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Saturday, July 16, 2022

Ka‘ū News Briefs, Saturday, July 16, 2022

Water from the ocean pours into Punaluʻu pond on Saturday from large swells coming
from the South Pacific. Photo by Julia Neal
DARBY SAILED PAST SOUTH POINT at mid-day Saturday. The former hurricane passed below the island as a Tropical Storm and became a Tropical Depression in the afternoon. Some winds and waves may have been attributed to Darby but high surf hitting the south side was reported to have come from the South Pacific.
    Beach Parks remain closed in Kaʻū and up the Kona Coast, as well as Isaac Hale in Puna. At Punaluʻu Black Sand Beach, high tide and big waves brought water running up the beach and into the pond on Saturday, as surfers caught waves offshore.

Seawater mixes with the water in Punaluʻu pond at Black Sand Beach as high waves wash ashore
on Saturday. Photo by Julia Neal

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THE NEW NATIONAL MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS LINE IS WORKING BY DIALING 988. The free service went live on Saturday morning. A statement from Hawaiʻi Department of Health says this expands access to mental health and substance use crisis services.
     Hawaiʻi adopted the national 988-dialing code for direct access to mental health and substance use crisis resources. "The new three-digit number is expected to increase access to the Hawaiʻi Department of Health’s (DOH) Hawaiʻi CARES crisis helpline for crisis services, mental and emotional health support, and substance abuse recovery," says the DOH statement.
    Individuals with an 808 area code phone number can call 988 to connect with the Hawaiʻi CARES crisis line. Individuals who call from other area codes are connected with a crisis center in another state.
    Anyone can continue to reach Hawaiʻi CARES by calling 808-832-3100 or 1-800-753-6879; or using the chat function at suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/.
    “The 988 launch reflects a nationwide commitment to prioritizing mental health and increasing access to resources,” said Marian Tsuji, Deputy Director of Behavioral Health. “In Hawaiʻi, 988 adds to the ways that people can reach the CARES Crisis Line. Our staff will continue to connect people across Hawaiʻi with mental health and substance use recovery resources.”
    In 2021, Hawaiʻi CARES received 101,151 calls. Hawaiʻi CARES is administered by DOH with support from CARE Hawaiʻi and Aloha United Way.
    Hawaiʻi CARES provides 24/7 free and confidential support to people in mental-health or substance use related distress. Locally trained and qualified clinical and crisis call center staff provide supportive counseling, screening for urgent or emergent mental health or substance use needs, and referrals to behavioral health resources. DOH’s wraparound services connect CARES callers and others with crisis mobile outreach and other services.
    Hawaiʻi CARES is part of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, a network of over 200 independent crisis centers equipped to help people in mental health related distress or experiencing a suicidal crisis. In 2020, Congress designated the 988 dialing code to operate through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to improve access to mental health crisis services in a way that meets growing national need.

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.htm

A MONKEYPOX CASE IS ON HAWAIʻI ISLAND, according to the state Department of Health.
DOH reported on Friday that the total number of cases identified statewide recently rose from six to eight.
    One individual is a Hawaiʻi Island resident with a history of travel to the mainland. The second newly reported case is an Oʻahu resident. Connections to previously reported cases are under investigation. 
    “The risk to most Hawaiʻi residents remains low, but with the number of cases growing across the country, we expect to identify more cases in Hawaiʻi,” said Deputy State Epidemiologist Dr. Nathan Tan. “We understand a fair amount about how monkeypox spreads—primarily through close, intimate contact. DOH continues to conduct case investigation, coordinate vaccination and treatment, and work with healthcare providers across the state.”
    DOH continues to conduct contact tracing and coordinate vaccination and treatment, which can be effective in managing monkeypox infections. At this time, DOH is using Hawaiʻi’s limited vaccine
Monkeypod symptoms are flu like, plus sores
and rashes can be itchy and painful.
Photos from Hawaiʻi Department of Health


allocation to vaccinate close contacts of people known to have monkeypox, and for people who may have had high-risk exposures in venues or areas where monkeypox is actively spreading. DOH is arranging statewide vaccine distribution and administration. Vaccines are not available through healthcare providers at this time.
    While most people diagnosed with monkeypox experience mild to moderate illness, the rash and sores can be itchy and painful. Infection begins with flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle aches, chills, exhaustion, and swollen lymph nodes. Infection progresses to a rash or sores, often on the hands, feet, chest, face, or genitals. Individuals generally become ill within 21 days of exposure.
    Monkeypox is mainly spread through close, intimate contact with body fluids, lesion material, or items used by someone with monkeypox. Monkeypox may be spread through large respiratory droplets. These droplets generally cannot travel more than a few feet, so prolonged face-to-face contact is required.
    Individuals with monkeypox symptoms, including flu-like symptoms, swollen lymph nodes, or new or unexplained rash or sores, should immediately contact their healthcare provider.
    DOH reports, "Nationwide, the current cases are primarily spreading among social networks of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men. In Hawaiʻi, at least some of the cases have been reported among gay or bisexual men. However, anyone who has close contact with someone with monkeypox is at risk of infection, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity."

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WHAT IS A VOLCANO? That is the question answered by Volcano Watch, the weekly column by scientists and affiliates of USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory:
    Many readers know that the Island of Hawaiʻi is made of five volcanoes that rise above sea level—Kīlauea, Mauna Loa, Hualālai, Mauna Kea, and Kohala. Those same readers know that a variety of smaller cones dotting the five major volcanoes are places where eruptions took place in the past. But if that’s the case, then why aren’t they also called volcanoes? Isn’t a volcano a place where lava reaches the surface of the earth? Why doesn’t the island have hundreds of volcanoes instead of only five?
    In one dictionary definition, a volcano is a vent in the earth’s crust through which rock or lava is ejected. In another, a volcano is a cone-shaped hill or mountain built around a vent. Most volcanologists find both of these dictionary definitions somewhat lacking.
    To a volcanologist, a volcano is a structure containing a vent or cluster of vents fed by magma rising directly from great depth within the earth, generally more than 30 km (18 miles). Each of the five volcanoes on the Island of Hawaiʻi has such a deeply rooted feeder conduit that extends at least 100 km (60 miles) beneath the island. In contrast, the smaller cones formed around vents that were supplied by magma that branched off the main conduit at a shallow depth, probably less than 10 km (6 miles) deep and more likely about half that.
    These smaller cones are analogous to limbs on a tree, and the deeply rooted volcano is equivalent to the trunk of the tree. Kīlauea, for example, will remain an active volcano long after any single cone stops erupting, because the main feeder conduit will still be intact. Therefore, volcanoes become larger than their parasitic cones, which contribute to their growth.
Puʻu ʻōʻō vent is visible in the foreground of this photo, taken in 2015. Other cones on the East Rift Zone of Kīlauea can be seen in the distance, and Mauna Loa dominates the background. USGS photo.

    Several terms are used to describe the vents that lack deep roots and get their magma from the main feeder conduit—flank vents, parasitic vents, rift vents. Sometimes “cone” is substituted for “vent.” So, for example, Ahuʻailāʻau cone that formed in Leilani Estates during the 2018 eruption could be termed a flank vent on Kīlauea. Puʻuʻōʻō was an active flank or rift vent on Kīlauea for about 35 years before stopping in 2018.
    Physical appearance alone cannot always be used to make the distinction between a volcano and a subsidiary vent on that volcano. The composition of the lavas are used, often like a genetic tracer, to determine if the magma originated from the same source or not.
    The second dictionary definition of “volcano”—that of a cone-shaped hill or mountain built around a vent, certainly doesn’t apply to volcanoes such as Kīlauea, whose shape is far from that of a cone. Another type of volcano lacking a cone shape are large calderas, such as Long Valley in eastern California or Yellowstone in Wyoming. No one would guess, without doing some geologic sleuthing, that these wide depressions are some of the largest volcanoes found on our planet. And then there are flood basalt flows, great outpourings of lava from extensive fissures that form nearly flat plateaus, with nary a mountain or even hill in sight.
    A recent visitor to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory quipped that Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera) “sure doesn’t look like a volcano.” This visitor is a geologist and should have known better, but the image of Fuji, Mayon, and pre-1980 Mount St. Helens is strongly entrenched as the classic stereotype of a “real” volcano. Had that visitor come to Kīlauea in the year 1400, however, he would have seen a lava shield occupying the summit of Kīlauea, rather than a caldera. The caldera formed by collapse of the shield some 100 years later.
    This illustrates another point about volcanoes—the shape can change drastically and quickly, and one year’s cone or shield can be next year’s caldera. Over the longer-term, Hawaiian volcanoes continue to grow and change shape. Witnessing the birth and growth of the several of these smaller cones during our lifetime leaves one to ponder just how many of these eruptions and how much time it takes to build a Hawaiian volcano.

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.htm

Friday, July 15, 2022

Ka‘ū News Briefs, Friday, July 15, 2022

Da Braddahs, above, along with Primetime Pipi and Kaleo Pilanca, will perform free at Ocean View
Community Center on Saturday, at the health event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. See more below.

PUNALUʻU AND HONUʻAPO BEACH PARKS ARE CLOSED for the weekend, with the arrival of high surf expected to create wave heights of up to 20 feet along the southern coast of the island, according to county Civil Defense. Not only are numerous beach parks on south-facing shores closed all the way into Kailua-Kona, but also camping is prohibited, with all permits cancelled.
    Large swells from the South Pacific were expected to hit shores Friday evening and strengthen through Saturday. Waves are expected to be between 15-20’ at their peak and hold through Sunday. The Beach Parks will be reassessed on Sunday, but with the swell continuing through Sunday and the possibility of debris in the parks, there is a chance they will remain closed until Monday, said a Civil Defense statement.
    Parks affected by the closure, besides the two in Kaʻū are: Miloliʻi Beach Park and Hoʻokena in South Kona; Manini Point/Nāpoʻopoʻo; Honaunau Boat Ramp; Kahaluʻu; Magic Sands/Laʻaloa; Pāhoehoe;
Honls; Hale Hālāwai; and Old Airport. In Puna, Isaac Hale is closed.
    Mayor Mitch Roth said, “We're asking residents, particularly our surfers, boaters, and ocean gatherers, to exercise extreme caution along Southern shores this weekend. The swells accompanied by the remnants of Hurricane Darby may cause unpredictable ocean conditions that could lead to serious harm. We don’t want to lose any of our loved ones and ask that folks don’t go out when in doubt.”
    Visit the Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense Hazard Map live updated information through the weekend: https://hawaii-county-civil-defense-agency-hawaiicountygis.hub.arcgis.com/

DARBY IS STILL A TROPICAL STORM with winds of 74 mph at 5 p.m. Friday. She is expected to weaken overnight and become a Depression by the time she tracks west, well below South Point tomorrow at about 8 a.m. Winds are expected to come ahead of Darby but the Central Pacific Hurricane Center predicts a less than 5 percent chance of them clipping South Point.

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.htm.

Da Braddahs will perform at Ocean
View Community Center on Saturday.
The event, which also offers Covid tests
and vaccines is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
THE ʻOHANA HEALTH EVENT AT OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY CENTER ON SATURDAY will have some bonuses for those who attend. Free backpacks with earbuds will go to the first 100 students. Each student must be present. 
    Entertainment will include Da Braddahs comedy team, plus Primetime Pipi and Kaleo Pilanca.    
    Sponsored by Kaʻū Rural Health Community Association, the state Department of Health and Project Vision, the focus is on the Pacific Islander community but everyone is invited to attend Saturday, July 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 92-8924 Leilani Circle.
    Also offered are free $50 gas cards for those who attend and receive a Covid-19 vaccination or booster, while supplies last.
    A team of Pacific Islanders from Department of Health flew in from Oʻahu to help with education and translation. They will talk with the community in the languages of Pacific Islanders. 





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.htm.

THE POWER LINE WILDFIRE on the southeast flank of Mauna Loa in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is 95% contained and remains at 42.5 acres in size, according to the National Park Service Friday report. "Very isolated smoldering continues in leaf litter, logs, and snags within the interior of the fire. Firefighters continue to work the fire today with hoses, hand tools, and chainsaws to extinguish all residual smoldering
A stand of koa trees with trunks charred and a blackened, scorched
 understory. NPS Photo by M.Wasser
they can safely reach. Falling snags from dead trees burned in the 2018 Keauhou fire continue to be a hazard for firefighters, making it difficult to safely access and mop up the interior of the fire. Other hazards to firefighters include loose, uneven lava rock terrain."
    The statement noted a chance for significant rainfall Saturday as Tropical Storm Darby approaches south of Hawaiʻi Island, according to the National Weather Service.
    Mauna Loa Road remains closed to the public from the gate at the Kīpukapuaulu parking lot. Only authorized vehicles are allowed past the gate until further notice.
    The Power Line Fire was first reported at 6:09 p.m. on Monday, July 11 and started near a power line road at around 4,800-ft. elevation in the park. The cause of the fire is under investigation.No homes or other structures have been damaged. The burn has impacted habitat for native birds, and a 1,760-foot section of ungulate-proof fence that protects native forest from non-native hooved animals was damaged.
    Cooperating agencies that assisted the National Park Service through the initial attack include the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW), County of Hawaiʻi Fire Department, and the U.S. Army's Pōhakuloa Training Area.
    Most of Hawaiʻi is experiencing dry conditions, ranging from abnormally dry to extreme drought. "Most wildfires in Hawaiʻi are started by people. Help protect the ʻāina and learn how to be fire safe by visiting https://www.hawaiiwildfire.org/lookout/," advises the statement from the Park .
    The next fire update will be Monday, July 18.

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.htm.


Thursday, July 14, 2022

Ka‘ū News Briefs, Thursday, July 14, 2022

A Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park fire crew uses hand tools to extinguish smoldering areas in the fire near a power line on the southeast flank of Mauna Loa. NPS Photo by Jessica Ferracane

THE WILDFIRE ON THE SOUTHEAST FLANK OF MAUNA LOA that started near a power line within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park was 90 percent contained as of Thursday morning and remained at 42.5 acres in size, according to a report from the Park.
    Firefighters, aided by periodic rainfall Wednesday and overnight, were able to surround the perimeter of the fire and douse residual smoldering and flames with nearly two miles of fire hose. On Thursday, fire crews worked active portions of the fire with water, chainsaws and hand tools with the objective to reach 100 percent containment.
A Volcano National Park firefighter assists with some two miles of hose
 used to fight the wildfire on the southeast flank of Mauna Loa.
NPS photo by Jessica Ferracane

    The Park statement said, "A fire investigator is on scene to determine the cause and point of origin of the wildfire."
    The wildfire was first reported at 6:09 p.m. on Monday, July 11 and started near a power line road at around 4,800-ft. elevation in the park. Mauna Loa Road remains closed to the public from the gate at the Kīpukapuaulu parking lot. Only authorized vehicles are allowed past the gate until further notice.
    Cooperating agencies that assisted the National Park Service through the initial attack include the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Land & Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife, County of Hawaiʻi Fire Department, and U.S. Army's Pōhakuloa Training Area.
    "Most of Hawaiʻi is experiencing dry conditions, ranging from abnormally dry to extreme drought. Most wildfires in Hawaiʻi are started by people. Help protect the ʻāina and learn how to be fire safe by visiting https://www.hawaiiwildfire.org/lookout/," said the Park statement.

Burned area from the fire that is being put to rest on the southeast flank of Mauna Loa.
NPS photo by Jessica Ferracane

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HAWAIʻI PACIFIC PARKS ASSOCIATION has named a new Executive Director. The organization, which operates the concessions at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park Visitor Centers and at other National Park Service locations in Hawaiʻi and in Samoa, selected Melody (Mel) Boehl, who lives on this island.
     The nonprofit Hawai‘i Pacific Parks Association is a national parks cooperating partner association. A statement from the organization says that Boehl "brings 30-plus years of leadership experience and a
Hawaiʻi Pacific Parks Association new Executive
Director Mel Boehl. Photo from HPPA

Bachelor of Science degree, Magna Cum Laude, in business administration. She began her professional career with a Big Four public accounting firm, then moved into leadership roles with large nonprofits. Boehl and her husband Andy moved to Hawai‘i in 2015, where she joined the HPPA ʻohana as the business director.   She said, "HPPA has been a national parks partner since 1933; our work supports the national parks through sales at our visitor center park stores and online, which convert to park donations. I will work to increase our visibility so we can increase our support of the parks; we need to continue to uplift our park partners and communities, tell the stories of the national park sites, and promote Pacific Island culture."
     According to HPPA, Boehl's "primary goal as executive director is to deeply connect with parks visitors, NPS staff, and her own HPPA teams."
    HPPA Board Chair Miki Tomita said, "We are pleased to welcome Mel officially to this position; her leadership and grace have been foundational to HPPA since she joined us in 2015 and will continue to shape this next stage of HPPA’s existence."
   HPPA is the nonprofit partner of six national parks in Hawaiʻi and American Samoa. Proceeds from its visitor center park stores and online shop have contributed over $20 million in support to parks since 1933.

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.htm.

A PUBLIC HEALTH COVID VACCINATION, EDUCATION AND TESTING EVENT comes to Ocean View Community Center this Saturday, July 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at  92-8924 Leilani Circle. 
    Co-sponsored by Kaʻū Rural Health Community Association and its founder Jessie Marques, state Department of Health and Project Vision, it features entertainment with Da Braddahs, Primetime Pipi and Kaleo Pilanca. 
    It offers free $50 gas cards for those who attend and receive a Covid-19 vaccination or booster, while supplies last. 
    A team of Pacific Islanders from Department of Health is flying from Oʻahu to help with education and translation. Along with its leader Chantelle "Tellie" Matagi, the team conducts in-person educational outreach events in culturally appropriate ways for Marshallese, Native Hawaiians, Chuukese, Samoans, Kosraeans,  Pohnpeians, and Tongans in their language. "The team also serves as advocates for processes that are rooted in the diverse Pacific cultures and
Meet Pacific Islander Michelle Matagi and her
Department of Health outreach team at Ocean
 View Community Center on Saturday, 10 a.m.
until 2 p.m. Photo from Department of Health

languages to address the effects of COVID-19 on Pacific communities," according to the Department of Health.
    Matagi, herself a Pacific Islander raised by her Samoan grandparents, said when it comes to Covid-19, that Pacific Islanders "are more at risk due to socio-economic reasons, not genetics. Pacific Islanders are essential workers, they have more exposure with the public at large, and due to the high cost of living in Hawai’i and cultural practices they live in multi-generational spaces.  On top of this, due to language barriers and a lack of cultural competency, they do not receive equitable access to health care services. And we cannot forget that many of our Pacific Island community members are here because the U.S. used their islands as nuclear test sites leaving them unsafe and uninhabitable in some cases.” She is often involved in policy talks about health equity.

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.htm.

MILLIONS OF VETERANS WILL RECEIVE BENEFITS AND HEALTH CARE for exposure to toxic substances, while serving their country, including duty in the Marshall Islands to clean up nuclear waste, said Congressman Kai Kahele.

Congressman Kahele speaking on the late Mark Takai,
whose legacy includes the PACT Act, which goes to
a floor vote in Congress next week.
    On Thursday, Kahele announced the House Committee on Veterans Affairs passage of the Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2021. It's also called the Honoring our PACT Act. The bill includes the Mark Takai Atomic Veterans Healthcare Parity Act, championed by the late Hawaiʻi Congressman Mark Takai "who served his country admirably as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Hawaiʻi Army National Guard, and as Hawaiʻi's first congressional district representative," said Kahele, who also serves in the Hawaiʻi National Guard. The PACT Act moves to the House floor for a vote next week.
    Kahele said, "I am honored to continue the legacy of my friend, Congressman Mark Takai through this monumental piece of legislation. The PACT Act upholds our obligation to care for our military veterans who were exposed to toxic substances while serving overseas and protecting the freedoms we all enjoy every day." See Kahele's words on Takai and the PACT Act at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBbdja6m0AQ


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HIGH SURF FROM THE SOUTH AND WINDS FROM DARBY FROM THE SOUTHEAST are expected this weekend. Darby is expected to track south of South Point as a Tropical Storm on Saturday. The high surf, coming from the southern hemisphere, is expected Friday into Saturday with waves along the southern shore as high as 15 feet. 
     The Pacific Hurricane Center report at 5 p.m. says, "Darby is becoming less organized on satellite with pulses of increasingly ragged deep convection starting to become sheared from the low level center. The UW-CIMSS deep layer shear analysis suggests the core of Darby is now experiencing shear of 20 to 25 knots. She still remains a Hurricane, but will soon become a Tropical Storm.
     Winds from Darby and waves from the south swell could make ocean and shoreline conditions exciting but dangerous this weekend. A high surf advisory and Civil Defense recommendations are expected.  County Civil Defense issued a statement today saying: "In preparation for Darby, please take this time to secure outdoor items from possible wind damage and to address flooding concerns.
    "Beach-goers, swimmers, and surfers please exercise caution as strong breaking waves, shore break, and rip currents making swimming difficult and dangerous are expected. Beaches may be closed without notice. Stay tuned to your radio for updates and changes in conditions."

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.htm.