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| Fourth of July Rodeo this weekend flies Hawaiian and American flags. Photo by Julia Neal |
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| Anton C. Krucky |
KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS, the $7.5 billion trust with a mission to educate Hawaiian youth, has named three finalists — Anton C. Krucky, Robert Kaleo`okalani Witt Nobriga and T. Aulani Wilhelm — for its vacant trustee position formerly held by J. Douglas Ing. Candidates were revealed in a Pacific Business News story yesterday after PBN researched court documents regarding the Kamehameha Schools trust.
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| Robert Kaleo`okalani Witt Nobriga |
Krucky is president and CEO of Tissue Genesis Inc., the tissue engineering and cell therapy solutions company in Honolulu.
Nobriga, a gradutate of Kamehameha, is chief financial officer and vice president of Hawai`i National Bank.
Wilhelm, a Kamehameha graduate, is superintendent of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument for the Northwest Hawaiian Islands.
The screening committee is looking for a new trustee to complete its five-member board who is a community leader with expertise in business administration, finance and investment, strategic planning and policy setting, education and law or governance, according to a Kamehameha Schools statement.
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| T. Aulani Wilhelm |
The screening committee is comprised of Richard Coons, Wendy B. Crabb, George “Keoki” Freeland, Cheryl L. Kauhane Lupenui, Benjamin M. Matsubara, Wesley Park and Michael E. Rawlins.
HEALTH RECORDS are on there way to being completely electronic not only at Ka`u Hospital and Bay Clinic in Na`alehu but also at doctors’ offices and medical facilities throughout the state. According to Hawai`i Health Information Exchange, which the state of Hawai`i helped to create in 2009, a recent summit of Hawai`i physicians revealed progress in electronic health records that can lead to faster diagnoses and better care when the information is shared between health care providers. The electronic records can also lead to fewer errors, lower costs and better provider and patient communication and satisfaction. Health care providers are receiving technical support from Hawai`i Pacific Regional Extension centers, according to Ira Zunin, medical director of Manakai o Malama Integrative Healthcare Group and Rehabilitation Center, which is helping with the transition into electronic records.
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| Monk seals hunt in areas as large as 500 square miles. Photo courtesy of NOAA |
DO MONK SEALS HURT recreational and commercial fishing? These and other questions are answered in a new paper called Hawaiian Monk Seal Myths vs. Facts. It says one myth is that seals eat too much fish targeted by fishermen and that this could become worse if the seal population grows or if more seals are relocated from the Northwest Hawaiian Islands to the main Hawaiian islands. The article counters that seals hunt in areas as large as 500 square miles and acknowledges that there could be a misperception that seals interfere with human fishing when seals swim to and from resting places on the shore.
Writers also contend: “Considering what science tells us about monk seal foraging, the overall impact of seals on fishing in Hawai`i is small.” The number of seals is small – about 200 in the main Hawaiian Islands – and seals consume a wide variety of organisms including many species not targeted by fishermen, such as small wrasse, flatfishes and small shrimp. Seals not only forage over a wide area, including many places where there is no fishing by humans, they also hunt in waters as deep as 1,600 feet.
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| There are about 200 monk seals in the main Hawaiian Island. Photo courtesy of NOAA |
Sometimes seals interact with fishing gear and fish already caught by fishermen, particularly in nearshore waters as they travel to and from shore. To help with this problem, NOAA has developed guidelines to minimize impacts. NOAA is also working with fishermen to identify and count the interactions between seals and recreational and commercial fishing interests.
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| Monk seals eat two to five percent of their body weight per day. Photo courtesy of Lesley Macpearson/NOAA |
Another myth, says the article, is that monk seals can eat 400 or 500 pounds of fish a day. The writers contend that no mammal eats its body weight, and the seals in captivity only eat two to five percent of their body weight. See more on monk seal myths at http://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/hawaiian_monk_seal/
GAS PRICES IN HAWAI`I are averaging $4.24 a gallon for regular today, compared with $3.42 nationwide. In Ka`u, prices are both above and below this statewide average. At Ka`u Gas in Pahala and at the 76 station in Na`alehu, regular is $4.30. At Wong Yuen Gas in Wai`ohinu, it’s $4.33. In Ocean View, it’s $4.20 at Spirit Gas, $4.19 at Ocean View Market and $4.14 at Kahuku Country Market.
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| Po`o Wai U is the contest that winds up with a steer held by a forked post that a paniolo might find out in the wilds. Photo by Julia Neal |
NA`ALEHU RODEO ARENA is the site of the 34th annual Fourth of July Rodeo sponsored by the Ka`u Roping & Riding Association today and tomorrow. Slack roping starts at 8 a.m., with the show starting at noon. New events to this year’s rodeo include Chute Dogging and Rescue Race. Other events include Open Dally, Team 90’s, Double Mugging, Ranch Mugging and Wahine Mugging. Entry to the rodeo is $6 before the event and $7 at the gate.
AUDITIONS FOR WOMEN IN COMEDY are held tomorrow from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Volcano Art Center’s Niaulani Campus in Volcano Village. This audition is to fill an all-woman comedy show being held over Labor Day weekend. For more information, call 967-8222.
BUDDHIST HEALING MEDITATION is the topic tomorrow from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Kilauea Military Camp Chapel in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. For more information, call 985-7470 or email joyfulpath@aol.com.
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM.