The Kaʻū Calendar News Briefs, Hawaiʻi Island

Monday, May 02, 2022

Ka‘ū News Briefs, Monday, May 2, 2022

Kaʻū Coffee Growers Cooperative President Gloria Camba with her husband and farming partner Rogelio Aquino. Their
R&G Farm is one of the dozen Kaʻū Coffee Farms named in the virtual 2022 Kaʻū Coffee Festival, which launched in April
with additions to the ongoing Festival website and new facebook postings. See www.kaucoffefestival.com and https://www.facebook.com/Kaucoffeefestival/. Photo from Kaʻū Coffee Festival

KAʻŪ COFFEE FESTIVAL is rolling out its 2022 virtual edition online. It was launched in late April with more promised in May and June for a production funded by a $20,000 grant from Hawai'i Tourism Authority. One new post is a music video of the song Pua Melia, performed by the band Keaiwa with Demetrius Oliveira and Gene Beck accompanying coffee farmers - hula dancers Lorie Obra and Gloria Camba, who are members of Hālau Hula O Leonalani in Pāhala.

The Festival posting says, "Enjoy this heart-warming performance of a Hawaiian song by the Kaʻū
band, Keaiwa, and hula by two beautiful Kaʻū coffee growers, Lori Obra and Gloria Camba, in the surroundings of a verdant Kaʻū coffee farm. We hope you enjoy it and share with those who also want to feel the aloha wherever they are." See it at https://www.kaucoffeefestival.com/events and on the Festival facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Kaucoffeefestival/.

The performance was filmed at Kaʻū Mountain Farm in Wood Valley, managed by Alla Kostenko, who works with Kaʻū Coffee Festival and Hawai'i Coffee Association, both managed by one of the longtime Festival organizers Chris Manfredi.

The evolving festival website from 2020, so far, profiles eight of the more than 40 Kaʻū Coffee Farms. Those profiled are: Elepoiki Enterprises with Corey and Connie Koi; J&W with Joseph Ashley; Kaʻū Mountain Farm with Dennis Albert, Kastenko and partner; Navarro Farms with Delvin and Sawhnette Navarro; K&J Farm with Carlos Paredez; Rusty's Hawaiian with Lorie and Joan Obra and Ralph Gaston; Silver Cloud Coffee Farm with Miles Mayne, and Widow Coffee with Wido Martinez. Others listed by name on the Festival website are Miranda Farms, Kaʻū Ocean Vista Farms, R&G Farms and Rising Son. See it at https://www.kaucoffeefestival.com/farms.

The Festival site also features a Kaʻū Coffee Brewing Demonstration video from Pacific Coffee Research, a virtual farm tour from 2020 and a Kaʻū Coffee College presentation from 2020. Festival organizers also promise a presentation on the history of Kaʻū Coffee.
The grant for the Coffee Festival went from Hawai'i Tourism Authority to Big Island Resource Conservation and Development Council as a Community Enrichment grant. See more at www.kaucoffefestival.com, https://www.facebook.com/Kaucoffeefestival/ and https://www.instagram.com/kaucoffeefest/?hl=en.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar/. See latest print edition at. www.kaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8771374960502262788/5062840565570263092.

HAWAI'I RANKS 49TH FOR WOMEN'S PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES, among the 50 states and Washington D.C. The study was released on Monday by WalletHub. On the positive side, Hawai'i
ranks 16th in a category called Work/Life Balance. It ranks 36th in access to childcare.

In the overall rankings for 2022 Best & Worst States for Working Moms, Hawai'i ranks 39th. The top state overall is Massachusetts, which ranks first in Work/Life Balance, fourth in Child Care and 22nd in Professional Opportunities. The worst state in the rankings is Louisiana, followed by Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina.
Number one in Professional Opportunities for Women is Connecticut, followed by Idaho and Minnesota. Number One in Child Care is Minnesota, followed by Illinois and New York. Following
Massachusetts in Work/Life Balance are Number Two Rhode Island, followed by Washington state.
In metrics used to rank the states and D.C., Utah ranks last place in the number of women executives followed by South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi. The highest percentage of women executives ar in District of Columbia, South Dakota, Mine and Vermont. Utah also ranks worst for women in the gender pay gap, followed by Louisiana, Wyoming and Idaho. The lowest gender pay gap is in Connecticut, followed by California, New Mexico and Texas.
The highest child care costs are in Nebraska, followed by Massachusetts, Nevada and California. The lowest child care costs are in Mississippis, Missouri, South Dakota and South Carolina. The worst day care systems are Idaho, Nebraska, California and Louisiana. The best day care systems are in New York, Washington, North Dakota and Okalahoma, according to the study.
See the entire study at https://wallethub.com/edu/best-states-for-working-moms/3565.

HAWAI'I RESIDENTS GRADUATING TO MEDICARE AS THEY TURN 65 are invited to a free seminar hosted by the Hawai'i State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) on Monday, May 9. Another for those wanting to volunteer to help guide kupuna will be Friday, May 27. SHIP offers virtual presentations to help newly eligible people and to welcome potential volunteers and partners that assist Medicare beneficiaries.
Medicare helps pay for healthcare services for kupuna age 65 and older, as well as those with disabilities or end-stage renal disease. Though the program has many different components and can be

challenging to understand and navigate, in 2019, Medicare spent $7,208 on each of Hawaii's beneficiaries. The federal health insurance program is intended for Medicare beneficiaries in Hawai'i which made up 19% of the state's total population in 2018.
The first program, called Project Grad 65, on Monday, May 9 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., is a virtual presentation for kupuna turning 65 and "graduating" into Medicare and for others recently enrolled in Medicare. Topics will include Social Security benefits and Medicare Basics, register at: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEkduuhqzovGdQxuF7fvWHnySsYy1GubXyG
The Virtual Open House on May 27, 10 a.m. - 11 a.m.
Hawai'i SHIP is hosting a volunteer and partner Open House on Friday, May 27, 2022, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. To learn about the benefits of joining Hawai'i SHIP as a volunteer or partner register at: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYoc--pqjoqGNdr3Fhu-NJWaVBr5tioqwRG
The national SHIP mission is to empower, educate, and assist Medicare-eligible individuals, their families, and caregivers through objective outreach, counseling, and training to make informed health insurance decisions that optimize access to care and benefits.
Hawai'i SHIP, State Health Insurance Assistance Program, is federally funded by the Administration for Community Living and administered by the Hawai'i Department of Health, Executive Office on Aging. For 30 years, Hawai'i SHIP's Medicare-certified counselors have provided free, unbiased, local, one-on-one Medicare counseling to beneficiaries, their loved ones, caregivers, and soon-to-be retirees. Hawaii SHIP also offers free, virtual presentations on Medicare-related topics and participate in virtual fairs and exhibits that cater to Medicare-eligible individuals.

EMPATHY, THE PATH TO UNDERSTANDING, is this month's topic presented by the non-profit Ku'ikahi Mediation Center on Thursday, May 19 as part of the
Jo Hittner, speaker at the May 19 Kui'ikahi
Mediation Center presentation.
Finding Solutions, Growing Peace Brown Bag Lunch Series. Talks are Third Thursdays from noon to 1 p.m. via Zoom.
This month's speaker is Jo Hittner, Ph.D., who said, "Empathy is different from sympathy and compassion and involves more than listening attentively. It is a process of getting outside oneself to see another person's perspective from their point of view."
In this talk, explore the beginnings of empathy, its impact on communication, the benefits of its use in many aspects of daily life, and how to improve one's empathic skills.
Hittner has worked in the counseling/psychology field for over 40 years. She holds a doctorate in counseling from the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks. Before retirement, she was a professor at Winona State University, Minnesota. Currently, Hittner is a professionally trained volunteer mediator at Ku'ikahi Mediation Center. "Empathy and its effects are at the core of her beliefs in making the world a more peaceful place," says a statement fro Ku'ikahi.
Ku'ikahi's Brown Bag Lunch Series is free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to enjoy an

informal and educational talk-story session and connect with others interested in "Finding Solutions, Growing Peace."
To get the Zoom link, register online at https://freebrownbagtalk.eventbrite.com. For more information, contact Ku'ikahi Mediation Center at (808) 935-7844 or info@hawaiimediation.org. Or visit www.hawaiimediation.org.
This lunch-and-learn series is made possible in part by funding from County of Hawai'i and Hawai'i Island United Way.

A GARDEN WORK PARTY WILL BE HOSTED BY KAʻŪ FARMERS UNITED AT WOOD VALLEY

RANCH on Saturday, May 21. Volunteers will gather at 10 a.m. to break into teams and go over plans. The teams will break for lunch around 1p.m. and wrap up by 5 p.m. Food and beverages will be provided as well as an evening bonfire with dinner and adult beverages to celebrate the success. According to to the event organizer Megan Taylor, "Our food garden is in need of some rock walls and raised hugo culture beds. We have wood for a chicken coop/run and top bar bee hives to build as well. This can be a great learning experience! No tools will be necessary, all will be provided."
Bringing sturdy closed toe shoes and own cup/water bottle for beverages is recommended. Volunteers can confirm that they will attend at kau@hfuu.org.

See The Ka'ū Calendar May edition at

www.kaucalendar.com, on newsstands and in the mail.

Sunday, May 01, 2022

Ka‘ū News Briefs, Sunday, May 1, 2022

Ka‘ū resident, actor and director Dick Herschberger portrays Dr. Thomas Jaggar in A Walk into the Past, onsite
where the famed geologist worked at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. Photo by Janice Wei/NPS

A WALK INTO THE PAST WITH DR. JAGGAR returned to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park on Friday. A statement from the Park says, "Sharing and perpetuating history is at the core of what we do in the National Park Service, and we are elated to offer this wonderful living history program to visitors again!"
A Walk into the Past takes attendees back to 1912 to meet the founder of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Dr. Thomas A. Jaggar, at the edge of Kīlauea volcano. Dressed in period costume, Ka‘ū actor-director Dick Hershberger brings the renowned geologist to life. Jaggar takes attendees on a short walk to the crater rim behind Volcano House, near his former lab. Through his words, the audience becomes aware of the motivation that led Jaggar to dedicate his life to the study of Hawaiian volcanoes, and how his work helps save lives today.
Space is limited; pick up a free ticket at Kīlauea Visitor Center lānai the day of the program. Meet at Kīlauea Visitor Center lānai. The performance of A Walk into the Past is supported by Kīlauea Drama Entertainment Network. The event is free (park entrance fees apply).
Each performance is about an hour. Check the park calendar for future Friday performances: https://go.nps.gov/HVNP-events

Kaʻū Little League receives a sponsorship check from Odum/Coke a Cola Kona. Photo from Kaʻū Little League

IT'S THE START OF A NEW SEASON FOR KA'Ū LITTLE LEAGUE Minors (ages 9-10), Majors (ages 11-12), and Juniors (ages 13-14). Kaʻū Little League organizer and mother Elizabeth Crook shared that "it has been a very exciting season so far!"

Tee Ball (ages 4-6) and Coach Pitch (ages 7-8) just ended their season. Crook praised their efforts this past season, saying, "We had a great turnout of kids and thank the parents for all their help."
Current teams playing are Kamakani Minor Team, Southern Star Major Team, and Southern Star Junior Team. Kamakani Minor Team is currently undefeated 3-0 with Coaches Jeremy VanArkel and Kawika Karratti. Southern Star Major Team has 0 wins, 1 lose, and 1 tie with Coaches Justin Santos, Deseray Seaver, and Christina Ellsworth. Southern Star Junior Team is currently 0-12 with Coaches Josh Crook, Kai Koch, and Deseray Seaver.
Due to ongoing renovations at Kahuku Park, Kaʻū Little League is now practicing at Waiohinu Park, which has no existing baseball diamond. As a result, Crook explained that Little League "has had to buy extra equipment this year for the safety of the players." Additionally, the number of registered keiki has reached close to 100 this year, meaning

Tee Ball and Coach Pitch wrapped up the season.

Photo from Kaʻū Little League

more equipment is needed to support their growing number of players and to replace broken or damaged equipment from previous seasons. Examples of equipment needed include: bats, balls, helmets, bases, catcher's gear, and backstop nets for safety.
Crook said that "Kaʻū Little League keeps their registration fees low so all kids have the chance to play. In order for Kaʻū to have a future we need help from the community. We are grateful for any donation to help offset the cost of running this league. Donation money goes towards: Sponsorship of players, insurance, equipment and uniforms. We currently have 7 kids who need sponsored." Contact Crook to offer contributions, donations, and league involvement at (808) 345-0511. Crook shared that "any donation helps these kids to get out and play ball!"
Crook gave a special thank you to their sponsors who help to make Kaʻū Little League possible for our keiki. Gold Sponsors include ʻO Kaʻū Kakou, Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Orchards, ʻOhana Mac Nut Farm, Pitch in for Baseball and Softball, CROOKed C Ranch, Odum/Coke a Cola Kona, Queen K Texaco Gas Station, and Kahuku Country Market and Kamakani Store. Bronze Sponsors include LCS Backhoe Services, Punaluʻu Bake Shop, Hana Hou Restaurant, Waiohinu Farms, Alanui ʻO Kaʻū, Bailar Family, Riley's Da Kine, Foster Hair, and Ka Lae Coffee Shop.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see www.facebook.com/kaucalendar/. See latest print edition at. www.kaucalendar.com. See upcoming events at https://kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2022/03/upcoming-events-for-kau-and-volcano.

See The Ka'ū Calendar May edition at

www.kaucalendar.com, on newsstands and in the mail.

See The Ka'ū Calendar April edition at

www.kaucalendar.com, on newsstands and in the mail.

Saturday, April 30, 2022

Ka‘ū News Briefs, Saturday, April 30, 2022

It's not a volcanic plume, it's a range fire years ago at Kalae. USGS Volcano Watch this week explains ongoing studies
to bridge scientific knowledge on hazardous air caused by volcanoes and fires. See more below. Photo by Isaac Davis

A NEW NURSERY IN KAʻŪ has set its grand opening for Saturday, May 14, from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. Founder Ted Bennett invites the public to "Hele On Down" to Bennett Nursery on Kamaoa Rd., south of Nāʻālehu. Bennett, a former Ka'ū High English teacher-turned farmer, will publicly unveil his nursery of grafted fruit trees, windbreak trees and sweet white pineapple plants, which he has been cultivating for some years. Local biz, Honua's Coffee House, will be also on site serving up coffee creations and smoothies.
Living in Kaʻū for over 20 years, Bennett jokes that his 6.5 acre farm is "a garden that got out of control." After leaving teaching, he said he found a "new love in farming" and has been working at growing his farm naturally - no RoundUp- for several years. Of huge help is Miguel Rosario, of Naalehu, who is the master grafter for the nursery. Bennett's mission is to help "make Hawaiʻi more self-sustaining in its food supply." Setting up the nursery so that locals can easily buy plants and trees and grow their own food, he sees as helping to fulfill that mission.
The star of Bennett's farm is the sweet white pineapple, which is one of his favorite fruits. He sells small pineapple starters for $4, medium-sized for $6 and large-sized plants for $8. In comparison, Bennett says one medium-sized plant in a pot at Home Depot goes for $28.

Ted Bennett says his nursery is "a garden that got out of control." He opens it to the public, with pineapple plants, fruit trees and much more on Saturday, May 14 on Kamaoa Road. Photo from Bennett Nursery

Also available are grafted fruit trees such as red grapefruit, navel orange, tangelo, Meyer lemon, Tahitian lime and kaffir lime.
Bennett grows and sells avocado trees such as the Kahalu'u, which he says is the most delicious, as well as the Yamagata and Linda variety. Customers will also find kūkui nut trees and windbreak trees like the Cook Island pine and Ironwood trees. While not available at the moment, he looks forward to showcasing a variety of grafted mango, kumquat and pink lemon in 2023. Also on sale will be Bennett Nursery T-shirts with the colorful pineapple logo, drawn by Bennett's young niece, Grace, and hand-colored by the late Brigette Cooper.
Bennett encourages others to start growing the fruits they love to eat and looks forward to talking story with others about farming. He said he couldn't have made the progress he has without help. Along with Rosario, he credits Felipe Mejia and Ben Pimentel, both who have passed on, as well as Eric DePeralta for their crucial assistance and expertise.
"I am grateful to be living in Ka'ū. The district has a real legacy, I am grateful to be some kind of part that," shared Bennett.
After the opening, the nursery hours will be Saturdays, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., or by appointment. Bennett Nursery is located at 94-6299 Kamaoa Rd, south of Nāʻālehu. For more info, call (808) 333-4573 or visit bennettfarmandnursery.com

Wildfire burned Pa'a'au Gulch in Pāhala years ago, wrecking air
quality, much like the volcanic eruption in 2018. Photo by John Cross

VOLCANO ERUPTIONS AND WILDFIRES ARE KEY DRIVERS of extreme air quality hazard. How can we bridge scientific knowledge about these phenomena to improve local volcanic air pollution (vog) forecasts in Hawaiʻi? That is the question put forth in this week's Volcano Watch, the weekly column by U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists and affiliates. This week’s article was written by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa researcher Nadya Moisseeva.
Since 2010, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa researchers at the Vog Measurement and Prediction Program have been studying the dispersion of vog in Hawaiʻi. The central goal of the effort has been to provide the public and emergency responders with accurate and timely forecasts that would help limit vog exposure for those in affected areas and communities.
Working closely with the HVO, VMAP scientists developed a custom air quality model that combines numerical weather prediction, volcanic sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission rates, chemistry, and a dynamic dispersion model to track vog plume transport.
Although VMAP's model was unique in its effort to provide operational forecasts for volcanic pollution, it paralleled another emerging global air quality concern: wildfire smoke.

The movement of a smoke plume, like this one in Kalae,
is controlled by similar mechanisms as movement of vog.
Photo by Isaac Davis

While there are drastic differences between the chemistry of smoke and vog, the movement of both types of plumes is controlled by similar physical mechanisms. Intense heating at the surface generates vertical updrafts. As the hot air rises, it moves pollutants, such as volcanic gases, ash, or wildfire smoke from their source to the upper levels of the atmosphere. Turbulence causes the plume to widen and cool as it mixes with clean ambient air through a process called entrainment. In addition, the plume cools through expansion.
Eventually, the plume reaches its level of neutral buoyancy, or ‘injection height,’ from where its movement in the atmosphere is largely controlled by the ambient horizontal winds.
During extreme wildfires and volcanic eruptions, the plume cooling process can also lead to the formation of flammagenitus clouds. Commonly known as ‘pyrocumulus,’ these clouds originate above a strong, localized heat source—such as the Ahuʻailāʻau (fissure 8) lava fountain in Kīlauea’s 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption—and can produce intense turbulence, surface wind gusts, lightning and rain. The formation of pyrocumulus can generate further lift, pulling pollutants higher into the atmosphere.
As a result of all these complex dynamic mechanisms, determining the plume injection height has been a shared challenge for vog and smoke air-quality modelers. It requires detailed knowledge of many aspects of both the heat source and the ambient atmosphere. Unfortunately, it is often impossible to obtain such observations under natural disaster conditions.
Meanwhile, small errors in estimating the plume injection height can lead to large errors in downwind predictions of pollutant concentrations. This is because horizontal winds at various elevations in the atmosphere often do not blow in the same direction. Due to this wind shear, miscalculating plume injection height can cause an air quality model to transport the plume in the wrong direction, leading to a poor forecast.

VMAP Vog Dashboard: public forecast for October 11, 2021. Colors denote probability of exceeding ‘Moderate’ sulfur
dioxide air quality threshold. Source: http://weather.hawaii.edu/vmap/new/

Hence, a key question for both vog and smoke modelers is: how high up will a given plume rise?
Powerful eruptions—like those of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 and Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai earlier in 2022—can send plumes of volcanic gases and ash deep into the stratosphere, resulting in long-range pollution transport and even generating climate-cooling effects. Until recently, few wildfires were powerful enough to do this. Yet due to human-driven climate change, there has been a dramatic increase in high-intensity ‘mega-fires’ around the world over the last decade. The power and scale of impact of these events are comparable to that of volcanic eruptions. In fact, photos of vog and smoke plumes can sometimes be hard to distinguish.
There is a silver lining to this growing overlap between volcanic eruptions and wildfires. It allows scientists to transfer knowledge about the physics and dynamics of plumes across the two research domains.

Eruptions and wildfires are subject to the same air flows that
carries bad air to communities. USGS photo

Owing to the recent rapid development of new algorithms for wildfire smoke models, VMAP scientists have been able to incorporate a new dynamic plume-rise approach in their vog forecasts. This resulted in more accurate air quality predictions for the State of Hawaii. Through knowledge sharing, these improvements will in turn benefit the broader air quality modeling community and the public.

USGS Volcano Activity Updates: Kīlauea volcano is erupting. Its USGS Volcano Alert level is at WATCH (https://www.usgs.gov/natural-hazards/volcano-hazards/about-alert-levels). Kīlauea updates are issued daily.
Over the past week, lava has continued to erupt from the western vent within Halemaʻumaʻu crater. All lava is confined within Halemaʻumaʻu crater in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Sulfur dioxide emission rates remain elevated and were last measured at approximately 4,300 tonnes per day (t/d) on April 27, 2022. Seismicity is elevated but stable, with few earthquakes and ongoing volcanic tremor. Summit tiltmeters show one minor deflation and inflation trend over the past week. For more information on the current eruption of Kīlauea, see https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/recent-eruption.
Mauna Loa is not erupting and remains at Volcano Alert Level ADVISORY. This alert level does not mean that an eruption is imminent or that progression to an eruption from the current level of unrest is certain. Mauna Loa updates are issued weekly.

1984 eruption of Mauna Loa, which is now quiet and on a
Volcano Alert Level ADVISORY. NPS photo

This past week, about 55 small-magnitude earthquakes were recorded below the summit and upper elevation flanks of Mauna Loa—the majority of these occurred at shallow depths less than 15 kilometers (9 miles) below sea level. Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements show low rates of ground deformation over the past week. Gas concentrations and fumarole temperatures at both the summit and at Sulphur Cone on the Southwest Rift Zone have remained stable over the past week. Webcams show no changes to the landscape. For more information on current monitoring of Mauna Loa, see: https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/mauna-loa/monitoring.
No felt earthquakes were reported in the Hawaiian Islands during the past week.
HVO continues to closely monitor Kīlauea’s ongoing eruption and Mauna Loa for any signs of increased activity.
Visit HVO’s website for past Volcano Watch articles, Kīlauea and Mauna Loa updates, volcano photos, maps, recent earthquake info, and more. Email questions to askHVO@usgs.gov.

See The Ka'ū Calendar April edition at

www.kaucalendar.com, on newsstands and in the mail.

About The Kaʻū Calendar

Monday, May 02, 2022

Ka‘ū News Briefs, Monday, May 2, 2022

Sunday, May 01, 2022

Ka‘ū News Briefs, Sunday, May 1, 2022

Saturday, April 30, 2022

Ka‘ū News Briefs, Saturday, April 30, 2022