Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016

Ka`u residents can sign up this week for Hawai`i Wildlife Fund's first 2016 Ka`u Coast Cleanup set for Sunday, Feb. 7. Photo from HWF

KA`U’S `IMAKAKALOA HEIAU, dedicated to hula, is under the guardianship of The Edith Kanaka`ole Foundation. The foundation, which describes `Imakakaloa as the only known hula heiau on this island, will host an informational meeting on Saturday, March 19 at 12 p.m. at Pahala Community Center to discuss ways the community can get involved.
      According to Olson Trust land manager John Cross, John Replogle, of The Nature Conservancy, asked about the location of the heiau years ago after Olson purchased the property and as ranchers planned to use more land around it for cattle. The presence of the heiau was familiar to Cross through the archaeological survey Heiau of the Island of Hawai`i by John F.G. Stokes, published by Bishop Museum in 1991 and now out of print.

`Imakakaloa Heiau Image from John Stokes

      In his book, Stokes described the heiau as “a series of enclosures with walls sometimes broadened into platforms. The ground declines to the southeast, but the earth floors of the enclosure have been approximately leveled as though by cutting and filling. The large enclosure on the southeast is said to have been for the chiefs and kahuna, the stone pavement shown being the kuahu. Outside and adjoining the wall of this enclosure on the west is a platform one foot high. To the north of the latter is another platform 4.5 feet high, an extension of the walls. This last is said to have been the hale o Papa. The second largest enclosure is said to have been for the hale hula. There was no information regarding the smallest enclosure.”
      Pele Hanoa, long involved in historic, cultural and land preservation efforts in Ka`u, also informed Olson Trust about the general location of the heiau, and several crews tried unsuccessfully to find it. It was cattleman Al Galimba who bumped into a heiau rock wall as he was clearing land for pastures and paddocks. He contacted Cross, and they identified the heiau, buried deep in a tangle of Christmasberry, cat’s claw and a large monkeypod tree makai of Ka`alaiki Road between Pahala and Na`alehu. Galimba withdrew cattle from the area and helped clear brush away from the heiau, followed by an Olson Trust team using small equipment to clear and protect it, fencing off about 1.5 acres around the site.
      Olson Trust established an agreement with the Edith Kanaka`ole Foundation to steward the heiau.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

One of 26 lots proposed for a commercial solar project.
Photo by Sandra Sheldon

A BILL RESTRICTING SOLAR ENERGY facilities in residential housing areas of agricultural districts will be heard Thursday. Hawai`i House Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection meets at 8 a.m.

      Rep. Richard Creagan introduced the bill, and it passed first reading last Wednesday. It would limit solar production to 25 kilowatts per facility. Creagan’s bill is in response to a proposal to build commercial solar facilities containing 30,000 panels on 26 lots in the Ocean View Ranchos neighborhood.
      Testimony must be received by tomorrow at 8 a.m. to be included in the hearing. Testify on HB2636 at capitol.hawaii.gov.

      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FOR KA`U’S STATE Rep. Richard Creagan include allowing cesspools in appropriate areas and capital improvement projects at schools. Creagan said he considers proposed Health Department rule changes that would ban cesspools to be “eco-zealotry, or EZ. They are proposing EZ solutions to complex problems,” he said. “It is clear to me that they do not understand the science of how and why cesspools have for the most part been a very successful and cost-effective waste management tool for a very rural environment on the Big Island and on Maui, where there is no opportunity for sewers, and there is a compelling need for low-cost housing solutions.”

Rep. Richard Creagan will ask Gov. Ige
not to sign proposed cesspool rules.

      He said he agrees with DOH’s proposal to convert cesspools in critical zones near shorelines, as long as the department defines those zones in a scientifically supportable way.

      Creagan also questions DOH’s claim that the federal Environmental Protection Agency mandated conversions. “The EPA does not have jurisdiction over individual waste management systems, so the claim that the EPA was mandating these conversions was a lie,” he said. “According to Rep. Angus McKelvey, they admitted to him that this statement was not true, and they have not repeated it to me.”
      Creagan said he will ask Gov. David Ige not to sign the rules and to spend at least a year or two evaluating appropriate waste management strategies for the Hawai`i Island and Maui. “With our current homeless crisis, the need for affordable housing is paramount, and with a septic system costing 10 times what a cesspool would, we need to evaluate the cost-benefit and risk-benefit balance in areas away from the coast and at higher elevations,” he said.
      Creagan’s capitol improvement requests include facility needs at schools. He supports funding at Na`alehu School for pathway covers, considering the project to be a health and safety issue.

“There are a number of other schools that have projects that I will list for support,” he said.

      A feasibility study for the proposed West Hawai`i University Hospital is also on Creagan’s agenda. The facility would be a teaching hospital with training for primary care including pediatricians, internists, family practice and psychiatry. The study would flesh out the concept and define some parameters in terms of location, cost, mission and funding.

      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

KA`U BUSINESSES CAN SIGN UP FOR Hawai`i Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism’s new Hawai`i State Trade and Export Promotion – Export Readiness Program, which will provide training programs to prepare Hawai`i companies to begin or expand their export market development. The program is a component of DBEDT’s HiSTEP program funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

DBEDT Director Luis P. Salaveria

      Export University is an introductory program open to all types of businesses considering exporting. Participants receive 16 hours of instruction over the course of several days. At the conclusion of the program, companies will have a go-to-market strategy and export plan. A program fee of $99 is due by the first session.

      ExporTech is designed for companies that have some experience with exporting, but not as part of a proactive export market development plan. ExporTech is organized by the Federal Manufacturing Extension Partnership and focuses mostly, but not exclusively, on businesses involved in manufacturing. Participants meet for one day each month over a three-month period with assignments in between the one-day sessions. Program fee is payable by the first session is $295.

      “The department continues to grow the foundation for exporting in Hawai`i,” DBEDT Director Luis P. Salaveria said. “These new programs enable Hawai`i companies to seek new markets to increase manufacturing and sales, which will result in the creation of more jobs.”
      Success metrics for the HiSTEP program include, but are not limited to expanded exports and revenue from exports of Hawai`i produced goods and services, a larger overall number and a larger percentage of Hawai`i-based companies that are active in global markets, and penetration of new markets for Hawai`i-produced goods and services.
      Application deadline is Monday, Feb.15. Interested parties may apply online at invest.hawaii.gov/exporting/histep/.

      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park will
monitor and control fountain grass
in the area of the Great Crack.
Photo from NASA

HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK announced the following flight plans for this month: 

• Feb, 4, between 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., for faya tree surveys between 4,000- and 6,500-ft. elevation;
• Feb. 8 and 9 for fountain grass monitoring and control from Ka`aha to the Great Crack, between sea level and 3,000-ft. elevation;
• Feb. 9, between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., to haul out fencing material and equipment from Kahuku-Kapāpala boundary between 7,000- and 9,000-ft. elevation;
• Feb. 16 and 17, between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m., for mullein surveys on Mauna Loa between 6,000- and 8,500-ft. elevation;
• Feb. 17, between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m., short haul recertification flight training at Escape Road near the Mauna Ulu parking lot; and
• February 18, 19 and 29, between 7 a.m. and noon, to shuttle crew, camp supplies, fencing material and equipment to Mauna Loa at about 9,000-ft. elevation.

      Dates and times are subject to change based on aircraft availability and weather.
      Management of the park requires the use of aircraft to monitor and research volcanic activity, conduct search-and-rescue missions and law enforcement operations, support management of natural and cultural resources, and to maintain backcountry facilities.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

KA`U COFFEE GROWERS COOPERATIVE meets today at 6 p.m. at Pahala Community Center.

HAWAI`I COUNTY COUNCIL MEETS tomorrow at 9 a.m. at Council Chambers in Hilo. Ka`u residents can participate via videoconferencing at Na`alehu State Office Building. The meeting is also streamed live at hawaiicounty.gov. Click on Council Meetings.

HAWAI`I WILDLIFE FUND HOLDS its first Ka`u Coast Cleanup of 2016 this Sunday at Kalaemano. Volunteers meet at Wai`ohinu Park at 7:45 a.m. Register at kahakai.cleanups@gmail.com.

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

See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_February2016.pdf.

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

Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Monday, Feb. 1, 2016

Ka`ena Point on Crater Rim Drive in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park is one site of the annual Sanctuary Ocean Count of humpback whales. HIHWNMS photo by Thomas C. Stein

PROJECTS IN KA`U are on the agenda of Hawai`i County Windward Planning Commission’s meeting this week.
      The commission once again considers mining operations in Ocean View. Arrow of Oregon/Hawai`i, LLC wants to add 8.009 acres for a total of 13.012 acres of land to its cinder mining operation. The properties are northwest of Mahimahi Drive, between Lurline Lane and Liliana Lane.
David and Laura Rodrigues are applying for a Special Permit to allow a cinder and rock
quarry operation on 5.003 acres of land on the northeast and southeast corners of Kailua
Boulevard and Lurline Lane.

Duane Kanuha

      Both properties are with the State Land Use Agricultural District.
      Commissioners visited the sites Friday, along with staff and several residents, Nancy Cook Lauer reported in West Hawai`i Today. At a public hearing prior to the site visit, most speakers supported the operations, but concerns expressed included dust and noise from the operations.
      Robert Crook said, “We need the cinder pits.”
      Ralph Roland said, “Everybody needs cinder. What’s going to happen once it done? … We just want to know the whole story.”
      HOVE Road Maintenance Corp. is involved in a contested case hearing about the mining. The road maintenance corporation has not been able to agree on fees assessed on mining activities to maintain the subdivision’s private roads.
      Recommendations by a panel of Planning Commission members included creating setbacks and buffers, controlling dust and limiting operations’ days and times.
      The commission anticipates convening an executive meeting regarding the items to consult with the commission’s attorney on questions and issues pertaining to the commission’s powers, duties, privileges, immunities and liabilities. A two-thirds vote is necessary to hold an executive meeting.
      Planning Director Duane Kanuha told Cook Lauer the site visit was helpful to all the commissioners.
      In a third agenda item, Rick and Justin Porter are applying for a Special Permit to convert a portion of an existing single family dwelling into an approximately 500-square-foot certified kitchen to accommodate the manufacture and distribution of salsa. The 20,000-square-foot property is situated within the State Land Use Agricultural District and located along the east side of Amepela Road, approximately 110 feet south of its intersection with Lewa Lani Street in Mark Twain Estates.
      See westhawaiitoday.com.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

DEALING WITH HAWAI`I ISLAND’S dengue fever outbreak is one of Ka`u state Rep. Richard Creagan’s priorities for the 2016 state Legislature.
      “We need to enhance our ability to stop the current dengue epidemic and use this event as informatively and constructively as possible in shaping our future response to dengue and other mosquito-borne illnesses,” Creagan said.

State Rep. Richard Creagan

      Creagan wants the Legislature to convene a task force to study what happened and what should happen going forward. “One of the decisions we will ask from such a task force is whether Aedes aegypti eradication should be explored,” Creagan said. “We have eradicated Aedes aegypti, the principal vector for dengue, on every other island, and I believe it is time we do it on Hawai`i Island.”
      Creagan thinks the state should also consider providing free screening for dengue to individuals who feel they may have been infected, even if asymptomatic. “Knowing that should help protect them but also let the Health Department and the Legislature know what the true scope of the epidemic is,” he said.
      “It is quite clear that we are likely to face other outbreak emergencies, and three viruses we should be planning for are chikungunya, Zika and West Nile viruses,” Creagan said. “Zika is emergently on the table because of the huge epidemic of babies born with undeveloped brains and microcephaly. There was one baby born in O`ahu to a mother who had been in Brazil, and this baby had microcephaly. The story of that one case made the New York Times and also mentioned Hawai`i’s dengue epidemic. We need to move our response to the next level, and I am hopeful that an emergency declaration is imminent.”
      Creagan suggested that the state provide an outbreak emergency fund from which money could be provided to Department of Health, county governments and Civil Defense, the community and others, “without the need for micromanaging the appropriations. The devil is in the details on that, however,” he said.
      Creagan said he also may introduce a bill to fund enhanced use of mosquito traps that appear to be working. He may also seek funds for a study to determine how effective they are and could be.
      “Alternate solutions such as the mosquito infecting bacteria Wolbachia should be explored with our Australia friends, as that is where it has been most studied,” Creagan said. “The fact that Paul Effler, our former Hawai`i communicable disease head, is in Australia and that his wife Allison Imrie is a dengue virologist and their familiarity with our island means they could be sources for advice on this.”
      Creagan wants the Legislature to closely watch tests of GMO lethal-gene mosquitoes in Key West, “to see if the risk/benefit and the cost/benefit makes that approach worthwhile” here, he said.
      “We cannot neglect other healthcare emergencies such as rat lungworm disease, which is currently killing and disabling the people of the Big Island, particularly in Puna. We hope to support Dr. Susan Jarvi at the pharmacy school in Hilo in her research on rat lungworm, and Sen. Ruderman is preparing a bill that we will join in on.”
      See more in tomorrow’s Ka`u Calendar News Briefs.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Ocean Sanctuary Count includes 22 sites on Hawai`i Island.
Map from HIHWNMS

MORE THAN 552 VOLUNTEERS gathered on the shores of Hawai`i Island, O`ahu and Kaua`i during the first event of the 2016 Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Ocean Count on Saturday. One adult and one calf were seen at Punalu`u. At Ka`ena Point in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, volunteers counted 15 humpbacks. Four were calves. Sites at Ka Lae and Miloli`i were not used in the January count.
      The count is conducted three times each year during peak whale season and is a shore-based census that provides snapshot data on humpback whales. Participants tally whale sightings and document the animals’ surface behavior during the survey.
      Volunteers collected data from 51 sites statewide. A total of 258 whales were seen during the 8:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. time period, the most of any time period throughout the day’s count.
      Preliminary data by site location is available at sanctuaryoceancount.org/resources/.
      Two more counts are scheduled for Feb. 27 and March 26. Interested volunteers may register at sanctuaryoceancount.org or 808-725-5912. Required registration closes one week prior to each event date.
      The sanctuary, administered by a partnership of NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and Hawai`i Department of Land & Natural Resources, protects humpback whales and their habitat in Hawaiian waters, where they migrate each winter to mate, calve and nurse their young.
      See hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

KA`U RESIDENTS CAN PARTICIPATE in Hawai`i County Council meetings this week via videoconferencing at Na`alehu State Office Building.
      Committees meet tomorrow. Finance Committee meets at 9 a.m.; Governmental Relations & Economic Development, 9:30 a.m.; Environmental Management, 10 a.m.; Public Works and Parks & Recreation, 10:15 a.m.; Planning, 10:30 a.m.; and Public Safety & Mass Transit, 1:30 p.m. The full council meets Wednesday at 9 a.m.
      All meetings take place at Council Chambers in Hilo.
     
KA`U RESIDENT DICK HERSHBERGER portrays Hawaiian Volcano Observatory founder Thomas Jaggar tomorrow and every other Tuesday at 10 a.m., 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Participants meet at Kilauea Visitor Center and take a short walk to Whitney Vault near Volcano House in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.
      Free; park entrance fees apply.

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

See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_February2015.pdf.

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

Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016

Volcano cavers gather in Ocean View next week for the 17th International Symposium on Vulcanspeleology.
NPS Photo from Peter and Ann Bosted

NEARLY 80 VULCANSPELEOLOGISTS from 13 countries will gather in Ocean View next week for the 17th International Symposium on Vulcanspeleology. It will be 25 years since the first symposium in the series was held in Hawai`i, at that time in Hilo. Since then, symposia have been held in other volcanic areas like Italy, Japan, the Canary Islands, Kenya, Iceland, the Azores, Mexico, Korea, Australia and Jordan. Two years ago, it was held in the Galapagos in Ecuador. At that meeting, attended by about 70 vulcanspeleologists, it was decided to hold the next one in Ocean View.
      Hawai`i is a mecca for vulcanspeleologists – it has an active volcano and some of the longest lava tubes in the world. Dr. Don Swanson, a geologist from Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, will be leading the group on a specialized tour of remarkable volcanic features in the park.
      Attendees will stay at various vacation rentals in Ocean View and gather at Ocean View Community Center for talks. Field trips will be all over the island – including Kazumura Cave, the longest and deepest known lava tube, which has about 41 miles of passage and a depth of 3,614 feet.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Team Kahele and other friends can help organize the late
Sen. Gil Kahele's celebration of life.
Photo from Kai Kahele

SEN. GIL KAHELE’S SON KAI is calling for help in organizing a gathering for his late father. The senator passed away last Tuesday after coronary complications at Queens Hospital.

      Kai Kahele said his father was very specific about what he wanted the event to be. “No mortuary. No somber experience. He wanted a Celebration of Life of food, fellowship, friends, music, lots of parking and an event to bring everyone together.” 

      Gil Kaheleʻs Celebration of Life is set for Monday, Feb. 8 at Hilo Civic Auditorium from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Visitation will be from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., and the official program will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Food and entertainment will continue until 8 p.m.
      “I am humbly asking for help to pull this off in a very short period of time,” Kai Kahele said. “One last collective effort of the Team Kahele machine that supported my Dad and propelled him to solid victories in 2012 and 2014 here in Hilo.”  

      A planning meeting is set for 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 3 at ILWU Hall, 100 West Lanikaula Street. “I am asking for as many volunteers as we can to help execute this event and send our senator off with the celebration he requested.
      Donations requested include decorations, tables, chairs, food, flowers, balloons, fish, kalua pig, `opihi, poi, etc.
      Contact Kai Kahele at 783-4069 or kahelek@gmail.com.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Sen. Brian Schatz

THE U.S. SENATE LAST WEEK VOTED 55-37 to include an amendment offered by Sen. Brian Schatz to the Energy Policy Modernization Act that will authorize increased funding for energy science and technology research. The amendment will boost funding for the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy, an agency within the Department of Energy tasked with funding energy technology projects that help the United States compete, prosper and remain a world leader. 

      “Innovation in advanced energy technologies can be a significant part of the solution to any number of challenges – climate change, increasing the reliability of our grid, lowering electricity rates, hardening our energy infrastructure against cyber attacks and many others,” Schatz said. “ARPA-E is helping fund projects at the cutting edge of all of these challenges and more.”
      Senator Schatz’s amendment will increase the authorization for ARPA-E above what is in the Energy Policy Modernization Act.
      Since 2009, ARPA-E has funded over 400 potentially transformational energy technology projects. Many of these projects have already demonstrated early indicators of technical success. This early funding has spurred millions of dollars in follow-on private-sector funding to a number of ARPA-E projects. In addition, many ARPA-E awardees have formed start-up or spin-off companies or partnered with other parts of the government and industry to advance their technologies.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

AS VOLCANO AWARENESS MONTH comes to an end, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists return to Hawai`i Island to conclude their geologic tour of the state in Volcano Watch.
      “As you likely already know, the Island of Hawai`i is made up of five volcanoes,” the article states. “From oldest to youngest, they are Kohala, Hualalai, Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, and Kilauea.
      “Less well known is a sixth volcano – Mahukona – located just off the island’s northwest coastline. This submarine volcano is the oldest of the volcanoes that form the mass of Hawai`i. Mahukona last erupted about 300,000 years ago, but its geology is not as well-studied as its taller neighbors because it is not easily accessible.

      “Kohala began erupting just over one million years ago. The southeast rift zone of this volcano gives it substantial length, extending beneath Mauna Kea and continuing as the offshore Hilo Ridge.

      “Kohala is capped by postshield lava as young as about 120,000 years. While its postshield volcanism is probably over, rejuvenated eruptions might occur in the future – perhaps even millions of years from now, as has occurred on the islands of O`ahu and Kaua`i. In the meantime, Kohala will continue to erode, from both rain and catastrophic collapse, causing the volcano to become more rugged as time passes.

Hawai`i Island's geology is the topic of Volcano Watch.
Map from USGS/HVO

      “Hualalai and Mauna Kea, the next oldest volcanoes, share many characteristics. Both formed less than one million years ago and are now in the postshield stage. Their surfaces are dotted with cinder cones – the remnants of mildly explosive postshield eruptions. Mauna Kea is slightly younger, with its most recent eruption around 4,500 years ago, but Hualalai erupts more frequently. Although Mauna Kea will probably erupt again in the future, Hualalai is of more concern, because it erupted just 215 years ago (in 1801) and looms above numerous towns along the island’s Kona coast. Both volcanoes are in the waning stages of their lives, and their ages are beginning to show in the valleys that are carved into their flanks – especially along the Hamakua coast on Mauna Kea.
      “In contrast, Mauna Loa and Kilauea are in the primes of their lives.
      “Mauna Loa is the largest active volcano on Earth. Its most recent eruption was in March 1984, but the volcano’s almost-32-year-long slumber is deceptive, as Mauna Loa’s long-term history reveals that it typically erupts every five to six years. Mauna Loa will certainly erupt again, and the odds are that many of us will live to see it. Even now, the volcano is inflating as magma accumulates beneath it.
      “What Kilauea lacks in size (compared to Mauna Loa), it makes up for with persistence of eruptive activity. The volcano has erupted more often than not for the past several hundred years and has produced a nearly steady stream of lava since 1983.
      “Geologic investigations of Kilauea’s past reveal that the volcano alternates between periods dominated by explosive activity and periods dominated by effusive eruptions (lava flows). In some ways, Kilauea might be analogous to a volatile teenager – prone to occasional fits of temper and overall unsettled behavior, all while growing rapidly. This maturation process takes time, and Kilauea’s shield-building stage likely has hundreds of thousands of years to go before it ends.
      “Although not yet part of the island, another submarine volcano – Lo`ihi – bears mentioning. If Kilauea is a teenager, Lo`ihi is a mere toddler. The volcano is currently 30 kilometers (20 miles) off the south coast of the Island of Hawai`i and about 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) below sea level. Seaward growth of Kilauea and Mauna Loa, coupled with the growth of Lo`ihi as the volcano matures, may eventually connect the volcanoes above sea level.
      “We hope you’ve enjoyed our geological tour of the Hawaiian Islands over the past four weeks and that you were able to attend one or more of the Volcano Awareness Month talks offered by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory in January. Although the month is ending, volcano awareness can (and should) continue all year long. We invite you to check out HVO’s website (hvo.wr.usgs.gov) throughout 2016 for updates and more information on Hawai`i’s active volcanoes.”
      See hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Dick Hershberger as Thomas Jaggar.
Photo from NPS

KA`U RESIDENT DICK HERSHBERGER guides A Walk into the Past this and every other Tuesday. Hershberger portrays Hawaiian Volcano Observatory founder Thomas Jaggar in programs at 10 a.m., 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Participants meet at Kilauea Visitor Center and Whitney Vault in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.

      Free; park entrance fees apply.

HAWAI`I COUNTY COUNCIL HOLDS meetings this week.
      Committees meet Tuesday. Finance Committee meets at 9 a.m.; Governmental Relations & Economic Development, 9:30 a.m.; Environmental Management, 10 a.m.; Public Works and Parks & Recreation, 10:15 a.m.; Planning, 10:30 a.m.; and Public Safety & Mass Transit, 1:30 p.m.
      The full council meets Wednesday at 9 a.m.
      All meetings take place at Council Chambers in Hilo.
      Ka`u residents can participate via videoconferencing at Na`alehu State Office Building.

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

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

See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_January2016.pdf.