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Sunday, December 06, 2015

Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015

Santa Claus is coming to town a week from today to participate in the annual Pahala Christmas Parade. See more below.
Photo by Julia Neal
MARY WILSON, APRN IS THE NEWEST addition to Ocean View’s Mango Medical Clinic. Although she has been working as a nurse since 1974, Wilson is very enthusiastic about her chosen profession and shows pleasure in the prospects her new position will afford. A native of Virginia, Wilson has been living in Ocean View for over a year and looks forward to being more involved with the Ka`u community.
      Wilson’s medical background covers many specialties. She has worked primarily in university or teaching hospitals, specializing in critical care. She also did a lot of work in developing a variety of drugs for several labs and drug companies. In 1990 she earned a master’s degree, which qualified her to be a nurse practitioner. Since then, her focus has been on neurology, neurosurgery, gastroenterology and hepitology, treating hepatitis C.
Mary Wilson, in light blue, joins Mango Medical Center personnel, from left,
Shanna Alcorn, MA, Cindy Cohen, APRN and Doede Donaugh-Rae, DO.
Photo from Peter and Ann Bosted
      Most recently, she spent three years in a community hospital’s cancer center as a gastrointestinal oncology coordinator and a nurse navigator, which involved helping cancer patients who need prompt attention get through the system as efficiently and quickly as possible. She was also involved with testing and assessing patients’ cancer risk based on their genes and educating them based on the results.
      As Wilson enters her fifth decade in the medical profession, she is looking forward to the change of pace that working for Mango Medical Clinic will afford. Here, new patient visits last one hour, instead of the usual half hour elsewhere, and follow-up visits are a minimum of half an hour, compared to a maximum of 10 minutes in most places.
      “This means I have time to really know each patient and time for detailed education, which can make a very big difference in keeping patients healthy in the long term,” Wilson said.
      Based in Waimea, Mango Medical Clinic also has branches in Hilo and Kona. Ocean View was chosen for its health care needs and growth potential – the town’s population doubles every 10 years. Founder Dr. Timothy Duerler expects more expansions soon. Wilson also sees many options for growth, not only in terms of new patients, but also much-needed services, such as home care, to benefit the community. 
      Mango Medical was listed as 13th of Hawai`i’s 50 fasting growing companies by Pacific Business News
      When not at the clinic, Wilson enjoys hiking, gardening and walking her three rescue dogs. She has been married to her husband, John, for 32 years, and they have a daughter, Laura. John Wilson is President of the Kula Kai Homeowners Association.
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A study in Ka`u found no correlation between the amount of rainfall and
the number of mosquitoes. Graph from the Pan-Pacific Entomologist
A STUDY IN KA`U FOUND no correlation between the amount of rainfall and the number of mosquitoes, negating the assumption that wetter areas are more prone to have more mosquitoes than dry areas. 
      In 2009, Hawai`i Department of Health conducted a study in Ocean View and Hawaiian Ranchos. The subdivisions were chosen because they are only five miles away from Miloli`i, where Aedes aegypti, one of two species that transmit dengue fever, was found in surveys of 2002.
      Researchers found that twice as many mosquitoes laid eggs in water infused with `ohi`a leaf litter than in plain tap water. Leaf litter in containers full of water is considered important nutritional resource for mosquito larvae. As a common tree in Ka`u, `ohi`a’s leaf litter may contribute to the life cycle of mosquitoes hatched from eggs laid in tree holes and some artificial containers.
      “Due to the limited rainfall in the survey area, we believe that both species of mosquitoes (that transmit dengue) must be strongly dependent on water supplies created by humans,” the researchers concluded. “Otherwise, it would be difficult to find breeding sites. Our study clearly shows that Aedes albopictus (the second species that transmits mosquitoes) is a predominant species in Ocean View.”  
      DOH urges residents to remove sources of standing water on their property and to report standing water that is not accessible to them at 974-6001.
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Sen. Mazie Hirono
SEN. MAZIE K. HIRONO LAST WEEK VOTED against H.R. 3762, a Republican bill to defund Planned Parenthood, undermine federal support for research on heart disease, diabetes and other diseases, and gut key Affordable Care Act provisions. The legislation passed the Republican-controlled Senate 52-47. President Obama has vowed to veto the bill. 
      “The budget reconciliation legislation is yet another Republican attempt to push a far-right agenda on our country,” Hirono said. “Instead of bringing up legislation that will help create opportunity and raise wages for middle class families, Republicans continue to waste time on harmful, ideological proposals that they know will fail to become law.
      “The one good thing to come out of this pointless exercise is that the Senate voted 90-10 to repeal the tax on so-called ‘high-cost health plans’ before it is enacted in 2018. ‘High-cost health plan’ is a complete misnomer – in reality, this tax would hit workers whose employers provide decent health care benefits as a key part of their compensation. I am a proud cosponsor of Sen. Sherrod Brown’s bill that will repeal this tax in a responsible manner and look forward to working on a bipartisan basis to help working families by responsibly repealing this tax.
      “I remain very concerned about continued attempts to defund Planned Parenthood. Preventative health care services comprise the vast majority of Planned Parenthood’s services, and under this legislation, thousands of women in Hawai`i might be left without access to another provider. This legislation also eliminates the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which funds a number of key public health research initiatives. This bill would also repeal the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, which would severely impact Hawai`i’s ability to provide access to health care to our most vulnerable residents.
      “While we continue to consider these partisan measures that are guaranteed to fail, Congress is getting closer and closer to hitting next week’s deadline to fund the government. Instead of wasting time on the Republicans’ ideological wish lists, the Senate should be debating legislation that supports and strengthens the middle class.”
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KA`U HIGH TROJAN BASKETBALL teams participated in preseason tournaments. 
      At the Wai`akea/Kea`au tourney on Wednesday, Dec. 2 and Friday, Dec. 4, the boys lost to St. Joseph, 54-32 and 50-25. Yesterday, the Trojans led in the first quarter, but Wai`akea JV overcame them 48-35. The boys’ regular season begins on Monday, Dec. 28, hosting Kealakehe.
      Girls participated in HPA’s tournament yesterday. In a back-and-forth scoring game, they led by seven points at the end, winning 37-30. Girls begin regular season play this Tuesday, Dec. 8, hosting Kohala.
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MARK KARAN PERFORMS TODAY at 3 p.m. for a fundraiser at Ocean View Community Center. Karan is best known for performing with the extended Grateful Dead family. For the last twelve years, he has anchored the lead guitar slot in Bob Weir & RatDog, playing hundreds of shows to thousands of fans year-round.
Mark Karan performs in Ocean View today.
      A party beginning at 12 p.m. is a toy and food drive featuring food, raffles, music, Santa Claus and more.
       The party is free; suggested donation for the concert is $15. Organizer Charlene Roco, of Handi Jams nonprofit, said proceeds benefit the children of Ocean View.

KA`U RESIDENT DICK HERSHBERGER brings Hawaiian Volcano Observatory founder Thomas Jaggar to life this and every other Tuesday. Programs begin at 10 a.m., 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.

THE 37TH ANNUAL PAHALA Christmas Parade winds through the hillside village a week from today on Sunday, Dec. 13 beginning at 1 p.m. The parade, which welcomes everyone from youth groups and teams to coffee farmers and classic vehicles and floats, is organized by Eddie Andrade and family and friends. It begins at the old Pahala Armory and stops in at Ka`u Hospital to see long-term care patients and staff. It passes Pahala Shopping Center. Many people watch from their homes. The parade ends at the Catholic Church on Pikake Street, where the community and paraders enjoy refreshments. For more information, call Andrade at 928-0808.

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



See kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.swf
and kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.pdf.
See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_December2015.pdf.