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Saturday, October 19, 2024

Kaʻū News Briefs Oct. 19, 2024

Opelu fisherman Chuck Kealoha Leslie discusses netmaking and fishing in a new Ike Kaiāulu video. DLNR image
 
FOUR NEW VIDEOS ON THE CONNECTION OF NATURAL RESOURCES TO COMMUNITIES have been released by the state Department of Land & Natural Resources. Called Ike Kaiāulu - Community Knowledge video series, they were produced by education teams within the DLNR Division of Forestry & Wildlife and Division of Aquatic Resources. The program "seeks to tap into an understanding of this rich history of caring for ‘āina and kai," says the DLNR statement.
    The series premiered in 2023 with four videos sharing community knowledge related to limu, wood carving, lāʻau lapaʻau (medicinal plant use), and caring for special places.
Kumu Hula Mele Kahalepuna Chun shares family history with Hawaiian featherwork and its relationship to the health of forest birds in new Ike Kaiāulu video. DLNR image
    The new videos feature experts with knowledge to share across a variety of practices. While sharing their mana'o, interviewees express common themes, talking about  knowledge coming from parents, grandparents and other kūpuna and the importance of passing on that knowledge to younger generations.
    ʻŌpelu fisherman Chuck Kealoha Leslie discusses his knowledge of net making and his hopes for the future of fishing in Hawaiʻi. He shares that he wants keiki to know how we did things in the old ways, and then they can make it their own. He adds, “If they want to do fishing, make fishing their life and make it joyful.”    
    Kumu Hulu Mele Kahalepuna Chun explores her family’s history with Hawaiian featherwork and its relationship to the health of forest birds in Hawaiʻi. She says that passing along the knowledge provided by her tūtū and her mother was not a job, but a kuleana. “What I want to say to our keiki is to make sure it lives. Just holomua: keep it going.” Chun adds that her tūtū was often asked, “Isn’t this a dying art?" She’d say no, "not as long as I can help it.”
Hiʻilei Kawelo shares  experiences with fishponds connection to mauka and makai ecosystem health in new Ike Kaiāulu video
DLNR image


   Paepae o Heʻeia Executive Director Hiʻilei Kawelo shares her experiences with loko iʻa (fishponds) and their connection to mauka and makai ecosystem health. Reflecting on endurance of cultural practices in communities, she says, “The relationships we have within the ahupuaʻa, that’s what makes the magic happen.” 
    Dr. Kawika Winter, Director of the Heʻeia National Estuarine Research Reserve, discusses biocultural restoration and the importance of centering indigenous ways of thinking in ecosystem management. He articulates his views of cultural practice as part of management and life in Hawaiʻi, saying, “We’ve been here a long time, we’re going to continue being here a long time.” On the importance of sharing experience and knowledge, he adds, “So many of the elders who came before me have said that Hawaiʻi has the answers that will help heal the world.”
    All videos are available on the DLNR website. See ʻIke Kaiāulu videos: http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dofaw/education/videos
Dr. Kawika Winter discusses biocultural restoration and centering indigenous ways of thinking in ecosystem management in a new Ike Kaiāulu videoDLNR image

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Extremely bright shooting star cluster over Maunakea, Hawaii on July 11,  2024
 Sunday and Monday will be the peak of the Orionid Metero Shower with more than 20 shooting stars
 an hour between midnight and dawn. A meteor shower seen in this photo was
 captured this summer on Maunakea. Image from NAOJ & AsahiShimbun

MORE THAN 20 SHOOTING STARS PER HOUR ARE EXPECTED to be seen in Ka'u's clear night skies on Sunday and Monday with the peaking of the Orionid Meteor Shower. The best time to view is between midnight and dawn as the shooting stars zip in front the the Orion Constellation.The meteors will be fainter than they would be if they were not traveling by at the same time as the full moon.
    According to The Planetary Society, "The Orionid meteor shower is caused by debris from Halley's
Comet, also known as comet 1P/Halley. The comet's 76-year orbit brings it close enough to Earth to have been seen in the night skies for centuries. It last passed close to Earth in 1986 and will return in 2061."
    "Meteors are also known as shooting stars, but they aren't actually stars at all. Meteors are streaks of light in the sky caused by dust and small rocks burning up as they hit Earth's atmosphere at very high speeds — tens of kilometers per second. These small particles create bright streaks of light you can see from the ground at night. In general, the bigger the piece of space dust, the brighter the meteor. See more at planetery.org.

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MOST GENERAL ELECTION BALLOTS COMING BY MAIL HAVE ARRIVED TO KAʻŪ  RESIDENTS. To count, they must be received by 7 p.m. on Nov. 5 General Election Day. 
    Registration is still available online at any time or in-person at a voter service center. See https://www.elections.hawaiicounty.gov/voter-registration. For an Absentee Ballot, deadline to request a ballot be sent to an alternate address is Oct. 29.
    Some candidates in the Primary Election won their positions that serve  Kaʻū and beyond. County Prosecuting Attorney Kelden Waltjen won the Primary for a four-year term. County Council member Michelle Galimba won the Primary for a two-year term. Kai Kahele won the Primary for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustee seat for Hawai'i four year term.
    On General Election ballots. Kaʻū voters select from the following candidates:
    For Mayor, incumbent Mitch Roth is challenged by Kimo Alameda for the four-year term.
    For state Senate, incumbent Dru Kanuha is challenged by Republican Kurt Sullivan for the four-year term.
    For state House of Representatives, Democrat Jeanne Kapela is challenged by Republican Ashley Oyama and Libertarian Frederick Fogel.
    For Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustees at large, Keli'i Akina is challenged by Lei Ahu Isa.
    For U.S. Senator representing Hawai'i, Democrat Mazie Hirono is challenged by Republican Bob McDermott, Green Party's Emma Pohlman and We The People Party Shelby Pikachu Billionaire.
    For U.S. House representing rural Hawai'i, incumbent Jill Tokuda is challenged by Republican Steve Bond, Libertarian Arron Toman and Nonpartisan Randall Kelly Meyer.
    For U.S. President, current Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, faces former President Donald Trump, a Republican, and other candidates for the four-year term.
    For U.S. Vice-President, Tim Waltz, a Democrat, faces JD Vance, a Republican and other candidates.
    The other Parties on the ballot for U.S. President and VP are Green Party with Jill Stein for President and Rudolph Ware for VP, Libertarian with Chase Oliver for President and Mike ter Maztt for VP, Party for Socialism and Liberation with Claudia De La Cruz for President and Karina Garcia for VP, and Solidarity Party with Peter Sonski for President and Lauren Onak for VP.
    Two State of Hawai'i Constitutional Amendments are on the ballot. One, which seeks to protect same-sex marriage, asks: “Shall the state constitution be amended to repeal the legislature’s authority to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples?” A second proposed constitutional amendment would make the selection process of district court judges the same as other judges.
    Three Hawai'i County Charter Amendments are on the ballot. One asks, "Shall the Hawai'i County Charter be amended to provide that any vacancy on the County Council that occurs or exists after a person was duly elected to fill that seat for the upcoming Council term shall be filled by that duly elected successor for the remainder of the unexpired term?" The second asks, "Shall the Hawai'i County Charter be amended to require the Mayor to appoint department heads within 30 days of the start of each mayoral term and within 60 days for any vacancy in office that occurs during the mayoral term?" The third asks, "Shall the Hawai'i County Charter be amended to increase the term length for members of the Cost of Government Commission from 11 to 22 months and extend the deadline for the Commission to submit its report from 11 months after appointment to 20 months after appointment?"

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