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| Ground golf employs wooden mallets and wooden balls. |
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| Ka`u and Puna seniors play ground golf at Na`alehu Ballpark. |
A HOT COMPETITION was held between seniors from Puna and Ka`u yesterday at Na`alehu Ballpark when they played Ground Golf. Teams came up with such names as the Turkeys, the Corn and the Sweet Potatoes. They took home such prizes as turkeys for Thanksgiving. Scorekeepers included 87-year-old Iwao Yonemitsu and 88-year-old Takumi Shirakawa.
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY producers can sign up on the Internet to sell power to the electric company starting November 24. Hawaiian Electric Light Company will accept applications from Hawai`i Island residents and businesses who want to sell electricity from windmills, photovoltaics and small hydroelectric plants. HELCO will pay 21.8 cents per kilowatt-hour for photovoltaics, 26.9 cents for concentrated solar power, 16.1 cents for wind-generated power, and 21.3 cents for hydropower. Applications are available on the Hawai`i Electric Company website.
THE HAWAI`I CLEAN ENERGY INITIATIVE AND 2050 SUSTAINABILITY PLAN are the subject of a meeting next Tuesday, November 23rd at the Hemmeter Building in Honolulu. The purpose is to facilitate renewable-energy projects, energy-efficiency programs, agricultural infrastructure and development, and other measures for food and energy security. The Hawaii Economic Development Task Force hosts the discussion to balance energy and agricultural development with economic, social, community, and environmental priorities. Ka`u Senator Russell Kokubun chaired the committee that produced the Hawaii 2050 Sustainability Plan, which can be read at www.hawaii2050.org.
MELE ASSOCIATES is one of the companies proposing alternative energy for Ka`u. According to a report from the Hawai`i Clean Energy Initiative to the Task Force, it would grow crops to make biofuel to sell to the electric company. It could lead to hundreds of jobs and a new mill in Pahala to manufacture biofuels. Invasive plants like Christmas berry, haole koa, eucalyptus and such crops as sorghum or other grasses would be processed. The biofuel crops would be planted on thousands of acres between Pahala and Na`alehu. Read more at hawaiicleanenergyinitiative.org, at meleassociates.com and at ainakoapono.com.
REAPPORTIONMENT COMMISSIONS to redraw voting maps will go to work next year after the 2010 census numbers are counted and released. Census results are expected to show that Hawai`i Island’s population has grown by nearly 30 percent in the last decade, and that Puna and Kona have grown most. Ka`u Senator Russell Kokubun said that he hopes that reapportionment will not create “canoe districts” in which legislators would represent sections of more than one island. Hawai‘i Island formerly shared a canoe district that included North Hawaii and East Maui. The district lines for elected officials for county council, the House and Senate could all change as they are related to population.
KA`U COFFEE FARMERS are on O`ahu today to oppose putting Ka`u in a quarantine area with Kona. Ka`u Coffee Co-op president Lorie Obra and Bull Kailiawa, both farmers of award-winning coffee above Pahala, said they hope that Ka`u will stay clean of the coffee berry borer pest that has infested Kona farms. It is suspected that the coffee berry borer was brought to Kona by importing cheap green coffee beans from Latin America to blend with Kona coffee.
MELE ASSOCIATES is one of the companies proposing alternative energy for Ka`u. According to a report from the Hawai`i Clean Energy Initiative to the Task Force, it would grow crops to make biofuel to sell to the electric company. It could lead to hundreds of jobs and a new mill in Pahala to manufacture biofuels. Invasive plants like Christmas berry, haole koa, eucalyptus and such crops as sorghum or other grasses would be processed. The biofuel crops would be planted on thousands of acres between Pahala and Na`alehu. Read more at hawaiicleanenergyinitiative.org, at meleassociates.com and at ainakoapono.com.
REAPPORTIONMENT COMMISSIONS to redraw voting maps will go to work next year after the 2010 census numbers are counted and released. Census results are expected to show that Hawai`i Island’s population has grown by nearly 30 percent in the last decade, and that Puna and Kona have grown most. Ka`u Senator Russell Kokubun said that he hopes that reapportionment will not create “canoe districts” in which legislators would represent sections of more than one island. Hawai‘i Island formerly shared a canoe district that included North Hawaii and East Maui. The district lines for elected officials for county council, the House and Senate could all change as they are related to population.
KA`U COFFEE FARMERS are on O`ahu today to oppose putting Ka`u in a quarantine area with Kona. Ka`u Coffee Co-op president Lorie Obra and Bull Kailiawa, both farmers of award-winning coffee above Pahala, said they hope that Ka`u will stay clean of the coffee berry borer pest that has infested Kona farms. It is suspected that the coffee berry borer was brought to Kona by importing cheap green coffee beans from Latin America to blend with Kona coffee.
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| Hezekiah Keohuloa makes a tree of Thanksgiving for his mom. |
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| Rubberband Turkey Shoot Target for next Tuesday's celebration in Pahala. |
CREATING THANKSGIVING TREES was a project of Parks and Recreation and the Boys & Girls Club of Pahala yesterday. Children wrote on the leaves of each tree - the people and things for which they are thankful - like parents, the family dog and the beach. Also leading toward Thanksgiving is the annual Rubber Band Turkey Shoot, which will be held on next Tuesday November 23 at Pahala Community Center from 3 p.m to 5 p.m. Everyone of any age is invited to compete. Call Nona Makuakane at 928-3102.
JOIN KENNETH MAKUAKANE, a 12-time Na Hoku Hanohano award-winning singer, songwriter and producer, tonight in Volcano as he shares original songs from his latest albums, The Dash and White Bath Tub, his first solo album, Makuakane, and other award-winning compositions.
He will be on stage from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Kilauea Visitor Center auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The concert is free; park entrance fees may apply.
Makuakane is a member of the multi-talented and award-winning group, The Pandanus Club.
THE HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUB will have its regular third Thursday of the month meeting at Na`alehu Methodist Church tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. Native Hawaiians and non-natives are invited to join. Call President Blossom DeSilva 929-9731 or 936-7262.