Ka'u News Briefs Jan. 15, 2012

More than 600 people enjoyed `O Ka`u Kakou's Keiki Fishing Tournament at Punalu`u yesterday. Photo by Julia Neal

DOMINIC YAGONG announced yesterday that he will enter the race for mayor this year. The primary is Aug 12. The six-term member of the County Council, who now serves as its chair, said that one of his major issues is privatization of the county’s Hilo recycling facility and for it to become a Materials Recovery Facility. The Council passed a resolution asking the administration to issue a call for bids from private companies, but Mayor Billy Kenoi said the decision was already made to retain it as a county function.
     Yagong, 52, works for Foodland and manages its smaller resort-oriented stores at Waikoloa. He touts his business experience as invaluable to running the county.
     In his earlier life, he was known for volunteerism, including emceeing high school sports games. He became a Council member in 1996, then ran against Harry Kim for mayor and lost before regaining his Council seat.
     Kenoi, 43, said he welcomes the race with Yagong.

Lei were symbols of peace in marches led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., whose birthday is honored by a national holiday tomorrow, came to Hawai`i in 1959 and looked at the multi-racial and multi-cultural harmony in the Islands as an inspiration. Here is an excerpt from the speech he gave to the Hawai`i House of Representatives. 

     King said to the people of Hawai`i: “I come to you with a great deal of appreciation and great feeling of appreciation, I should say, for what has been accomplished in this beautiful setting and in this beautiful state of our Union. As I think of the struggle that we are engaged in the South land, we look to you for inspiration and as a noble example, where you have already accomplished in the area of racial harmony and racial justice, what we are struggling to accomplish in other sections of the country, and you can never know what it means to those of us caught for the moment in the tragic and often dark midnight of man’s inhumanity to man, to come to a place where we see the glowing daybreak of freedom and dignity and racial justice.”
     King said that people asked him from time to time as he traveled across the country and over the world “whether there has been any real progress in the area of race relations. King said he always answered by saying, “There are three basic attitudes that one can take toward the question of progress in the area of race relations. One can take the attitude of extreme optimism. The extreme optimist would contend that we have come a long, long way in the area of race relations, and he would point proudly to the strides that have been made in the area of civil rights in the last few decades. And, from this, he would conclude that the problem is just about solved now and that we can sit down comfortably by the wayside and wait on the coming of the inevitable. 

The march in Selma in 1965, six years after King's
visit to Hawai`i.

     “And then segregation is still with us,” said King. “Although we have seen the walls gradually crumble, it is still with us. I imply that figuratively speaking, that Old Man Segregation is on his death bed, but you know history has proven that social systems have a great last-minute breathing power, and the guardians of the status quo are always on hand with their oxygen tents to keep the old order alive, and this is exactly what we see today. So segregation is still with us. We are confronted in the South in its glaring and conspicuous forms, and we are confronted in almost every other section of the nation in its hidden and subtle forms. But if democracy is to live, segregation must die. Segregation is a cancer in the body politic which must be removed before our democratic health can be realized. In a real sense, the shape of the world today does not permit us the luxury of an anemic democracy. If we are to survive, if we are to stand as a force in the world, if we are to maintain our prestige, we must solve this problem because people are looking over to America.” 

     King said that he talked to leaders in Africa who told him that “no amount of extensive handouts and beautiful words would be substitutes for treating our brothers in the United States as first-class citizens and human beings. When King traveled to the Middle East he said, leaders said, “We must solve this problem if we are to stand and to maintain our prestige. All over Europe and in the Middle East and in the Far East, even though many people could not speak English, they knew how to say ‘Little Rock,’ King told the Hawai`i legislators.
     He talked about Hawai`i again as “this great new state in our Union as the example and as the inspiration. As we move on in this realm, let us move on with the faith that this problem can be solved, and that it will be solved, believing firmly that all reality hinges on moral foundations, and we are struggling for what is right, and we are destined to win.”

Thomas Jaggar founded HVO 100 years ago. Photo from USGS/HVO

MORE THAN 600 PEOPLE, including 300 keiki gathered yesterday at Punalu`u Beach Park. The annual Keiki Fishing Tournament, sponsored by `O Ka`u Kakou, was an “everyone wins” kind of event, with many prizes, food and entertainment. 

HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY’S first 100 years is the topic at After Dark in the Park this Tuesday. HVO scientist-in-charge Jim Kauahikaua talks about Thomas Jaggar’s vision for the observatory, how Frank Perret began monitoring Kilauea volcano, and HVO’s accomplishments during the past century. The program begins at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium. $2 donation supports park programs. Park entrance fees apply.