Monday, May 29, 2023

Kaʻū News Briefs, Monday, May 29, 2023

Kilauea Military Camp in Volcano flew its flags half staff until noon on Memorial Day to remember those who risked lives for the country, many of them dying in combat. At noon, KMC raised the flags to full height. Photo by Jandy Pontin/KMC
HATS OFF TO VETERANS ON MEMORIAL DAY is the message from Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. The Park issued a statement saying, "We honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country by remembering their service. Our flat hats are off to these courageous service members and their families." 
National Park Service hat rests on a stone wall
for Memorial Day. NPS Photo
     National Park Service offers Gold Star Families free lifetime Military Passes. Gold Star Families can obtain passes at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park entrance station after downloading and filling out the online voucher. Active Duty U.S. military members and U.S. military veterans can also receive free lifetime Military Passes. 
    Sign up for Gold Star, veteran, and military passes:

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GOV. JOSH GREEN RELEASED A MEMORIAL DAY MESSAGE: "On Memorial Day we honor the
Col. Ellison Onizuka, the astronaut, rests at National Memorial Cemetery of the
Pacific on O'ahu, with Memorial Day flowers and flag. Photo from Gov. Josh Green
 men and women who paid the ultimate price in their service to our nation and our state. This year, we mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War and we recognize our living Korean War Veterans.
    "This occasion is solemn, but it is also a day of pride in the service that so many have given to protect the land of the free and the home of the brave." 
    He also posted a Memorial Day photo of the grave of Hawai'i Island's late Air Force Colonel Ellison Onizuka who perished in 1986 while serving as an astronaut.
    Onizuka is buried at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific on O'ahu, where the Governor attended services for Memorial Day.

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A steamy crater capture on rim of Kilauea by USGS webcam Memorial Day afternoon.
KILAUEA CALDERA STEAMED UP ON MEMORIAL DAY continuing its state of heightened unrest. USGS reports that summit seismicity remains elevated. Inflationary tilt and elevated seismicity continue at the summit.          
    Over the past several months, deformation and seismicity rates have been elevated beyond those observed preceding the Jan. 5 summit eruption.
      The elevated earthquake rates remain mostly beneath Kīlauea summit and Nāmakanipaio, with over 80 recorded in the past day. Most have been smaller than magnitude-2. The most recent SO2 emission rate of approximately 120 tonnes per day was measured on May 26.

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WELCOMING PHYSICIANS LICENSED IN OTHER STATES will become a new practice to conquer the doctor shortage. The measure is a new law awaiting the signature required from Gov. Josh Green who is also a physician.
    Hawai'i Island Community Health Center which operates the former Bay Clinic in Nā'ālehu, along with other health centers around the state and their Hawai'i Primary Care Association, helped to shepherd House Bill 666  through the 2023 Hawai'i Legislature. 
    It permits Hawai'i to join states that accept each others licenses to practice medicine in an Interstate Medical Licensure Compact.
     Mayor Mitch Roth sent in testimony supporting the streamlining of approvals for physicians licensed elsewhere to practice here.  "Hawai'i County's dire health care needs must be addressed... Hawai'i County is home to many rural communities with limited health care resources. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rural residents in the U.S. are more likely that urban residents to die prematurely due to five of the leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, unintentional injury, chronic lower respiratory disease and stroke...." The Compact is expected to shorten the licensing approval from months to weeks. The Compact already covers 37 states, Guam and D.C.

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