Ka`u News Briefs Friday, June 27, 2014

Hui Okinawa Kobodu Taiko, here at a January benefit concert in Pahala, comes to Na`alehu tomorrow to participate in the Fourth of July celebration. Photo by Julia Neal

COMBINING AND RE-SUBDIVIDING AGRICULTURAL AND CONSERVATION LANDS in order to drive up the sales price of oceanfront and farm lots for expensive estates has come back to haunt the county. The state Department of Land & Natural Resources said the county needs state permission for such actions that involve conservation property and has asked the county to resolve a situation involving buyers of two oceanfront lots created by consolidation and re-subdivision that are valued at $400,000. The lots, with burials and archaeological sites, were bought by people who want them buildable, but DLNR is objecting to the county creation of the lots by a former Planning Director (not the current or previous director) without state permission.

An example of consolidation and re-subdivision in along the Ka`u Coast below Na`alehu.
Map from Hawai`i County Planning Department

      Referred to in the resolution as the Gapp property, the lots are in Puna, where council members are considering resolving the situation by using money the county’s Open Space fund that comes from two percent of the county’s property tax income to buy the land. However, Ka`u’s council member Brenda Ford said that using Open Space funds would set a poor precedent since there is a public process for selecting lands to be conserved. 

      The resolution from Puna council member Greggor Ilagan states that “the County Charter provides that monies in the fund may be used to purchase property for the purpose of preservation of historic and culturally important land areas and sites.” He said that the Puna poperty has historic sites and that Puna needs a beach park.
      Such consolidation and re-subdivision plans have been proposed in Ka`u. One would take kuleana and other lots in a 1,000-acre parcel below Na`alehu and move them to the oceanfront to create expensive lots for sale.
      According to a subdivision plan at the county Planning Department, the smallest lots would be long and narrow, side-by-side and closest to the ocean, with two of them just over six acres.
      The subdivision is being proposed by Waimea realtor Leslie Agorastos, of Clark Realty, and partners. The proposal involves taking existing lots within the larger parcel, some of them former family homesteads of Hawaiians, and moving them toward the coast to maximize property values. The largest lot, more than 500 acres, would be the most mauka.
      The issue will be taken up by the County Council at its meeting this coming Wednesday.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

TEN CRIMINAL JUSTICE-RELATED MEASURES PASSED by the state Legislature are now law after receiving Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s signatures.
      “As I said in my State of the State Address in January, ‘Crimes against our common humanity will not be tolerated in Hawai`i,’” Abercrombie said. “I commend the Legislature for addressing many areas of criminal justice as we work together to protect our citizens, especially our keiki.”

      Senate Bill 2687 extends the period by an additional two years that a victim of child sexual abuse may bring an otherwise time-barred civil action against an abuser or entity with a duty or care, including the state and counties.
      House Bill 2034 removes the statute of limitations for criminal actions of sexual assault in the first and second degrees, as well as the continuous sexual assault of a minor under the age of 14.
      House Bill 1926 amends the offense of solicitation of a minor for prostitution and the offense of prostitution to include sadomasochistic abuse under the definition of sexual conduct, including clarification that a law enforcement officer shall not be exempt from the offense while acting in the course and scope of duties. This measure also amends the applicability of a deferred acceptance of a guilty or nolo contendere plea and clarifies sentencing of repeat offenders and enhanced sentences for repeat violent and sexual offenders.

      Senate Bill 702, known as Alicia’s Law, establishes an Internet crimes against children special fund and an Internet crimes against children fee of up to $100 for each felony or misdemeanor conviction. Fees will be deposited into the special fund, which will be used by the Department of the Attorney General to combat Internet crimes against children. This measure also appropriates $62,500 into the new special fund.
      House Bill 1750 expands the offense of violation of privacy in the first degree to include the disclosure of an image or video of another identifiable person either in the nude or engaging in sexual conduct without the consent of the depicted person with intent to harm substantially the depicted person.
      House Bill 1993 requires a police officer to make a reasonable inquiry of witnesses or household members when physical abuse or harm is suspected and order a no-contact period of 48 hours. This measure also makes the commission of physical abuse in the presence of a family or household member under the age of 14 a class C felony.
      House Bill 2205 imposes a mandatory minimum term of one year imprisonment upon conviction of habitual property crime and authorizes probation only for a first conviction.
      House Bill 2038 establishes the human trafficking victims services fund to be administered by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to provide support and services to human trafficking victims. This measure also imposes human trafficking victim fees to be imposed upon persons convicted of labor trafficking and prostitution offenses.
      House Bill 1706 sets a fixed fine of $200 for parking a vehicle on a bicycle lane or pathway.
      Senate Bill 2591 requires additional information from county police departments in their annual report to the Legislature of misconduct incidents that resulted in the suspension or discharge of an officer. This measure also allows the disclosure of certain information regarding officer misconduct in cases that result in discharge, after 90 days have passed following the issuance of the decision.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Sen. Mazie Hirono congratulates Esther Kia`aina on her new position as
Assistant Secretary of Insular Affairs. Photo from Office of Sen. Hirono

BY A UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THE U.S. SENATE, ESTHER KIA`AINA is U.S. Department of the Interior’s new Assistant Secretary of Insular Affairs.

The Office of Insular Affairs coordinates federal policy in the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. It also administers U.S. federal assistance to the Freely Associated States of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau under the Compacts of Free Association.
      “President Obama recognized a tremendous individual for this important post in Esther Kia`aina,” said Sen. Brian Schatz. “Her confirmation is a testament to her distinguished career and expertise on Native Hawaiian issues and land management. Esther is an exceptional addition to the Department of the Interior and will serve well as Assistant Secretary.”
      Sen. Mazie Hirono said, “The Senate’s overwhelming support for Esther’s nomination speaks to her strong qualifications to serve as DOI Assistant Secretary for Insular Affairs. I have no doubt she will serve with distinction and make Hawai`i proud.”

      Hirono had previously introduced Kia`aina’s nomination during a Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources hearing last November.

 

      Prior to her nomination, Kia`aina served as the First Deputy Director of the Department of Land and Natural Resources for Hawai`i, a position she has held since 2012. Previously, she served as Chief Advocate for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs from 2009 to 2011, and from 2007 to 2009, she was a Land Asset Manager for Kamehameha Schools’ Land Asset Division. Kia`aina served as Chief of Staff for Rep. Ed Case from 2003 to 2007. From 1999 to 2003, she was Chief of Staff and Legislative Director for Rep. Robert Underwood. Kia`aina served as a Legislative Assistant for Sen. Daniel Akaka from 1990 to 1999.
      She received a B.A. from the University of Southern California and a J.D. from George Washington University Law School.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Today is the last day that residents can sign up for help with electricity bills
at Old Pahala Clubhouse. Photo by Julia Neal

HAWAI`I COUNTY ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY COUNCIL continues its help with electric bills. Low-income families can sign up in Pahala today from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The Low Income Housing Energy Assistance Program is available at Ocean View Community Center today and Monday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

     For information for Pahala, call 936-8396. For Ocean View, call 936-9296. Na`alehu and other Ka`u residents can go to either location.

“COME ON DOWN TO KA`U AND JOIN THE FUN TOMORROW,” said Na`alehu Fourth of July celebration organizer Lee McIntosh. Na`alehu Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints offers a free pancake breakfast from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.
      Local businesses, organizations and elected officials show their patriotism at this year’s Independence Day parade beginning at 11 a.m. The parade route begins at Na`alehu Elementary School and ends at Na`alehu Hongwanji Mission.
      Starting at noon, there are free games and food for the whole family at Na`alehu Park, with shave ice, hot dogs, a climbing rock wall, water slides and bounce houses for the kids to enjoy until 3 p.m.
      Entertainment will be provided by Keoki Kahumoku and the `Ukulele Kids, Keaiwa, Back to the ‘50s Trio, Hands of Time and Hui Okinawa Kobudo Taiko. 

      Bingo and lunch will be hosted at Na`alehu Hongwanji Mission for adults until 4 p.m. 

      For more information, visit okaukakou.org or call Debra at 808-929-9872.

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

See kaucalendar.com/Directory2014.swf.
Click at bottom right to turn pages.

Ka`u News Briefs Thursday, June 26, 2014

The state Board of Land & Natural Resources will consider the project to elevate Hwy 11 at Kawa during its meeting tomorrow.
Photo from Final Environmental Assessment

ELEVATING HWY 11 AT KAWA is on tomorrow’s meeting agenda of the state Board of Land & Natural Resources. The state Department of Transportation seeks a Conservation District Use Permit for its plan to raise the highway along some 3,000 feet of road to alleviate flooding risks. When Kawa floods, access is cut off to Ka`u Hospital in Pahala from Na`alehu. Emergency vehicles, school buses and around-the-island traffic are blocked along the coastal road and must take the old sugar cane haul road in the mountains.

Officials explained the Hwy 11 Kawa project at a public meeting
in Ka`u in Dec. 2011. Photo by Julia Neal

      For travel during construction of the raised road, a bypass would be built makai of Hwy 11, starting about 100 yards south of the main entrance into Kawa’s surfing beach. The secondary entrance to Kawa would also remain during and after construction.
      The Kawa Drainage Project Environmental Assessment, available at hawaii.gov/oeqc, explains that Hwy 11 would be raised some 10 feet above grade to 46 feet above sea level. An 84-foot-wide culvert, eight feet high, would be placed beneath the highway.
      During a public meeting held in Dec. 2011, planners said that the wetlands, springs and other features would not be disturbed at Kawa by the new flood project.
      The $3.8 million project is 80 percent funded by the Federal Highway Administration and 20 percent by the state of Hawai`i. The improvements would be along approximately 3,700 feet of Hwy 11.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

SANJEEV “SONNY” BHAGOWALIA, Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s chief advisor for technology and cybersecurity, has received the 2014 Government Technology Research Alliance’s Government Innovator of the Year award. Bhagowalia received the award for facilitating Hawai`i’s business and technology transformation, launched in 2011 under the Abercrombie Administration.

Sanjeev "Sonny" Bhagowalia receives his Innovator of the Year award.

      “This prestigious award recognizes the finest leaders and innovators in government,” Abercrombie said. “Under Sonny’s innovative leadership, Hawai`i has developed an ambitious business and technology plan, established a stable technology foundation, launched key programs to transform delivery of online services and significantly improved transparency and accountability. Our state government is now being recognized as a leader in the nation for our steady and incremental transformation gains.”
      Bhagowalia received the honor amid a field of nominees from federal, state, local and tribal governments. Hawai`i was the sole state recipient in the Government Innovator of the Year category, beating out two federal finalists from the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
      The award was one of 24 handed out at this week’s GTRA GOVTek Executive Government Technology Awards Gala, which celebrates and recognizes government and industry information technology leaders whose vision, innovation and accomplishments have improved efficiency, the delivery of government services, citizen engagement, information sharing and national security.
      Bhagowalia was nominated for his accomplishments as the first leader of state Office of Information Management Technology and his achievements over the past year in transforming business and technology in the state through the innovative use of enterprise architectures, strategic planning, program management, transparency and personal transformation.

      After being appointed by Abercrombie as the state’s first chief information officer and serving in that capacity for three years, Bhagowalia was promoted to governor’s chief advisor for technology and cybersecurity in February 2014. The new executive leadership position was created to establish Hawai`i as a premier technology and cybersecurity hub in the Asia-Pacific region and to strengthen ties between Hawai`i and Washington, D.C. in support of the state’s business and technology transformation.
      Bhagowalia is working with the new state CIO, Keone Kali, and other stakeholders to publish a cybersecurity report on Hawai`i’s next steps to align with the National Cybersecurity Framework and establish itself as a world-class cybersecurity center of excellence for the emerging 21st Century Asia-Pacific region.
      “Hawai`i is on track and being recognized at the national level for making steady progress in modernizing and securing our technology infrastructure and reengineering the way government does business – online versus waiting in line,” Bhagowalia said. “A cybersecurity framework of cooperation and investment will be required by government, industry and academia with local, national and international representation to help Hawai`i realize its promise as a crossroads of the Pacific in the Information Age.”
      For more information on GTRA Awards, see june2014.gtra.org/awards.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Sen. Mazie Hirono addresses the Veterans' Affairs
Conference Committee.

SEN. MAZIE HIRONO, A MEMBER of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Conference Committee, gave an opening statement on Hawai`i veterans’ wait times for health care at VA facilities during the committee’s first meeting. The committee is working on a compromise version of the Veterans’ Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act, which was recently passed by the House and Senate. The meeting is the first Veterans’ Affairs conference committee since 1990.
      “This Conference Committee has an important task in the coming days and weeks,” Hirono said. “That is to finalize legislation that does three important things:

1. Directly address the emergency circumstances that have been uncovered at the Veterans’ Administration;
2. Ensure all of our veterans receive access to the care that they deserve; and
3. Begin the longer-term work of restoring veterans’ trust not only in the VA, but in Congress’s ability to effectively oversee the VA and provide the resources needed to care for our veterans.

      “Investing in the VA is an essential step towards building back the trust of our veterans.

 I recognize that expanding access to non-VA providers is needed to immediately address this emergency. 

With this expansion, we must ensure every veteran in our country, whether rural or urban, can easily get the care they need if the VA is not available.

 For Hawai`i veterans, that should include being able to get care from community health centers, Department of Defense facilities or from the Native Hawaiian Health Care System.

 But that doesn’t mean that getting care outside of the system is the long-term solution.
      “I do not support an approach that will lead to atrophy of the VA.

 I do not support voucherizing VA. 

I do support Congressional leadership and action that addresses the current emergency, ensures our veterans’ can access the care that they deserve and lays the groundwork so that the VA can effectively address long-term needs.”
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard speaking to a Hawai`i Island veteran.

KA`U’S U.S. REP. TULSI GABBARD encourages veterans to contact her if they need assistance with the Veterans’ Affairs or Pacific Islands Health Care System. “My team and I can help local veterans who feel they have been treated unfairly by the VA or who have not received a timely response for care or benefits.” See gabbard.house.gov or call 808-541-1986.
      Gabbard has called for Pres. Barack Obama to use his executive power to alleviate the crisis of long wait times for veterans to receive health care. She also wants new leadership in Veterans Affairs Pacific Islands Health Care System, saying Director Wayne Pfeffer should be fired, following reports that veterans in Hawai`i have the nation’s longest wait times. She also wants “a thorough review of the cause for the excessive 145-day wait times.”

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Na`alehu's Independence Day Celebration
is two days away. Photo by Julia Neal

HAWAI`I COUNTY ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY COUNCIL continues its help with electric bills through the end of the month. The Low Income Housing Energy Assistance Program is available at Ocean View Community Center today, tomorrow and Monday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Low-income families can sign up in Pahala today and tomorrow from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
     For information for Pahala, call 936-8396. For Ocean View, call 936-9296. Na`alehu and other Ka`u residents can go to either location.

VOLUNTEERS MEET AT KILAUEA VISITOR CENTER to help remove invasive Himalayan ginger from Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park trails tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Free; park entrance fees apply.

STORYTELLING WITH DOODIE DOWNS takes place tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Volcano Art Center Gallery in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Aloha Friday programs are supported in part by a grant from the County of Hawai`i Department of Research and Development and Hawai`i Tourism Authority. Free; park entrance fees apply.

NA`ALEHU INDEPENDENCE DAY PARADE starts at 11 a.m. Saturday. To participate, volunteer or donate, call Debra McIntosh at 929-9872 or see okaukakou.org/4th-of-july-parade and click on the volunteer button.
     After the parade, `O Ka`u Kakou provides fun times at Na`alehu Park for all ages with free shaved ice, hot dogs, games for keiki and Bingo for seniors.

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

See kaucalendar.com/Directory2014.swf.
Click at bottom right to turn pages.

Ka`u News Briefs Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Researchers arrive off the Ka`u Coast today to map and study the base of Loihi Seamount. Image from Schmidt Ocean Institute 

COUNTY COUNCIL CANDIDATE RICHARD ABBETT, who presented his views at last weekend’s League of Women Voters forum, has been talking to people daily at gathering places in Ka`u and has been attending and participating in County Council meetings remotely from Ocean View Community Center since last October.

      He told The Ka`u Calendar that one of his most important issues is the Transient Accommodations Tax, the tax levied on hotel rooms, bed and breakfast establishments and vacation rentals by the state. The county receives only a portion back from the state, and the counties lobby each year to receive a greater share to take care of county roads, parks, police, fire, lifeguards, visitor information centers, public transportation and other services and infrastructure funded by the county. Abbett said the income is needed not only to pay for direct impact of visitors and services provided for tourism, but to also help pay for county workers in terms of their union wages and benefits, as well as retirement. The counties lost a lot of TAT income during the recent financial crisis when the state decided to hold onto more of the transient tax revenue to pay for its services and overhead. Abbett said Hawai`i County is producing the highest per day spending by visitors and could put an increased share of the TAT to good use.

Richard Abbett, candidate for Hawai`i County Council District Six

      Abbett said that, “if elected, I’d be willing to take a lead role on Finance, Environmental Management and/or Agriculture, Water and Energy Sustainability Committees.”
       He said he is also interested in more transparency and accountability of public officials to the citizenry. He said he would support a County Charter resolution to make the county clerk a four-year elected term. He said he disagrees with a current County Charter proposal to make the County Clerk a six-year political appointment and said he plans to testify against it at a County Council meeting. He said the county clerk, the chief elections officer who serves the administration, and legislative auditor, who serves the County Council, should both be elected by the public rather than be political appointments of the mayor and the County Council, which has put them add odds with one another.  

       Abbett also talked about the state of Hawai`i ranking lowest in the nation for voter turnout and about lack of public participation in government. Abbett attends council meetings usually at the Ocean View Community Center, where residents can watch the meetings and participate, giving testimony through an audio-visual feed. He said he also talks story with people around Ka`u each morning at different cafes and other locales, speaking with business owners and the general public. He said he is forming his platform and policies based on these direct interactions with people and through attending the council meetings to keep up to date on the issues.
       He said that when people say, “Why bother?” he encourages them “to not give up and to vote and participate.” He said there was some improvement in citizen participation for a while. However, he contends that after the public will was made into a law to restrict GMOs and to reduce police effort in charging people with cannabis use, the new laws have not been carried out. “It was like throwing cold water in our face - disagreeing with the will of the people.”
      He also mentioned that he has received endorsement from the statewide Sierra Club.
      Abbett can be reached on email at reabbett@gmail.com or on the Richard Abbett for County Council Facebook page.

      See more about candidates on local ballots at the primary election on Saturday, Aug. 9 in future Ka`u News Briefs.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

RESEARCHERS ARRIVE OFF THE KA`U COAST today to explore Loihi Seamount. Brian Glazer, an oceanographer at University of Hawai`i-Manoa, leads the expedition, along with colleagues from University of Minnesota, IFREMER Centre de Brest and Woods Hole Oceanographic. They will map the seamount’s base using Woods Hole Oceanographic’s Sentry autonomous underwater vehicle and collect water samples to better understand the processes impacting delivery and dispersion of hydrothermal fluids from Loihi to the Pacific Ocean.
      Called The Iron Eaters of Loihi Seamount, the expedition will study bacteria that are oxidizing iron from hydrothermal fluids and seafloor rocks. Results could contribute to understanding the ocean’s iron and carbon cycling, a critical driver in ocean balance. They could also answer questions about how reddish geological formations on land and on the seafloor, called umbers, are formed and whether they formed biologically or geologically and chemically.
      The research also has implications regarding extraterrestrial life. “If, for example, researchers can identify a definitive chemical signature for geological features formed by microbes like those around Loihi, it could ultimately allow scientists to decipher whether similar geological features on places like Mars were biologically produced — a potentially simpler task than finding living cells with limited exploration,” said Mark Schrope, of Schmidt Ocean Institute.
      For more information and to follow the expedition that continues through Monday, July 7, see schmidtocean.org/story/show/2225.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Hawai`i County Council joined New York City in banning sales of tobacco products to those under 21 years of age. The law goes into effect Tuesday, July 1. Image from tobaccofreekids.org

NO BUYING CIGARETTES IF UNDER 21 years of age. The new law going into effect Tuesday, July 1, will make Hawai`i the first county in the state and one of the few communities in the nation to enact the law. New York City is one of the other leaders. The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids notes on its website that tobacco companies have long been well aware that if kids are hooked early they have a good chance of acquiring lifelong customers. The campaign website at tobaccofreekids.org quotes them: 

      “Raising the legal minimum age for cigarette purchasers to 21 could gut our key young adult market (17-20) . …” 
 – Philip Morris report, Jan. 21, 1986.
      “If a man has never smoked by age 18, the odds are three-to-one he never will. By age 21, the odds are twenty-to-one.”
— RJ Reynolds, Sept. 10, 1982.
       The campaign literature says, “Nearly all smokers start as kids or young adults, and these age groups are heavily targeted by the tobacco industry. Increasing the sale age to 21 will help to prevent young people from ever starting to smoke and to reduce the deaths, disease and health care costs caused by tobacco use.
      “Increasing the sale age will complement other strategies to reduce tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws that apply to all workplaces and public places and well funded, sustained tobacco prevention and cessation programs.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Prof. Gilles-Eric Seralini's study finding major problems with GMOs and
glyphosate has been republished.

A CHRONIC TOXICITY STUDY ON THE GLYPHOSATE-BASED herbicide Roundup and a commercialized genetically modified corn has been republished, restoring it to the peer-reviewed literature so that it can be consulted and built upon by other scientists.
      Led by Prof. Gilles-Eric Seralini, the study found severe liver and kidney damage and hormonal disturbances in rats fed GM corn and low levels of Roundup that are below those permitted in drinking water in the European Union. Toxic effects were found from the GM corn tested alone, as well as from Roundup tested alone and together with the corn. Additional unexpected findings were higher rates of large tumors and mortality in most treatment groups.
      The study was first published in Food and Chemical Toxicology in Sept. 2012 but was retracted by the editor-in-chief in Nov. 2013 after what Seralini called “a sustained campaign of criticism and defamation by pro-GMO scientists.”
      Republished by Environmental Sciences Europe, the new version contains extra material addressing criticisms of the original publication. Raw data underlying the study’s findings are also published. According to Seralini, raw data for industry studies that underlie regulatory approvals of Roundup are kept secret. However, the new paper presents the same results as before, and the conclusions are unchanged.
      See gmoseralini.org.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Ka`u residents can sign up for help with electric bills at Old Pahala Clubhouse
tomorrow and Friday. Photo by Julia Neal

HAWAI`I COUNTY ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY COUNCIL continues its help with electric bills through the end of the month. The Low Income Housing Energy Assistance Program is available at Ocean View Community Center Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. through June 30. Low-income families can sign up in Pahala this Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 

      Those wanting help with electric and gas bills must bring photo ID for all adults, Social Security cards for all house residents, citizenship verification, birth certificate or state ID or passport, HELCO or gas bill, income verification, pay stubs, affidavit, proof of physical residence, tax bill or other bill with street address. Applications are open to all, but applicants must qualify based on their income.
     For more information for Pahala, call 936-8396. For Ocean View, call 936-9296. Na`alehu and other Ka`u residents can go to either location.

 
NA`ALEHU INDEPENDENCE DAY PARADE starts at 11 a.m. Saturday. To participate, volunteer or donate, call Debra McIntosh at 929-9872 or see okaukakou.org/4th-of-july-parade and click on the volunteer button.
     After the parade, `O Ka`u Kakou provides fun times at Na`alehu Park for all ages with free shaved ice, hot dogs, games for keiki and Bingo for seniors.

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

See kaucalendar.com/Directory2014.swf.
Click at bottom right to turn pages.