Ka‘ū News Briefs, Tuesday, June 7, 2022

EMT classes are available, independent from the Fire Science curriculum at Hawai'i Community College
in Hilo and Kona. Photo from HCC-Hilo

TRAINING MORE PEOPLE TO BE EMT's, with emergency medicine knowledge and skills, will ultimately create a safer community, says Jack Minassian, Associate Professor of Fire Science at Hawai'i Community College in Hilo. As HCC in Hilo and Kona announced their new programs, he said, “Having as many personnel embedded in the community with the knowledge to provide emergency medical care until the ambulance arrives could make the difference between life or death.”

     EMT training was previously offered only within the Fire Science Associate Degree program, but now students have the option of focusing on EMT training without enrolling in the Fire Science courses.

  English 100, Composition I and Health 125, Survey of Medical Terminology are prerequisites for enrollment in the EMT courses. These pre-courses are available on-line during the summer. The next summer session starts July 5, and interested students can apply now.
    Upon successful completion of EMT training, students qualify to take the National Registry EMT test for Certification. However, they will need additional hours for licensure from the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. Those additional hours will be provided at the Manono Campus in Hilo in partnership with Kapi‘olani Community College.
     Four courses totaling 16.1 credits are required. They are English 100: Composition I; Health 125: Survey of Medical Terminology; Fire 250: Emergency Medical Technician; Fire 251: Emergency Medical Technician Practicum.
    To learn more about the EMT courses and applying for admissions, contact Counselor Kenoa Dela Cruz at noa@hawaii.edu or 808-934-2658.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar/. See latest print edition at www.kaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.htmltml

THE COUNCIL FOR NATIVE HAWAIIAN ADVANCEMENT HAS RECEIVED A HAWAI'I TOURISM AUTHORITY CONTRACT. A statement from HTA says, "Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, the state agency responsible for holistically managing tourism, has awarded a new contract for a comprehensive range of brand management and visitor education services for the Hawaiian Islands in the United States market, as well as support services shared by Hawai‘i’s brand management teams worldwide."

    HTA issued a Request for Proposal for the United States market on April 15. A list of finalists was determined, and presentations were made to an evaluation committee comprised of HTA, community and industry leaders.

  In addition to the in-market activities contracted in previous periods, this Request For Proposals included coordination, communication, and promotion in Hawaiʻi for initiatives produced by the community through the Destination Management Action Plans. It also included support services for Hawaiʻi’s official travel website, app, social media channels, and creative content used worldwide for branding and visitor education.

     HTA announced that it will negotiate a multi-year contract with the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement which will commence on June 30 and end on Dec. 31, 2024, with HTA having the option to extend the agreement for an additional two years.

     The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement is also hosting its 21st annual Native Hawaiian Convention, Hulihia, from July 19-22 with four days of cultural presentations, workshops, leadership

Kuhio Lewis, President and CEO of Council for
Native Hawaiian Advancement.

discussions, networking, and more. It will be held at Sheraton Waikiki. Its announcement said that for Hulihia, Transforming Hawai'i: "As we reflect on Hawai‘i’s history, we see moments that are ripe for hulihia, windows where deep transformation will occur. There is perhaps no better time than today, in the anticipated wake of COVID-19, to boldly transform Hawai’i."

    Sponsors range from Office of Hawaiian Affairs to Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, Hawaiian Electric, three major banks in Hawaiʻi to Hawaiʻi Community Foundation. 

    Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement is led by its CEO Kuhio Lewis. See more at See www.hawaiiancouncil.org. 

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar/. See latest print edition at www.kaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.htmltml

                               See The Kaʻū Calendar June Edition at www.kaucalendar.com

See The Kaʻū Calendar June edition at 

www.kaucalendar.com,

on newsstands and in the mail. 

SEE UPCOMING EVENTS IN KAʻŪ & VOLCANO

at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.html

LEARN MORE ABOUT SPONSORS OF THE KAʻŪ CALENDAR

at http://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/05/sponsors-of-kau-calendar.html

    

Ka‘ū News Briefs, Monday, June 6, 2022

Huli'au, a musical ensemble playing and singing classic songs of Ka'u, includes Tamara Wong-Morrison,

Mililani Hughes and Dina Keoloa Kageler. Photo by D'Andrea Pelletier

JUNE 7 AT 4:30 P.M. IS DEADLINE TO FILE TO RUN FOR OFFICE IN HAWAI'I FOR THE 2022 ELECTION. It is also the deadline for candidates to withdraw from the race.
The deadline for voters to register in order to vote by mail in the primary is July 9. To deadline to register to walk in to vote in the Saturday, Aug. 13 primary is Aug. 3. The General Election Day across the country is Thursday, Nov. 8.
    See the June 6, 4:30 p.m. report from the state, listing candidates who have successfully filed their papers at https://olvr.hawaii.gov/Controls/CandidateFiling.aspx?elid=87include. They include the following:
    Incumbent U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz filed, along with Timothy Dalhouse of Kona in the Republican race, Emma Jane Pohlman from Honoka'a in the Green Party, Libertarian Feena Bonoan of O'ahu, and Dan Decker from O'ahu in the Aloha Aina Party. 

    Hawai'i's other U.S. Senator, Sen. Mazie Hirono, is not up for reelection.
    To represent Kaʻū and all of rural Hawai'i in the U.S. House of Representatives, where Rep. Kai Kahele has stepped down from running in order to seek the governorship, the candidates include former 

The deadline is July 9 to register to vote, if wanting to vote by mail. To register, see

https://elections.hawaii.gov/register-to-vote/registration/

state Sen. Jill Takuda, of O'ahu and O'ahu councilman Tommy Waters, both Democrats.  Also running are Republicans Joe Akana of Waianae and Joseph Webster of Kailua-Kona, Libertarian Michelle Rose Tippens of Hilo, and numerous other candidates.

   In the governor's race is former Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona and B.J. Penn, running on the Republican ticket, along with Lt. Gov. Josh Green, U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele and former Hawai'i First Lady and business owner Vicky Cayetano running as Democrats. There are numerous other candidates, including O'ahu residents Selena Blackwell and Keline Kahau, of the Aloha Aina Party and Libertarians T.K Henshaw from Honolulu, Daniel Peddie of Volcano and Gene Tamashiro of Hilo. A non-partisan from Honoka'a running for governor is Iris Seaton.

    In the Lt. Governor's race, candidates include Democrats Sylvia Luke, Keith Amemiya, Sherry Menor-McNamara and Ikaika Anderson, all of O'ahu, and Daniel Cunningham, of Volcano. Republicans in the race include Rob Burns and Zach Burd of O'ahu and Seaula Tupai, Jr. of Hilo. The Libertarian Party candidate is Michelle Rose Tippens of Hilo. The Green Party candidate is Melissah Shishido, of Maui.

    For state Senator, Dru Kanuha, in a reelection bid, is seeking to represent a realigned district that includes all of Kaʻū. He is challenged by Republican Bob Sullivan, of Volcano, and Libertarian Aaron Toman, of Nāʻālehu.

    For the state House of Representatives, Jeanne Kapela, in her reelection bid, is seeking to represent a realigned district that includes all of Kaʻū. She is challenged by Republican Lohi Goodwin, of Ocean View, and Libertarian Michael Last, of Nāʻālehu.

    County Council candidates who have filed to represent Kaʻū south Kona and Volcano, in the non-partisan race are: Colehour Bondera, of Honaunau; Henry Cho, of Honaunau; Michelle Galimba of Na'alehu; Shane Palacat-Nelson, of Captain Cook; Courtney Provance, of Ocean View, and Chrissy Yeaman Carbonie, of Ocean View. Current council member representing Kaʻū and chairing the County Council is Maile David, who is unable to run in this election due to term limitations.

    To register to vote in the election, see https://elections.hawaii.gov/register-to-vote/registration/

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar/. See latest print edition at www.kaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.htmltml

HAWAI'I RANKS NEAR THE TOP IN THE U.S. FOR INCREASING ITS NON-FARM PAYROLL, BUT IT'S ALSO RATED AS THE 48TH WORST ECONOMY. That's according to WalletHub, which ranks of all the states and District of Columbia and puts Hawai'i's overall economy just ahead of Louisiana, Alaska and the bottom state, West Virginia. The study puts Hawai'i as 50th in Innovation Potential, 47th in Economic Potential, and 33rd in Economic Health. Hawai'i ranks last in Value of Exports.

    Hawai'i's most positive ranking is fourth in the Increase in Non-Farm Payroll. It ranks second in State-Government Surplus Per Capita, which can be seen as positive and negative. It ranks 47th in Independent Inventor Patents per 1,000 Working Age Population.
    The report also notes that California's economy is becoming larger than the individual economies of all but four countries, including the U.S. It lists the top five state economies as Washington, Utah, California, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Among other metrics, WalletHub takes into account low unemployment - Utah has the lowest; value of exports - Alaska, Louisiana, Texas and Washington are tied for the highest; number of people living in poverty - New Hampshire has the lowest; and foreclosure rates - South Dakota has the lowest.
    See WalletHub's methods for coming up with these rankings at https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-best-economies/21697.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar/. See latest print edition at www.kaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.htmltml

The late Auntie Kaiwi Perkins, who taught lauhala weaving to students at an annual Hawaiian Music and Lifestyle
Workshop in Pahala is the subject of a song in the repertoire of the group Huli'au which performs classic songs of Kaʻū. 
Photo by Julia Neal

HULI'AU, A TRIO OF EDUCATOR-MUSICIANS, is planning to perform classic songs of Kaʻū throughout the area. Huli’au features Mililani Hughes, Dina Keola Kageler, and Tamara

Wong-Morrison, all long-time public school educators who also write poetry and dance hula together. 

 

Tamara Wong-Morrison, Mililani Hughes and
 Dina Keola Kageler perform classic Ka'u songs
in their group Huli'au. Photo by D'Andrea Pelletier

  “We want to share with the new generation traditional songs that express aloha for a wahi pana, classic love songs, and songs which were part of the daily life of our kupuna. These songs tell of the history and legacy of our people in the days gone by,” said Hughes.
    One song was written by Dina Keola for the late Kaʻū weaver, Kaiwi Perkins, well known for her participation in musical and cultural workshops in Pāhala and at her homes in Volcano and Pāhala.
    The composition includes the words, “Listen to the lau while you weave it tight and slow . . .” and tells of the patience required to gather and weave the hala leaves.
    Wong-Morrison said that composers of other songs performed by Huli'au include Mary Kawena Pukui, Eddie Kamae, George Na'ope, Katherine Mauna Kea, Aina Keawe, Kui Lee, Muriel Amalu, Irmgard Aluli, Ane Kanahele, and Boone Morrison.

    One of the songs, Ke Ala Ka Jeep, was written when Kawena Pukui, Eddie and Myrna Kamae drove
around Kaʻū, then rested at Willy Meinecke's home in Waiohinu.   

    Also collaborating with Huli'au is special guest singer D’Andrea Pelletier, Queen of Opera; and Eli Emery on upright bass. Joining in with hula is Napua Romo and her mo'opuna: Hi'iaka, Ano'nui, and Kenahe Emery.

     To connect with Huli'au, contact Tamara Wong-Morrison at 808-896-6354.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar/. See latest print edition at www.kaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.htmltml

Moses Espaniola III is the new Guardians of the Trail
Youth Leader for Friends of Hawai'i Volcanoes 
National Park. Photo from Friends of HVNP

MOSES ESPANIOLA III, of Pahala, is the new fulltime Guardians of the Trail Youth Leader for Friends of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park.  Guardians of the Trails Youth Program was created in 2020 and is successfully running in its third year, said Friends CEO and President Elizabeth Fien. "For 2022, we were again awarded a grant from the National Park Foundation," to assist with Guardians. She noted that 

"Moses comes with over ten years of experience working in the park. He was a Youth Ranger in the program's second year - class of 2011."

    Fien also announced that young people between the ages of 18 and 30 who are interested in being a Guardian this year, can contact Friends of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. "Recruitment has started and we will officially hire and start the program in August." Call

     The Youth Ranger program is filled for the summer and the Rangers started work on Monday, the program running through Aug. 1. 

    See more at https://www.fhvnp.org/

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar/. See latest print edition at www.kaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.htmltml

                               See The Kaʻū Calendar June Edition at www.kaucalendar.com

See The Kaʻū Calendar June edition at 

www.kaucalendar.com,

on newsstands and in the mail. 

SEE UPCOMING EVENTS IN KAʻŪ & VOLCANO

at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.html

LEARN MORE ABOUT SPONSORS OF THE KAʻŪ CALENDAR

at http://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/05/sponsors-of-kau-calendar.html

Ka‘ū News Briefs, Sunday, June 5, 2022

A new gun inspection law, signed by Gov. David Ige on Friday, deals with ghost guns, guns brought from outside
the state and gun transfers between private individuals. See more below. Photo from Office of the Governor

WILL MORE SHORT-TERM VACATION RENTALS BE ALLOWED ON AGRICULTURAL LAND? That is the question coming up this Wednesday at a state Land Use Commission meeting with public testimony invited and the session available via zoom.

     The meeting follows the LUC appealing a Kona judge's ruling in May. Third Circuit Court Judge Wendy DeWeese granted a petition for some 20 property owners in Waimea, Captain Cook and Kailua-Kona who contend that the state and county can not ban vacation rentals of less than 30 days on their properties. That is despite the requirement, dating back to 1976, that homes in the Agriculture District be used farm dwellings. 

     In Third Circuit Court in Kona, the state and county argued that vacation rentals are not the legal use of agricultural lands where single family dwellings must be used by those who create income from the properties through agriculture.

Nancy Cabral, center, a frequent sponsor in the Independence Day
 Rodeo in Na'alehu, is Hawai'i Island's member of the state Land
 Use Commission, which is holding a meeting Wednesday
 and going to court to protect its limiting of vacation
 rentals on agricultural land. Photo by Julia Neal

    The county has allowed vacation rentals on ag land to be grandfathered in where the lots were created before 1976, but bans any new requests for rentals for less than 30 days. After the judge overturned the county regulation, the LUC is went to the state Intermediate Court of Appeals to overturn the judge's ruling, filing its appeal on Thursday.
    See https://luc.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Agenda-for-JUNE-8-2022.pdf to submit testimony and to join the LUC zoom meeting.
    The landowners claim that banning vacation rentals is an unconstitutional taking of their property rights, but the judge disagreed. She did agree and that state law fails to define the length of time that renting a dwelling makes it into a vacation rental and ruled that the county can't set a length of time on its own.
    According to a story by Nancy Cook-Lauer in West Hawai'i Today on Sunday, "The ultimate ruling will have far-reaching ramifications. Some 1.2 million acres on Hawai'i Island — almost half of the land mass — is classified as agriculture. More than 1,500 of the county’s approximately 4,000 Short Term Vacation Rental applications during the first year of the program in 2019 were for nonconforming use certificates, primarily for agricultural land.
    Cook-Lauer wrote: "About 50 owners of property in the agriculture district have appealed the county’s denial of their short-term vacation rental and nonconforming use applications to the county Board of Appeals."

Dr. Johnathan Likeke Scheuer chairs the state
Land Use Commission that classifies all Hawai'i
 land as Conservation, Urban, Rural or Agriculture.

    She noted that "those appeals have been on hold while the Rosehill case proceeds through the legal process." The Rosehill case, also called Rosehill petition refers to a leading plaintiff among the owners and trusts that filed the suit to ask for their properties to be approved for Short Term Vacation Rentals. 

    The West Hawai''i Today story shows a photo of a 5,000 square foot home on agricultural land in Kailua-Kona renting for $15,000 a month. The owners want to rent it for shorter terms and are among those seeking relief through the courts.

    The state Land Use Commission's Hawai'i Island member is Nancy Cabral, who is well known for heading up the Pana'ewa Stampede Rodeo each year and for supporting rodeo in Na'alehu, as well as her Day Lum Rentals, the largest property management business in East Hawai'i. 

    Chair of the LUC is Dr. Johnathan Likeke Scheuer, a board member of Hawai'i Island Land Trust who lectures at the University of Hawai'i Law School and has worked with the National Park Service, Kamehameha Schools, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and many others on land use issues throughout the state.     

     See the names of all the commissioners at https://luc.hawaii.gov/about/state-land-use-commission-members/. Read more about the LUC's role in classifying lands of Hawai'i into the four districts of Conservation, Urban, Agriculture and Rural at https://luc.hawaii.gov/about/state-land-use-districts.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar/. See latest print edition at www.kaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.htmltml

A NEW LAW REQUIRING INSPECTION OF GHOST GUNS, AS WELL AS GUNS FROM OUT OF STATE AND GUNS TRANSFERRED BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS was signed into law by Gov. David Ige on Friday. A statement from the governor's offices says HB2075 (Act 030) restores part of a previous gun law that was struck down by a federal court last year.
    The new law requires the physical, in-person inspection of three categories of firearms that have been identified by county police chiefs as top concerns and threats to public safety. They are: Guns without

serial numbers (ghost guns), guns brought to Hawaiʻi from out of state, and guns transferred between private individuals.
    The governor said, “In the wake of the tragic mass shootings in Uvalde Texas, Tulsa Oklahoma and in so many other cities across the U.S., and a week after a shooting injured four in Honolulu – it is more important than ever that the State of Hawaiʻi takes action against gun violence. Hawaiʻi has one of the lowest rates of gun violence in America, and this new law is key in helping law enforcement keep our communities safe.”
    Among the state’s strict gun laws is one that requires people who buy guns to obtain a license and complete a firearm safety course.
    Since Ige took office, Hawaiʻi has enacted new gun safety legislation that includes the Extreme Risk Law, which allows individuals to petition a court to disarm a person in crisis. Another law enacted during the governor’s term alerts law enforcement officials when anyone who is prohibited from owning a firearm, attempts to obtain a gun. And in 2020, Hawaiʻi joined other states in prohibiting ghost guns and the manufacture or purchase of parts for the purpose of assembling a ghost gun.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar/. See latest print edition at www.kaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.htmltml

Beautiful but invasive, banana poka invades disturbed lands, like a
burned area between 3,000 and 3,500 ft. in elevation on Mauna Loa
where surveys and control efforts will be conducted this month.

HELICOPTER FLIGHT OPERATIONS BY HAWAI'I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK have been set for June: 
    June 6 between 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for sling loads of fence material to the Koa Unit of ʻŌlaʻa, between 3,500- and 4,000-ft. elevation;
    June 8 between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. to support vegetation monitoring between 6,000- and 8000-ft. elevation on Mauna Loa;
    June 13 between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. for Hawaiian petrel monitoring on Mauna Loa between 4,000- and 9,000-ft. elevation;
    June 14 between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. for survey and control of invasive guinea grass in the coastal Keauhou area, between sea level and 3,000-ft. elevation;    

    June 15 between 6 a.m. between 11 a.m. for Hawaiian petrel monitoring on Mauna Loa, between 4,000- and 9,000-ft elevation. In addition, survey and control of invasive banana poka will occur in the Mauna Loa burn area, between 4,000- and 5,000-ft. elevation;
    June 16 between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. for survey and control of invasive fountain grass from park's west boundary to Keauhou, between sea level and 4000-ft. elevation;
    June 23 between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. for sling loads of fence material to Keanakākoʻi, between 3,000- and 3,500-ft. elevation.
    June 30 or July 1, U.S. Geological Survey plans a schedule of low-level helicopter flights that will cover Kīlauea volcano over a three-week period. (Visit the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory website for more information). The USGS may conduct additional flight operations over Kīlauea and Mauna Loa to assess volcanic activity and maintain instrumentation.

   A statement from Hawai'i Volcanoes, says, "The park regrets any noise impact to residents and park visitors. 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 www.facebook.com/kaucalendar/. See latest print edition at www.kaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.htmltml

                               See The Kaʻū Calendar June Edition at www.kaucalendar.com

See The Kaʻū Calendar June edition at 

www.kaucalendar.com,

on newsstands and in the mail. 

SEE UPCOMING EVENTS IN KAʻŪ & VOLCANO

at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/04/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.html

LEARN MORE ABOUT SPONSORS OF THE KAʻŪ CALENDAR

at http://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/05/sponsors-of-kau-calendar.html