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| "Masks are still to be used here!" says the sign at Mizuno's in Pāhala on Saturday morning. It also says, "Thanks for your understanding." Photo by Julia Neal |
MOST BUSINESSES IN KAʻŪ AND VOLCANO HAVE ENDED INDOOR MASK WEARING REQUIREMENTS, according to a phone and drive-by survey taken on Saturday. The state ended its indoor mask-wearing mandate Friday at midnight. However, a few places are sticking with the protective policy to help prevent another rise in Covid cases.
In Volcano, ʻŌhelo Café not only still requires the wearing of masks, diners must also show a vaccination certificate.
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| Kahuku Garden & Gift advertiser, "No Mask Needed." Photo by Katie Graham |
In Nāʻālehu, Will & Grace, which provides packaged and fresh food and Kaʻū Coffee, also kept its mask mandate. "Please wear your safety mask. Before Enter the Store," is the message from management on the sign.
In Ocean View, L&L Drive In requires mask wearing to pick up food indoors. Close by, Kahuku Gift & Garden Shop posted the sign, "No Mask Needed." Owner of the shop, Lisa Barsell, expressed her gratitude towards the community for wearing masks during the pandemic and keeping Kaʻū safe. Ace Hardware in Ocean View made it optional to wear a mask, with most employees wearing them. At Kahuku Country Market, mask wearing was mixed, with no requirements.
People at several Ocean View businesses said some places hadn't imposed mask wearing during the pandemic.
In Nāʻālehu, Punalu'u Bake Shop, South Side Shaka's and Hana Hou restaurants and Ace Hardware made mask wearing optional. Down the highway, the 76 station with gasoline, liquor, snacks and a mini box store for food and household supplies, lifted the indoor mask wearing requirement.
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| Kahuku Mini Mart welcomed customers with and without masks on Saturday. Photo by Katie Graham |
In Pāhala, Longs Drugs lifted its mask mandate, as did the R&J store, with a sign saying, "Wearing a mask at R&G is optional." The sign above it with an artist's depiction of a woman wearing a mask remains, saying, "Spread
Aloha, Not Covid."
Aloha, Not Covid."
In Volcano, Kīlauea Military Camp Bowling Alley, the adjacent game room and its Ten Pin Restaurant have posted for some time that patrons do not have to wear masks if they immunized. However, neither staff nor patrons are allowed to check to see if anyone is immunized. One worker said he wears a mask for his own protection.
At the KMC check-in desk for accommodations and at nearby Lava Lounge, Crater Rim Café and KMC's general store, masks aren't required for those who are vaccinated but vaccination cards are not checked.
At Volcano House check-in desk and its Uncle George's Lounge and The Rim restaurant, the mask mandate has been lifted, but social distancing is still enforced by splitting up dining parties larger than four.
Volcano Art Center Gallery and campus have new entry signs that say, "Masks are recommended indoors, however no longer required."
In Volcano Village, Kīlauea Lodge lifted mask requirements for its restaurant, store and check in desk.
Volcano Store and Kīlauea General Store with their adjacent Lava Rock Café also lifted mask requirements, as did Thai Rim Bistro & Bar, along with its adjacent visitor center and True Value Hardware Store. Volcano Winery also lifted its mask requirement.
Chamber of Commerce Hawai'i reports its poll showing 29 percent of businesses plan to keep mask mandates for now.
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| "Masks are recommended indoors, however no longer required," says the sign at Volcano Art Center Gallery. |
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar/. See latest print edition at www.kaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/03/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.
"A century later, Native Hawaiians still face disparities in healthcare, education, housing, and more — and that needs to be addressed. In the years to come, it will be up to all of us to continue the legacy of Prince Kūhiō.
"As governor, I will work to fulfill the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands commitments to Native Hawaiians, build more affordable housing across our state, work to reduce and eliminate disparities in healthcare, and take action on our homeless crisis," said Green.
During the eruption, to supplement the near real-time data from HVO monitoring stations, scientists also collected lava samples and gas measurements, mapped lava flows and ground cracks, took photos and detailed field notes, along with other tasks. These important data sets help us to better understand volcanic eruptions and their processes. Analyses of multiple lava samples taken throughout the eruption showed that the erupted lava was initially more evolved than the lava collected on the Pu‘u‘ō‘ō flow fields prior to the Kamoamoa eruption. This means that the dike which fed the eruption either pushed out, or mixed with, a body of cooler magma that had been stored in the rift. As the eruption continued, the lava compositions began to resemble those previously erupted at Pu‘u‘ō‘ō, as “fresher” lava flushed through the system—like what we saw in the beginning of the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption.
Studying eruptive episodes on Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone using a multi-disciplinary approach has improved scientific understanding of the volcano. Recognizable precursory changes observed at the summit and Pu‘u‘ō‘ō have helped HVO anticipate new eruptions including Kamoamoa and the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption. For over a year, Kīlauea eruptions have been confined to the summit with no indications of magma migration into the East Rift Zone, providing scientists with additional opportunities to learn about the volcano.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar/. See latest print edition at www.kaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/03/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS & TRANSPORTATION AND SOME FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS ARE KEEPING THE INDOOR MASK WEARING POLICY for now, while the state ended indoor mask wearing requirements at midnight Friday. Outdoor mask wearing ended at public schools on March 9.
Kamehameha Schools will also keep the mask wearing policy for indoors.
University of Hawai'i and its community colleges are keeping mask wearing for classrooms, labs and other confined teaching spaces but lifting for dining halls, libraries and student lounges and other public spaces.
Masks are also required on school buses and all public transportation, as well as in hospitals, clinics and care homes.
Masks are also required on school buses and all public transportation, as well as in hospitals, clinics and care homes.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar/. See latest print edition at www.kaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/03/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.
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| Lt, Gov Josh Green in blue with his wife Jamie and Hawaiian Homesteaders Saturday morning. Photo from GreenforHawaii.com |
THE PRINCE KUHIO HOLIDAY DREW LT. GOV JOSH GREEN TO HAWAIIAN HOMESTEADERS ON THIS ISLAND for a Saturday gathering. Green, who is also running for Governor, said he and his wife Jaime spent the morning with Hawaiian Homestead leaders "to honor the life and legacy of Prince Kūhiō, and to discuss issues important to the Native Hawaiian community across the state.”
Green noted that, "Throughout his life, Prince Kūhiō was an advocate for the Hawaiian people and islands. Whether fighting for women's suffrage, or protecting the rights of Native Hawaiians to live on land they inhabited for centuries, Prince Kūhiō was committed to establishing justice in Hawai'i."A century later, Native Hawaiians still face disparities in healthcare, education, housing, and more — and that needs to be addressed. In the years to come, it will be up to all of us to continue the legacy of Prince Kūhiō.
"As governor, I will work to fulfill the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands commitments to Native Hawaiians, build more affordable housing across our state, work to reduce and eliminate disparities in healthcare, and take action on our homeless crisis," said Green.
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| Prince Johah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole |
The Prince Kūhiō state holiday was Friday, with the actual Prince Kūhiō Day on Saturday. Prince Kūhiō Day celebrations in Kaʻū were regular events more than 40 years ago. In recent years, Hawaiian Civic Club of Kaʻū and Hana Laulima Lāhui O Kaʻū have sought to organize the rebirth of annual Prince Kūhiō Day events but were hindered by Covid restrictions.
Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole, born on March 26, 1871, was Queen Liliuokalani’s cousin. As an heir to the throne, he was known as a prince. After an education in California and Royal Agricultural College in England, he returned to Hawai'i and in 1895 joined Royalists who opposed establishing a new republic. Though captured and convicted of treason, he was soon released and cooperated with the group that overthrew the monarchy. Kūhiō was elected to become Territory of Hawai'i's first (non-voting) member in the U.S. Congress. He is most noted for the enactment of the 1920 Hawaiian Homes Commission Act to provide homesteads for native Hawaiians. He also introduced a bill in 1919, requesting that Hawai'i become a state. Hawai'i became the 50th state in 1959, long after Prince Kūhiō died in 1922. Prince Kūhiō Day territorial holiday was established in 1949, later becoming a state holiday.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar/. See latest print edition at www.kaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/03/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.
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After an intrusion on March 5, Pu‘u‘ō‘ō crater floor subsided for several hours. Hot incandescent crater walls were exposed as the floor dropped a total of 113 m (371 ft). Frequent rockfalls into the crater triggered red ash plumes. USGS photo by T. Orr on March 5, 2011, at 4:32 p.m. |
A THIRTY-FIVE YEAR LONG ERUPTION IS THE FOCUS OF VOLCANO WATCH this week, written by U.S Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano scientists and affiliates:
The Pu‘u‘ō‘ō eruption on the middle East Rift Zone of Kīlauea was a remarkable opportunity for scientists to improve volcano research and monitoring. For the 11th anniversary of the Kamoamoa eruption, this week’s Volcano Watch is a photo essay that highlights the episode and some of the data collection efforts.
In the months leading up to the Kamoamoa eruption, lava filled Pu‘u‘ō‘ō crater. Steady inflation was recorded at Kīlauea’s summit and the middle East Rift Zone. As the system pressurized, seismicity increased in the upper East Rift Zone and the summit lava lake rose to the highest levels recorded before that time. On March 5, 2011, seismic tremor and increased earthquake activity, accompanied by rapid deflation at Pu‘u‘ō‘ō, began abruptly at 1:42 p.m. An intrusion uprift drew magma away from beneath Pu‘u‘ō‘ō. Shortly after, the Pu‘u‘ō‘ō crater floor began to subside and the summit lava lake level dropped.
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| Aerial photo of the Kamoamoa eruption on March 7, 2011. The western fissure feeding a channelized ‘a‘ā flow is visible in the lower right, while the eastern end of the fissure system and Pu‘u‘ō‘ō crater are in the upper left. USGS photo by T. Orr |
The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO), alerted by near real-time seismic alarms and deformation data, quickly conducted an overflight of the area and witnessed the start of the Kamoamoa eruption at 5:09 p.m. between Pu‘u‘ō‘ō and Nāpau craters. In the first few days, eruptive activity shifted around two fissure systems with vents repeatedly starting and stopping. Early on March 8, the eruption focused on the two opposite ends of the fissures. The activity waned in the afternoon of March 9, and around 10:30 p.m. the Kamoamoa eruptive episode was over.
The dike and subsequent eruption acted as a pressure release valve of Kīlauea’s magma plumbing system that had been pressurizing for months. This led to a short-lived eruption hiatus on the East Rift Zone and low lava lake levels at the summit while the system recovered.
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| Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists map and measure ground cracks during the Kamoamoa eruption. USGS photo by N. Richter on March 6, 2011 |
During the eruption, to supplement the near real-time data from HVO monitoring stations, scientists also collected lava samples and gas measurements, mapped lava flows and ground cracks, took photos and detailed field notes, along with other tasks. These important data sets help us to better understand volcanic eruptions and their processes. Analyses of multiple lava samples taken throughout the eruption showed that the erupted lava was initially more evolved than the lava collected on the Pu‘u‘ō‘ō flow fields prior to the Kamoamoa eruption. This means that the dike which fed the eruption either pushed out, or mixed with, a body of cooler magma that had been stored in the rift. As the eruption continued, the lava compositions began to resemble those previously erupted at Pu‘u‘ō‘ō, as “fresher” lava flushed through the system—like what we saw in the beginning of the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption.
Studying eruptive episodes on Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone using a multi-disciplinary approach has improved scientific understanding of the volcano. Recognizable precursory changes observed at the summit and Pu‘u‘ō‘ō have helped HVO anticipate new eruptions including Kamoamoa and the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption. For over a year, Kīlauea eruptions have been confined to the summit with no indications of magma migration into the East Rift Zone, providing scientists with additional opportunities to learn about the volcano.
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Scientists collect volcanic gas data using a Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometer (FTIR). During the Kamoamoa eruption, sulfur dioxide emission rates from Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone reached the highest levels since the episodes of high-fountaining at Pu‘u‘ō‘ō (1983–1986) with an average rate of 8,500 tonnes per day and a peak value of 11,000 tonnes per day. USGS photo by J. Sutton on March 6, 2011 |
SEE UPCOMING EVENTS IN KAʻŪ & VOLCANO
See March edition of The Kaʻū Calendar newspaper at