Ka`u News Briefs Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015

Registration is still available for `O Ka`u Kakou's seventh annual Keiki Fishing Tournament coming up Saturday at Punalu`u Beach Park. Photo from Fred & Mary Ramsdell

KA`U’S STATE REP. RICHARD CREAGAN, of Na`alehu, has announced his priorities for this year’s legislative session that starts tomorrow. Creagan is a member of House committees on Health, Consumer Protection & Commerce, Housing, Human Services and Judiciary.

      Capital improvement projects Creagan supports include a second potable water well for Ocean View, Kona Judiciary Building, a new hospital for Kona and the next phase of Hawai`i Community College’s Palamanui Campus.
       Creagan, who is a doctor, wants to expand indications for medical marijuana use to include anxiety, insomnia and post-traumatic-stress disorder. He also wants to pass a law allowing dispensaries of marijuana and provide more explicit permission of cooperatives and collectives for medical marijuana. Creagan also supports decriminalization of non-medical marijuana use.

Rep. Richard Creagan

      Creagan also wants to require hospitals to provide instruction and basic medical training to caregivers.
      Creagan also supports legislation to enact Hawai`i County’s resolution regarding truth-in-labeling of coffee blends. Hawai`i County Council in October unanimously passed the resolution calling for state legislation to require a minimum of 51 percent Hawai`i-grown coffee in any coffee package labeled as a blend. Ka`u’s County Council member Brenda Ford introduced the resolution that also asks the state Legislature to pass a law requiring that labels on packages of Hawai`i coffee blended with foreign coffee include prominent identification stating the country or region of origin of the non-Hawai`i portion, along with percentages.

      Creagan also has ideas for what he calls rural revitalization. He wants to expand opportunities for housing on rural and agricultural land. Examples he listed are elderly, vacation rental, farm-stay and workforce housing. He also wants to reduce restrictions on farm-based businesses including overnight campgrounds, hostels, bed and breakfasts, farm-stay units and cottage industries.
      Increased funding for monitoring and eradication of invasive species and tax credits for solar panels and battery backup for solar systems are also on Creagan’s agenda.
      He also wants to create a task force to decide on proper use of cesspools, septic systems and composting toilet systems. Durig a candidate forum for the election, Creagan said, “We need to really examine the science. I don’t think the geology of the island mandates septic in the upper elevations. Along the shoreline, of course.” Creagan said that if new rules are adopted requirement replacement of cesspools with septic systems, he would support tax credits for composting toilets.
      Former Gov. Neil Abercrombie appointed Creagan as District V representative last January following the resignation of Rep. Denny Coffman. Creagan then won election in November.

      See capitol.hawaii.gov for information about the 2015 state Legislature.

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A large breakout emits a river of lava upslope of Hwy 130 in Puna.
Image from Big Island Video News

WHILE LAVA ABOUT ONE-HALF MILE from Hwy 130 in Puna is moving sluggishly, it’s a different story upslope. Mick Kalber, of Tropical Visions Video, said a breakout 1.5 to two miles from the highway yesterday was “the largest, fastest moving flow we’ve seen in about a month or more, burning the brush to the north.” 

      Video of the flow shot aboard Paradise Helicopters is posted at bigislandvideonews.com.
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GOV. DAVID IGE HAS CONCERNS about the amount of money Hawaiian Electric Industries executives would receive if Florida-based NextEra Energy’s $4.3 billion purchase of Hawaiian Electric Co. goes through, according to a story in Pacific Business News.
      “The parties are paying a significant premium to executives of HEI,” Ige told PBN. “So where is this significant premium paid to ratepayers? I hope the PUC and Consumer Advocate (take that into account).”
      Reporter Duane Shimogawa said that according to a recent NextEra Energy filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, HEI executives would receive a total of about $17 million after approvals are received to finalize the transaction.

      See bizjournals.com/pacific.

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Richard Ha is grateful to former PUC Chair Mina Morita for blocking `Aina Koa Pono's
proposal to create biofuel in Ka`u. Image from AKP

MINA MORITA, WHO HAS RESIGNED from her position as chair of Hawai`i’s Public Utilities Commission, is a “true consumer advocate,” wrote Hamakua Country Farms owner and Big Island Community Coalition Steering Committee member Richard Ha on his blog at hahaha.hamakusprings.com. Ha and BICC, which advocates for reduction of the island’s dependence on foreign oil, were critical of `Aina Koa Pono’s proposed 20-year contract with Hawai`i Electric Light Co. that would have refined biofuel at a facility off Wood Valley Road from feedstock grown between Na`alehu and Pahala. 

      “We should be thanking her (Morita) for blocking the `Aina Koa Pono project, not criticizing her over it.”
      “After noting ‘many in the energy industry had applauded (then-Governor Neil) Abercrombie’s appointment of Morita, who is known as a strong advocate and expert on clean energy,’ Pacific Business News wrote: ‘But some questioned her leadership in a PUC decision denying’ the AKP biofuel supply contract.
      “I just can’t let that slide. Who’s that questioning her leadership? Who thought `Aina Koa Pono was a good decision for Big Island ratepayers? Certainly not anybody here on the Big Island.
      “If `Aina Koa Pono had been approved by the PUC, we Big Island ratepayers would have been saddled with subsidizing AKP to the tune of $175/barrel of oil by 2015 — this year. Today, oil costs less than $50/barrel. We would have been subsidizing the difference through our bills. We would have been screaming every month when we saw our electric bills… .
      “It’s because of her `Aina Koa Pono didn’t succeed and this didn’t happen.

Paul Okubo Photo from USGS

      “We in the Big Island Community Coalition applaud her leadership. We do not question her leadership in the slightest, and we regret that she is resigning… .
      “It is solely because of Mina Morita’s leadership that the `Aina Koa Pono project didn’t go through, and that is a good thing. That’s true leadership.”

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U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY GEOPHYSICIST Paul Okubo talks about the relationship between earthquakes and eruptions on Mauna Loa today at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium. He also provides updates on the volcano’s current status and how HVO’s seismic network has evolved over the past century.
      This After Dark in the Park program is part of Volcano Awareness Month.
      Free; park entrance fees apply.

KUPUNA OF HAUNANI’S ALOHA EXPRESSIONS present a hula performance at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. 

      Free; park entrance fees apply.

KA`U NATURAL FARMING WORKSHOP has changed dates to Saturday, Jan. 24 and 31 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Earth Matters Farm at South Point and Kama`oa Roads.

      Topics include learning how to make and apply indigenous microorganisms to your farm and garden; learning how to develop inputs, including fertilizers, soil amenities and pest control with ingredients found in Ka`u area; developing healthy soil and its importance; and soil testing, including how to interpretation results and remedies. 

      Instructors are Richard Perea, certified Korean Natural Farming Instructor and founder of Ka`u Natural Farming; Bill Shock, D.V.M. Research biologist specializing in bio-energetics and its application for the farm and garden; and Greg Smith, owner of Earth Matters Farm.
      $100 for both days includes garden lunch. Register at 939-7510 or gailandgreg@mac.com.

KEIKI CAN STILL REGISTER at local schools and businesses for `O Ka`u Kakou’s seventh annual Fishing Tournament & Canned Food Drive coming up Saturday at Punalu`u Beach Park. Ages one to 14 check in between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. for fishing from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. OKK provides poles, bait and free lunch. Registration is available.
      Call 217-2253 or 937-4773 for more information.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

Ka`u News Briefs Monday, Jan. 19, 2015

Ranger-led hikes are available today as Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park waives entry fees in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Photo from NPS

WITH HAWAI`I STATE LEGISLATURE opening Wednesday, the Ka`u News Briefs will provide profiles of each of the four local legislators.
      Russell Ruderman was elected to the state Senate in 2012, representing all of the district of Puna and Pahala.

Sen. Russell Ruderman

      Ruderman graduated from Overbrook High School, Philadelphia, PA in 1971 and received a BS in Biology from Penn State in 1975. In 1998, he founded Island Naturals, a group of retail grocery markets. Island Naturals is supports local farmers and value-added producers and has been a constant champion of environmental issues like eliminating plastic bag pollution. For his work, Ruderman was named Small Businessperson of the Year for Hawai`i County by the Small Business Administration in 2007 and also received Hawai`i County’s first Keeping it Green award the same year for his many innovations at Island Naturals.
      Ruderman has served on Hawai`i County’s Agriculture Advisory Committee, Solid Waste Advisory Committee, Environmental Management Commission and UH-Hilo’s Performing Arts Center Advisory Committee. He was spokesperson for Big Island Rainforest Action Group and an intervenor before the state Public Utilities Commission in its first renewable energy Integrated Resource Management docket in 1991. He has served as president of the Wa`awa`a Community Association and a member of Think Local, Buy Local.
      Items on Ruderman’s 2015 legislative agenda include marijuana, homeowners’ insurance and recovery efforts for Puna residents. According to an Associated Press story by Cathy Bussewitz in Hawai`i Tribune-Herald, Ruderman plans to introduce a bill that would decriminalize marijuana.
      Another bill would keep insurers from canceling policies on homes that could be in the path of lava that is currently threatening areas near Pahoa.
      “You don’t cancel insurance when it’s needed, but some companies are trying to do that in advance of the lava threat,” Ruderman said. “I think that’s grossly unfair.”
      See hawaiitribune-herald.com.

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Some Hawai`i coral reefs may recover from bleaching.
Photo from NOAA

HAWAI`I’S CORAL REEFS COULD POSSIBLY RECOVER from bleaching due to global warming, according to research recently published in the journal Nature. Unlike other reefs worldwide that were unable to recover from a mass bleaching event in 1998, Hawai`i’s reefs are in deeper water and more complex in structure. These factors make recovery more likely, according to Nicholas Graham, of Australia’s James Cook University, who studied 21 affected sites and correctly predicted 98 percent of the time whether or not a reef would recover. 

      The research may help authorities decide which reefs to manage while working to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
      Graham told Adam Vaughan, of The Guardian, “If emissions continue as they are, the longer-term future is likely to still be bleak, even for those recovering at the moment (from bleaching), because the projections are coral bleaching will become more and more frequent. In a way it’s (the study’s findings) buying us time to keep as many reefs in good shape as we can, while we tackle some of these global, bigger issues.”

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Fifty years ago, marchers in Alabama, led by Martin Luther King, Jr.,
wore lei to symbolize their peaceful intentions.

HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK waives entry fees today to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
      King visited the newly formed Hawai`i State Legislature on Sept. 17, 1959, where he spoke on Hawai`i’s accomplishments and the nation’s status in race relations at the time.
      “I come to you with a great deal of appreciation and great feeling of appreciation, I should say, for what has been accomplished in this beautiful setting and in this beautiful state of our Union,” King said. “As I think of the struggle that we are engaged in the South land, we look to you for inspiration and as a noble example, where you have already accomplished in the area of racial harmony and racial justice, what we are struggling to accomplish in other sections of the country, and you can never know what it means to those of us caught for the moment in the tragic and often dark midnight of man’s inhumanity to man, to come to a place where we see the glowing daybreak of freedom and dignity and racial justice.

      “We have come a long, long way. We have a long, long way to go. I close, if you will permit me, by quoting the words of an old Negro slave preacher. He didn’t quite have his grammar right, but he uttered some words in the form of a prayer with great symbolic profundity and these are the words he said: ‘Lord, we ain’t what we want to be; we ain’t what we ought to be; we ain’t what we gonna be, but thank God, we ain’t what we was.’ Thank you.”
      Weather forecast at the park today is mostly sunny with a high near 73. Scattered showers are expected this afternoon; chance of precipitation is 30 percent. New precipitation amounting to less than a tenth of an inch is possible. North winds of eight to 11 mph become east this morning.
      Visitors can choose from many self-guided hikes or join a ranger-led hike. Check selections and times at Kilauea Visitor Center.
      In the park, the vent within Halema`um`u Crater is easily viewed from the overlook at the Jaggar Museum. The Pu`u `O`o vent 10 miles east of the summit, on the remote east rift zone of Kilauea, is not accessible to the public.

Whitney Vault contains Thomas Jaggar's century-old
seismographic equipment. Photo by Ron Johnson

       Fumes and glow from the lava lake within the vent at the summit of Kilauea may be seen from the Jaggar Museum overlook and other vantage points along Crater Rim Drive.
      During the day a robust plume of volcanic gas is a constant and dramatic reminder of the molten rock churning in a lava lake within the crater. After sunset, Halema`uma`u continues to thrill visitors and park staff with a vivid glow that illuminates the clouds and plume, weather permitting.
      Park rangers are on duty at the Jaggar Museum to assist visitors drawn to the site, which has been erupting within the crater since March 2008.
      For more information, see nps.gov/havo.

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EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS are discussed during two programs tomorrow in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.
      Ka`u resident Dick Hershberger brings Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientist Thomas Jagger to life during A Walk into the Past. Participants meet at Kilauea Visitor Center at 10 a.m., 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. and head to the Whitney Vault, where Jaggar installed seismographic instruments in 1913.
      An earthquake sequence leading to Mauna Loa’s summit eruption in November 1914 was the first to be tracked by the equipment. Though primitive by today’s standards, this was an early success for monitoring and research efforts on Hawaiian volcanoes.
      U.S. Geological Survey Geophysicist Paul Okubo talks about the relationship between earthquakes and eruptions on Mauna Loa at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium. He also provides updates on the volcano’s current status and how HVO’s seismic network has evolved over the past century.
      This After Dark in the Park program is part of Volcano Awareness Month.
      Free; park entrance fees apply.

Haunani's Aloha Expressions return to Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park Wednesday.
Photo from NPS

HAUNANI’S ALOHA EXPRESSIONS present a hula performance Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. This popular, award-winning hula halau is comprised of an all-Hawaiian volunteer group of kane and wahine kupuna from 70 to over 90 years old, singing and dancing hapa-haole mele and hula. They share the aloha spirit with malihini (visitors) on visiting cruise ships and at Hilo International Airport. The kupuna also entertain patients at many of Hilo’s senior kokua (caring) organizations and have performed at the park’s annual cultural festival on several occasions. 

      Free; park entrance fees apply.

KAHUKU `OHANA DAY IS SATURDAY from 10 am. to 2 p.m. at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park’s Kahuku Unit. Children of all ages are invited to join rangers and experience the medicinal values, cultural stories, and uses of Hawaiian plants with Momi Subiono as she shares her knowledge of la`au lapa`au, traditional Hawaiian medicine.
      Participants bring water, sunscreen, hat and long pants. The free program is ponsored by Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, Hawai`i Pacific Parks Association and Queen Lili`uokalani Children’s Center.
      Call 985-6019 to register.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

Ka`u News Briefs Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory founder Thomas Jaggar first used instruments housed in the Whitney Laboratory of Seismology to track an earthquake sequence leading to Mauna Loa's summit eruption in November 1914. Photo from USGS/HVO

SEN. MAZIE HIRONO IS OPPOSING AN AMENDMENT proposed by Sen. John McCain, of Arizona, that would dismantle the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, commonly known as the Jones Act.

The Jones Act is named after its sponsor,
Washington Sen. Wesley Livsey Jones
Photo from wikipedia

      The Jones Act requires maritime vessels engaged in shipping goods between U.S. ports to be built in the United States, at least 75 percent owned by U.S. citizens and operated by U.S. citizens.

      According to Hirono, the amendment has three strikes against it. “First, shipbuilding is a major job creating industry,” Hirono said on the floor of the Senate. “According to the Maritime Administration, there were 107,000 people directly employed by roughly 300 shipyards across 26 states in 2013. Additionally, shipyards indirectly employed nearly 400,000 people across the country.
      “Sen. McCain’s amendment would specifically knock out the Jones Act provision that requires U.S. flagged ships be built in the United States, jeopardizing good-paying, middle-class jobs. To me, that’s reason enough to oppose this amendment.
      “Secondly, this is not the time to create the instability this amendment would directly cause. After struggling through tough times, America’s shipbuilding industry is coming back. Both this Congress and the administration have long stressed need for creating and keeping manufacturing jobs here at home in the United States. According to the Navy League, there are 15 tanker ships being built here in the U.S. right now and slated to join our U.S. flag fleet.
      “The third and final strike is the fact that the amendment would undermine our national and homeland security.
      “The Jones Act’s requirements — along with the American shipbuilding and maritime industries they underpin — provide American-built ships and crews for use by the Department of Defense in times of need. It is easy to see why the Navy and Coast Guard strongly oppose repeal of the Jones Act. The Defense Department has concluded: ‘We believe that the ability of the nation to build and maintain a U.S.-flag fleet is in the national interest, and we also believe it is in the interest of the DOD for U.S. shipbuilders to maintain a construction capability for commercial vessels.’”

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Sen. Brian Schatz voted against construction of Keystone
XL pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.
Map from U.S. State Department

SEN. BRIAN SCHATZ VOTED AGAINST advancing a bill to authorize construction of Keystone XL, a pipeline that would transport dirty tar sands oil from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast. Prior to the vote, Schatz spoke out on the Senate floor to oppose authorization of the pipeline which he said would undermine efforts to combat climate change and endanger health of American families.

 

      “For me, and for many Americans, a vote against this bill is a vote to preserve and protect the air we breathe and the water we drink,” Schatz said. “It’s a vote to ensure that we continue to reduce carbon pollution and fight climate change. It is a vote to leave our children a healthy world.”
      While President Obama has vowed to veto any legislation authorizing construction of Keystone XL, the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate advanced the bill, voting 63-32.

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AS PART OF VOLCANO AWARENESS MONTH, January Volcano Watch articles are addressing how USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory responds to threatening lava flows. This week, scientists focus on use of satellite data to track lava flow activity. 

      “Although satellites were in orbit and transmitting images of Earth’s surface in 1990 when the Kalapana community was inundated by lava, their data were not used to map lava flows. Without the Internet, satellite imagery could be distributed only by copying the data onto tapes that then had to be mailed. This process could take weeks, so the images were typically not used to help monitor a rapidly evolving crisis. In addition, computers in 1990 were not fast enough and did not have enough memory to work with large satellite datasets. Loading and viewing an individual image could take hours!

      “Instead of satellite imagery, HVO relied upon high-altitude aerial photos for occasional broad views of the Kalapana lava flow field in 1990. Some of these photos were taken by HVO scientists who aimed cameras through holes cut in the bottom of Hilo-based airplanes, while others were taken by a private Honolulu-based company that specialized in aerial photography. The photographs then had to be developed, printed, and delivered to HVO — a process that required a few days. The information was therefore largely outdated by the time HVO received it, but the aerial photos formed an important base for ground-based mapping (the topic of next week’s article).
      “With today’s Internet, we can now obtain timely satellite data about the June 27th lava flow within hours of image acquisition. Modern computers can also process massive amounts of data rapidly, enabling scientists to fully exploit the multitude of satellites that are now orbiting and imaging Earth.

Satellite imagery is one of many tools scientists use to track Kilauea's
volcanic activity. Map from USGS/HVO

      “Thermal images, which show the temperature of Earth’s surface, are perhaps the most obvious type of satellite data used to monitor lava flows. Thermal data allow HVO scientists to identify hot areas that correspond to breakouts of lava on the flow field. These data can be used to determine the lava eruption rate — a key monitoring parameter — by assuming that the temperature of the lava flow field is related to the amount of lava on the surface. 

Visual data — essentially photographs from space — are also available from satellites. Many of these data have exceptionally high resolution and are capable of discerning objects less than a yard in size, which helps HVO scientists make detailed maps of the lava flow and document changes over time.
      “Thermal and visual satellite data, however, both suffer from a major weakness: clouds. As most Hawai`i residents know, Puna is frequently covered by clouds, which obscure the view from space. Fortunately, there is one form of satellite imagery that can see through cloud cover —radar! 

      “Whereas visual and thermal satellite images are essentially photographs that rely upon light or temperature generated by, or reflected from, Earth’s surface, radar provides its own energy. Radar satellites transmit a pulse of energy to the surface and then measure the strength of the reflected energy, much like a flash camera. These radar signals can ‘see’ through clouds, and lava flows are easily distinguished from the surrounding forest based on their strong reflection. Unfortunately, it is difficult to distinguish active from inactive lava flows in radar images. 

      “HVO, therefore, uses an array of complementary satellite tools to monitor the June 27th lava flow — thermal, visual and radar. Because satellite data are easily shared via the Internet, the images can be viewed from anywhere. In fact, USGS scientists across the country, from Virginia to Alaska, assist HVO by examining satellite data of the Puna lava flow field and sharing their results and interpretations with HVO scientists. 

      “Some of these data, especially those provided by NASA, are accessible via public websites, so anyone with access to the Internet can examine satellite images of lower Puna.”

      See Volcano Watch and daily volcano activity updates at hvo.wr.usgs.gov.

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Ka`u High soccer players move the ball toward the goal.
Photo from Taylor's Treasures Photography

KA`U BOYS BASKETBALL JUNIOR VARSITY TEAM won its game against Pahoa last night. The game went into overtime, with a final score of 35-32. Varsity lost 37-77. Both teams lost to Hawai`i Prep Wednesday, with a Varsity final score of 46-64 and 16-36 for Junior Varsity.
      Also yesterday, HPA TKO’d Ka`u boys soccer team 9-0. Earlier in the week, Raycin Salmo-Grace scored one goal against Christian Liberty’s eight.
      Friday at Kea`au, Ka`u both girls basketball teams fell, with a JV score of 8-28. The Varsity team tied Kea`au’s second-half scoring but could not rally enough to make up for the first half. Final score was 46-64.
      On Wednesday at Honoka`a, the girls teams also lost. Final scores were 10-44 for Junior Varsity and 19-63 for Varsity.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.  

WATCHING MAUNA LOA SHAKE is the topic at After Dark in The Park Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes’ National Park. An earthquake sequence leading to Mauna Loa’s summit eruption in November 1914 was the first to be tracked by newly installed seismographs at Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Though primitive by today’s standards, this was an early success for monitoring and research efforts on Hawaiian volcanoes. U. S. Geological Survey geophysicist Paul Okubo talks about the relationship between earthquakes and eruptions on Mauna Loa, including an update on the volcano’s current status and how HVO’s seismic network has evolved over the past century.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.