Ka`u News Briefs April 7, 2012

The first internship program, shown here in 2010, has grown to accommodate 52 students this year at
Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Photo from NPS

HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK’S SCHOOL INTERNSHIP program began with Ka`u High and is growing to serve 52 students this summer from late May into August. The training started three years ago after visiting professor Joan Rubin and The Ka`u Calendar’s editor Julia Neal got together with Ka`u High School principal Sharon Beck and Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park staff. They said the National Park and other natural resource conservation and wilderness activities organizations are a growing economic engine in Ka`u - a source of employment for youth and an inspiration for higher education in many fields, from geology and biology to ecotourism design and management, from trail building to accounting and customer service.

Students represent the park in their uniforms during
Na`alehu's Fourth of July parade. Photo by Julia Neal

      The committee successfully wrote a $60,000 grant, and Edmund Olson offered up classroom space in the Olson Trust Building in Pahala and a van to transport students. National Park staff led by ranger Kupono McDaniel provided training along with help from such organizations as The Nature Conservancy. A number of youth landed uniforms. Not only did they learn about the natural history and resources of their homeland, they learned to teach it to others and found that visitors really appreciate the knowledge coming from the locals.
      Ka`u High School graduate Moses Espaniola III took the training and landed a job in the park, which he continues as he attends college in Hilo. He said that after learning about the unique qualities of Ka`u that are famous worldwide, local students witness the visitors being amazed by the volcano, the forest, the wildlife and the ocean here. Espaniola said it makes the kids proud to be from Ka`u. Another Ka`u High School graduate, Jorge Zamudio, became an intern, landed a job in the park, and the hospitality training led him to a position with a resort.

Moses Espaniola III started as an intern
and landed a job at the National Park.

      The $60,000 grant has grown this year to $320,000, and the training will include students from communities on the other side of the National Park – from high schools in Puna and the community college in Hilo. Olson Trust is contributing transportation again, and professor Rubin said she is proud to see a program that started in Ka`u help so many other people. Ranger McDaniel said he thanks the Ka`u community for getting it started.

NEW STATE SENATE AND HOUSE of Representatives district boundary lines are subject to a suit filed yesterday in Honolulu. Plaintiffs want the reapportionment commission to include non-resident military, out-of-state college students and other non-residents in the population count which would give more representation to O`ahu. The state Supreme Court, earlier this year, ordered non-residents removed from the population count to give fair representation to those who live here, particularly on the Big Island, where population grew more than elsewhere in the state. The court decision gave Hawai`i County an additional seat in the state Senate. The new suit threatens the timeliness of campaigning for the Aug. 11 primary election, as candidates are off and running with the deadline to sign up on June 5.

Wendell Ka`ehu`ae`a

WENDELL KA`EHU`AE`A, founder of KAHU, the community radio station in Ka`u, announced yesterday he will run for state Senate in District 2. Ka`ehu`ae`a said he wants to protect public radio and TV, which are losing channels to commercial stations. He said that his own experience covering community affairs for Na Leo O Hawai`i Community Access Television on the Big Island and at KAHU radio in Ka`u has given him a unique understanding of community issues and needs. Ka`ehu`ae`a, a Navy veteran, said that after his radio program this morning, he would be off the air until after the election. Ka`ehu`ae`a takes on veteran legislator Bob Herkes, an incumbent state House of Representatives member, who announced he will run for the Senate seat. Other candidates are Hawai`i Natural Foods president Russell Ruderman, former County Councilman Gary Safarik and school administrator Steve Hirakami. 

THE STATE LAND USE COMMISSION is looking for a new executive director. Dan Davidson retires May 1. The LUC is in charge of deciding land use classifications as Urban, Rural Agriculture or Conservation, and changes in these classifications must go before the LUC before local zoning changes can be made.

Map shows land use classifications in Ka`u.

      The LUC also has a new nomination for the commission itself. Ralph S. Inouye, a general contractor based on O`ahu, has been nominated by Gov. Neil Abercrombie. His website says his company was founded in 1962, and “for decades we have played an integral role in the growth and development of Hawai`i, having worked on a diverse range of commercial building, renovation and engineering projects for federal, state and city agencies, and many prestigious private entities.” The company can handle projects valued at more than $100 million. Among its completions are Shriners’ Hospital, shopping centers, apartment buildings and U.H. School of Architecture.

KA`U COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN’S Steering Committee meets Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Pahala Community Center. Planner Ron Whitmore said the sole business item is a CDP project update and that the draft CDP is still in progress and not on the agenda for discussion. “Initial drafts of several parts of the Natural and Cultural Resources section of the CDP have been completed, but more work remains before that section is complete,” Whitmore said. For more information, call Whitmore at 961-8137.

NA`ALEHU ASSEMBLY OF GOD hosts an Easter Sunrise Service at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow. Call 929-7278 for more information. 

OCEAN VIEW EVANGELICAL COMMUNITY CHURCH presents The King is Coming, a free musical drama, tomorrow at 10 a.m. Call 939-9089 for more information.

KILAUEA MILITARY CAMP celebrates Easter with brunch from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Starting at 9 a.m. KMC, in partnership with Rotary Club of Volcano, hosts an Easter Egg Hunt for keiki 10 years old and younger in KMC’s Ohia Room. To pre-register call 967-8352. Tomorrow evening, KMC offers an Easter dinner special from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Crater Rim Café. For more, call 967-8366.

VISIT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM.