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| Ka`u High celebrated Homecoming yesterday. At center are King Trevor Taylor and Queen Alysha Gustafson-Savella. They are joined by Senior Attendant Zaylee Pascubillo with Escort Pete Dacalio, Junior Attendant Deslyn Dacalio-Camba and Escort Janslae Badua, Sophomore Attendant Taylor Kekoa-Burgos and her Escort Kyle Calumpit, and Freshman Attendant Kaohinani Grace with Escort Raymond Polido-Kalili. Photo by Taylor's Treasures Photography |
HAWAI`I ELECTRIC LIGHT CO. AND ITS PARENT Hawaiian Electric Co. oppose participation by two nonprofits in the state Public Utilities Commission review of a formal complaint. Life of the Land and Hawaiian Ranchos Road Maintenance Corp. applied to intervene in a complaint filed by Ranchos residents Peter and Ann Bosted. The complaint asserts that the utilities failure to enforce many rules related to the Feed-in-Tariff project resulted in a utility-scale project in the residential subdivision Ocean View Ranchos in order to circumvent Power Purchase Agreement requirements. The Bosteds allege that FIT permits should not have been issued to these developers. They are requesting that the commission extinguish these FIT projects, remove them from the Active Queue and revoke the FIT permits of the developers of the 26 projects.
The utilities claim that the applicants have not demonstrated a statutory or other right mandating their intervention; reasonable bases for their alleged property, financial or other interests in the proceeding; the effect of any pending order as to their alleged interest; that they have no other means available to protect such interests; that such interests will not be adequately represented by other parties in this proceeding; or that their intervention would contribute to the development of a sound record and would not unduly delay and unreasonably broaden the issues presented in the proceeding.
The utilities also state that HRRMC’s filing “was not timely and should be dismissed,” based on a Hawai`i statute that “a motion to intervene shall be filed no later than 20 days after an application is filed. The complainant’s application in this instance was filed on Aug. 29, 2016, and HRRMC’s Motion was filed on Sept. 22, 2016, after the 20-day filing period had elapsed.”See puc.hawaii.gov. Docket number is 2016-0224.
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| Paralyzed Veterans of American supports Hirono's law. Photo from PVA |
PRESIDENT OBAMA SIGNED SEN. MAZIE HIRONO’S bipartisan Federal Aviation Administration Veteran Transition Improvement Act into law Friday. Disabled veterans who work for the Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Security Administration will now have access to additional leave to treat service-related injuries.
The Hirono law ensures that new disabled veteran employees at the FAA and TSA have access to the sick leave benefit during their first year on the job just as their counterparts in other agencies receive. In 2015, Congress enacted the Wounded Warrior Federal Leave Act, which makes up to 104 hours of paid sick leave available to newly hired veteran federal employees with service-connected conditions rated 30 percent or higher. However, since certain federal personnel policies do not automatically apply to the FAA and the TSA, the additional sick leave created by the new law did not apply to these agencies before the law.
The law allows veterans with a disability rating of 30 percent or higher who are hired by the FAA or TSA to access additional paid sick leave during their first year on the job for the purposes of receiving medical care related to their service-connected condition. Currently, approximately a third of FAA employees in Hawai`i are veterans. Veterans form over 10 percent of the TSA’s Hawai`i workforce.
The law allows veterans with a disability rating of 30 percent or higher who are hired by the FAA or TSA to access additional paid sick leave during their first year on the job for the purposes of receiving medical care related to their service-connected condition. Currently, approximately a third of FAA employees in Hawai`i are veterans. Veterans form over 10 percent of the TSA’s Hawai`i workforce.
Support for the bill came from many organizations, including the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, National Air Traffic Controllers Association, Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, Federal Managers Association, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Reserve Officers Association, United Spinal Association, American Federation of Government Employees and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
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DYNAMIC STRUCTURES DIVISION OF EMPIRE INDUSTRIES, LTD has been awarded a contract from Canadian Commercial Corporation for the final design and production readiness phases of the Thirty Meter Telescope enclosure. The announcement comes as the state holds a contested case hearing about the project on Mauna Kea. The contract is valued at approximately $10 million and is expected to be completed over the next 18 months.
The Thirty Meter Telescope would be the most advanced and powerful optical telescope on Earth, according to Empire. It would enable astronomers to study objects and stars throughout the Milky Way and its neighboring galaxies, as well as galaxies forming at the very edge of the observable Universe.
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| Guy Nelson Photo from Empire Industries |
The TMT project is being undertaken by a consortium of universities, institutions and governments from the United States, Canada, Japan, China, and India. The TMT enclosure is one of several key deliverables that Canada will be contributing to the TMT partnership under which Canada will provide up to $243.5 million over 10 years to support Canada’s participation in TMT.
Dynamic Structures has developed an innovative calotte shape for the TMT enclosure. The design significantly reduces the size and improves the speed of the enclosure, to effectively shield the telescope and instruments from temperature variations, unbalanced wind forces, snow and ice. The enclosure will rotate and track the telescope’s field of view. When completed, the enclosure will be 55 meters high and be assembled from over hundreds of thousands of parts.
The enclosure design is expected to be executed by the first quarter of 2018. Subsequent phases of the Canadian enclosure project, including fabrication, shipping the enclosure to the project site, supervision of the enclosure’s installation, and commissioning of the structure, have not yet been awarded.
The enclosure design is expected to be executed by the first quarter of 2018. Subsequent phases of the Canadian enclosure project, including fabrication, shipping the enclosure to the project site, supervision of the enclosure’s installation, and commissioning of the structure, have not yet been awarded.
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| Trojan teammates guard Jamal Buyuan as he runs toward the end zone. Photo by Taylor's Treasures Photography. |
Dynamic Structures has been in operation since 1926 and was acquired by Empire Industries in 2007. It is one of the world’s premier providers of movable (dynamic) structures. The company develops effective integration strategies to cover all aspects of complex structural, mechanical and electrical system projects right through design, manufacturing and on-site construction. They have an enviable reputation of providing these services to the global amusement ride industry and the global telescope observatory market. Dynamic Structures has designed and manufactured approximately half the world’s large telescope enclosures. The company is located in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. More can be learned about the company by visiting www.empireds.com.
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ZACHARY KAI SCORED THE TROJANS’ two touchdowns yesterday, playing Kohala at home.
The Trojans led 14-10 in the first quarter, following Kai’s runs into the end zone and a good two-point conversion run by Jamal Buyuan. The Trojans’ score remained at 14 through the rest of the game, while Kohala scored in the second and fourth quarters to bring the final score to 24-14.
The eight-man team has a rematch with Kohala at home on Saturday, Oct. 29, the final game of the regular season. This Thursday, they travel to Pahoa for their final away game.
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| Trojan Homecoming King Trevor Taylor and Queen Alysha Gustafson-Savell at yesterday's game. Photo by David Berry |
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TROJAN HOMECOMING CELEBRATIONS CONTINUED after yesterday’s game. King and Queen are Trevor Taylor and Alysha Gustafson-Savella. Senior Attendant is Zaylee Pascubillo, with Escort Pete Dacalio. Junior Attendant Deslyn Dacalio-Camba was escorted by Janslae Badua. Sophomore Attendant is Taylor Kekoa-Burgos, and her Escort was Kyle Calumpit. Freshman Raymond Polido-Kalili escorted Attendant Kaohinani Grace.
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| Ka`u residents who vote at early voting sites can register that same day. Photo by Julia Neal |
LATE VOTER REGISTRATION WILL BE AVAILABLE after tomorrow's deadline to register to vote in the Tuesday, Nov. 8 nationwide general election. Ka`u residents who miss the Monday deadline will have an opportunity to register and vote on the same day at early voting sites, including Pahala Community Center, from Wednesday, Oct. 26 through Thursday, Nov. 3. Newly registered names will be added to the rolls for future elections.
Pahala Community Center will be open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. for early voting.
See elections.hawaii.gov for more information.
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See elections.hawaii.gov for more information.
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SENIOR IDs ARE AVAILABLE FOR KA`U RESIDENTS tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at St. Jude’s Church in Ocean View.
KA`U’S HAWAI`I COUNTY COUNCIL MEMBER MAILE DAVID meets with residents Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center.
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.
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| See kaucalendar.com. |
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| See kaucalendar.com/TheDirectory2016.html and kaucalendar.com/TheDirectory2016.pdf. |
