Sunday, July 08, 2018

Kaʻū News Briefs Sunday, July 8, 2018

Stacy Higa interviews west Kaʻū to Kona state Senate candidates Dru Kanuha and Brenda Ford.
See the forum at naleo.tv/vod/
THE FORD-KANUHA FORUM, Decision 2018, sponsored by Hawaiʻi County Democrats and Nā Leo TV, last week illustrated goals and views of the two Democratic candidates vying to represent west Kaʻū and Kona, District 3, in the state Senate. Watch the forum at naleo.tv/vod/, with moderator Stacy Higa.
     Brenda Ford, who served eight years for County Council District 6, Volcano, Kaʻū into Kona, said she is an excellent researcher, leading to the best ideas. She said she is persistent in achieving goals and bringing projects to fruition, “to get things done.” She said she is a protector of people, and has extensive leadership ability. She is a former union steward and helped with many Kona capital improvement projects when serving on the Council. Ford said an important achievement was going to the state Supreme Court during her third council term to ensure voting districts are not gerrymandered. Hawaiʻi County became the only county where redistricting is codified.
Candidate Brenda Ford, in the Nāʻālehu Independence Day parade. Photo by Geneveve Fyvie
     Current Kona County Council member for District 7, Dru Kanuha, said he is a good collaborator, who works “together, to get things done.” He noted his upbringing in Kona, his ability to work with his colleagues there and in Hilo, and with the Mayor. He spoke of his ability to function as one island, one county, to get projects “desperately needed for our community” done. He said building relationships and helping to grow as a community are the most important traits he brings to the table, and that working with all state legislators as a whole community is important. He serves as the chair for the Committee of Governmental Relations and Economic Development, and President of Hawaiʻi State Association of Counties. Kanuha said he has worked on keiki health and raising the tobacco age, making Hawaiʻi the first county in the state to raise the age to 21.
     When the candidates were asked what committees in the state Senate they would most like to serve, Kanuha said he would like to chair the health or education committee. He vowed to work toward construction of a new hospital in Kona and for more telehealth medicine. He said both the kupuna and new generation need more access to health care.
     Ford said she would work for a new hospital in Kona, without leaning on taxpayer money. She said it should be a teaching hospital, and offer specialty medicine to reduce the emergency airlifts and air travel to Honolulu for patient treatment by specialists. She said she is already working to bring in University of Washington’s Physicians Assistants Program for training in Hawaiʻi and the entire Pacific Basin. She said she would like to see more funding for the West Hawaiʻi keiki dental clinic, which she helped to fund as a County Council member. 
Candidate Dru Kanuha, in the Nāʻālehu Independence Day parade. Photo by Geneveve Fyvie
     When asked for the biggest issue in the district, Ford said health. She said there are too few doctors, and that Hawaiʻi Island needs a trauma center on island. She also said there should be more support for battered women.
     Kanuha said that constituents are calling for more access to healthcare, particularly specialists. He said there is too much travel to Honolulu. He mentioned his dad being airlifted to Honolulu for a heart attack. He said there is a growing community that needs a new hospital.
     When asked to identify the biggest issue for the entire island, Kanuha said lack of locally grown food. He said he supports the Kona and Kaʻū coffee industries, but said there needs to be ample land for growing food for the people who live here. He said he advocates for importing far less food and said the community can “take care of ourselves with more food sustainability.” 
Dru Kanuha on Decision 2018, running for state Senate.
Image from Na Leo TV
      Ford said she agrees with the need for locally grown food and a place to grow it. However, she named her top islandwide issue as affordable housing. “We don't have enough apartments, or condos, or anything else for people to rent and/or buy,” said Ford. She quoted prices in her area of “$1,000 a month for one room rented in somebody’s home.” She said if developers can't produce affordable housing, then the state and county will have to become involved. She also mentioned rent control, and that vacation rentals can displace affordable housing.
     When asked about the biggest issue facing the state, Ford said the operation of the state Department of Education. She pointed to the loss of teachers and the hiring of unqualified teachers.
She said more teachers are needed, and their salaries need raising. She also mentioned DOE using county funds to “subsidize their transportation system.”
     Kanuha named affordable housing as the most critical statewide issue. “I have seen a lot of my friends… not being able to buy a place… So they moved to the mainland.” He said that the minimum wage does not match up with any actual affordable housing. “This doesn’t make sense to me.”
Brenda Ford on Decision 2018, running for state Senate.
Image from Na Leo TV
     When asked about homelessness, Kanuha called it a “Big Issue.” He said it is like housing. Roofs are needed over homeless people's heads, with microhousing or tiny homes; off the street, surrounded with social services. The communities, which don’t perceive the homeless numbers going down, need the tools to help solve the problem, he said.
     Ford agreed and talked about small villages with a central community and social services. She said there is a need for specialized housing for those distressed mentally. She said that the eruption which displaced many people with homes, has disrupted some of the activities towards helping the chronically homeless. She talked about the present Kona hospital, which she hopes to replace with a new hospital in a different location, which could be repurposed to help those with mental and physical issues who are homeless.
     Read more of the candidates' answers on a variety of topics, such as emergency preparedness, the tourism board, and higher education, in Monday’s Kaʻū News Briefs.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter. See our online calendars and our latest print edition at kaucalendar.com.

The active lava lake within Halema‘uma‘u crater, about 3 weeks before magma began to withdraw from beneath
 the crater. Behind the plume is the old Overlook parking area, which slumped into the crater by June 21.
USGS photo on April 13 by Lil DeSmither
HOW DOES KĪLAUEA ACTIVITY COMPARE to its own history and history of other volcanoes?
That is the question answered in this week’s Volcano Watch by U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists and colleagues:
     How does the current activity at Kīlauea caldera stack up against those of other volcanoes worldwide?
     We are currently witnessing extraordinary events at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano. For weeks, the summit has subsided both in a continuous fashion, and in incremental and jolting drops. As Kīlauea is being reshaped before our eyes, how does the current activity compare to similar collapses at other volcanoes in the world, or even to previous collapses at Kīlauea?
     The word “caldera” tends to conjure an image of a huge crater that was the product of a voluminous eruption, like Crater Lake, Oregon or Yellowstone, Wyoming. Indeed, those are calderas; they formed when large explosions emptied subsurface magma chambers, causing the overlying surface to collapse. But calderas can also form without large explosions.
     Calderas are common features on shield volcanoes, like Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, and they are not usually associated with large explosive eruptions. Instead, they form when magma drains from beneath the volcano, perhaps to feed some distant intrusion or eruption on the volcano’s outer flank – exactly what is happening at Kīlauea’s lower East Rift Zone. There have actually been a few collapse events at volcanoes around the world in the past few decades.
     Piton de la Fournaise volcano, on Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean, is similar to Kīlauea in many respects: it is a hotspot volcano that erupts frequently from its summit and rift zones. In 2007, a major (for that volcano) flank eruption occurred, and within a week the summit began to subside. Over the course of just a few days, an area about 1 km (0.6 mi) across dropped by more than 300 m (~1000 feet). Seismicity indicates that the crater floor dropped in a series of down-dropping events, rather than all at once.
     Collapse was also observed at Miyakejima volcano, in Japan. In 2000, magma left the volcano’s summit reservoir, intruded beneath the submarine flank of the volcano. About two weeks after the intrusion started, the summit crater began to deepen in a series of step-like events accompanied by seismic events, much like what is happening today at Kīlauea. Over the course of over a month, a section of the volcano’s crater about 1.6 km (1 mi) across dropped by 450 m (~1500 ft). The collapse was accompanied by a few explosions, some of which dusted areas of the island with ash and produced cold pyroclastic surges.
As magma in a shallow reservoir beneath the summit drains into the East Rift Zone, the ground above it sags,
 cracks, and subsides. Halema‘uma‘u crater has dropped about 400 m (1,300 ft) between early May and late June, 
and the diameter of Halema‘uma‘u has doubled. USGS photo on June 18 by Kyle Anderson
     The 1968 eruption of Fernandina volcano, in the Galápagos, provides another example of caldera formation. Over the course of about a week, the 4 km x 6.5 km (2.5 mi x 4 mi) caldera dropped in places by 300 m (almost 1,000 ft). It is thought that a submarine eruption or intrusion must have preceded the collapse. Importantly, and unlike Piton de la Fournaise and Miyakejima, significant explosive activity accompanied the collapse of Fernandina’s caldera, sweeping the summit area and parts of the volcano’s flanks with pyroclastic surges.
     Earlier calderas have formed and filled at Kīlauea’s summit. We know of at least two such cycles. One started about 2,200 years ago, before any humans were on the island to observe the activity. After that caldera was subsequently filled with lava flows, a new one formed sometime between the years 1470 and 1510 CE. That caldera-forming event may have made its way into Hawaiian mythology as part of the Pele and Hiʻiaka saga; see previous Volcano Watch article, volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/hvo_volcano_watch.html?vwid=566.
     This later collapse “lost” a volume of about 5 cubic kilometers (1.2 cubic miles), about 4 times that of Fernandina’s 1968 collapse, and 10 times what we have observed so far at Kīlauea. The caldera floor might have been at least 600 m (almost 2,000 ft) deep when the collapse stopped. We know that formation of this caldera was not accompanied by a major explosion, but it was followed by three centuries of repeated explosive activity.
    For more information about the current activity and hazard at and around the summit of Kīlauea, see this report: Volcanic Hazard at the Summit of Kīlauea, June 29, 2018 Update, at  volcanoes.usgs.gov/vsc/file_mngr/file-184/Summit%20scenarios_7-5-18.pdf. For status updates on volcanic activity, visit the USGS–Hawaiian Volcano Observatory webpage at volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/status.html. Subscribe to the Volcano Notification Service to receive emails about volcanic activity, at volcanoes.usgs.gov/vns2/. Webcam images, volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_webcams.html. View live streaming of summit activity at youtu.be/JlP-8JiKOS8.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter. See our online calendars and our latest print edition at kaucalendar.com.

Keiki enjoy painting rainbows after a science lesson about
light and color at a Ka‘ū Homeschool Co-op Group
meeting. Photo by Candace Hendricks
NEW MEMBERS INVITED TO KA‘Ū PARENT-LED HOMESCHOOL ACTIVITY GROUP. Ka‘ū Homeschool Co-op Group, a parent-led homeschool activity and social group set on building community in Ka‘ū, is open to keiki of all ages and their parents who homeschool in the district. The group meets at 1 p.m. every other Monday at Ocean View Community Center, with upcoming sessions on July 16 and 30. On occasion, the group will change the meeting location to take a field trip, or to go to one of the many public beaches on island - including beaches in Ka’ū - as a group.
     Founder Laura Roberts said the idea for the group came about after homeschooling her four children in Ocean View for two years and seeing a “huge need for social activities for homeschooled kids.”
     The group is free to join, and sessions are free to attend; however, participating families are asked to commit to leading one session every 6-8 months - providing needed materials - with the freedom to select their own topic. Past sessions have included various art projects, hands-on science lessons, and sports skills. Future sessions planned include gardening, cooking, homemade value-added produce, and more. Roberts says parents are welcome to lead a class on “art, games, food, story time… any kind of activity that the kids will enjoy and perhaps learn something. July events will probably be outings due to summer.
     “We would love to see people come in from the community - who might not have homeschooled children - who would like to share as well. Such as, someone who does woodworking could come in and do a demonstration,” Roberts added.
     Interested families are encouraged to contact Roberts in advance to confirm the meeting location. All events are alcohol and drug free. For more, call 406-249-3351 or dreamoutloud@mail.com. See South Hawaiʻi (Big Island) Homeschool Hui on Facebook.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter. See our online calendars and our latest print edition at kaucalendar.com.

Photo by Jack Jeffrey, from volcanoartcenter.org
PHOTOGRAPHER AND BIOLOGIST JACK JEFFREY shares his experiences on The Joy and Challenges of Native Bird Photography in Hawai‘i on Thursday, July 19, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at Volcano Art Center’s Ni‘aulani Campus in Volcano Village.
     “Many of Hawai‘i’s native forest birds are seldom seen and rarely photographed. Often found only at higher elevations in remote rain forests, many of these birds are critically endangered, some having only a few hundred individuals remaining in the wild. In their rainforest habitats, the weather is often rainy, foggy, cold, and wet, extreme conditions prevail, not good for photographers or their camera equipment. These primeval forests are often only accessible by helicopter or by hiking many hours along muddy slopes and trails,” says the event description on volcanoartcenter.org. In this presentation, Jeffrey brings his experiences, challenges, and joys of photographing Hawai‘i’s native forest birds with stories and photos of these elusive native forest birds in their native habitats.
Photo by Jack Jeffrey,
from volcanoartcenter.org
     Jeffrey, a longtime resident of Hawai‘i Island, is “intimately familiar with Hawai‘i’s hidden valleys and remote rainforests.” He brings to his photographs the knowledge of 40 years of observation and study of Hawai‘i’s endemic birds. “Combined with a naturalist’s curiosity, a photographer’s patience and technical skill, Jack captures the spirit of Hawai‘i’s rare forest birds, plants and other natural treasures in his wonderful photographic images.” He is the recipient of the following awards: 2002 Ansel Adams Award for Nature Photography; 2006 The Nature Conservancy of Hawai‘i; and Kako‘o ‘Āina Award for Conservation Photography. Jeffrey has also co-authored three books on Hawai‘i’s birds. His bird and natural history photographs have been featured in numerous worldwide publications.
     As part of Thursday Night at the Center, this event is free; although, a $5 donation to Volcano Art Center is suggested. For more information, call 967-8222 or visit volcanoartcenter.org. The once-a-month Thursday night events at Volcano Art Center focus on art, Hawaiian culture, and the environment. The series is intended to inspire and enhance appreciation of art and life experience, while fostering community connections.

See public Ka‘ū events, meetings, entertainment
Print edition of The Ka‘ū Calendar is free to 5,500 mailboxes 
throughout Ka‘ū, from Miloli‘i through Volcano, and free on 
stands throughout the district. Read online at kaucalendar.com 
and facebook.com/kaucalendar.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter. See our online calendars and our latest print edition at kaucalendar.com.

MONDAY, JULY 9
Richard Creagan Talk Story, Mon, July 9, 6-9pm, Ocean View Community Center. Current State Representative for District 5 and candidate. He is a Ka‘ū resident, farmer, and a physician. 939-7033

TUESDAY, JULY 10
Hawai‘i County Council Meetings, Tue/Wed, July 10(Committees)/11 (Council), Hilo, Tue/Wed, July 24 (Committees)/25 (Council), Kona. Ka‘ū residents can participate via videoconferencing at Nā‘ālehu State Office Building. Agendas at hawaiicounty.gov

C.E.R.T. Discovery Harbour/Nā‘ālehu, Tue, July 10, 4-6pm, Discovery Harbour Community Hall. Public invited to see what Community Emergency Response Team is about, and participate in training scenarios. Dina Shisler, dinashisler24@yahoo.com, 410-935-8087

The Wonderful World of Wine and Watercolor, Tue, July 10, 4-7pmVolcano Art Center’s Ni‘aulani Campus, Volcano Village. Learn how to transfer a photo onto watercolor paper through basic techniques. $30/VAC Member, $35/non-Member, plus $17 supply fee. 967-8222, volcanoartcenter.org

THURSDAY, JULY 12
Story Time with Auntie Linda from Tūtū and Me, Thu, July 12, 10:30-noon, Nā‘ālehu Public Library. 929-8571

Thursday Night at the Center - Witnesses in Words: The Literature of Kīlauea, Thu, July 12, 7-8pmVolcano Art Center’s Ni‘aulani Campus, Volcano Village. A reenactment of first Western visitors to Kīlauea and their perspectives: William Ellis, Titus Coan, Mark Twain and Isabella Bird. Free; $5 donation suggested. 967-8222, volcanoartcenter.org

FRIDAY, JULY 13
Oliver!, a KDEN Production, July 13-29; Fridays and Saturdays, 7:30pm, Sundays 2:30pm. Shows moved to UH Hilo Performing Arts Center. Tickets: $20 general, $15 seniors 60+ and students, $12 keiki 12 and under. Tickets available from July 2 at Kīlauea General Store, Kea‘au Natural Foods, Basically Books, and The Most Irresistible Shop in Hilo. Info and reservations: 982-7344, kden73@aol.com

Exhibit, Birds of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park: The Hawai‘i Nei Invitational Daily, July 13-Aug 4, 9-5pmVolcano Art Center’s Ni‘aulani Campus, Volcano Village. Free. Opening reception: Fri, July 13, 5-7pm. Artists: John Dawson, Reyn Ojiri, Sarah Koh, Wendy Barske, Maria Macias, Cody Yamaguchi, Ann Guth, and John Mydoock. Art represents endemic bird species. volcanoartcenter.org

2nd Annual Bi-Annual Quilt Show, Quilts In The Forest - Where the Path May Lead, Opening reception: Fri, July 13, 5-7pm. Then daily, Tue-Sat, 10-4pm, through Aug 3, Volcano Art Center’s Ni‘aulani Campus, Volcano Village. Free. Workshops and demonstrations planned in conjunction with show. Fia Mattice, 967-8222, quiltshow2018@volcanoartcenter.org. volcanoartcenter.org

SATURDAY, JULY 14
Pancake Breakfast and Raffle, Sat, July 14, 8-11amOcean View Community Center. To volunteer, call 939-7033, ovcahi.org

Kāwā Volunteer Day, Sat, July 14, 9:30am, Kāwā. Sign up with James Akau, Nā Mamo o Kāwā, at namamookawa@gmail.com, jakau@nmok.org, or 561-9111. nmok.org

Realms and Divisions of Kahuku, Sat, July 14, 9:30-11:30am, Kahuku Unit of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Moderately difficult, two-mile, guided hike on Kahuku Unit's newest trail, Pu‘u Kahuku, explores the traditional Hawaiian classification system. Bring snack. Free. nps.gov/HAVO

Zentangle: Ink-Blown ‘Ōhi‘a w/Dina Wood Kageler, Sat, July 14, 10-1pmVolcano Art Center’s Ni‘aulani Campus, Volcano Village. Celebrating Volcano’s premier rainforest tree, Ke Kumu ‘Ōhi‘a. Loaner pens, pencils and watercolors available. Bring Zentangle supplies, if able. No artistic experience necessary. $30/VAC Member, $35/non-member, plus $10 supply fee. Bring light refreshment to share. Register online, volcanoartcenter.org, or call 967-8222

SUNDAY, JULY 15
Nature and Culture: An Unseverable Relationship, Sun, July 15, 9:30-11:30am, Kahuku Unit of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Moderate guided hike along the Palm Trail, approx. 2 miles. Learn about native plants that play a vital role in Hawaiian culture, and observe the catastrophic change and restoration of the land as it transitions from the 1868 lava flow to deeper soils with more diversity and older flora. Free. nps.gov/HAVO

ONGOING
5th annual Ka‘ū Coffee Trail Run registration open. Race day Sat, Sept 22, 7 a.m.; begins and ends at Ka‘ū Coffee Mill. Register online before Mon, July 9: 5K, $25/person; 10K, $35/person; and 1/2 Marathon, $45/person. From July 9 to Aug 11: $30/person, $40/person, and $45/person, respectively. From Aug 13 to Sept 20: $35/person, $45/person, and $55/person. Race day registration ends Sat, Sept 22, at 6:30 a.m. Event organizers, ‘O Ka‘ū Kākou; start location, Ka‘ū Coffee Mill.

Libraries Rock Summer Reading Program: Hawai‘i State Public Library System, through Saturday, July 14, statewide and online. Register and log reading at librarieshawaii.beanstack.org or at a local library. Free. Reading rewards, activities, and programs for children, teens, and adults. 2018 participants have a chance to win a Roundtrip for four to anywhere Alaska Airlines flies.

Paid Intern sought by The Nature Conservancy, to work from October 2018 through August 2019 with their Hawai‘i Island Terrestrial Program, which has native forest preserves located in Ka‘ū and South Kona.
     Benefits offered include: a $1,600 monthly living allowance (before taxes); a $5,920 education award towards higher education; health care and childcare benefits (if eligible); and receive an entry-level conservation career experience.
     Applicants must be at least 17 years old by the program start date, October 2018, and possess or be working towards a high school diploma or equivalent. Applications must also have their own housing and transportation, a drivers license, and be able to pass a criminal history check.
     The internship is offered through Kupu Hawai‘i. Those interested are asked to fill out an online application at kupuhawaii.org under Conservation Leaders Program as soon as possible, as spaces are limited; http://www.kupuhawaii.org/conservation/. For more, call The Nature Conservancy at 443-5401 or call Kupu Hawai‘i at 808-735-1221.

Disaster Recovery Center, jointly operated by Hawaiʻi County, the State of Hawaiʻi, and FEMA, is open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Keaʻau High School Gym. Buses run from 7:30 a.m. and 9 p.m. to and from Keaʻau Armory every 20 minutes and Pāhoa Community Center Shelter every hour. See the full bus schedule on the Civil Defense Website at HawaiiCounty.gov/Active-Alerts. For a list of the information applicants need to bring to the DRC, or to register online, go to DisasterAssistance.gov

Find Your Park, invites Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Kamaʻaina and tourist alike are encouraged to experience authentic Hawaiian cultural programs, guided hikes, After Dark events, and more from Ka‘ū to Volcano to Hilo. “While Kīlauea continues to shake the ground and blast ash from its ever-changing summit crater – causing the partial closure of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park on May 11 – park rangers continue to enlighten and engage visitors from other locations,” says a release from HVNP staff.
     Rangers offer new and familiar programs – free of charge, with no entry fees – for visitors at the park’s Kahuku Unit, Volcano Art Center’s Ni‘aulani Campus, the Mokupāpapa Discovery Center in Hilo, and at the Grand Naniloa Hotel in downtown Hilo.
Kahuku Unit
In addition to regularly scheduled Guided Hikes and the monthly Coffee Talk, Kahuku Unit has added daily Ranger Talks, and cultural demonstrations and activities on weekends.
Visitor Contact Station hosts Ike Hana Noe ʻAu, Cultural Demonstrations and Activities, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday, made possible by Hawaiʻi Pacific Parks Association. Sat, July 7: Lau Hala Weaving. One of the most beautiful Hawaiian fiber crafts, the leaves of the hau tree (pandanus) are woven into useful and decorative purposes. Sun, July 8: ‘Ohe Kāpala. Make your mark, and learn to create bamboo stamps with traditional and modern Hawaiian designs.
Visitor Contact Station hosts Ranger Talks on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
Guided Hikes begin at 9:30 a.m. every Saturday and Sunday in June and July. Meet the ranger at the welcome tent. Palm Trail, Saturday, July 7 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Ōhi‘a Lehua, Sunday, July 8 from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Coffee Talk, in the Visitor Contact Station is held the last Friday of the month, 9:30-11 a.m.
Kahuku events are posted to the park website, nps.gov/havo/planyourvisit/kahuku-hikes.htm.
Volcano Art Center’s Ni‘aulani Campus
You can also find your park rangers in Volcano at the Volcano Art Center’s Ni‘aulani Campus at 19-4074 Old Volcano Rd., in Volcano Village. Rangers are there most days from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to provide talks and answer questions about the current eruption.
The return of After Dark …near the park at the Volcano Art Center’s Ni‘aulani Campus. TBA
Mokupāpapa Discovery Center
Find you park rangers at Mokupāpapa Discovery Center in downtown Hilo, Monday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rangers provide daily eruption updates, and at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., give a talk about all five of Hawai‘i Island’s volcanoes – including Kīlauea. Get your NPS Passport Book stamped. Located at 76 Kamehameha Ave.Hilo. Please note, the Mokupāpapa Discovery Center will be closed on Wednesday, July 4, in observance of Independence Day.
Grand Naniloa Hotel
Two Park Rangers are stationed at the Grand Naniloa Hotel in downtown Hilo, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., every Sunday and Monday, in the Willie K Crown Room - as long as nothing else is scheduled in the space. The rangers will be doing daily talks at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. about the eruption. They will show the park film that is normally available to visitors to see at the Kilauea Visitor’s Center at the Summit, Born of Fire, Born in the Sea, every half-hour beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Kona Vet Center visits to Ocean View Community Center are Suspended until further notice. Veterans may call 329-0574 for VA benefit information. ovcahi.org

Tūtū and Me Offers Home Visits to those with keiki zero to five years old: home visits to aid with helpful parenting tips and strategies, educational resources, and a compassionate listening ear. Home visits are free, last 1.5 hours, two to four times a month, for a total of 12 visits, and snacks are provided. For info and to register, call Linda Bong 464-9634.

St. Jude's Episcopal Church Calls For More Volunteers for the Saturday community outreach. Especially needed are cooks for the soup served to those in need, and organizers for the hot showers. "Volunteering for St. Jude's Saturday Shower and Soup ministry is an opportunity to serve God in a powerful way," states St. Jude's April newsletter. Volunteer by contacting Dave Breskin at 319-8333.

Volcano Forest Runs Registration Open through Friday, August 17, at 6 p.m. Half marathon $85, 10K $45, 5K $30. Registration increases August 1: half marathon to $95, 10K to $55, and 5K to $35. Race is run from Cooper Center on Wright Road in Volcano Village on Saturday, August 18.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter. See our online calendars and our latest print edition at kaucalendar.com.