucas.

Linda Lingle

      Lucas reports that “other priorities included making sure the U.S. Pacific Command is well funded and staffed strongly, eliminating tax loopholes and special tax treatment that resulted in $1.1 trillion a year in revenue loss to the federal government and simplifying the tax code.
      “Lingle favors bringing down the corporate tax rate from 39 percent to something more reasonable, such as 20 to 25 percent. However, she would still retain deductions, such as the mortgage interest and charitable contributions. Lingle also said she would cut the regulations that ‘strangle’ the business community, as well as require a jobs impact statement that would accompany every new federal rule and regulation. The jobs impact statement would allegedly provide the public greater understanding of the risk the proposed rule would present for jobs and the overall economy, she added.”
Lucas writes in West Hawai`i Today that “When it comes to Medicare, Lingle shared her support and enthusiasm for an idea recommended by the Bipartisan Policy Center, a national policy and advocacy think tank. She revealed she’s one of six founding members of the center’s governors’ council, and she favors preserving traditional Medicare but also offering seniors in Medicare a premium-support payment they could use to purchase private insurance as an option. Lingle said private health plans would be chosen from those who meet the minimum requirements and be from regulated exchanges. She also stressed there would be regulations preventing cherry picking of the healthiest seniors. She thinks this private option would increase competition, lower costs and best contain Medicare’s growth,” Lucas reports.

The candidate forum at Kealakehe High School gave Linda Lingle an
uncontested opportunity to talk to the public. Photo by Andy Smith

      Lucas also observes that “Lingle repeatedly focused on her bipartisan approach to national problems and ending the gridlock in Washington, D.C., her commitment to putting Hawai`i’s people first and possessing an understanding of the important issues facing neighbor island communities and her ability to make tough decisions. She said she can best articulate Hawai`i’s needs, including why money spent on the Big Island is in the country’s best interests. She pledged to not be held to the Republican Party and not go to work for the next president. Instead, she expressed her duty to propose and support legislation that’s good for Hawai`i. She said she wants to be more like Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, ‘who votes 62 percent with the party,’ and ‘doesn’t vote based on whose idea it was, but who benefits.”’
      Lucas writes that “Lingle claimed the skills she gained as Hawai`i governor from 2002 to 2010, including confronting and managing the state’s economic crisis by closing an almost $3 billion deficit in 18 months without increasing taxes and while maintaining a “AA” bond rating. She also touted her win of the majority of votes in all of Hawai`i’s 51 House Districts during her 2006 re-election campaign — something that she believes shows a trust and proves her ability to work across party lines.”

      See more on the elections and the candidates at www.westhawaiitoday.com and www.bigislandnewscenter.com.

HAWAI`I’S BIG ISLAND FILM FESTIVAL is taking entries for the 2013 event set for May 23-27 at the Fairmont Orchid. 

      “A celebration of narrative filmmaking in inspiring Hawai`i Island settings, BIFF includes screenings, social events and networking opportunities, celebrity receptions, screenwriting workshops and more,” says a statement from organizers.

Big Island Film Festival is now accepting entries for its 2013 event.
Photo from bigislandfilmfestival.com

      A Golden Honu will be awarded to the Best Feature and Best Short in Family, Student, Animated, Foreign, Hawai`i and Audience Choice. Numerous films shown over the last seven years of the festival have won awards at prestigious film festivals around the world and achieved commercial success in the industry.
      Among them are the made-in-Hawai`i comedy Get A Job, which was screened in Spain during the Marbella Film Festival and numerous other festivals around the world. It is currently shown in Hawai`i theaters, prior to mainstream DVD release this fall. 2012 films Searching for Sonny, Qwerty, The Italian Key and numerous others have enjoyed success on film festival circuits, as have 2011’s The Dead Inside and Uncle Melvin’s Apartment. The Drummond Will has been acquired by House Lights Media Partners for Theatrical and Non-Theatrical North American distribution.
      Deadlines to submit films are Nov. 1 for discounted entry fees; Jan. 1, 2013 for regular entry fee; and Feb. 1 with late, higher entry fees.
      Film Festival executive director Leo Sears said that, thanks to “our wonderful audiences, filmmaker family and supporters, we’re able to bring a little bit of the ‘Sundance’ experience to Hawai`i. For more, call 883-0394. See bigislandfilmfestivalcom.

TOMORROW IS THE DEADLINE for Ka`u fifth-grade girls to sign up for GEMS, the American Association of University Women’s Girls Exploring Math & Science event on Thursday, Nov. 15 at Sheraton Kona Resort and Spa at Keauhou Bay. At the event, women from the community introduce their occupations and show how they use math and science in their daily work. The program is designed to stimulate interest and bolster confidence of girls in traditionally male-dominated fields. For more, contact GEMS chairperson Cindy Armer at cbarmer@hotmail.com.

WRITING A BUSINESS PLAN is the topic of a workshop Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Na`alehu Community Center. Hazel Beck, of Hawai`i Small Business Development Center, teaches what it takes to get a business started. Pre-registration is recommended. Contact Jackie Muller at 327-3680 or jacqueline.muller@hisbdc.org.

A vessel by Tim Freeman. Photos from Volcano Art Center

VOLCANO ART CENTER has two group exhibits opening on Saturday. At the new Rainforest Gallery at Ni`aulani in Volcano Village, works made of clay, wood, metal and canvas depict the elements of earth, fire, air and water through representational or impressionistic means.

      This group exhibit, entitled The Elemental: Setting Forth Various Elements Through Transfigurement Into Shining, features artists Clayton Amemiya, Henry Bianchini, Kevin Diminyatz, Stephen Freedman, Tim Freeman, Stephen Lang, Chiu Leong, Monika Mann, Michael Marshall, William McKnight, Elizabeth Miller, Jerilee Negrillo, Alan Ohara, Susumu Sakaguchi, Randy Shiroma, Randy Takaki, Kaori Ukaji and Glenn Yamanoha.
      Rainforest Gallery hours are 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For showings outside of gallery hours, call for an appointment at 967-8222.

A work by Amy Flanders in Tiny Treasures.

      Tiny Treasures, an invitational jewelry exhibition at Volcano Art Center Gallery in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, features works of fine art, craft and jewelry designs from a diverse collection of Hawai`i artists including J. Bennett, Danielle Bolton, Brenda May Ching, Daniel E. Rokovitz, Amy Flanders, Patricia Larsen-Goodin, Wayne Keeth, Jessica Landau, Stone O’Daugherty, Pat Pearlman, Tad Sewell, Stacey Siegel, Jamie Stokes and Candice Wakumoto. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. For more information, visit volcanoartcenter.org, call 967-7565 or email gallery@volcanoartcenter.org.

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Ka`u News Briefs Sept. 23, 2012

Clyde Silva, of ML Macadamia, repaints the old sugar mill wheel outside of the offices of
 ML Macadamia Orchards, which will change its name. Photo by Julia Neal

THE OLD KA`U AGRIBUSINESS sign, from sugar company days, is getting a new paint job and a new logo as ML Macadamia Orchards, LP rolls out its new Royal Hawaiian Orchards name and produces its own commercial line of macadamia products. The wheel in front of the historic Ka`u sugar company business office at the corner of Maile and Pikake Streets is being painted by ML employee Clyde Silva, and a new logo will be placed in the center of the wheel with the Royal Hawaiian Orchards new name.
      The company name changeover from ML Macadamia to Royal Hawaiian Orchards is expected Oct. 1.
      A website at royalhawaiianorchards.com says, “The world’s best Macadamia nuts coming soon.”

The Ka`u Agribusiness Co., Inc. sign will be changed to Royal Hawaiian
Orchards at the corner of Maile and Pikake in Pahala. Photo by Julia Neal

      Silva said that he is excited that the company is expanding into retail, which could mean more jobs for Pahala residents should it open a store and macadamia product manufacturing plant in Pahala. The company already operates a large macadamia husking plant between Hwy 11 and Pahala and harvests macadamias from orchards it owns and leases around Pahala and elsewhere.
      According to mlmacadamia.com, the company is one of the world’s largest growers of macadamias. After completing the acquisition of 880 acres of macadamia orchards in August 2010, ML owns or leases approximately 5,075 tree-acres of macadamia nut orchards in three regions within a 50 mile radius on the island of Hawai`i. ML also performs farming services on approximately 1,100 tree-acres for other orchard owners.
      ML orchards produce approximately 25 million pounds of in-shell macadamia annually, states the ML website. The nuts were all sold to Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corp. until the end of 2006. In recent years the nuts have been sold on short-term agreements, giving ML time to plan the rollout of its own brand.
      In August, the company brought on board a new chief financial officer, Bruce Clark, who had served as chief financial officer for a privately held food manufacturing company and controller for a biopharmaceutical company.
      President and CEO of the company is Dennis J. Simonis. Offices are in Hilo and Pahala.

Sen. Malama Solomon
supports PLDC.

THE PUBLIC LAND USE DEVELOPMENT CORP. will come up with a strategic plan to clarify vision, mission, goals and values and will exclude from development lands eligible to be designated as Important Agricultural Lands under state law, according to a Sophie Cocke story in Civil Beat on Friday. On Thursday, the PLDC board met and said it aimed to come up with a plan that will appease concerns about protecting environmental and cultural resources, as the state allows developers to use public lands for economic development under new law passed by the 2012 state Legislature.
       The board stressed that “the PLDC must comply with the Chapter 343 environmental review process, the Historic Preservation law and Sunshine law,” the reporter writes. “The plan also says that the PLDC must comply with a landmark 2009 law that protects lands held in trust for Native Hawaiians. According to the law, ceded lands can’t be sold without a two-thirds vote by both Hawai`i’s House and Senate,” the Civil Beat story says. “Any parcel of land that the PLDC is seeking to develop must also be approved by the Board of Land and Natural Resources or the agency holding the title to the land.”
      The PLDC met with widespread opposition during public hearings this summer and a call for the law allowing the PLDC to be repealed in the 2013 legislature, but Gov. Neil Abercrombie and co-author of the legislation, Hawai`i Island Sen. Malama Solomon, continue to support it.
      The Civil Beat story reports a proposed PLDC mission statement:
      “The mission of the Public Land Development Corporation is to create and facilitate partnerships between state and county agencies, departments, businesses, non-profits and community groups to improve our communities, create jobs and expand public benefit.”
      See more at www.civilbeat.com.

KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOL’S WARRIOR football team came to the Ka`u High School campus this weekend and brought the school’s band to play during half time. The Warriors beat the Trojans 43-0.

The Ka`u Lions Pee Wee team and coaches wind down after practice. Photo by Nalani Parlin

KA`U LIONS POP WARNER teams host Waiakea Na Koa today at Pahala football field. The Mighty Might division, Pop Warner’s youngest team, played at 8 a.m., with the Pee Wee game beginning at 10 a.m. The Midgets take the field at noon. Ka`u Pop Warner is selling stew plates, chili bowls, musubi and hot dogs, and Ka`u High is selling Pahala Pops. The concession serves as a fundraiser for both groups. 

A U.S. SENATE FORUM takes place today at 2 p.m. at Kealakehe High School. Candidates are former Gov. Linda Lingle and Rep. Mazie Hirono. Lingle will attend, but Hirono had not replied to the invitation as of this morning. If only one candidate attends, the moderator will present questions to that candidate. Attendees are invited to submit questions at the meeting.

Meagan teaches ZUMBA on Mondays.
 Photo from Volcano Art Center

VOLCANO ART CENTER OFFERS ZUMBA classes tomorrow and every Monday from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at its Ni`aulani Campus in Volcano Village. Drop-in fee is $5, with no previous experience or registration needed. For more information, visit volcanoartcenter.org or contact program coordinator Julie Callahan at 967-8222 or julie@volcanoartcenter.org. 

ENTRIES FOR KA`U CHAMBER OF COMMERCE’S art show and Directory 2013 art contest will be accepted this Friday, Sept. 28, from noon until 5 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 29, from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at CU Hawai`i credit union in Na`alehu.
      The show will be open to the public beginning Oct. 1, Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday from 9 a.m. to noon and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
      Categories are Graphic, Sculpture, Wood, Photography and Craft, and all pieces must have been completed in the last 12 months. The fee is $5 for each artwork.

Artwork for The Directory 2013 will be on the
cover and inside, as well.

      A Keiki Division is for children in grades one through six, one entry per keiki. Keiki categories are graphics and photos, no larger than 8.5 by 11 inches, including frames, if any. The entry fee is $1, and these entries are not eligible for the cover of The Directory 2013. Only the first 60 Keiki exhibits will be accepted.
      Each day during the show, the public may sign in and receive a ballot to vote for their favorite exhibit. The adult winner of the popular vote will be featured on the cover of The Directory 2013, and all first-prize winners will appear inside with appropriate credit given. Each category will be rewarded with first, second, and third prize ribbons, and, if appropriate, as many as two honorable mentions.
      Entry forms are available at local schools and merchants and will be available at CU Hawai`i credit union on Friday and Saturday for those bringing in art.

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Ka`u News Briefs Sept. 22, 2012

Peace Day yesterday at Honu`apo with celebrants forming a peace sign, the image taken with a fisheye lens and published with other photos from the International Day of Peace events around the world.

DEBATE BETWEEN MAYORAL candidates last night centered on community development plans and the future of energy on the island. Former Mayor Harry Kim is running to get his seat back after terming out four years ago. Mayor Billy Kenoi, who served under Kim and became mayor when Kim reached the eight-consecutive- year limit, is seeking re-election.

Mayor Billy Kenoi
Photo by Julia Neal

      According to a story in West Hawai`i Today this morning, Kim charged Kenoi’s administration with being less than serious about community development plans around the island. “Kim had started the CDP process, saying Hawai`i was one of the few states in the country where there is no level of government below counties or municipalities,” the story reports.
      According to the Nancy Cook Lauer article, Kenoi retorted, “We’re honoring the community development plan not by talking about more plans but by implementing the programs.”
      (Ka`u’s Community Development Plan is being drafted and is expected to go to the community for another round of input early next year. Finalization will be followed by implementation with more community input.) According to the West Hawai`i Today story, Kim said he differed on the mayor’s decision to furlough county workers without pay. “I do feel very strongly that furloughs should be abolished,” the newspaper reports Kim saying. Kim also said his administration would pay health insurance for retirees ahead of time, a payment that Kenoi has held back to help balance the county budget. Kenoi said that all payments have been made on time. 

Challenger, former Mayor Harry Kim.

According to the story, Kenoi touted the recovery of tourism and his effort to re-establish international flights to Kona following Japan Airlines dropping its direct flight several years ago. West Hawai`i Today reports Kenoi saying that visitors spent more than $1 billion so far this year. The debate was held at University of Hawai`I at Hilo. See more at www.westhawaiitoday.com.

COMMERCIAL HAULING at the Ocean View Water System deep well has resumed earlier than expected. All spigots and standpipes are open daily 7 a.m. through 7 p.m. The electrical pumping system suffered a breakdown last Monday, and commercial hauling was shut down until late yesterday. The Department of Water Supply brought in a temporary transformer for Waikoloa. Potable water for families continued to be available throughout the breakdown period.

MARINE MAMMAL PROTECTION AND ANNUAL FISH CATCH LIMITS by the federal government will be explained at two public workshops next week. Hosted by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, they will be Thursday, Sept. 27, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at University of Hawai`i – Hilo in Kanakaole Hall Room 122 and on Saturday, Sept. 29, 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel Ballroom. 

Protection of marine mammals, including monk seals,
 is a topic at public workshops next week.
Image from Western Pacific Regional Fishery
Management Council

   The marine mammal law requires that any time a marine mammal is taken, even by mistake through hooking or catching in a net, it must be reported.
      Regarding catch limits, local fishermen are familiar with the Deep Seven catch limits are set by the Fed for bottomfish: ehu, gindal – ukikiki, hapu`u – Hawaiian sea bass, kalekale, lehi, onaga and opakapaka.
      Agendas for the meetings include such topics as: How can data collection and Annual Catch Limit management be improved? How can the state Department of Land and Natural Resources adopt complementary measures to Annual Catch Limits that would be supported by the fishing community?
      How are marine mammal stock assessments conducted for whales and dolphins in Hawaiian waters? What can fishermen do to help improve marine mammal stock assessments?
      Also on the agenda is a discussion entitled Essential Fish Habitat and Habitat Area of Particular Concern. See a description of the Hawaiian Archipelago, with a history of fisheries, and learn about the work of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council at wpcouncil.org.

U.S. SENATE BILLS that will help Native Americans were approved this week by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and will go to the Senate floor, according to committee chair Sen. Dan Akaka. He said, “The passing of these bills signifies that my colleagues and I remain committed to taking up the priorities of the indigenous people and to work to make lives better throughout their states and throughout Indian Country.”
      The bills include the Hawaiian Homeownership Opportunity Act, a Language Preservation Act Reauthorization and the Native American Veterans’ Memorial Act.

      In his speech, Akaka supported the notion of Advancing the Federal-Tribal Relationship through Self-Governance and Self-Determination. Akaka declared: 

Sen. Dan Akaka, chairing the Indian Affairs Committee.

      “From the Constitution, it is clear our Founding Fathers understood the sovereign authority of tribal nations, and their governments. It is also clear tribal governments came in a diversity of forms.” Akaka contended that government policies in the first half of the twentieth century were “designed to force Natives to abandon their traditional ways and assimilate into mainstream American norms. These programs intended to strip Native Americans of their languages, break up tribal bonds and land bases, and encourage Indians to focus on their identities as individuals, rather than members of tribal communities. These policies and program strategies were applied to all indigenous peoples throughout the country — on the continent, and across the ocean in my own home of Hawai`i.
      “The policy of banning Native language use in the schools was adopted by the territory of Hawai`i, and we were punished for speaking Hawaiian, just as the American Indians and Alaska Natives were punished for using their languages in school.” Akaka also pointed to policies to “break up the reservations and communal lifestyles, instead, encouraging Indians to own family farms…. In 1921, it was applied to Native Hawaiians with the passage of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act.”

    Akaka declared that “these policies of assimilation failed to meet the federal trust responsibility to Native peoples, and in fact, often worsened the socio-economic conditions of Native peoples and their communities.”
      Change came, he said. “In 1968 and 1970, Presidents Johnson and Nixon, respectively, introduced policies supporting tribal self-determination, and called for a shift in responsibility of public programs to tribal governments.
       “In 1975, Congress enacted the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, enabling tribes to contract with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Health Service to administer federal programs. Later legislation allowed tribes greater flexibility in designing and operating Indian programs, and about 60 percent of the tribes have self-governance compacts.”
      Akaka testified that “studies show that self-determination policies have enabled Indian tribes to build strong economies, reverse decades of language loss, and tailor programs and services to better meet the needs of their people.”
      At the end of his speech, Akaka turned to his top legislative priority, the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act, and said it “ensures parity in policy for all federally recognized Native peoples. It means the Native Hawaiian people will have full access to the prevailing federal policy on self-determination, and finally be able to exercise their right to self-governance.
      “It is time for the United States to give my people access to its best policies on Native peoples, not just the legacies of the worst ones,” the U.S. senator concluded.

MEALANI’S TASTE OF THE HAWAIIAN RANGE on Friday featured agricultural products. Kamehameha Schools, KTA Mountain Apple Brand, Hawai`i Organic Farmers Association, University of Hawai`i Research Station 100 Percent Grass-Fed Beef, Blueberries and Tea, and Pacific Biodiesel were among the many presenters at Hilton Waikoloa Village.

      Among the Taste of the Range creations by numerous chefs were beef heart, beef tripe, beef cheek meat, feral pork, mutton, beef Mountain Oysters, goat, oxtail, lamb, and beef hanging tenders. James Babian, chef at Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, conducted a class on cooking grass-fed beef. See more from the event at tasteoftherange.com and on facebook.

KILAUEA MILITARY CAMP presents a Chuck Wagon Feast this evening, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. followed by Line Dancing Roundup and Country Western Dancing from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The feast is $10; no cover charge for dancing and contests for best cowboy hat, best cowboy boot, and best yodeler. The event is open to authorized patrons and sponsored guests. Park entrance fees apply. For more, call 967-8371.

A U.S. SENATE AND HOUSE FORUM will be hosted at Kealakehe High School at 2 p.m. Sunday. Future forums at Kealakehe High include Hawai`i County Mayor and Hawai`i County Prosecutor at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 1 and Hawai`i County Council District 6 (Volcano through South Kona) and District 9 (Waikoloa, Kohala) 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 8.

Lorie Obra with the missing Mele at her feet. A reward is offered.

A RANGER-GUIDED HIKE through an isolated refuge of rare plants in a remnant old-growth forest within the Kahuku Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park will be held tomorrow. This Kipuka`akihi Hike is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pre-registration required, hike is free to all. For more, call 985-6011.

MISSING FARM DOG, named Mele, was reported this morning by award-winning Ka`u Coffee farmer Lorie Obra. Mele is a mix of chihuahua and fox terrier, about nine years of age. She was lost yesterday between Cloud Rest Farms and Pahala around 5 p.m. With information, call Obra at 937-3412 or email lorie@rustyshawaiian.com or call Ralph Gaston at 510-295-5838 or email ralph@rustyshawaiian.com. There is a $100 reward for Mele’s return.

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