Ka`u News Briefs Dec. 29, 2010

Back to the 50s Trio will play at Hana Hou on New Year's Eve.

REPRESENTATIVE BOB HERKES is holding a fact finding hearing at the state capitol in Honolulu on Thursday, Jan. 6 regarding progress on Ocean View’s new water system. Herkes set up an investigative committee to review the timetable, costs and design of the water system that will provide spigots so that residents can fill water tanks to take to their houses. The project includes a 300,000-gallon reinforced concrete water tank for storage of water pumped from a new well, as well as distribution lines to the new spigots at a fill station. Herkes is planning to give a report to the state Legislature when it convenes on Jan. 19. 

THE STATE’S REQUIREMENT that the electric companies in the Islands use more alternative energy has led to plans to farm large tracts of land to grow jatropha, sorghum and other plants to refine into oil. The state Department of Agriculture has released a report it will make to the 2011 Legislature detailing such plans. One finding is that meeting the electric companies’ needs for fuel would require 1.1 million acres of land, which is more than three times the acreage of cropland that exists in the Islands. On the other hand, growing algae and turning it into fuel would require only 14 percent of the state’s cropland.
     Plans are being made to use some of the cropland in Ka`u and to build a refinery in Pahala to make fuel to truck to the electric plants in Kona and Hilo.

EVERYONE CONVICTED of drunken driving, beginning this Saturday, will be required to install a device in their car that requires a breath test before driving and locks down the car and prevents you from driving if it detects alcohol in your breath. The Ignition Interlock Law goes into effect on Jan. 1 and has been successful in 39 other states. First time DUI offenders have to use the device for a year, second time offenders for 18 months, third time offenders for two years. Four time DUI offenders will have to have the breath test every time they turn on their car for five years. The Ignition Interlock device costs up to $150 to install and needs regular monitoring and calibration, which can cost hundreds of dollars a year.

HAWAIIAN AIRLINES is raising its rates for airline travel, following the lead of other carriers that swallowed huge expenses as bad weather caused many delays and thousands of cancelled flights on the mainland. The extent of the rate hikes is yet to be revealed.

WINNERS FOR THE 2010 Kilauea Military Camp Christmas decorating contest have been announced. First place went to the KMC Store and Gas Station employees. Second went to the KMC front office staff and third place went to the KMC Recreation and Bowling Center. The decorations and holiday lights will adorn the cottages at KMC through the holidays and into the first week in January.

NEW YEAR’S CELEBRATIONS are planned throughout Ka`u and Volcano. Kilauea Military Camp has a New Year’s Eve fish luncheon from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., a New Year's Eve party, and a New Year's Day dinner buffet. Hana Hou in Na`alehu will feature Ernie Kalani and his Back to the 50s trio and a special meal on New Year's Eve. Shaka's in Na`alehu plans food and dance music to ring in the New Year. 

THE HAWAI`I FIRE DEPARTMENT is reminding everyone that fireworks are legal only between 9 p.m. on New Year's Eve and 1 a.m. on New Year's Day. Stay 1,000 feet away from the hospital, senior housing and school grounds, as the law protects these places. Most fireworks are being banned on O`ahu, and the same could happen here if the rules are disregarded. 

CHRISTMAS TREES without ornaments and flocking are being accepted for recycling daily at Wai`ohinu transfer station.

Ka`u News Briefs Dec. 28, 2010

Applications are being taken fro the state Senate seat of Russell Kokubun (l),
who resigns to head the Department of Agriculture. Sen. Dwight Takamine
resigned to head the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

THE SEARCH IS ON for a new senator to represent Ka`u, Volcano, Puna and South Hilo. Steven Pavao, Hawai`i County chair of the Democratic Party, announced yesterday that all members of the Democratic Party who have been members and residents of Senate District 2 for at least six months can apply to be nominated for the state Senate seat being vacated by Senator Russell Kokubun. 

     Precinct officers from Ocean View, Na`alehu, Pahala, Volcano, Mountain View, Kurtistown and into Puna and Hilo will review resumes and interview candidates. They will vote on the candidates, and three names will be presented to Governor Neil Abercrombie, who will make the final selection. Resumes must be turned into Pavao no later than midnight on Monday, January 3, with a cover letter including a summary of qualifications, activities in support of the Democratic Party over the last three years, demonstration of support for the Democratic platform, and the applicant’s top three legislative goals. These can be emailed to pavaos002@hawaii.rr.com.
     The new senator will serve for two years, as all state senators sit for a shorter term this time since reapportionment will change district boundaries for the 2012 election.

Buying locally grown food can put more money into Hawai`i's economy.

RUSSELL KOKUBUN becomes head of the state Department of Agriculture at the end of December, after resigning from his Senate seat. He is serving as Department of Ag interim chair and director until confirmation by the senate, probably in February. He said he is particularly inspired by Governor Neil Abercrombie’s New Day in Hawai`i plan for agriculture that seeks food and energy self-sufficiency, to conserve agricultural lands and to rehabilitate old plantation water systems to support agriculture. Hawai`i consumes $3 billion in imported food each year – money that could go to local farms and ranches, said the governor. 

     “Our dependency on imported food is a problem we ignore at our peril,” said Abercrombie, noting that as recent as 50 years ago, Hawai`i grew half its food. Now it is only ten to 20 percent, with a week or two of food on hand should shipping be blocked by disaster, an international crisis, or a labor dispute.

THE KEAUHOU BIRD SANCTUARY in Volcano, where young endangered birds are raised and placed back into the wild, is the topic of After Dark in the Park tonight at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park Visitor Center Auditorium. The presentation begins at 7 p.m.

LOOKING FOR A NEW YEAR’S CELEBRATION? Kilauea Military Camp has a New Year’s Eve fish luncheon from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., a New Year's Eve party, and a New Year's Day dinner buffet. Hana Hou in Na`alehu will feature Ernie Kalani and his Back to the 50s trio and a special meal on New Year's Eve. Shaka's in Na`alehu plans food and dance music to ring in the New Year.

THE HAWAI`I FIRE DEPARTMENT is reminding everyone that fireworks are legal only between 9 p.m. on New Year's Eve and 1 a.m. on New Year's Day. Stay 1,000 feet away from the hospital, senior housing and school grounds, as the law protects these places. Most fireworks are being banned on O`ahu, and the same could happen here if the rules are disregarded.

THE OCEAN VIEW FOOD BASKET at the community center is open today from noon to 2:30 p.m.

CHRISTMAS TREES without ornaments and flocking are being accepted for recycling daily at Wai`ohinu transfer station.

December 27, 2010

The Fire Department says that Fireworks are allowed from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. New Years Eve.

HOTEL OCCUPANCY ON the Big Island remains low, with only 39 percent of the rooms having visitors for the week ending Dec. 18. O‘ahu posted the highest occupancy - 84 percent, up 16.5 percent over the same week last year. Maui’s 53.2 percent occupancy rate was 7.3 percentage points higher than last year. Kaua‘i’s occupancy rate of 37.9 percent was lowest. The average statewide room rate was $171.49, with the Big Island’s average room rate of $170.21.

PERMITS FOR FIREWORKS DISPLAYS are available at limited locations this year including TNT Fireworks Tent at Prince Kuhio Plaza on Maka`ala Street in Hilo, at Pacific Fireworks in Hilo Shopping Center, Pacific Fireworks on Kuakini Hwy in Kona and Thunder Fireworks on Henry Street in Kona.

Each permit, costing $25, entitles the holder to buy 5,000 firecrackers. Permits are for people 18 years or older. They are non-transferable and non-refundable. The legal hours for fireworks is between 9 p.m. on New Years Eve and 1 a.m. on New Years Day.

FIRE CHIEF DARRYL OLIVEIRA says he is thinking of the public’s safety when he reminds everyone that it is illegal to remove the contents from fireworks, throw them from a car or truck or set them off within 1,000 feet of a hospital, nursing home, or senior housing, and on school grounds.

THE OCEAN VIEW FOOD BASKET will be open tomorrow, Tuesday, for the needy from noon to 2:30 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center.

AFTER DARK IN THE PARK will focus on the Keauhou Bird Sanctuary in Volcano Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Volcano Visitor Center auditorium. The session will be on the future of Hawai`i’s endangered birds.

Miss Ka`u Coffee walks in the Pahala Christmas Parade.

REMEMBER TO DROP YOUR Christmas trees off  daily at the Wai‘ōhinu transfer station through Jan.16. Trees should be free of all decorations, lights, tinsel and ornaments – no artificial or flocked trees allowed. The County Department of Environmental Management and Department of Public Works are teaming up to support Treecycling. Public Works will provide on-site tree chipping at some locations around the island.     

      The county also reminds everyone to recycle Kadomatsu decorations, normally a combination of bamboo, pine and flowers, a tradition that began 600 years ago in Japan as a way of offering luck in the New Year.

      By chipping the trees and making the material available for use in gardens, the County can divert thousands of trees from landfills and add valuable mulch to island soils. In addition, it reduces illegal dumping of holiday trees.

THE COUNTY’S Treecycling Program and additional information are on the website at www.HawaiiZeroWaste.org. For further information, contact the County Solid Waste Division at 961-8339.

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