Ka`u News Briefs Jan. 15, 2011

The Pahala Ballfield project was completed with no problems, but equipment
was stolen for a similar project at Na`alehu Park.

A $500 REWARD is going out for anyone who can recover tools stolen from a Bolton Construction container in Na`alehu. The Bolton construction crew was improving the Na`alehu Community Park to make better access for the handicapped when someone broke into their container and stole the following items: a laser level and tripod, wheelbarrow, cordless drill, orange bucket full of hand tools, nail bags, tape hammer, Dewalt cordless saw, Bosch Roto Hammer, Power Washer, Bull float with four handles, skill saw with carbon blade and a four-inch grinder with blade. Some of the tools have Bolton written on them, others are tagged with blue paint. Any clues, call Skip at 756-7724. Help find the stolen goods and receive a $500 reward. Bolton recently completed the same kind of project for the Pahala Ballfield. 

Demetrius Oliveira

THE FUNDRAISING TO HELP restore the health of Demetrius Oliveira was a rousing success in Ka`u. The singer, composer and radio announcer here at KAHU Radio received more than $8,000 in small donations from the community. The Edmund C. Olson Family Foundation matched the $7,500 in local contributions, and the check did come in the mail yesterday. Big D said he thanks his `ohana, the entire community and the Olson Family Foundation for supporting his effort to live a longer life. 

NEW ELECTRIC RATES went into effect yesterday, with Hawai`i Electric Light Company being allowed to raise rates by 1.7 percent. The Public Utilities Commission is also being allowed to run a test among 300 customers offering a discount when they use more power in the off hours between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. HELCO had asked for a 6 percent rate increase, but the PUC turned them down. The PUC is also expected to consider a rate increase to help finance a proposed biofuels processing plant in Pahala that would make diesel to truck to its power plant in Kona.

AS PART OF VOLCANO AWARENESS MONTH, Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park interpreters lead hikes today and tomorrow at 1 p.m. Today’s hike begins at the Kilauea Visitor Center, and tomorrow’s begins at the Kilauea Iki Overlook parking lot on Chain of Craters Drive. Each hike last about three hours.

The Honolulu Jazz Quartet performs tonight at Kilauea Military Camp Theater.

The Honolulu Jazz Quartet and Junior Choy, with special guest Moons Landing, perform tonight at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Military Camp Theater in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Call 967-8222 or visit www.volcanoartcenter.org for ticket information. 

EVERYONE IS INVITED TO JOIN in at Square Dancing tonight at 7 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

KA`U MAIN STREET’S monthly Plant and Seed Exchange takes place tomorrow at the historic Naohulelua Church garden on Kamaoa Road. The hours are noon to 3 p.m.

Ka`u News Briefs Jan. 14, 2011

`Aina Koa Pono's illustration of the process of  creating biofuel.

MAYOR BILLY KENOI IS APPEALING to the 2011 State Legislature for help in balancing the county budget. In his message to the lawmakers he said the county expects another budget shortfall that will once again force painful budget cuts. “The unavoidable truth is we now have a county government that we cannot afford. We will continue to reduce the size and to refocus our limited resources on core, critical services. Government must do more with less, and programs that are not essential to our core county mission must be set aside,” he said. 

     He pointed to declining property revenues and increasing costs forcing the county to cope with the largest budget shortfalls in county history in the last and current budget year.
     Kenoi said he hopes to help stimulate the economy with state and local government making investments into the communities. He said he wants to carry forward momentum from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which injected more than $115 million in federal money into this county’s economy. “Now it is time for local governments to step up to their responsibilities and do their part to help stimulate the economy. Our working families are counting on us,” he said.
     The mayor is proposing $56 million in capital improvement projects around the island and is hoping the legislature will help fund them.

THE `AINA KOA PONO HUI that plans to produce synthetic diesel oil with a processing plant in Pahala and from crops and trees grown on land around the community is asking the Public Utilities Commission to approve its contract with Hawaiian Electric Company to raise its rates in order to pay for the manufacturing of the diesel. In order to pay for the $320 million project, the average electric bill on O`ahu, Lana`i, Moloka`i, Maui and the Big Island would go up by an average of $1.55 to $1.86 a month for a typical residential customer. However, electric prices would stabilize over time, as the cost of synthetic fuel produced here would be stable, according to HELCO officials. The PUC will take comments from the public and consumer advocates. 

State Department of Agriculture staff members Jimmy Nakatani, Leslie Campaniano and Gayle Nakamura
with Chairman Russell Kokubun, at right.

RUSSELL KOKUBUN has taken his position as chair of the state Department of Agriculture. In his message to the people of Hawai`i, he said the Hawai`i Department of Agriculture’s 260 employees statewide work to support, enhance and promote Hawai`i’s agriculture and aquaculture industries. 

     “Hawai`i’s transition from mono-crop plantations, such as pineapple and sugarcane, to diversified agriculture, including nursery products, seed crops and other vegetable and fruit crops, is important to the state’s economy, environment and lifestyle. Agriculture not only feeds our state, but it also keeps our unique working landscape green – a feature appreciated by residents as well as the millions of visitors to our islands.
     “Hawai`i’s agricultural products are valued around the world for superior quality and the sharing of the Aloha spirit. Hawai`i is also a recognized world leader in aquaculture, producing the finest seafood products for Hawai`i consumers and export markets.
     “In addition, the Department of Agriculture protects our agricultural interests with inspection for invasive species of incoming plant material and animals, safeguarding animal and plant health, supporting farmers with affordable land and water, providing financial assistance to farmers and assuring quality of produce,” said Kokubun.
     He suggested that everyone keep in touch with him through the website at Hawaii.gov/hdoa.
     After winning re-election to the state senate, Kokubun was appointed by Governor Neil Abercrombie to head the Department of Ag.
     His Senate seat is now held by Gil Kahele, also appointed by Abercrombie.

MEET THOMAS JAGGAR, the founder of Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, this morning as he discusses his work during a living history program set in 1912. The program takes place every Friday in January at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and noon at Kilauea Visitor Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park as part of Volcano Awareness Month. Park entrance fees apply.

A CONCERT FEATURING the Honolulu Jazz Quartet and Junior Choy, with special guest Moons Landing, takes place tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Military Camp Theater in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Call 967-8222 or visit www.volcanoartcenter.org for ticket information.

THE OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY CENTER offers square dancing tomorrow night, and every Saturday night, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. It is open to everyone, and children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

Ka`u News Briefs Jan. 13, 2011

HELCO president Jay Ignacio tells Pahala residents that the electric company can help 

to wean itself from foreign oil by making a synthetic fuel plant in Pahala.

ABOUT SIXTY COMMUNITY MEMBERS gathered at the Old Pahala Clubhouse last night for a presentation on a proposed synthetic fuels processing plant being planned for Pahala by a hui called `Aina Koa Pono. Engineers and investors, as well as the president of Hawai`i Electric Light Company, Jay Ignacio, explained their plan for Pahala to help wean HECO off foreign oil, in exchange for jobs, economic development and community benefits. The hui promised 300 union construction jobs to build the $320 million manufacturing plant and energy farm, with 100 permanent jobs from agricultural equipment operators to factory and office workers.

     To begin, the fuels made from biomass would be manufactured in Pahala and trucked in liquid fuel tanks to the Keahole power plant in Kona. Pahala could also become the manufacturing site for fuels to burn in the Hilo power plant and to manufacture a variety of fuels from diesel for trucks to jet fuel. Fuels manufactured in Pahala could also be shipped off island. 

     The plan is to initially harvest eucalyptus trees and Christmas berry as well as crops that would be grown on 13,000 acres between Pahala and Na`alehu. The feedstock would be trucked on the old cane haul roads to Pahala where it would be vaporized by a giant microwave and turned into various kinds of liquid fuels in an 80-foot-tall distillation cone. One of the first sources of fuel could be the large stand of eucalyptus trees above the town. 

Engineer Alexander Causey

     Engineer Alexander Causey said that the initial operating capacity would provide for a truck every 20 minutes coming into the plant with wood and other feedstock down the cane haul road behind Ilima Street. Six liquid fuel trucks a day would head down the Maile Street lane of Norfolk pine trees to Hwy 11 and out to Kona. 

     There would be 1.28 million gallons of fuel stored in giant fuel tanks on the grounds of the manufacturing site, like the fuel tanks you see at Hilo Harbor, he said.
     Two homeowners living adjacent to the hui’s preferred manufacturing site – the macadamia truck shed just below Ilima Street – said the site was too close to their homes and the preschool.
     Homeowner and family therapist Sara Witt said she worried about the safety of the microwave plant and the noise of the trucks going by behind her house.
     `Aina Koa Pono representatives said that the microwave unit and its shield would be changed each year.
     Former County Council member Guy Enriques asked about community benefits and said that the landscape was radically changed at South Point when new windmills went up without providing any reduction in electric bills or other benefits to the Ka`u community.
     Building contractor Bob Taylor said that the Electric Company was turning away a lot of the wind energy being produced at South Point. “Why invest in alternative energy if the electric company doesn’t use all that it can use?” he asked.
     Rancher Al Galimba questioned the availability of enough feedstock for the manufacturing of the fuels. “We have a drought and nothing will grow, then where will you get your feedstock?” he asked.
     The engineer pointed out that sugar was grown for many generations in Ka`u without irrigation and that his hui is looking into growing plants that require much less water than sugar cane.
     He also said that water was available from a giant reservoir above town that was built by the old plantation.
     County planner Ron Whitmore asked about the use of fertilizer and pesticides – the downstream effect. Causey said that they plan to run cattle to the fields for fertilizer and hope to limit chemicals on the land. Whitmore asked about the test plots of various plants that could be used for biofuels to see how they hold up in the vog. The hui said that they plan to conduct tests by growing various plants to see which ones do best here.
     Causey said they plan to grow perennials that would be mowed and bailed – like hay, rather than shoveled out of the ground like the sugar cane was harvested by plantations in the past. He said the grasses they could grow would not create seeds that would become invasive but would be grown from rhizomes.
     Sophia Hanoa asked if an Environmental Impact Statement is being written for the project, and Causey said he didn’t think that one would be required. She also asked if there is any place in the world where such a manufacturing plant is operating so that community members could assess it. She was told that there is a test plant next to University of Denmark but that it is being moved and not currently operating.

A house on Ilima Street near the initial site planned for a synthetic fuels manufacturing plant in Pahala.
An alternate site is proposed next to Pahala rubbish transfer station.

     The hui said that an alternate location, near the Pahala transfer station, is being considered as it is farther from homes and schools. The engineer and investors said they will be coming to Pahala at least once a month. They and County Council member Brittany Smart said another community meeting will be planned soon.

AS PART OF VOLCANO AWARENESS month, an interpreter from Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park leads a hike to Pu`uloa this afternoon at 1 p.m. Participants meet at the Pu`uloa parking lot on Chain of Craters Road. This two-mile hike takes one-and-a-half hours, and park entrance fees apply.

VOLUNTEERS AND THOSE INTERESTED in becoming volunteers are invited to the monthly Red Cross meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at the HOVE Road Maintenance Corporation office in Ocean View. Call Hannah Uribes at 929-9953.