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| Search and rescue teams covered more than 1,500 square miles of ocean and Ka`u Coastline looking for Ceasare "Chaz" Moses, whose body was found this morning. Photo by Peter Anderson |
THE SEARCH FOR CHAZ MOSES, of Pahala, ended this morning with the fire department rescue team locating his body in waters off of South Point, ending an all out search since Saturday afternoon.
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| Ceasare "Chaz" Moses |
After searching the coast and the ocean, buoys were launched Sunday to follow currents that could have taken him out to sea after a series of unexpected large waves pulled him away from shore while he was retrieving a throw net at South Point on Saturday before 3 p.m.. According to a report to KHON2 News from close friend Cyboy Lopez, friends cast flotation devices toward Moses but were unable to reach him. Friends lost sight of Moses as he floated about 200 yards offshore.
Ceasare “Chaz” Moses was 29, a year 2000 graduate of Ka`u High School, a father and an ardent fisherman who was planning to enter an ulua fishing contest this summer at South Point, reported Hawai`i News Now. He was planning to attend college this fall in Hilo and hoped to become a police officer. He is the son of Jovena and John Moses, Jr. of Pahala.
County helicopters, Choppers One and Two, searched for Moses over the weekend, along with a Coast Guard helicopter, C-130 plane and search and rescue boats covering more than 1,500 square miles.
Ceasare “Chaz” Moses was 29, a year 2000 graduate of Ka`u High School, a father and an ardent fisherman who was planning to enter an ulua fishing contest this summer at South Point, reported Hawai`i News Now. He was planning to attend college this fall in Hilo and hoped to become a police officer. He is the son of Jovena and John Moses, Jr. of Pahala.
County helicopters, Choppers One and Two, searched for Moses over the weekend, along with a Coast Guard helicopter, C-130 plane and search and rescue boats covering more than 1,500 square miles.
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| `Aina Koa Pono's vision of its biofuel farm and refinery in Ka`u. |
BIOFUEL RESEARCH ON NAPIER GRASS, SUGAR CANE, ENERGY CANE SWEET SORGHUM received a boost from Congress last week, when Hawai`i’s congressional delegation announced a $6 million grant for University of Hawai`i. A press release from Sen. Dan Inouye, Sen. Dan Akaka, Rep. Mazie Hirono and Rep. Colleen Hanabusa said the money will be used to “continue efforts to convert grass and other biomass into sustainable, commercial biofuel.” The money comes from a grant administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
U.H. College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources “will use the funds to help pay for the Biomass Research and Development Initiative, a project designed to convert napier grass, sugarcane, energy cane, sweet sorghum and other plant products into sustainable, economically viable biofuel,” the press release states. Said Inouye, “Continuing to invest in a sustainable energy future is vital to the health of our environment and our economy. At this time, fuel used for air, sea, and land transportation accounts for more than 60 percent of the oil imported into Hawai`i. These funds will help convert various species of grass and plants into clean fuel.” The senator wrote that “Hawai`i is at the forefront of clean energy research and development, and the projects and initiatives underway in our islands are helping to lessen our dependence on imported oil and moving us toward a time when the majority of our power is generated from clean, sustainable sources.”
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| Napier grass is one of the biofuel crops to be studied by University of Hawai`i. |
Akaka stated that “biofuels offer much promise for our economy and environment since they can be locally produced and have the potential to significantly reduce pollution. The University of Hawai`i is a leader in renewable energy technologies, including biomass-to-biofuels research, and I look forward to continued advancements being made at CTAHR.”
Hirono stated that “part of our challenge when it comes to making our state energy independent is determining how Hawai`i’s unique climate and year-round growing season affect things like crop yields for biomass. Research conducted on the mainland doesn’t take those factors into account. That’s why investments like this help us learn the types of yields we can expect or the requirements we’d need to plan for when growing various biomass crops. That information is essential for companies and potential investors interested in developing alternative energy projects.”
The press release said that Hirono has long supported this program and recently released an energy sustainability plan. “I congratulate the University of Hawai`i for winning this important investment that will help Hawai`i create more of our own energy," the congresswoman sated
Wrote Hanabusa: “Hawai`i is the ideal laboratory for developing biofuel because our climate allows a diverse array of plant species to grow in the quantities necessary to test and convert to energy.” Hanabusa, a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, stated: “Investing in and promoting renewable energy initiatives helps lessen our dependence on imported fossil fuels, protects our environment and creates jobs. I would like to thank the administration for their continued support of Hawai`i’s renewable energy industries.”
Hirono stated that “part of our challenge when it comes to making our state energy independent is determining how Hawai`i’s unique climate and year-round growing season affect things like crop yields for biomass. Research conducted on the mainland doesn’t take those factors into account. That’s why investments like this help us learn the types of yields we can expect or the requirements we’d need to plan for when growing various biomass crops. That information is essential for companies and potential investors interested in developing alternative energy projects.”
The press release said that Hirono has long supported this program and recently released an energy sustainability plan. “I congratulate the University of Hawai`i for winning this important investment that will help Hawai`i create more of our own energy," the congresswoman sated
Wrote Hanabusa: “Hawai`i is the ideal laboratory for developing biofuel because our climate allows a diverse array of plant species to grow in the quantities necessary to test and convert to energy.” Hanabusa, a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, stated: “Investing in and promoting renewable energy initiatives helps lessen our dependence on imported fossil fuels, protects our environment and creates jobs. I would like to thank the administration for their continued support of Hawai`i’s renewable energy industries.”
One biofuel farm is planned by investors and several landowners in Ka`u. `Aina Koa Pono plans a biofuel farm on pasture land between Pahala and Na`alehu and a refinery off Wood Valley Road above Pahala.
KA`U SCHOOL OF THE ARTS celebrates King Kamehameha Day a week from today with its Summer Creations event at Pahala Plantation House. From 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., guided art activities take place. They will include macrame with Alma Gorali, stitchery dolls with Kepi Davis, poetrix with Jym Duncan, traditional Pacific Island dances with Betina Wajar, batik with Terri Chapot, clay miniatures with Bobbie Beebe, metal intaglio with Suzshi Lang, acrylics on textile with Iris Bishoff and more. The event is free, and some activities may have a modest materials fee.
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT WWW.PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND WWW.KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM.
BAY CLINIC IN NA`ALEHU has reduced hours, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month. Previous hours were 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monica Adams, Bay Clinic’s director of Development, Public Relations and Marketing, said that although hours of operation are being reduced, more appointments will be made available during those hours. She reported that most patients typically request appointments within the timeframe of the new hours. Provider schedules have been reworked to better serve the needs of Bay Clinic patients, she said.
For more information and appointments, call 929-7311.
DEADLINE TO FILE to run for the Aug. 11 primary election is 4:30 p.m. tomorrow. Candidates for Congress, the state Legislature, mayor, County Council and other elected positions must already have petitions from voters to qualify.
A PARTIAL LUNAR ECLIPSE was easily seen in Ka`u skies last night, with about a third of the moon in shadow. A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes behind the Earth so that the Earth blocks the sun’s rays from striking the moon. This can occur only when the sun, Earth, and moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle.
A 3.7 EARTHQUAKE HIT the ocean floor just before 1 a.m. this morning between the Loihi Seamount and the Ka`u Coast, eight miles southeast of Na`alehu and 13 miles east- northeast of South Point. Neither damage nor tsunami threat was reported. The depth of the quake was 23.6 miles.
DEADLINE TO FILE to run for the Aug. 11 primary election is 4:30 p.m. tomorrow. Candidates for Congress, the state Legislature, mayor, County Council and other elected positions must already have petitions from voters to qualify.
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| Phases of last night's lunar eclipse were captured by Ka`u photographer Peter Anderson. |
A 3.7 EARTHQUAKE HIT the ocean floor just before 1 a.m. this morning between the Loihi Seamount and the Ka`u Coast, eight miles southeast of Na`alehu and 13 miles east- northeast of South Point. Neither damage nor tsunami threat was reported. The depth of the quake was 23.6 miles.
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| Venus' orbit lines up between the Earth and sun tomorrow to create a transit. Image from NASA |
DON’T LOOK AT THE SUN tomorrow to see the planet Venus transiting across the sun’s surface, unless you are wearing welding goggles or special glasses made for the event. It will take place from 12:09 p.m. to 6:42 p.m., when Venus will be seen by those wearing the glasses as a small dot marching across the sun. The next time that Venus, which is closer to the sun than the Earth, will cross the Earth’s orbit will be more than a century from now. The next Venus Transit will occur in 2117, even though the last one was eight years ago in June 2004.
The rarity of the event has to do with the shape and speed of the orbits of the two planets around the sun. Other Venus transits were in 1631 and 1639, 1761 and 1769, and 1874 and 1882.
KA`U SCHOOL OF THE ARTS celebrates King Kamehameha Day a week from today with its Summer Creations event at Pahala Plantation House. From 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., guided art activities take place. They will include macrame with Alma Gorali, stitchery dolls with Kepi Davis, poetrix with Jym Duncan, traditional Pacific Island dances with Betina Wajar, batik with Terri Chapot, clay miniatures with Bobbie Beebe, metal intaglio with Suzshi Lang, acrylics on textile with Iris Bishoff and more. The event is free, and some activities may have a modest materials fee.
KSA aims to introduce and practice Aloha, `Ohana, Ho`olaulima, Lokahi, Malama and Kokua in an active art setting and provide a safe, encouraging environment for creativity within the community. Call Theresa at 938-9767 for more information.
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| Image from www.awaiaulu.org |
`IKE KU`OKO`A: LIBERATING KNOWLEDGE is the topic at After Dark in the Park tomorrow. Project director Puakea Nogelmeier discusses making over 125,000 pages of Hawaiian-language newspapers printed in more than 100 different papers from 1834 to 1948 readily available. It possibly the largest native-language cache in the western world, he said. The program begins at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Two-dollar donations support park programs, and park entrance fees apply.
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT WWW.PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND WWW.KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM.