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Friday, June 05, 2015

Ka`u News Briefs Friday, June 5, 2015

A talk story session about Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park's draft general management plan, wilderness study and environmental impact statement is coming up next week. NPS Photo by Jay Robinson
WINDWARD PLANNING COMMISSION has approved HOVE Road Maintenance Corp.’s petition to intervene in hearings about expansion of mining activities in Ocean View, according to Nancy Cook Lauer, of West Hawai`i Today. The board, which manages roads in Ocean View, will provide evidence and question witnesses regarding proposals to expand quarrying of cinder and rock.
Jill Raznov
      Peter Dahlberg, an engineer who represents Arrow of Oregon and David and Laura Rodrigues, told Cook Lauer HOVE Road Maintenance Corp. is “asking for a lot of expensive tests that are not relevant to the mining activity.’
      The organization collects assessments from property owners to maintain 157 miles of private roads in the subdivision. According to Cook Lauer, it can also assess heavy trucks $1,000 per vehicle annually to use the roads there.
      Dahlberg also said the companies have agreed to setbacks from roads and other safety measures, “but they aren’t enough for the road company.”
      Jill Raznov, a Hilo attorney representing the road company, said it needs to be able to set parameters to help regulate the mining companies’ activity. “These must be mandated and required to ensure the safety of life and property,” Raznov said. “We’re talking about a history of noncompliance.”
      David Rodrigues told Cook Lauer, “We are willing to work with Hawaiian Ocean View Estates Road Maintenance Corp. for a fair assessment.”
      See westhawaiitoday.com.
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THE STATE OF HAWAI`I IS TAKING STEPS to ensure a smooth transition for individuals seeking health care insurance in the November 2015 Open Enrollment following closure of Hawai`i Health Connector.
      The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services informed the Connector last week that federal funds were no longer available to support its long-term operations. Hawai`i Health Connector, a private nonprofit entity, has been unable to generate sufficient revenues to sustain operations.
      Viability of state health insurance exchanges has been a challenge across the country, particularly in small states, due to insufficient numbers of uninsured residents. Hawai`i has a high rate of insured residents due to employer-based health care coverage and Medicaid program expansions.
      “The state is working with the Connector and CMS to determine what functions can be transitioned to state oversight to ensure compliance with the Affordable Care Act by the next Open Enrollment,” said Gov. David Ige.
      Hawai`i Health Connector’s consumer support operations will continue to assist with November Open Enrollment.
      Based on ongoing discussions with the state and the Connector, CMS has agreed to provide limited funds for the transition so that Hawai`i can maintain a Supported State-based Marketplace. The amount of CMS transition funds has yet to be determined.
      “The state remains committed to offering health care coverage through the Prepaid Health Care Act as it has for the past 40 years,” Ige said. “The state continues to provide millions of dollars to serve 300,000 Hawai`i adults and children who receive health care coverage through Medicaid.”
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

HAWAI`I DEPARTMENT OF LAND & Natural Resource’s Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands will lead development of a statewide Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Report in coordination with the Interagency Climate Adaptation Committee. ICAC, which is tasked with delivering the SLR Report to the Legislature by the end of 2017, held its first meeting on Wednesday. 
      OCCL Administrator Sam Lemmo said, “The SLR Report will serve as the framework to address other climate-related threats and climate change adaptation priorities, ultimately leading to a Climate Adaptation Plan for the state, which will be prepared by the state Office of Planning. Over the next two and a half years we will meet regularly, engage climate change experts and keep the citizens of Hawai`i informed of our progress and recommendations to combat the negative impacts of sea level rise and other climate change threats.” 
      DLNR Chair Suzanne Case, who co-chairs ICAC with the director of the state Office of Planning, said, “The work of the ICAC is among the highest priority work we will do over the next few years. Beach erosion, drought, coral bleaching and rising ocean temperatures are already having measurable impacts on Hawai`i and are expected to accelerate in coming years. These threats include impacts to our host culture, including impacts to coastal artifacts and structures and reduced availability of traditional food sources and subsistence fisheries.”
Sen. Brian Schatz
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U.S. SEN. BRIAN SCHATZ, A MEMBER of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, introduced the School Building Fairness Act of 2015, legislation that would provide federal grants to states and local school districts to help them build, repair and renovate school facilities. 
      “When students are in a safe, well-maintained school environment, it improves their ability to learn and gives them a better shot at success. Today, a majority of our public schools in Hawai`i and across the country are in disrepair. It’s unacceptable,” Schatz said. “My bill invests in our students, giving states and local school districts the resources to build better schools and better futures for every student.”
      In 2014, a report found that a majority of public schools in the country were in need of modernization or repair with the estimated cost totaling $197 billion nationwide. Today, despite the clear need and poor conditions of many public schools, federal funding is usually not available for school facilities.
      The School Building Fairness Act is supported by U.S. Green Building Council, Rebuild America’s Schools, the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, North America’s Building Trades Unions, AFL-CIO, Californians for School Facilities and Healthy Schools Network, Inc.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

THE PUBLIC IS INVITED TO A TALK STORY session about the Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park draft general management plan, wilderness study and environmental impact statement at Kilauea Visitor Center June 10 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. In addition, a formal wilderness hearing will be held during this meeting to receive comments specific to the wilderness study. Park representatives will answer questions and take comments. 
      General management plans are intended to be long-term documents that establish and articulate a management philosophy and framework for decision-making and problem-solving in national parks. In the 548-page document, three alternatives for Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park are presented for review. Each alternative offers a different approach to protecting and managing park resources, using facilities and providing a range of access and visitor experiences to meet the needs of local residents, off-island visitors and students of all ages. These alternatives were developed with the intent to include and celebrate Native Hawaiian values such as malama `aina (nourishing and taking care of the land) and kuleana (responsibility).
      These alternatives are the result of five years of public scoping and comment, interdisciplinary research, field assessments, stakeholder discussions and Native Hawaiian consultation and are based upon the park’s purpose and significance, issues that need to be addressed, legal mandates and public comments provided on preliminary alternatives.

 
      To review the DGMP/WS/EIS and provide comments online, see parkplanning.nps.gov/havogmp. Comments can also be mailed to Superintendent, Attn: DGMP/WS/EIS, PO Box 52, Hawai`i National Park, HI 96718-0052. The public comment period is open through June 30.
Punalu`u Bake Shop's cookie kitchen
opens tomorrow.
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PUNALU`U BAKE SHOP COOKIE KITCHEN Grand Opening is tomorrow from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Na`alehu, featuring entertainment and food. Call 929-7343 for more information.

THE QUEST FOR LIQUID LIGHT: Going with the Flow opens tomorrow. The exhibit features fine art photography by G. Brad Lewis. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Volcano Art Center Gallery in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Opening reception is tomorrow at 5 p.m.

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

Thursday, June 04, 2015

Ka`u News Briefs Thursday, June 4, 2015

New technology called WindFloat would allow wind turbines with towers as high as 300 feet to float in the ocean near Hawai`i,
connected to cables that would send electricity to land, according to Alpa Wind Energy. Photo from WindFloat
PROPOSALS FOR WINDMILL FARMS FLOATING IN THE OCEAN NEAR HAWAI`I drew concerns from military and environmental groups, as well as government agencies yesterday in Honolulu. The windpower project is proposed by a company from Denmark, the country that banned nuclear power and achieved the highest proportion of wind electricity in the world. Denmark produces from 23 percent to 61 percent of its power from wind each month, depending on how much the wind blows. Denmark has land windmills and nearshore and offshore wind turbine fields, with more planned in the Baltic and North Seas.
     The Hawai`i venture comes from the Danish company Alpha Wind Energy, which would spend $1.6 billion to install 102 wind turbines, each as tall as 300 feet, and underwater cables sending the electricity to land. The first project would be two sites more than ten miles offshore of O`ahu, in federally managed waters, and Alpha contends it could produce 30 percent of that island’s electricity. As in Denmark, additional alternative energy could be produced by more solar. For the wind energy, Alpha would use a new technology called WindFloat, designed to make it unnecessary to extend the wind turbine towers to the bottom of the ocean, which is very deep around Hawai`i, according to a report by Casey Tolen from fusion.net. Tolen wrote that Alpha is still studying WindFloat's ability to resist hurricanes.
Whether the heavy construction of WindFloat can handle hurricanes is
under study. Photo from WindFloat
   According to a story in this morning’s Honolulu Star Advertiser, the concerns came during a meeting yesterday sponsored by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism and the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Writer Kathryn Mykleseth reports: “NOAA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said they wanted to know more about the effect the turbines and the cables that connect them to O`ahu would have on marine life. The Coast Guard and Federal Aviation Administration were concerned how the turbines would impact aircraft and vessel communication. The Coast Guard is concerned that electromagnetic fields might disrupt vessels’ navigation systems, said Ulysses Mullins, prevention department head at U.S. Coast Guard Sector Honolulu.
     “The FAA said it would be interested in how the wind farms would affect the airways as the turbines may give false radar readings….    Community members requested that the public be considered by the agencies as a stakeholder. Ron Tam, secretary of the Hawai‘i Fishermen’s Alliance for Conservation and Tradition, said he was worried about the wind farms’ influence on deep-water and nearshore fishing.” See more at www.fusion.net and  www.staradvertiser.com
To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

RAW DATA AND OPINIONS on the draft Ka`u Community Development Plan can be seen online. Speak-Out Comments, Focused Discussion Notes, Written Comments and Comments Submitted Online or by Email by the deadline of June 1 are posted for public review at http://www.hawaiicountycdp.info/kau-cdp/plan-input/march-june-2015-public-comment-on-the-draft-cdp.
      The next phase in the CDP process begins during a Steering Committee meeting next Tuesday, June 9, starting at 5:30pm at Nāʻālehu Community Center. Purpose is to review community input and prepare for future Steering Committee meetings. During future meetings, the Committee will consider specific CDP revisions in preparation for recommending a final draft of the Ka‘ū CDP for approval by the County Council. While public comment on agenda items is welcome at Steering Committee meetings, the Tuesday session is not designed as an opportunity for additional or repeated comment on the Draft CDP, says a memo from the county planning department Senior Long Range Planner Ron Whitmore.
      Anyone with questions can contact Steering Committee members or Community Planning Assistant Nalani Parlin. Contact information is available at the project website www.kaucdp.info.
To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

DOUBLETREE BY HILTON will be the new branding for the Hilo Naniloa Hotel and Golf Course, a project funded by Ka`u coffee Mill owner Edmund C. Olson Trust and partners, led by Tower Development president Ed Bushor. According to a report in Pacific Business News, the hotel is undergoing a $16 million renovation and will continue to be managed by Aqua Hospitality. Bushor told PBN that a national chain restaurant, with farm-to-table reputation, will be announced soon to handle three meals a day at the hotel. The old music venue, the Crown Room, will become Willie K’s @ the Crown Room. There is also a plan for a Museum Bar in the lobby and involvement of marine artist Wyland.
To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

TRAPPING, SHOOTING FROM HELICOPTERS AND STAFF HUNTING of feral goats, feral sheep, mouflon and mouflon/feral sheep hybrids are scheduled for June, July and August on Mauna Kea and local hunters and the public can apply for permits to retrieve the meat.  The elimination of invasive ungulates on Mauna Kea has been going on for generations, including a roundup in 1935 when more than 50,000 feral sheep were captured. The state Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife, will conduct the new animal control activities this summer within palila critical habitat in the Mauna Kea Forest Reserve (Unit A), Mauna Kea Ice Age Natural Area Reserve (Unit K), and the Ka‘ohe Game Management Area (Unit G).
A 1935 roundup on Mauna Kea captured more than 35,000 feral sheep.
Photo from DLNR
     According to a DLNR statement, aerial shooting is required for compliance with the federal court order mandating removal of sheep and goats from critical habitat for palila, a bird endemic to Hawai‘i. Control schedules are June 24 and 25, July 28 and 29, and August 26.
     Public access to Mauna Kea Forest Reserve from Waikahalulu gulch, north to Kemole, and east to Pu‘u Kole, Mauna Kea Ice Age Natural Area Reserve, the Ka‘ohe Game Management Area and Mauna Kea Hunter Access Road will be restricted and allowed by permit only for animal salvage purposes beginning at 7 a.m. on June 24 and 25, July 28 and Aug. 26 and 27.
Ungulates destroy the habitat of the palila bird.
Photo from DLNR
     The Mauna Kea Observatory Road will remain open. However, temporary closure, states DLNR, “is needed to minimize the dangers of incompatible uses in the forest area and safely conduct animal control activities.” Hale Pohaku and Kilohana gated entrances to Unit A and G and the gate behind Mauna Kea Recreation Area will be locked/reopened as follows: Locked 8 p.m. June 23, reopened 7 p.m. June 25; locked 8 p.m. July 27, reopened 7 p.m. July 29; and locked 8 p.m. Aug. 25, reopened 7 p.m. Aug. 27.
     Due to high public participation, telephone call-ins to the DOFAW Kamuela Office at 887-6063 for salvage permits will be from 9 a.m. June 17 to 10 a.m. the day before each shoot day. One permit will be issued per call per vehicle for one day only. Applicants can have names added to a stand-by list for additional days, should all slots not be filled by other applicants. No standbys waiting at the gates will be allowed access. Driver, occupants, vehicle license plate, and make/model of vehicle are needed when calling in. A maximum of 15 permitted vehicles will be allowed at the Pu‘u Kohi location.


    Carcasses taken during the shoot will be available to the permitted public for salvage (4-wheel drive vehicles required, and access permits will be issued). There is no guarantee that animals will be able to be salvaged. Salvage locations, which are subject to change, are set for June 24 and 25, and July 28 and 29, and 26 and 27, 2015, at Pu‘u Ko‘ohi. Permittees must meet at Mauna Kea Recreation Area at 7 a.m. sharp.
     Contact the Division of Forestry and Wildlife in Hilo at 974-4221 or in Kamuela at 887-6063 for additional details regarding meat salvage or access permits.
     See more on invasives on Mauna Kea at http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/restoremaunakea/home/threats.
To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Ka`u ranchers and farmers are invited to display at Taste.
Photo by Julia Neal
KA`U FOOD PRODUCERS are invited to display and sample their products at the 20th annual Mealani’s Taste of the Hawaiian Range and Agricultural Festival on Friday, Oct. 9 at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. The ag showcase again offers a free opportunity for Hawai‘i farmers, ranchers and food producers to hookup with participating chefs and attendees during the 6-8 p.m. Taste. The event is also open for agricultural and sustainability-themed organizations wanting to present informational displays.
     Producers and ag-related educational organizations interested in participating may signup online at www.tasteofthehawaiianrange.com or by contacting Christine Osterwalder,christine@vividgecko.com, 808-895-4987. The deadline is July 31.
     Taste headlines 35 statewide chefs who dazzle diners using various cuts of forage-fed meats and a cornucopia of island fruits, vegetables and other farm products. Also on tap is a 3 p.m. culinary activity, Cooking Pasture-Raised Beef 101, presented by celebrity chef and James Beard winner Roy Yamaguchi of Roy’s Restaurants.
    Pre-sale tickets for Taste are $45 and $60 at the door. Entry to Cooking 101 is $10 while the 1:30 p.m. class is free. Tickets go on sale July 1 at islandwide locations and online at www.TasteoftheHawaiianRange.com. Watch for ticket giveaways on Facebook at Taste of the Hawaiian Range and Twitter #TasteHI. For general event information, phone 969-8228.
     The ag-tourism event is a partnership between CTAHR, Hawaii Cattlemen’s Association, Hawai`i Cattlemen’s Council, Kulana Foods, UH-Hilo CAFNRM, County of Hawai`i Dept. on Environmental Management and community volunteers. Sponsorship also includes the Hawai`i Tourism Authority, Hawai`i County Research and Development, Hawai`i Community College Food Service & Culinary Program and KTA SuperStores.
To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

EAST KA`U’S STATE SEN. RUSSELL RUDERMAN hosts a talk story at Cooper Center in Volcano Village this evening from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Ruderman will discuss newly passed legislation and seek input on bills to be introduced next year. For more info, call 586-6890 or email senruderman@capitol.hawaii.gov.

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


See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_June2015.pdf.







Wednesday, June 03, 2015

Ka`u News Briefs Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Big Island Invasive Species Committee is battling albizia trees which, in Ka`u, dot the landscape in coffee and other agriculture fields. Photo by Geneveve Fyvie
SENDING UP ROCKETS SOUTH OF KA LAE from a manmade raft may soon not be the only floating island activity in Hawaiian waters. A proposal to establish floating windmills in federal waters near Hawai`i will be presented today in Honolulu.
      Duane Shimogawa, of Pacific Business News, reported that Alpha Wind Energy’s proposed $1.6 billion offshore wind energy project would be in federal waters off O`ahu’s northwest and southern coasts.
      The project would consist of more than 100 turbines totaling 408 megawatts and would be the first floating offshore wind farm in the United States.
      See bizjournals.com/pacific.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

HAWAI`I MEDICAL SERVICE ASSOCIATION recently filed a request with the state Insurance Division to raise premiums for individual Affordable Care Act health plans for 2016. The request for an average 49.1 percent increase is the highest premium increase the organization has ever requested. It will affect about three percent of membership and will cover the much higher than expected medical costs for these members.
Michael Gold
      “At HMSA, we understand the frustration of rising health care costs,” said President and CEO Michael Gold. “We’re a local company that employs more than 1,600 Hawai`i residents. We care about all of our members who are often our family, friends and our neighbors.
      “Our decision to ask for this premium increase was truly difficult. We explored every alternative for a smaller premium, but ultimately had to ask for this increase.”  
      According to Gold, almost everyone in Hawai`i already has health insurance from their employer, Med-QUEST or Medicare, and the small number of people left without coverage often had serious health conditions. Many of these previously uninsured people purchased HMSA’s ACA plans. 
      Because ACA plans are still new, this is the first time HMSA has been able to price these plans using actual claims and health information from these members. “We’ve learned many of these members are using substantially more medical services and prescription drugs than we expected,” Gold said. “Now we have a much clearer understanding of the true cost of caring for these members.”
      This year, several thousand members from the Compact of Free Association countries, including Ka`u’s Marshallese community, purchased individual ACA health plans from HMSA. “These members came to us from the state Med-QUEST program, and we’re honored to serve them,” Gold said. “However, many of these members have conditions that will likely require intensive medical services and expensive prescription drugs.
      “The ACA has helped thousands of Hawai`i residents get health coverage. That’s good for the well-being of our state. But it comes with a price that we’re seeing now,” Gold said.
      According to Gold, other health plans around the country are reporting premium requests as high as 51 percent.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

`Imiloa lauches mobile education programs this fall.
MANU `IMILOA, A MOBILE OUTREACH program aimed at sharing `Imiloa Astronomy Center’s brand of culture-based science education across the island, begins this fall. MANU `Imiloa (Modern and Ancient ways of Navigating our Universe) will take `Imiloa staff on the road with an interactive curriculum inspired by the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s epic Worldwide Voyage and designed to explore skills involved in non-instrument ocean navigation, or wayfinding. 
      Outreach will be offered in two formats. NOIO (Non-instrument Orientation, an Introduction to Oceanic Wayfinding) is a 30-60 minute package that can be delivered on request by K-12 schools and community centers or offered as part of local events. Audiences of all ages gather around a model of the Hawaiian Star Compass or sit inside `Imiloa’s digital portable planetarium to learn how wayfinders rely upon stars and their relationship with the environment to determine course and direction.
      The second offering, KOLEA (Keeping Our Legacy of Exploration Alive), is a two-week-plus curriculum package designed specifically for middle school teachers to adopt for seventh- and eighth-grade science or math classes. Titled The Geometry of Wayfinding, it explores the geometry and science that undergird traditional Polynesian non-instrumental navigation.
      The 2015-2016 KOLEA program will be limited to a first cohort of 10 middle school teachers across Hawai`i Island. Applications close Saturday, August 15. Selection committee decisions will be announced by Sept.1.
      For more information on `Imiloa outreach programs and costs, visit outreach page at www.imiloahawaii.org, email outreach@imiloahawaii.org or call 969-9721.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Springer Kaye
THE FIRST MILESTONES IN A HAZARD mitigation plan to reduce the threat of albizia across East Hawai`i have been reached, according to Bill Buckley, albizia coordinator for the Big Island Invasive Species Committee. “This was all sugar cane into the 1990s, but now some of these trees are 200 feet tall, with massive trunks you can’t wrap your arms around,” Buckley said. The mile-long project created a 300-foot-wide buffer zone on either side of high-power transmission lines in North Hilo and Hamakua and included removal or treatment of more than 14,000 albizia trees.
      Following Tropical Storm Iselle last year, stakeholders from all levels of government came together with private landowners at the behest of Sen. Brian Schatz to develop a plan for mitigation of the albizia threat.
      “The message we’d really like to get across at this point is how 'do-able' this is,” said BIISC Manager Springer Kaye. “The stakeholders who deal with the trees every day developed this strategy. It’s cost effective, and it’s producing long-term results.”
      Buckley’s team has treated an additional 16,000 trees on 200 acres, while hazard trees were managed by project partners, Hawai`i Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Hawai`i County Department of Public Works and Hawai`i Electric Light Co. Impacts are being carefully monitored by researchers at the U.S. Forest Service.
      A bill sponsored by Sen. Russell Ruderman for $2.1 million to fund other portions of the mitigation plan did not make it to the full Senate for a vote this past session, but the Legislature did allocate $1.5 million to the Department of Transportation to address the albizia threat along state highways in 2016.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Sen. Mazie Hirono
SEN. MAZIE HIRONO VOTED FOR THE BIPARTISAN USA Freedom Act, which ends bulk-phone records collection by the government while preserving its authority to investigate terrorism. The measure passed the House last month 338-88 and passed the Senate 67-32. 
      “Today’s vote is a key first step in our ongoing effort to balance our national security and civil liberties,” Hirono said. “I will continue to fight to ensure there are responsible and effective approaches to strengthening privacy protections for law-abiding Americans while preserving our national security. 
      “As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee, I am focused on keeping Americans safe, both here and abroad. We live in a world where terrorism is a serious threat to our country, our economy and to American lives. Our government needs appropriate surveillance and anti-terrorism tools to keep us safe, but it’s Congress’ job to ensure those tools strike the right balance between national security and protecting our privacy rights.
       “The PATRIOT Act’s bulk-phone records collection program does not strike the right balance. I agree with the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals and a large bipartisan coalition that the NSA’s bulk collection of phone records exceeds Congressional authority.”  
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Sen. Russell Ruderman
KA`U’S STATE SEN. RUSSELL RUDERMAN hosts a talk story at Cooper Center in Volcano Village tomorrow from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Ruderman will discuss newly passed legislation and seek input on bills to be introduced next year.
      For more info, call 586-6890 or email senruderman@capitol.hawaii.gov.

NATURAL FARMING HAWAI`I HOLDS a potluck meeting Tuesday, June 9 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Komohana Ag Research Center in Hilo. Participants learn how to understand the benefits of natural farming down to their smallest detail by using a microscope.
      According to Natural Farming Hawai`i, “Soil isn’t just a dead medium in which crops grow; it’s a matrix of living things, some beneficial, some harmful. In healthy soil, microorganisms interact in complementary ways, but pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers can disrupt that balance.”
      The presentation at the meeting covers how to use the microscope, how to identify bacteria, fungus and nematodes and what all this means for soil health.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

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



See kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.pdf and
kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.swf.
See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_June2015.pdf.