Ka`u News Briefs March 10, 2013

CNN correspondent Kyung Lah interviews Hawai`i Wildlife Fund's Megan Lamson on the Ka`u Coast.
The story airs on CNN tomorrow. Photo from Hawai`i Wildlife Fund.

A CNN STORY ON MARINE DEBRIS IN KA`U is scheduled for tomorrow at 4 a.m., 5 a.m. and throughout the day. March 11 is the second anniversary of the Great Tohoku Earthquake, which sent a damaging tsunami to the Big Island’s coast and Japan tsunami debris toward Hawai`i. The CNN crew filmed Hawai`i Wildlife Fund staff and volunteers last week at Kamilo Point for the story on potential Japanese tsunami debris landing here and other marine debris problems along the southeast coast of Ka`u.

Volunteers Megan Lamson, Stacey Breining and Patric Leatherman pull
up a large derelict fishing net from the rocky nearshore of Kamilo before
the CNN interview. Photo by Harold Leatherman, Hawai`i Wildlife
Fund volunteer

      The story will be told by CNN news correspondent Kyung Lah. Megan Lamson, of Hawai`i Wildlife Fund, said a link will be posted at www.wildhawaii.org and on facebook.com/hawaiiwildlifefund as soon as the CNN story appears online.
       A follow-up story on CNN in April will include NOAA’s Nets-to-Energy Program and recycled “ocean plastic” bottled cleaning products by the San Francisco-based company, Method.
      Hawai`i Wildlife Fund holds a Ka`u Coast Cleaup this Saturday. Volunteers can sign up with Lamson at 769-7629 or kahakai.cleanups@gmail.com.

RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE from $7.75 to $9.25, and tagging the minimum to the cost of living each year, passed the state House of Representatives and Senate during the past week. The two chambers will negotiate the timeline for the changes.

      Patricia McManaman, director of the state Department of Human Services, offered the following testimony: “According to the United States Department of Labor, Bureau for Labor Statistics, of the 321,000 hourly workers in Hawai`i, 8,000 were paid the minimum wage of $7.25 in 2011 while an additional 7,000 residents were paid below the minimum wage. For those workers earning minimum wage at a full-time job, annual earnings total $15,080.” 

      She said the hike in the minimum wage “will ensure that Hawai`i’s lowest paid workers will earn wages that will at least support their basic needs.… Hawai`i will also join the 10 other states across the nation that adjust their minimum wages annually to keep pace with the rising cost of living – a policy known as indexing. Indexing to inflation ensures that real wages for our lowest paid workers do not fall even further behind. 

      “If we accept the figures used by the United States Census Bureau to apportion cost of living expenses, then 13 percent of an individual’s earnings are applied toward grocery items, 29 percent toward housing, 10 percent toward utilities, 12 percent toward transportation, four percent toward healthcare, and 32 percent toward other miscellaneous items…. A family earning $7.25 per hour would allocate $350 per month towards housing, $120 towards utilities, $145 towards transportation, and $157 towards groceries."

      In Honolulu, she wrote, “it is a stretch to find apartments renting for below $1,000 per month and difficult to imagine utility bills including electricity, water, and telephone at costs below $120 per month. 

      “Raising the minimum wage is good for Hawai`i’s families and good for Hawai`i’s economy. Money in the pockets of working people will be spent to make ends meet, boosting our economy and creating jobs in our communities. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, every $1.00 in wage increases for a minimum wage worker results in $2,800 in new consumer spending by the worker’s household over the following year.

Patricia McManaman, chief of
Hawai`i Human Services

      “Raising the minimum wage is also good for Hawai`i’s working women who, together with their children, will benefit from increased economic security. In Hawai`i, 47 percent of full-time minimum wage workers are women, and 75 percent of our heads of household for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Temporary Assistance to Other Needy Families programs are women. Across the nation, women workers are concentrated in low-wage industries such as food service, retail and home health care, and despite the progress women have made, women still earn less overall than men in all occupations – a wage gap that translates into thousands of dollars of unearned income over a lifetime. As applied to Hawai`i’s TANF/TAONF beneficiaries, women with children are disproportionately represented in low-wage jobs and will accrue the greatest benefits from an increase in the minimum wage. 

      “Raising the minimum wage is the right thing to do. Franklin D. Roosevelt called the minimum wage “a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.” Yet, today’s minimum wage of $7.25 buys 30 percent less of what it did 40 years ago. It’s time for Hawai`i to ensure that poorest of our wage workers can at least support their most basic needs. It’s time for a New Day for Hawai`i’s poorest wage workers,” wrote the state Human Services chief.

      Jack Temple, a policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project, wrote in Civil Beat that, “Despite having the highest cost of living in the country, Hawai`i’s minimum wage remains stuck at the federal level of $7.25 per hour.”
      Temple wrote that “this proposal would boost the local economy while delivering a much-needed raise to the state’s lowest-paid workers. Roughly 74,000 workers in Hawai`i would receive a raise.” He wrote that, if the state’s minimum wage were increased to $9.25 per hour, the pay raise would generate more than $54 million in new consumer spending and support the creation of 470 new full-time jobs as businesses expand to meet increased customer demand.

Jack Temple, of the National Employment
Law Project

      “Nineteen states across the country have already raised their minimum wages above $7.25 per hour, including states with much lower costs of living like Montana, Arizona and Nevada. Moreover, more than a dozen states across the U.S. are considering legislation this year to raise their minimum wages, forming a growing movement to boost pay standards for low-paid workers. 

      “Contrary to common misconception, fully two-thirds of all low-wage workers are employed by large companies with over 100 employees, not the small mom and pop shops that many assume. And the largest employers of low-wage workers – the national retail and fast food chains like Walmart and McDonalds – are earning strong profits today and can afford to pay higher wages.
      “Furthermore, there are often-overlooked savings that result from paying higher wages. When workers earn higher pay, they are spared from having to balance multiple jobs in order to make ends meet – as a result, employers that pay higher wages benefit from reduced employee turnover and higher worker productivity. Many major companies such as Costco are able to offer low-price products while paying their workers high wages precisely because of the savings generated by higher wages.
      “Hawai`i’s lawmakers are showing wise judgment in calling for a minimum wage increase. A higher minimum wage will promote economic growth, offer some relief to the state’s lowest-paid workers and help protect the promise of upward economic mobility for those who work for a living,” wrote Parker.

Jobie Masagatani, chief of Department of
Hawaiian Homelands

NEW HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS CHIEF is Jobie Masagatani, confirmed unanimously Friday by the state Senate. Masagatani served as interim DHHL director beginning in May. 

      During confirmation hearings, she faced opposition by former deputy DHHL director Michelle Kauhane, who accused the administration of offering Kauhane a job as homeless czar, using DHHL funds, if she would step down from her job as DHHL deputy director. According to a report in Civil Beat, “the governor’s offices said at the time that the offer was not improper because DHHL employees are allowed to help other agencies.” Kauhane and several other critics said using funds for Native Hawaiians for the homeless would have been inapproporiate. Kauhane was fired from DHHL in December.
      Before the vote, Sen. Malama Solomon and Sen. Brickwood Galuteria “spoke glowingly of Masagatani’s qualifications.
      Masagatani, 48, graduated from Kamehameha Schools, earned a bachelor of science degree at Northwestern University in education and received a master’s degree from Princeton University in public affairs and urban and regional planning. She worked as deputy to the Hawaiian Homes Commission chair and as a Land Investment Analyst for Kamehameha Schools. She worked at The Queen’s Health Systems as assistant to the president and CEO and served at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs as special assistant to the chief executive officer.

ABOUT 15 PEOPLE HAVE SIGNED UP for the Food Business Basics workshop to be held Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Pahala Community Center. Getting Started and Finding Your Niche in the Specialty Foods Business is the title of the session for helping local residents to develop raw products and bring them to market. Some of the topics are Understanding the food marketplace and distribution channels; identifying target consumers and developing product niche; business planning and food processing options; local state and federal regulations, product development and funding.
      Advance registration, which includes lunch, is still available at $35, and scholarships are available. See laulimacenter.org/foodbasics.html. 

TUTU & KEIKI, Ka `Ohana O Honu`apo’s first 2013 Sunday in the Park family event, takes place today from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Whittington Beach Park. Co-hosts are Tutu & Me Traveling Preschool and Hawaiian Civic Club of Ka`u. The event features Hawaiian activities, games and prizes.

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

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

Ka`u News Briefs March 9, 2013

Whale pinged by Navy sonar. Illustration from Natural Resources Defense Fund

NAVY SONAR TRAINING EXERCISES ACROSS 120,000 square miles of Pacific waters, from Hawai`i to Southern California, received a thumbs down yesterday for a five-year permit. It was an attempt by the California Coastal Commission to mitigate impacts on marine mammals.
      However, the same California Coastal Commission turned down the Navy permit in 2007, and the Navy carried on, leading to a federal lawsuit.

      Coastal Commissioner Jana Zimmer told Navy representatives meeting in San Diego on Friday: “I understand you see this 120,000-square-mile range as your theater, but the bottom line is we don’t see it that way. That theater is occupied by creatures of the sea.” Regarding marine protected areas, she said, “you need to start looking at this theater as a theater where some of the seats are reserved.”

      While there is no such obligation in Hawai`i, in California the Navy is required to apply to the Coastal Commission for use of waters for war games. The commission asked the Navy for more proof that sonar technology and explosives have small impacts on marine mammals, such as dolphins and whales.
      Environmental groups contend that Navy sonar affects marine mammals’ own sonar, used to locate food and mates, that explosives damage their hearing, and that both can lead to deaths and injuries.
      The Navy’s latest training plan predicts as many as 130 marine mammal deaths and 8.8 million impacts by Navy actions over the five-year period. The hours of training proposed are increased over previous plans, and the Navy reports considering a larger geographic area for training to ensure readiness for the Pacific Ocean. The Navy pointed to danger looming with the Chinese military buildup and from North Korea, which this week threatened a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the U.S. The Navy testified it needs the sonar exercise to test new equipment, in particular for detecting mini and large “quiet diesel-electric submarines.”

Sonar on the bow of a surface Navy ship. Photo from Navy EIS

      The Natural Resources Defense Council testified that the Navy expects 13 times more impact on marine mammals through its military exercises than estimated in earlier plans.
      The Defense Council website states that “when a sound thousands of times more powerful than a jet engine fills their ears, the results can be devastating -- and even deadly. “This is the reality that whales and other marine mammals face because of human-caused noise in the ocean, whether it’s the sound of airguns used in oil exploration or subs and ships emitting sonar. Manmade sound waves can drown out the noises that marine mammals rely on for their very survival, causing serious injury and even death.”
        To mitigate effects on marine mammals, the Coastal Commission staff proposed that the Navy shut down war games when marine mammals or sea turtles are detected by blacking out areas of up to two kilometers offshore; blackout areas for sonar use in marine sanctuaries, and those protected and coastal areas with such rare species as bottlenose dolphins; reduce emitting sounds at night and when visibility is low; reduce speed in sensitive areas to 10 knots when possible; improve training for marine mammal spotters aboard Navy ships; and create a contingency plan for near-shore explosives, should additional marine mammal deaths occur.
      Members of the Audubon Society, Greenpeace, the Sierra Club and Surfrider Foundation also attended the meeting in San Diego.

State-owned land includes much of Hawai`i Island's
watershed.

PROTECTING THE WATERSHED went unfunded in the state House of Representatives state budget passed by its Finance Committee this week. Finance chair Sylvia Luke said, however, that the committee is still looking for money, perhaps through the general fund or by issuing bonds. Gov. Neil Abercrombie had proposed an increase in the conveyance tax levied when real property changes hands – limited to properties valued at more than $2 million. He said the tax would generate an estimated $10 million for watershed protection. He also proposed a 10-cent fee for single-use checkout bags to go into the natural area reserve fund, estimating income of $15 million. Neither have traction in the 2013 Legislature. 

      In his State of the State address on Jan. 22, Abercrombie said: “If we are going to nurture and expand our local agriculture – if we are going to be talking about how we meet the challenges of the 21st century and ensure that we perpetuate ‘our’ Hawai`i, its natural beauty and environment – the question is what must we do keep our watershed areas protected. The Department of Land and Natural Resources Watershed Initiative remains a top priority.
      “Our forests can capture and collect up to 50 percent more water than through rainfall alone.
 When forests disappear, Hawai`i shrinks its source of water. In the last 200 years, more than half of Hawai`i’s forests have been lost. The longer we wait to take significant action, the higher the cost will be to reverse the damage, thereby threatening water supplies for future generations.
      “I thank the Legislature for providing funding last session. But what we need is a sustainable and ongoing source of funding. I will be asking the Legislature to look at alternative methods of funding this critical initiative.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie under the campaign signs of Ka`u's new legislators
last November at Hilo Bandstand. Photo by Julia Neal

GOV. NEIL ABERCROMBIE yesterday announced the release of more than $46.39 million for various capital improvement projects across Hawai`i, including investments required to qualify for federal funding toward state projects. “Many of these priority projects require matching state funds to access federal dollars, secured before sequestration, to maintain and upgrade our public infrastructure and facilities,” Abercrombie said. “These CIPs will have the added benefit of stimulating Hawai`i’s economy and generating local jobs. Priority has been given to projects that can begin quickly.” 

      Allotment of funds for the following priority projects, identified by members of the state Legislature, has been approved by the governor:

• $14 million for design and construction for various repair and alteration projects to existing state office buildings. Projects may include roofing, other repairs and improvements. 
• $3.1 million for transfer of general obligation bond funds to the Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund to match more than $15 million in federal funds to finance wastewater infrastructure construction projects (such as wastewater systems, storm water, and non-point source projects) across the state to attain and maintain compliance with the federal Clean Water Act. 
• $2.7 million for transfer of general obligation bond funds to the Drinking Water Treatment Revolving Loan Fund to match more than $13 million in federal funds to finance drinking water infrastructure construction projects across the state for public water systems to attain and maintain compliance with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. 
• $1 million for design and construction of renewable energy sources for state park facilities and replacement of aging energy and water systems with efficient fixtures, systems and facilities statewide. 



Pu`u Pua`i Photo from fhvnp.org

• $1 million for design and construction to provide public accessibility at several DLNR facilities statewide pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

FRIENDS OF HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK explore Pu`u Pua`i area on an easy-to-moderate hike of about three miles. Non-members can join the nonprofit organization in order to attend. Call 985-7373 to join. 

PEOPLE AND LAND OF KAHUKU, a guided 2.5-mile hike over rugged terrain, focuses on the human history of the Kahuku Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park tomorrow from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

TUTU & KEIKI, Ka `Ohana O Honu`apo’s first 2013 Sunday in the Park family event, takes place tomorrow from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Whittington Beach Park. Co-hosts are Tutu & Me Traveling Preschool and Hawaiian Civic Club of Ka`u. The event features Hawaiian activities, games and prizes. For more information, call 929-9891.

HAWAI`I WILDLIFE FUND holds a Ka`u Coast Cleanup next Saturday. Volunteers can sign up with Megan Lamson at 769-7629 or kahakai.cleanups@gmail.com.

A VOLUNTEER FOREST RESTORATION PROJECT next Saturday takes place in the Mauna Loa strip section of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Pre-registration is required at 352-1402 or forest@fhvnp.org.

BLUEGRASS MEETS HAWAIIAN MUSIC next Saturday at a Piligrass concert at Pahala Plantation House. Keoki Kahumoku and Aloha Bluegrass Band perform at 7:30 p.m. Suggested donation is $15 - $20. For more information, call 938-6582.

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

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

Ka`u News Briefs March 8, 2013

Monk seals will not be transported to Ka`u or any of the other areas in inhabited Hawai`i from the uninhabited northwest islands, according to a new management plan. This monk seal came into Honu`apu years ago as the community was lobbying to preserve the area. A family event will be  held at Honu`po this Sunday. Photo by Julia Neal

A PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP AUTHORITY, initially for three specific projects, may become the replacement for the Public Land Development Corp. which is likely to be repealed by the 2013 Hawai`i Legislature.
      Over the objections of Ka`u state Senators Josh Green and Russell Ruderman, who voted no along with Senators Laura Thiielen, Mike Gabbard and Les Hara, the Senate approved SB215 yesterday with a 20 to 5 vote and sent the measure to the House.
      From the Senate floor, Ruderman objected, saying many people living in his district are worried that the bill is too much like the PLDC. He noted that the measure almost passed the Senate with a wording that would have allowed the county to provide waivers to the private-state partnerships for complying with local zoning and other land use requirements. The waivers were “glossed over” before being removed this week, Ruderman pointed out.
      Three pilot projects would be attempted with private developers using state land, should the Public-Private Partnership Authority pass the state House of Representatives. They would be restricted to a Wahiawa redevelopment, a Maui film studio and one project to be proposed by a county. The pilot project would be for five years before possibly extending public-private partnerships to other projects on state land.

Voting at the Pahala precinct. Photo by Julia Neal

KA`U MAY NO LONGER BE THE BIG FISH in public funding coffers for County Council elections. Sen. Russell Ruderman’s bill that would equalize public funding among the county council districts passed the state Senate yesterday and is headed for the House of Representatives.
   The formula for recent election funding was based on how much money candidates raised in elections before the pilot public funding went into effect.  In Ka`u, former County Council member Guy Enriques reported more than $90,000 in expenditures for his successful 2008 campaign with money raised from private sources. He lost the 2010 election but his spending in 2008 led to the most public funding for any council district during the 2012 election. Run-off candidates Maile David and Brenda Ford received $48,893 each in public funding, and primary election candidate Bradley Westervelt received $41,273.77.
      Council candidates in other districts around the island, where large donations were not taken in to conduct political campaigns, received much less when public funding kicked in. District 4 candidate Ian Greggor received $21,282 and James Weatherford $16,320. District 2 candidate J Yoshimoto received $14,559 and District 9 candidate Margaret Wile received $11,600.46. District 8 candidate Karen Eoff received $12,282.
      Ruderman’s bill would change the public campaign funding amount for all disctricts on the Big Island to $13,106 per candidate. Ruderman, a freshman senator, campaigned on reducing the influence of money in public elections.

Seal pups in decline in uninhabited Hawaiian islands.
Photo from NOAA

YOUNG SEALS FROM THE NORTHWEST HAWAIIAN ISLANDS will stay in their remote home for now. The federal plan to transfer up to 20 pups and 30 juveniles to the inhabited Hawaiian Islands where the population of monk seals has been increasing, has been delayed. Before initiating the project, however, marine mammal scientists with NOAA said that they want to establish a public network of monitoring monk seals locally. Concern for monk seals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands grew with decline in the population there, blamed on sharks feeding on the pups and a reduction in availability of food there.
       A plan for scientific research over the next five years concerning monk seals in Hawai`I can be seen at www.nmfs.noaa. Comments can be made through April 15.

HO`OMALU KA`U is a new non-profit organization with 501 © 3 status. The organization has been established to serve the South Hawai`i region with the purpose of “perpetuating, protecting and conserving the lands, health, knowledge, culture and history of Ka`u and its people.”
      The organization has received the Ho`omalu Ka`u property, with 15 pristine acres of native, dryland forest. Founders note that only 5 percent of dryland forests in Hawai`i remain. The property, located makai of Hwy 11 at Road to the Sea, is served by an intact remnant of the Alaloa, an ancient rail used to travel around the island from ahuapua`a to ahupua`a.
      The first goal of the organization is to establish The Heritage Center of Ka`u. A statement from the group says, “Ka`u’s unique cultural, historical and traditional knowledge, as well as many priceless artifacts are being lost daily. There is no place in theDistrict where these never-to-be replaced resources can be stored, preserved and accessed by local residental and island visitors.”
      The plan calls for a Ka`u Gateway reception center to welcome and inform visitors about Ka`u; the archive and museum; a retail area with local art and agricultural products and community center for local gatherings. Founding board members are Wendy Vance, Lehua Lopez Mau and Chris Reed. The organization is partnering with Ka`u Hawaiian Civic Club and its President Blossom DeSilva.

PUC Chair Mina Morita. Photo by Julia Neal

“THE RATEPAYER DOESN’T HOLD THE PUC IN HIGH REGARD,” Public Utilities Chair Mina Morita said yesterday. She was speaking at a public session called PUC Regulation Purpose and Process, held at the Hawai`i State Legislature Auditorium in Honolulu. Morita opened by reporting from a survey of those invited. She said she learned that “If you appear to be a practitioner before the PUC, the general thought was that we were making improvements, but lacked the resources. On the other hand, those who were not regular practitioners before the PUC thought we were incompetent, a rubber stamp for HECO, didn't listen to the public, opaque, operating in a black box. So no doubt, the largest stakeholder group -- the one that the PUC decisions affect the most, the general public, or the ratepayer -- does not hold the agency in very high regard.”
       With the PUC entering “its 100th year of public service, it is a good time for re-examination of the PUC, and work towards a common understanding of its role and purpose. And it’s extremely important to make the PUC's core values, transparent, and its work and its decisions understandable to the general public,” said Morita. She called yesterday’s discussion “the first step in that direction.”
      The PUC is involved with Ka`u in deciding whether to approve a contract between `Aina Koa Pono and the electric utility for fuel that would be manufactured in a refinery that would be built off Wood Valley Road. The contract would mean increases in electric bills on O`ahu and the Big Island. The approval process could go into the year 2014.
      The utilities recently provided answers, on behalf of `Aina Koa Pono, to detailed questions from the County of Hawai`i, the state Consumer Advocate, the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism and Life of the Land. The next round of testimony from the county and others is due March 15. The utility’s additional questions about `Aina Koa Pono are due April 12. The county and others respond by May 10. By June 7, the utilities file rebuttal testimony and exhibits. On July 5, the county and others ask more questions and the utilities reply by Aug. 2. Following these deadlines, there will be settelement discussions to attempt to create a final proposal for the `Aina Koa Pono proposal. Discussions could lead to evidentiary hearings, which could start in September with transcripts delivered in October, opening briefs in November and closing briefs in December. However, the process could be cut short with a decision by the PUC sometime this Fall. If evidentiary hearings are held, the process could go into 2014, the PUC scheduling indicates.

ADVANCE REGISTRATION for the Food Business Basics workshop to be held next Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Pahala Community Center is today. Getting Started and Finding Your Niche in the Specialty Foods Business is the title of the session for helping local residents to develop raw products and bring them to market. Understanding the food marketplace and distribution channels; identifying target consumers and developing product niche; business planning and food processing options; local state and federal regulations, product development and funding are some of the topics. Registration is $35 and scholarships are available. See laulimacenter.org/foodbasics.html.

KA `OHANA O HONU`APO hosts Tutu & Keiki, its first 2013 Sunday in the Park family event, this Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Whittington Beach Park. Co-hosts are Tutu & Me Traveling Preschool and Hawaiian Civic Club of Ka`u. The event features Hawaiian activities, games and prizes. For more information call 929-9891.