Ka`u News Briefs Nov. 12, 2012

Ali`i Keanaaina and his band perform music from their new CD He Mele No Wednesday, 7 p.m., Pahala Plantation House.
Photo from National Park Service

ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT, WAYS AND MEANS, AND EITHER EDUCATION OR LAND & WATER are the committees that newly elected state Senator Russell Ruderman is hoping for. He said that a recent organizing meeting gave him the impression that “the Senate has a very cooperative atmosphere with intelligent and open leadership.” He said this morning that he is settling into his new office at the state Capitol in Honolulu, “hiring staff and beginning to learn my way around. Everyone has been very enthusiastic about my presence there, and many of the environmental groups are particularly happy to have a new ally over there.” Ruderman will serve Punalu`u through Puna. Sen. Josh Green will serve Honu`apo through Kona.

Senator Russell Ruderman at the Hilo Democratic Rally Nov. 5.
Photo by Julia Neal

DR. JOSH GREEN RESPONDED to a Honolulu Star Advertiser story over the weekend regarding a letter he wrote to help resolve a dispute between the City & County of Honolulu and a company that provides medications for dispersal to worker-injury patients in physician's offices. Green said that the city was behind over $600,000 in payments to the company Automated HealthCare. If Automated HealthCare cannot pay physicians who use its automated software to disperse drugs at their clinics, more financial pressure is placed on doctors who take workers’ compensation cases. The number of workers’ comp-case doctors has been in rapid decline. 

      The story pointed out that the company donated $4,000 to Green’s successful re-election campaign for state senator, and the story contended that one aspect of the issue is that the city is contesting the cost of the drugs as being too high.

      Green provided the following statement this morning: “Anyone who knows me is aware that I am always committed to making sure we deal with our healthcare crisis in Hawai`i, especially the shortage of physicians and nurses. (We are 22 percent short now.) In this case, several people were concerned that if they didn’t receive their reimbursements, which are hundreds of thousands of dollars behind from the city of Honolulu and others, they would immediately be laying off staff, or worse, their docs would stop seeing injured workers altogether.

Dr. Josh Green

      “I simply asked the city to amicably resolve their differences so that doctors and nurses could get fair and timely payments for care they already had delivered to injured workers.
Otherwise, these doctors told me, they wouldn’t be able to practice in Hawai`i any longer, making our physician shortage worse. Everyone in Ka`u and Kona knows how bad this would be if that happened.”
      Green said that “as the only physician in the Legislature, people all across the state ask me everyday to reach out to major institutions like the city or state or insurance companies to get them access to care, to get their practice reimbursed for care they have delivered, to get them a new wheelchair, to help get their loans forgiven if they commit to undeserved areas, the list goes on and on.
      “I am humbled to try and get everyone access to healthcare in a fair and timely way in Hawai`i, and that is all my letter to the city of Honolulu was about,” wrote Green.

PUBLIC FUNDING FOR THE RECENT ELECTIONS supported the successful candidacy of Ka`u’s new County Council member Brenda Ford and more than half of the other winning contenders, according to a Peter Sur analysis this morning in the Hawai`i Tribune- Herald. The other winning candidates for Hawai`i County Council who chose public over private funding for their campaigns are Karen Eoff, Greggor Ilagan, Margaret Wille and J Yoshimoto.
      “More significantly, in every County Council race where at least one publicly financed candidate entered, that candidate won,” the Tribune-Herald story says. “All three publicly funded candidates who failed in their quest to seek office lost to other publicly funded candidates: Bradley Westervelt and Maile David, who lost to Ford, and James Weatherford, who was edged out of a runoff with Ilagan and the mostly self-funded Fred Blas.
      “The intent of the law was to level the playing field for candidates who weren’t able to raise large amounts of campaign cash. Candidates who qualify for the public funding receive money intended to free them from the strings and chores that accompany fundraising for office; by doing so they also choose to forego all private campaign donations.
      “By state law, the pilot program is slated to continue for one more election cycle, in 2014, provided there are enough funds to keep the program running,” writes Sur. However, there may not be enough money to fund it, the story says. See more at www.hawaiitribune-herald.com.

World EcoSource's mobile production units use solar-powered and
water-conserving growing systems. Images from www.worldecosource.com

FOOD FOR THE FUTURE is what a new company in the Hawai`i market calls its program. World EcoSource Corp. claims its MobileFeed(R) system “uses a fraction of the water of typical crops in a hydroponic, solar powered environment to create a truly sustainable green life cycle farming system.” The units are designed to feed both livestock and people. 

      K. Hill Livestock is the exclusive dealer for the state of Hawai`i, and a press release from the company cites Hawai`i’s “dependence on imported goods.” World EcoSource and K. Hill “recognize the demand for a sustainable economical and reliable feed source for not only livestock, but also for human inhabitants on the under-developed areas of rural Hawai`i. The units will be shipped to Kawaihae Harbor and distributed from Kailua-Kona, HI.

      “We see tremendous growth potential throughout all of the Pacific Islands including U.S. territories of Samoa and Saipan, where populations and livestock are heavily dependent on import of goods,” said Geoffrey Bagatelos, president of PacWest Equities, Inc, the parent company of World EcoSource. “Hawai`i has limited resources available for large scale feeding operations that force the import of expensive feed stock, and this agreement will allow for ample amount of feed to supply a large herd and stabilize fluctuating expenses of import due to volatile fuel costs.” 

      The World Eco Source MobileFeed(R) and MobileFood(R) units are turnkey systems for either the production of livestock-based consumables or human based protein and vegetable consumables. “The MobileFeed(R) units are truly a sustainable green life cycle farming system. Using solar-powered and water conservation growing systems, one trailer can produce 1,500 pounds daily of organically grown grass for year-round livestock consumption, lowering feed costs by 200 percent while producing Certified Organic, Grass-Fed livestock, increasing profitability of the final product,” the statement says.

      “The MobileFood(R) units enable the rapid production of certified organic vegetables and proteins for humans through life-cycle harmonic integration of fish farms and hydroponic vegetables, with one half of the system feeding/fertilizing the other half, and vice versa. Growing tilapia side-by-side with vegetables, and using the same water from the fish to fertilize the greens is not something new, but by combining the hydroponic know-how with World Eco Source patented technologies, the outputs have finally become commercially feasible,” the company statement contends.

Dr. Terry Hunt

      The company claims that by “creating a living food supply, the livestock enjoys better health, higher energy and increased proteins, nutrients, minerals and enzyme absorption. Utilizing live Grass feed, livestock increases it’s intake of Vitamin A by 600 percent while enhancing fertility rate across the board.”
      Company promotional materials also claim that “the live feed produced is palatable, nutritious and free from contamination. For cattle, the green barley grass increases milk yields which are common despite considerable reduction in use of ready-made concentrate feed.” See more at www.worldecosource.com.
     

AFTER DARK IN THE PARK FOCUSES ON RAPA NUI Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Dr. Terry Hunt, co-author of The Statues That Walked: Unraveling the Mystery of Easter Island, outlines evidence for Easter Island’s prehistoric success and explores how and why this most isolated culture avoided collapse.

ALI`I KEANAAINA AND HIS BAND present a concert Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Pahala Plantation House. Keanaaina won the 19th annual Clyde “Kindy” Sproat Falsetto Storytelling Contest in 2010. The band, which played at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in September, will perform music from their new CD entitled He Mele No. Call 928-9811 for more information.

HAWAI`I WILDLIFE FUND HOSTS a Ka`u coastal cleanup event Saturday at Pohakuloa Cove south of Green Sands. The last large-scale cleanup effort at this exact location was in November 2010, when two glass balls were found, said coordinator Megan Lamson. 

      Volunteers meet at Wai`ohinu Park at 7:45 a.m. to carpool and caravan to the site. Four-wheel-drive and high-clearance vehicles are needed to access the cove. RSVP at 769-7629 or kahakai.cleanups@gmail.com to coordinate rides.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL NOW OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/KAUCALENDAR.

Ka`u News Briefs Nov. 11, 2012

Large pelagic fish like ahi and swordfish are expected to decline in Hawaiian waters with plankton moving north as the Pacific warms.
Photo from NOAA

FEWER TUNA AND SWORDFISH may be frequenting Hawaiian waters in the future, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists. Research by Phoebe Woodworth-Jefcoats and Jeff Polvina predicts a decline in large pelagic fish by as much as 75 percent in the central Pacific Ocean north of the equator. A story published Friday in Civil Beat says, “This could mean far fewer fish to be caught and sold in local markets and higher prices for consumers. The Hawai`i commercial fishing industry alone generates roughly a half-billion dollars in sales annually and provides 11,000 jobs, according to a recent report. The Aloha State’s recreational fishery adds another 7,000 jobs and more than $773 million in total sales.”

Honolulu Fish Co. sends fresh catch all over the world.

   The Nathan Eagle story points to a conclusion of researcher Polvina: “The fishing industry is generally more concerned with short-term impacts from weather changes like those caused by El Nino. This is a long-term slow change on a decadal basis. It’s sort of like rust on your car that is slowly going along."

     Polvino told Civil Beat that a decline in tuna and swordfish near the Hawaiian Islands brings up a need to plan for a fishing fleet that could reach farther into the Pacific and also brings up food security issues.

     The reason for the prediction that large, pelagic, ocean-roaming fish will become less plentiful near Hawai`i, the researchers explained, is that the density of phytoplankton and zooplankton in the water is expected to decrease with increased ocean acidification and higher water temperaturees. With global warming, the phytoplankton and zooplankton are expected to increase north of Hawai`i and big fish could become more plentiful off the coast of such places as California as the water gets warmer.

     The story quotes state Board of Land & Natural Resources chief William Aila, saying, “The whole food chain is primarily dependent on phytoplankton and zooplankton. So if the zooplankton and the phytoplankton cannot get their skeletons in place, then they don’t exist. And if they don’t exist, everything that depends on them on up no longer exists.”

     The Civil Beat story also summarizes state aquatic biologist Don Heacock’s take on the issue. “Especially given fishing’s role in Hawai`i’s culture, he said, it’s important to do everything possible to prepare for the effects of climate chainge. He said this effort could start on land by doing things like accounting for sea-level rise in planning, taking steps to control erosion and working harder to become food self-sufficient.” See more at www.civilbeat.com.

PROPOSED PUBLIC LAND DEVELOPMENT CORP. rules go to a hearing this Tuesday, Nov. 13. However, no hearings are set for the neighbor islands where many citizens last summer urged government to abolish the PLDC. The new agency under the Department of Land & Natural Resources is designed to set up partnerships with private entities to use state land for economic development to create more revenue for the DLNR.
      However, fearing an erosion of home rule and overdevelopment of publically owned lands under the stewardship of the state, the Hawai`i and Kaua`i county councils recently passed resolutions asking the 2013 Legislature to get rid of the law that created the PLDC.
      In response to public concern the PLDC has come up with several drafts of its rules, calling for more public input and transparency when proposals are made to use state lands.

The governor says good credit ratings make state bonds
 an excellent way to invest in Hawai`i

      This Tuesday’s hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. in the DLNR boardroom in Honolulu. A previous public meeting on PLDC in the same room drew an overflow crowd, spilling out into the hallway where citizens watched proceedings broadcast on public television. Sierra Club executive director Robert Harris told Civil Beat reporter Sophie Cocke: “I think it is pretty obvious by what they are doing, that they really don’t want a lot of public input.”

     Board members of the PLDC are: its chair, state Budget & Finance Director Kalbert Young; DLNR chief William Aila; real estate developer and Punalu`u Bake Shop and Ka`u property owner Duane Kurisu, who is the designee of the state Senate; state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism deputy Mary Alice Evans; and state House of Representatives designee, former state senator Robert Bunda. See more at www.civilbeat.com. Read the draft rules at http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/pldc.

INVEST IN STATE BONDS, urges Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who says that Hawai`i’s “AA/AA/Aa2” credit rating was recently reaffirmed by three major credit agencies. In a statement released Friday, the governor says he encourages Hawai`i investors to take advantage of this strong rating and purchase tax-exempt state bonds on Tuesday, Nov. 13 and Wednesdady, Nov. 14.

      “This reaffirmation by these agencies validates the progress that we have made as a state over the last two years and demonstrates that the financial strategies and ideas of my Administration are the right ones for Hawai`i,” said Abercrombie. “By purchasing state bonds, Hawai`i residents can invest in our state’s future and put their money to work building public facilities, improving our highways and repairing our children’s schools. This pre-sale puts individual investors ahead of Wall Street to buy Hawai`i bonds, keeping money here at home to help build the local economy while providing a tax-exempt investment opportunity for Hawai`i residents.”
      The state is planning to sell approximately $800 million in General Obligation bonds. Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s Rating Service reaffirmed their “AA” rating, while Moody’s Investors Service reaffirmed its “Aa2” rating of the state. They also attached “stable” outlooks on their ratings, indicating positive expectations on future economic and financial trends for Hawaii. As part of the review process, each agency visited Hawai`i in October to meet with state finance officials and the Governor, the statement from Abercrombie says.

HSTA, which is asking for a new teacher's contract, endorsed
Mazie Hirono who won the Nov. 6 election for U.S. Senator.
Photo from HSTA

THE HAWAI`I STATE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION is accusing the Hawai`i Labor Relations Board of delaying action on its complaint concerning the union contract for teachers working in public schools. HSTA President Wil Okabe said he hopes the Hawai`i Supreme Court will consider the harm caused by the delays. He said a precedent could be in the making to allow the state to bypass good faith bargaining, impose its will over contract terms and rely on appointed labor boards to delay justice. “We sought relief from the deep cuts to our pay and health care premiums. We sought relief from the imposed furlough days for all public school teachers. The labor board is telling the Supreme Court it has the discretion to take as long as it wants, possibly years, to render a decision; the labor board has offered no time table,” said the teachers union leader.
     The state Supreme Court gave the labor board until Friday, Nov. 9 to explain the delay. In its response, the labor board pointed to the voluminous record of the case – some 8,000 pages of records and exhibits but said it will come up with a decision. The teachers are working without a union contract in place.

A HOUSE FIRE on Paradise Parkway in Ocean View engulfed the single-story, 20 by 40 – foot structure on Friday. Three walls of the house had collapsed by the time firefighters arrived at 10:02 a.m. and damage estimates are at $120,000, according to the Hawai`i Fire Department. There were no injuries reported by the house owner who was on the scene when firefighters arrived. There was no electricity wired to the home and no nearby hydrant.

Keoki Kahumoku organizes the workshop and sings with Diana Aki. Photo by Julia Neal

THE SEVENTH ANNUAL KAHUMOKU WORKSHOP that gives scholarships to local youth and provides a venue for adults to learn `ukulele, guitar, steel guitar, bass, fiddle, voice and music composition from some of the top Hawaiian music masters, wraps up today. Yesterday the workshop held its annual free Veterans Day concert for the public, featuring John and Hope Keawe, Moses and Keoki Kahumoku, Diana Aki, Sonny Lim, Bolo, Kona Bob,  James Hill, Anne Davison and many more. The event, held at Pahala Plantation House and sponsored by the Center for Hawaiian Music Studies, was founded by Keoik Kahumoku. To donate, sponsor a youth or sign up for next year’s workshop, see www.konaweb.com/keoki or contact Tiffany Crosson at 938-6582 or tiffayfredom@gmail.com

Hula at the free concert yesterday in Pahala.
Photo by Julia Neal

TODAY IS VETERANS DAY AND KILAUEA MILITARY CAMP hosts an open house, inviting all park visitors to experience how KMC supports America’s troops by utilizing any of KMC’s facilities and services. A Veterans Day ceremony begins at 3 p.m, by KMC's flagpole. A Veteran's Day buffet will follow at 4:30 p.m. at KMC's Crater Rim Cafe. The menu offers prime rib, spinach and mushroom fettuccini, breaded ono, roasted rosemary red potatoes, bacon green beans, French onion soup, rice, fruit cocktail cake, ice cream and beverage. Entry for the buffet is $23.95 for adults and $12.50 for children 6-11. Public is invited to attend.

SUNDAY WALK IN THE PARK is set for Nov. 11 in the Kahuku Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Friends of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park explore Palm Trail, a 2.6-mile loop with some of the best panoramic views Kahuku offers. Free to members; membership available at event. Call 985-7373 or email admin@fhvnp.org for more.

LUNCH WITH A RANGER is at noon today at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park’s Kahuku unit. Meet at the Kahuku Visitor Greeting Area. Rangers choose varied topics ranging from land management and conservation issues to environmental and cultural history and guide an open discussion with visitors over a bring-your-own-bag lunch. Check the Activities Boards at the Kahuku Visitor Greeting Area for the day’s Lunch With a Ranger topic and location. Lunch with a Ranger is also offered Nov. 18.

MEDICINE FOR THE MIND is Sunday from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Volcano Art Center’s Ni`aulani Campus in Volcano Village. Free Buddhist healing meditation for beginners and advanced. Call Patty Johnson for more, 985-7470.

PAHALA AND NA`ALEHU PUBLIC LIBRARIES are closed tomorrow for Veteran’s Day holiday. The closure means no library this week in Pahala as the facility is only open on Mondays.

Ka`u News Briefs Nov. 10, 2012

HELCO released its draft Request for Proposals to add 50 megawatts of geothemral power to the island grid, which would provide
electricity to most houses on the island. Photo from HELCO

MORE GEOTHERMAL for the Big Island is proposed by Hawai`i Electric Light Co., which filed a draft plan on Friday with the state Public Utilities Commission and released a draft Request for Proposals for potential geothermal developers. The plan calls for increasing geothermal production to 88 megawatts, which could power an estimated 57,200 housing units - most of the households on the island. The plan says geothermal would be “renewable, dispatchable energy” with “firm capacity.”
      HELCO plans to issue a final RFP by the end of this year or early in January. HELCO will ask geothermal developers to submit proposals that would be due 60 days after the final RFP is published. The winning bidder would be announced next summer. HELCO would submit a proposed contract to the PUC by Spring of 2014.  The plan calls for achieving “a target date for commercial operations between 2018 and 2023 or earlier.” The contract could be for up to 20 years.
      HELCO President Jay Ignacio said: “The primary goal is to lower rates for our customers through the use of a renewable energy source like geothermal,” noting that geothermal is “available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It can be dispatchable. We can control its output and it can respond to grid needs.”
      The proposal calls for 50 additional megawatts to be used on this island. It does not include a cable to send geothermal energy to other islands. Locations for producing geothermal are not restricted to Puna where Puna Geothermal Venture is already approved for 38 megawatts. Geothermal hot spots have been identified in the Ka`u Desert, near South Point, Hualalai Volcano above Kona and other places on the island. A statement from HELCO says that the added geothermal power “must also blend operationally with other resources, including renewable energy from wind, solar, biomass and hydro.”

HELCO's proposal for increased geothermal says it will have to blend with other renewables like wind energy at South Point.
Photo by Peter Anderson

      Last year HELCO asked for information on developing geothermal to be provided to the utility and received 20 responses. The Geothermal Working Group released a study saying that geothermal could provide 500 to 600 megawatts, less expensively and cleaner than using oil, generating much more than the island’s electrical needs. The statement from HELCO says that interested parties, including bidders, can read the proposal to the PUC and the draft RFP at www.helcohi.com and may submit comments on the Draft Geothermal RFP to the HELCO Geotheral RFP email at GeothermalRFP@helcohi.com and to the PUC. HELCO has set the tentative date of Wednesday, Dec. 5 for a webinar technical conference on the subject of geothermal. Questions to be discussed during the webinar must be submitted in writing and signing up for the webinar will be through the website www.helcohi.com once the time of the conference is determined. 

      The County Council and Planning Commission are discussing monitoring and analyzing possible health risks of living near geothermal operations, concerning emissions from blowouts and constant low level emissions. Another area of study is the risk of dependence on geothermal and planning for back up generation of power, should a large earthquake or lava cut off a geothermal well.

STATE CONSUMER ADVOCATE Jeffrey Ono has asked for public input on whether Hawai`i county residents would support the proposed `Aina Koa Pono biofuel project if there were no electric bill hikes on the Big Island associated with the project. Ono brought up the question at last week’s public hearing on the proposal to build a refinery, develop a biofuel farm and produce diesel to sell to HELCO. 

Richard Ha opposes raising electric bills on
O`ahu to pay for `Aina Koa Pono.
Photo by Julia Neal

      Richard Ha, a supporter of geothermal and opponent of HELCO purchasing `Aina Koa Pono diesel for the HELCO power plant in Keaohole, responded in writing: “Would we change our minds if all the costs were given to the O`ahu rate payers?,” the answer is no! I think that giving AKP a 20-year contract will forego the opportunity of developing lower cost alternatives. And it will take up valuable time. Liquid natural gas is an option. Ocean energy might be ready within the 20-year period. “Geothermal is an affordable, proven technology. For instance, there is an 11 cent difference between geothermal and oil today. We could replace liquid fuels with 80MW of geothermal electricity, and apply that savings to pay the remaining debt of the Keahole 80 MW liquid fuel burning plant.(80 MW is equal to 80,000 kilowatts. That 11 cents/kilowatt hour savings multiplied by 80,000 kilowatt hours equals $8,800 that you save each hour. And the savings per day is $211,200. That times 365 days equals an annual savings of $77 million. That is enough to write off the plant and still give the rate payers a break.),” writes Ha.
      Ha writes that “Most of the time, making electricity has to do with making steam to turn a turbine. You can burn coal to make steam, or you can burn oil to make steam. You can burn firewood to make steam, or use the steam from underground – that’s geothermal.  AKP takes the long way. They grow plants using fossil fuels, then they use electricity to make microwaves to vaporize the plants, then take the liquid that rises and convert it to a burnable liquid, and haul it to Keahole, where they burn it to make steam. It isn't surprising that it is expensive.
      “More than a few engineer folks tell me that this process uses more energy than it makes. And if that is the case, it will always be more expensive than oil. This is not a good bet for us,” says Ha. See more at http://hahaha.hamakuasprings.com/. See `Aina Koa Pono’s testimony and proposal at www.hawaii.puc.com and its website at www.ainakoapono.com.

Wallace Ishibashi, of the ILWU

THE BIG ISLAND COMMUNITY COALITION released a newsletter yesterday thanking citizens for “helping to demonstrate to the Consumer Advocate that folks on the whole Big Island are concerned about the rising electricity rates. With your help, the Public Utility Commission’s hearings in Hilo and Kona strongly made the point that people cannot take continuously rising electricity rates and that the Consumer Advocate should be on our side.” The newsletter points out that deadlines to submit letters to the PUC is Nov. 30 on both the proposed 4.2 percent rate hike proposed by HELCO and the separate application for the contract with `Aina Koa Pono that would raise electric bills by an average of $1 per month per household. 

      The newsletter says that the $1 average increase in the electric bill per household “does not stop simply at our monthly bill. It is reflected in virtually all goods we purchase and all services we receive. A 1 percent or even $1 increase to us comes back to us in either more costly or reduced service for essential services from our government. Just look at the uproar that a potential tax increase causes – such increases are now virtually unthinkable to our political leaders. 

OHA Trustee Bob Lindsey

      “In a community that pays four times the national average for its power is it any mystery why our long term economy is stalled? Is it any question why many of our citizens are stuck living like they are in a third world country? And yet we are now being asked to pay an additional surcharge – for the ‘benefit’ of buying fuel at twice today’s market cost. It is hard not to wonder if we have found ourselves living with Alice in her Wonderland.” 

      The newsletter points to geothermal and imported natural gas as lower cost options currently available and solar, wave action and other alternatives becoming more affordable soon.
      The Steering Committee of the Big Island Community Coalition is comprised of state contractors licensing board member John E.K. Dill; vice president of student affairs at University of Hawai`i, Rockne Freitas; state Board of Agriculture member and farmer Richard Ha; union leader in the ILWU, Wallace Ishibashi; geothermal proponent Ku`ulei Kealoha Cooper; former military attorney and renewable energy advocate D. Noelani Kalipi; executive director of `Imiloa Observatory, Ka`iu Kimura; the Big Island’s Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustee Robert Lindsey; Big Island rancher H.M. Monty Richards; Dean of University of Hawai`i – Hilo School of Business and Economics Marcia Sakai; Kamehameha School – Keaau Principal Kumu Lehua Veincent and W.H. Shipman President Bill Walter. See www.bigislandcommunitycoalition.com.

SONNY LIM, JOHN AND HOPE KIAWE, DIANA AKI, THE KAHUMOKUS, JAMES HILL and many more Hawaiian musicians and dancers celebrate Veterans Day until 4 p.m. this afternoon on the grounds of Pahala Plantation House. The concert is free and is the culmination of the Hawaiian music workshop all week where students came from around the world and local youth received scholarships to study with Hawaiian music masters.