Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Friday, June 10, 2016

University of Hawai`i geology student Trista McKenzie works with a Hawai`i soil sample in her monitoring
of radiation levels. Photos from University of Hawai`i

CONTINUED MONITORING OF AIR, WATER AND SOIL for impacts from the March 11, 2011 nuclear power plant disaster following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan show a level of safety, according to a recent report from University of Hawai`i, published in Nuclear News and on the University of Hawai`i website for news.

Trista McKenzie gathers a soil
sample for testing.

     On Hawai`i Island and O`ahu, geology students Hannah Azouz and Trista McKenzie assessed the extent to which soils and locally purchased fish have been impacted by radioactivity from this event.

Tests showed that Hawai`i fish have
low levels of radiation.

      All fish tested were significantly below intervention limits, and the highest cesium concentration in examined species was in ahi tuna. “These data are informative to the community, and they reassure me about the safety of the food we consume,” Azouz said. “The activities of the radionuclides were gratefully low. A person consuming the annual average amount of fish would receive the same dose of radioactivity as if they consumed one banana.”
      For soils, McKenzie found cesium inventories were not high compared to those found in forest soils found near Fukushima Power Plant, where levels were nearly 200 times higher.
      Their mentor Henrietta Dulai told Max Dible, of West Hawai`i Today, that “the conclusion is pretty much that all is safe. Tests are still ongoing, but we do not expect any significant levels at all.”
      See westhawaiitoday.com.
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King Kamehameha I
Image from Wikipedia

KAMEHAMEHA DAY IS TOMORROW. State and county government offices are closed today in observance of the state holiday.
      Established by royal decree on Dec. 22, 1871 by King Kamehameha V as a national holiday, Kamehameha Day honors the memory of Kamehameha, the king’s great grandfather, who united the Hawaiian Islands in 1810 and became Hawai`i’s first king.
      The day was first observed on June 11, 1872 and was one of the first holidays proclaimed by the state Legislature after Hawai`i became a U.S. state in 1959.
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EB-5 PROJECTS, through which foreign investors obtain Green Cards to live in the U.S., with the possibility of eventual citizenship, are coming to the Big Island in a big way. According to a story by Duane Shimogawa published by Pacific Business News this morning, a series of developments called the Villages of Aina Lea, to be built on more than 1,000 acres on the Kohala Coast, is funded through Chinese investors. It is an EB-5 project under Golden Pacific Ventures regional center, approved by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, PBN reports.
      According to PBN, Aina Lea, Inc. representatives “said during the next eight to 10 years it expects to work with luxury home builders to build and sell over $3 billion of homes. The Villages of Aina Lea is zoned for 1,945 luxury homes, 384 affordable townhomes, a golf course, walking trails and parks, as well as medical and commercial centers.”

      One $51 million project planned for the land is a 48-unit luxury condominium-hotel to be managed by a Hong Kong company called Mission Hills, which oversees hotels, condominiums, residential houses and golf courses worldwide.
      PBN reports that “Byron Burley, vice president of development and strategic sales for Juwai.com, an international real estate website for Chinese buyers” said, “Chinese investors will continue to invest in Hawai`i properties. ‘I think you’ve only seen a trickle of what will be coming,’ he said.”

      See bizjournals.com/pacific.
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BAY CLINIC’S TOBACCO CESSATION Program received $225,000 from Hawai`i Community Foundation’s Hawai`i Tobacco and Control Trust Fund.
      “The program is a great support system for people who want to start living a smoke-free lifestyle,” Bay Clinic CEO Harold Wallace said.
      Participants get comprehensive support through individual and group counseling sessions, pharmacotherapy options and other services to help them succeed.

      Bay Clinic urges its patients to discuss the program with their health care provider and those who are not patients to ask their provider for a referral.
      For more information, call coordinator Mealani Rahmer at 313-2765.
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BEGINNING ON JULY 1, all vessel registration transfers in the state of Hawai`i will require a notarized bill of sale to be presented to registering agency the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation. 

      Presently, DOBOR needs to match a vessel owner’s signature on record with the signature on a bill of sale in order to approve a vessel registration transfer. This method can be inaccurate since an individual’s official signature may change over time. It also puts a burden on the buyer if DOBOR staff cannot authenticate a signature on a bill of sale. If that should happen, the transfer request would be denied, and the buyer would have to go through the process of securing a notarized bill of sale.

Hawai`i boating administrator Ed Underwood
Photo from DLNR

      Often, the seller of a vessel will have changed residence or may have left the state and cannot be contacted, causing a lengthy delay in the transfer process.

      “This new requirement will help DLNR provide better customer service to boaters. It helps us promise for the vast majority of our customers that transfers won’t be declined or delayed,” DLNR Director Suzanne Case said.
      On average, between 2,200 and 2,600 transactions per year are registered annually in the state. Notarized bills of sale will not only reduce work for the vessel owners and DOBOR, but also allow for more secure vessel registration transfers.
      State boating administrator Ed Underwood said, “We are also concerned about preventing vessel theft through fraudulent bills of sale. It is rare for DOBOR to encounter forged signatures, but it has happened several times over the last few years.”
      A standardized bill of sale form is already available that includes a section for a notary’s signature. That form can be accessed at http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dobor/forms/.
      Even if a bill of sale is not executed using the official DOBOR form, it will still be accepted at the time of transfer, so long as the signature of the seller on the bill of sale is notarized.
      For further information, boaters may contact DOBOR Vessel Registration at 808-587-1970.
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Emily Herb is one of several potters participating
in Volcano Pottery Sale. Photo by Fred Dean
from `Apapane Pottery

THE EIGHTH ANNUAL VOLCANO Pottery Sale takes place at Volcano Art Center in Volcano Village today from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. and tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. Artists include T.R. Andrews, Tim Freeman, Claire Seastone, Zoe Johnson, Marion Nipper, Peri Enkin, Shannon Hickey, Birgitta Frazier, Emily Herb, Chiu Leong, Laura Roberts, Lisa Louise Adams, Robert Troost and Suzanne Wang.

      There will be wheel-throwing demonstrations tomorrow.
      Bentos and sushi from Volcano Hanabi will be available today, and Thai food from Aunty Pon’s Café will be available tomorrow.

OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY CENTER holds a Stew Day Fundraiser tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
      Call 939-7033 for more information.

MONGOLIAN BBQ IS FEATURED tomorrow from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Kilauea Military Camp’s Crater Rim Café in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.
      KMC is open to authorized patrons and sponsored guests. Park entrance fees apply.

KAHUKU UNIT OF HAWAI`I VOLCANOES National Park offers free programs this weekend.
      Tomorrow from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., participants discover the Hawaiian goddesses Hi`iaka and Pele and the natural phenomena they represent on a moderate, one-mile walk.
      On Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., hikers on Pu`u Kahuku Trail explore realms and divisions of the traditional Hawaiian classification system.

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

See kaucalendar.com/TheDirectory2016.html
and kaucalendar.com/TheDirectory2016.pdf.

See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_June_2016.pdf.