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| Internment camp at KMC during World War II, by George Hoshida in 1942. |
THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE is looking for oral histories on all the places in the islands where Japanese-American citizens were interned during World War II. Meetings will be held this Tuesday at Kona Outdoor Circle from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Kilauea Military Camp briefly served as an internment camp and later as a prisoner of war camp during World War II. It is the only internment camp in Hawai`i where some of the buildings still remain. Six of them are now used for vacation rentals. The State Historic Preservation Division recommended that a small visitor center be created to honor the internees and their life in the internment camp. A report describes the KMC location as one of the best in the state since there is already an original building and infrastructure there and since visitors are already coming to the nearby volcano. Anyone interested in this project can go online to the nps.gov/pwro/honouliuli.
KA`U HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS who hope to go to college can go online for free help in preparing for the SAT and ACT tests through the Princeton Review program. Hawai`i is the only place where students in the entire state have free access to the program. Under 60 percent of eligible Hawai`i students took the SAT last year, and the Board of Education is hoping to increase the number of young people seeking a college education. The free program is funded by the National Military Impacted School Association, which is helping school districts where many military families live. Since Hawai`i has the only statewide school district, everyone in the Islands gets the help. Ask teachers for instruction to sign up for the Princeton Review online program to study for the SAT and ACT.
GOV. NEIL ABERCROMBIE is promising to put people back to work with new capital improvements under his New Day Work Projects throughout the state. Among them could be a new $20 million gym in Pahala, which would also serve as an emergency disaster shelter. The facility would be owned by the county and be available to Ka`u High School for physical education and sports. The county is challenged with coming up with a timeline that would get the project done in two years. The state would issue bonds for CIP projects, and this could be one of them.
Both County Council member Brittany Smart and her predecessor Guy Enriques have been working on the project.
KA`U HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS who hope to go to college can go online for free help in preparing for the SAT and ACT tests through the Princeton Review program. Hawai`i is the only place where students in the entire state have free access to the program. Under 60 percent of eligible Hawai`i students took the SAT last year, and the Board of Education is hoping to increase the number of young people seeking a college education. The free program is funded by the National Military Impacted School Association, which is helping school districts where many military families live. Since Hawai`i has the only statewide school district, everyone in the Islands gets the help. Ask teachers for instruction to sign up for the Princeton Review online program to study for the SAT and ACT.
GOV. NEIL ABERCROMBIE is promising to put people back to work with new capital improvements under his New Day Work Projects throughout the state. Among them could be a new $20 million gym in Pahala, which would also serve as an emergency disaster shelter. The facility would be owned by the county and be available to Ka`u High School for physical education and sports. The county is challenged with coming up with a timeline that would get the project done in two years. The state would issue bonds for CIP projects, and this could be one of them.
Both County Council member Brittany Smart and her predecessor Guy Enriques have been working on the project.
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| Ka`u Hospital nursing director Nona Wilson leads the ensemble to support the ER. |
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| Quilts and spaghetti dinner support ER fundraising last night in Na`alehu. |
A FUNDRAISER LAST NIGHT at Na`alehu Community Center took in money to support the Ka`u Hospital Emergency Room. Supporters enjoyed a spaghetti dinner and music by a band comprised of nursing director Nona Wilson, clerk Ty Chun and supporters of the hospital.
TWO PUBLIC MEETINGS about proposed economic development projects in Ka`u are being held this week. One before the county council on Wednesday at 2 p.m. will be a presentation on `Aina Koa Pono’s proposal to build a biofuels refinery above Pahala and establish a biofuels farm between Pahala and Na`alehu. Another proposal would establish a golf resort with oceanfront estates, condominiums, hotels and shopping centers along the shore between Ocean View and South Point. That meeting on the Nani Kahuku `Aina/ Kahuku Villages project will be held this Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Na`alehu Community Center.
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| Miss Ka`u Coffee contestant Kayla Nishimura |
MISS KA`U COFFEE, Miss Peaberry and Young Miss Ka`u Coffee will ride in the Merrie Monarch Parade on April 30th in Hilo. It will be the third year that the Ka`u Coffee Festival has entered a float in the pageant. The winners of the pageant will be selected on April 23rd at Ka`u High School Gym before the Ka`u Coffee Festival on May 14th and 15th at Pahala Community Center. The candidates are seeking community support, and residents can become a Friend of the Miss Ka`u Coffee pageant.