Ka`u News Briefs Saturday, Aug. 3, 2013

Ka`u High School had enough players to field a team last year, but not enough for the upcoming season.
Photo from Ka`u High School 

KA`U HIGH’S FALL FOOTBALL SEASON IS CANCELLED. Players held their final pre-season practice and workout on Friday and Athletic Director Kalei Namohala announced that the Trojans will not field a team this year due to low player turnout. Namohala said there must be 32 players to field a team, and only a dozen signed up. She had set Aug. 5 as a deadline for signups but decided to cancel earlier, concluding that it would be unlikely that enough students would sign up even after school starts next week.

Kalei Namohala 

      Families of prospective team members said they were saddened by the news, which dashed some of the ambitious varsity football players' hopes for football scholarships to help carry them to college. The cancellation apparently means that there will be no Ka`u varsity football for at least two years. Many players have been working out for months to get in shape for this season. At this late date it would be impossible for any of them to transfer to other schools where they could play football. 

     Greg Rush, who has coached Ka`u football in the past and was to be an assistant coach this year, said he was disappointed that Ka`u won’t be able to participate in Big Island Interscholastic Federation’s football program. He said it has happened in the past, and he looks forward to football returning to the school in the future.

      Rush said he has been advocating for eight-man football for smaller Hawai`i Island schools for several years. Instead of requiring 32 players to field a team, only about 20 would be required, Rush said. He also said smaller, leaner players, like most of Ka`u’s players, do well in the games, which don’t involve as much tackling.
      Rush suggested that schools where smaller teams would be appropriate may also include Kohala, Pahoa, St. Joseph’s and Laupahoehoe. Rush said Maui has eight-man football teams and that if the Big Island had some, “O`ahu would probably follow.” This could set up a program to include state tournaments. “You shouldn’t even compete in a sport where you don’t have a chance to go to states,” Rush said.
      Rush said he has discussed eight-man football with Namohala and that she seemed interested in considering it. Kohala also dropped out of football for the coming season.
     To comment on this story, go to https://www.facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Pahala's new sewage treatment plant may be sited below town and mauka of HELCO's new electric station along Hwy 11.
Photo by Julia Neal

SITING FOR THE NEW PAHALA SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT is ongoing, with archaeologists combing over one suggested parcel near Hwy 11 just above the HELCO substation. The five-acre parcel is a section of the old sugar mill site and adjacent to the land that includes the Chinese, Filipino and Japanese cemeteries along with new plantings of Ka`u coffee lining the highway. The proposed parcel for the sewage treatment plant is shown on old plantation maps to include an area designated as a U.S. Army Graveyard.

Archaeologists are collecting oral histories and maps showing a  parcel being
considered for Pahala's new sewage treatment plant. This old plantation map
shows a U.S. Army Graveyard designated for the site. 

      Cultural resources consultants working on the history of the site are asking if anyone remembers the Army Cemetery site being used for graves. The archaeologists are also looking for old lava tubes, structures and oral histories of the property. The land was used for years as pasture by Gus Villanueva, Mike Silva and other paniolo. Anyone with more information can call archaeologist Roland B. Reeve of the consulting firm Pacific Legacy at 351-9560. 

      This proposed sewage treatment plant site is below the town and would not require pumping to service homes, businesses, schools and other public buildings in Pahala. The county is planning to construct the sewage treatment plant with government funds and money provided by former sugar company owner C. Brewer, which had operated a gang cesspool for many of the homes in the town. Gang cesspools are outlawed, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency is requiring them to be abandoned.
     To comment on this story, go to https://www.facebook.com/kaucalendar.

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard

THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES has unanimously approved the bipartisan, bicameral Helping Heroes Fly Act (H.R. 1344), introduced by Ka`u’s Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, as her first piece of legislation in the House in March. The bill has been submitted to President Obama for his signature. 

      The measure improves airport security screening processes for wounded and severely disabled service members and veterans.
      “The passage of this bill today will improve the lives of those who have served our country so bravely,” Gabbard said. “This has been a strong bipartisan effort, where Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate came together with unwavering and unanimous support for our wounded warriors and the Helping Heroes Fly Act. This is an example of what can be accomplished when we set aside differences and work together for the good of our nation.”
      Gabbard introduced the legislation after hearing from advocates of members of the Armed Forces and veterans themselves about inconsistencies in the screening of wounded warriors by the Transportation Security Administration. Some gave accounts of having to remove clothing and prosthetics in view of other passengers or having to awkwardly go through screening machines without the benefit of a prosthetic leg or limb.
      The Helping Heroes Fly Act has been endorsed by the American Legion, Disabled Veterans of American, Paralyzed Veterans of America, the Wounded Warrior Project and the American Federation of Government Employees.
     To comment on this story, go to https://www.facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Hawai`i's Energy Office has updated its website, energy.hawaii.gov.

THE DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM’S Hawai`i state Energy Office has launched an improved website (energy.hawaii.gov) along with new accounts for Twitter (@EnergyHawaiiGov) and Facebook (facebook.com/Hawaii-StateEnergyOffice). 

      “In recent years, the state Energy Office has produced and provided an abundance of online resources and self-help tools,” DBEDT director Richard Lim said. “The revamped website is designed to help potential investors, developers, stakeholders and policy makers and the public easily navigate and locate key information on Hawai`i’s clean energy portfolio.”
      With the URL remaining at energy.hawaii.gov, the upgraded website features improved site navigation of the Hawai`i State Energy Office’s top programs, including GEMS (Green Energy Market Securitization), Energy Savings Performance Contracting in the Efficiency section and Project Permitting Assistance.
      Users will also be able to access the online suite of self-help tools such as the Renewable EnerGIS Map for analyzing the renewable energy potential of sites statewide and the Renewable Energy Permitting Wizard that helps proposed projects understand the various required permits. 

Information about financing green energy improvements
is available at energy.hawaii.gov.

      “Our intent is for the energy industry, media and community to view the updated energy.hawaii.gov website as their primary resource for Hawai`i-focused clean energy solutions and opportunities,” state energy administrator Mark Glick said. “It’s a great way to stay connected with what’s happening in Hawai`i’s fast-moving clean energy landscape.”
      “As demonstrated by the state Energy Office’s site, the state’s online transformation will provide increased transparency and a better flow of information for the public,” state chief information officer Sonny Bhagowalia said. 

      “This builds on the website modernization project completed earlier this year that included the redesign of all state department websites. Over the next six months, all state-attached agency websites will be redesigned to this new format.”
To comment on this story, go to https://www.facebook.com/kaucalendar.

FOOTSTEPS THROUGH THE RAIN FOREST EXHIBIT opens today from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. This is a mixed media exhibition featuring selected works of paintings, clay, jewelry, wood, fiber & cement from members of the Paradise Studio Tour Artist Collective. It is open to the public at Volcano Art Center's Rainforest Gallery at Niaulani Campus. 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. daily at 19-4074 Old Volcano Rd. in Volcano Village. In conjunction with Volcano Art Center's Annual Rain Forest Runs registration on August 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., artists will conduct hands on art projects and demonstrations including painting on silk, prayer flag making and clay stamp making. For more information call 967-8222 or visit www.volcanoartcenter.org.

OCEAN VIEW EVANGELICAL CHURCH’s first community ho`olaule`a is two weeks from today on Saturday, Aug. 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The lu`au will include lomi lomi salmon, chicken and long rice, kalua pig and beverages.
      Organizer Mary Wheeler is asking for monetary donations and door prizes. “We will help meet community needs, while getting the opportunity to serve,” she said. For more information and to donate, call 990-3480.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/KAUCALENDAR.

PUBLIC NOTICES & ANNOUNCEMENTS