Ka`u News Briefs Feb. 15, 2011

Road repairs in Ocean View are made by a community-owned road corporation,
taking material from a quarry in Ocean View.

SPECIAL STATE LEGISLATION that would allow public funding from fuel taxes to be used for 750 miles of private roads in such subdivisions as Ocean View is making its way through committees at the state Legislature. The idea is that people living in these communities pay taxes at the fuel pump as well as live in subdivisions that were approved without proper infrastructure. They should be allowed to apply for grants from the fuel tax to help maintain their roads, said County Council member Brittany Smart.
     The legislation would allow Hawai`i County to be a special district for the use of fuel tax funds. The effort is being championed in the council by County Council Chair Dominic Yagong and in the Legislature by Sen. Malama Solomon.
     Ka`u council member Smart said road corporations like the one in Ocean View could apply for grants to build a culvert, fix an intersection, or fix another problem. There would be a committee to review grant proposals from communities with private roads.

A NEW SHELTER GYM proposed for Pahala is getting some traction in the state administration. Rep. Bob Herkes said yesterday that Gov. Neil Abercrombie may include nearly $20 million for the project in a state bond float. The county is working on a tight deadline to come up with a design-build proposal that would get the project done in less than two years. The gym and emergency shelter would be owned by the county, and access would be provided to schools and the community. It would be located adjacent to or within the Pahala school campus. Council member Brittany Smart met with the governor on the opening day of the Legislature to ask him for funding. She gives credit to both Principal Sharon Beck and former council member Guy Enriques for leading the effort to build the shelter gym.

Russell Kokubun, left, was unanimously confirmed yesterday by the state Senate
to be chair of the Department of Agriculture. He and his colleague Dwight Takamine,
also in the governor's cabinet, joined Abercrombie and Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz
at inauguration ceremonies in Pahala last December.

RUSSELL KOKUBUN was unanimously confirmed by the state Senate yesterday as the new chair of the state Department of Agriculture. He has been serving as temporary chief of Agriculture following his appointment by Gov. Neil Abercrombie. Kokubun, who lives in Volcano, was re-elected state senator last November but stepped down to take his new job. Sen. Gil Kahele was appointed to take his place.

THE KA`U FARM BUREAU sent a letter of support for Kokubun, saying that he has “demonstrated an innovative and proactive approach to issues facing agriculture in our community and has proven to be an effective leader and problem solver.” From drought to vog to irrigation and expanding markets, Kokubun has been a leader, states a letter from the Ka`u Farm Bureau.

AN EFFORT SUPPORTED by the Ka`u Farm Bureau to establish local ag inspectors to certify coffee, honey and other products from Ka`u has been deferred at the state Legislature. However, the Department of Agriculture has promised to fill inspector positions that were cut back in Kona and Hilo in order to better serve farmers.

Miss Ka`u Coffee 2010,
Ulu Makuakane

CANDIDATES FOR MISS KA`U COFFEE are selling tickets to the pageant scheduled for Saturday, April 23 and are starting to practice for the event. Five young women are vying for Miss Ka`u Coffee, six are vying for Miss Peaberry, and seven are vying for Little Miss Ka`u Coffee.

COUNCIL MEMBER BRITTANY SMART’S talk story session for Ka`u this month will be held Thursday at 7 p.m. at Pahala Community Center. The subject is coming up with a fair formula for impact fees proposed by council member Pete Hoffman. Fees are charged by the county for building homes and other structures to offset impacts on roads, parks and other county infrastructure. Opponents say it drives up the cost building affordable housing. 

Ka`u News Briefs Feb. 14, 2011

Huana Ke Aloha won the Grammy
for Best Hawaiian Music Album.

DANIEL HO WON ANOTHER GRAMMY AWARD YESTERDAY for producing the album Huana Ke Aloha with the vocals of Tia Carrere and original Hawaiian lyrics by Amy Ku`uleialoha Stillman. Both Stillman and Ho have helped to lead music workshops at Pahala Plantation House, and Ho helped a group of local residents to compose the song Kaiholena, after local Nature Conservancy field director John Replogle took them to the mountain with a spring where early Polynesians are believed to have set up a nursery for the food plants they brought by canoe to Hawai`i. 

Daniel Ho's Polani was also nominated
for Best Hawaiian Music Album.

     Kaiholena was sung by Carrera on Ho’s album He Nani, which was nominated for a Grammy last year. The new Grammy-winning album features classic piano tunes by Brahms, Puccini and Beethoven with lyrics by Stillman and piano arrangements by Ho. Stillman, who grew up in Hawai`i, has a doctorate in music from Harvard and teaches at the University of Michigan. Tia Carrere grew up with Daniel Ho on O`ahu, where they were childhood friends and started out their music careers in Brown Bags to Stardom. 

     Jeff Peterson and Ledward Kaapana, who frequently teach at the Keoki Kahumoku music workshop each year in Pahala, were also nominated for Best Hawaiian Music Album. So was a compilation album called Amy Hanaiali`i and Slack Key Masters of Hawai`i, featuring workshop teachers Jeff Peterson, Sonny Lim and Dennis Kamakahi. Also on the album is Cyril Pahinui, who is currently teaching slack key weekly for students at Ka`u High School. 

KAHU, on Maile Street in Pahala, will host a
fundraiser on Sunday, March 6 to send
One Journey to Brown Bags to Stardom.

BROWN BAGS TO STARDOM is a goal of a new band from Ka`u called One Journey. The group is made of some of the members of the Ka`u High ensemble class. They will have a CD release party and fundraiser for their journey to Brown Bags. The event will be held at KAHU Radio station on Sunday, March 6 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. to raise money for their trip to O`ahu for the Brown Bags to Stardom contest. One Journey’s music video is already being shown on OC16 television. 

THE BILL CREATING THE PROGRAM for inmates to work on historical sites selected by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs comes up for hearings at state Legislature this Wednesday. Introduced by Sen. Gil Kahele and by Rep. Robert Herkes, the program would work with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and state Historic Preservation Office to design work projects for the prisoners. The bill has the support of the Department of Hawaiian Homelands. Its chair, Alapaki Nahale-A, wrote that the restoration of historic sites “has incredible potential to support the successful transition of inmates from prison to their communities while establishing a connection to Hawaiian culture.” The Office of Hawaiian Affairs said it supports cultural programming, pa‘ahao, for incarcerated individuals and encourages additional funding to support the program.

ALSO COMING UP FOR HEARINGS are bills that would: give a state lease preference to Hawaiian fishponds; require, where feasible, the use of native Hawaiian land plants for landscaping of public buildings; and a requirement for all environmental assessments and environmental impact statements to include a cultural impact statement with public and Office of Hawaiian Affairs review of the cultural impact statement. 

Sen. Gil Kahele hikes along the coast toward the four ahupua`a that
could become the South Kona Wilderness Area.

THE PRESERVATION OF 13 miles of coastline and lands extending 6,000 feet inland from Honomolino to Manuka as part of the South Kona Wilderness Area went to public hearing Saturday. The bills were sponsored by Rep. Bob Herkes and Sen. Gil Kahele. Department of Land and Natural Resources Chair William Aila testified that his agency supports the protection of the coast from urban/resort development and preservation of important historic, cultural, scenic, environmental and biological resources in the five ahupua`a, but would need additional funding to take care of the resources.
     Attorney General David Louie asked that the bill be held back to deal with the issue of fair real estate values of some of the private lands that would be acquired. The bill would reclassify all the land to conservation and prohibit subdividing it, which would change its value. This could be considered as a “taking,” reducing the income of the private landowners whose land would be acquired for the South Kona Wilderness Area, said the attorney general.
     The ahupua`a to be preserved would be: Honomolino, Okoe, Kapu`a, Kaulanamauna, and Manuka. Any existing homes would be exempt from the wilderness area, which would span across more than 7,780 acres.

ANYONE CAN TESTIFY ON BILLS before the Legislature by going to the Hawai`i state Legislature website and submitting testimony online. You can also search for subjects of your interest and read bills and testimony that have been submitted.

Ka`u News Briefs Feb. 13, 2011

Volcano Art Center CEO Tanya Aynessazian, with microphone, auctions
artwork at last night's Love the Arts fundraiser.

PUBLIC HEARINGS are set for Teusday, Feb. 15 at the state capitol for a number of bills that support Ka`u agriculture. A hearing will be held for a bill introduced by Sen.  Gil Kahele that would authorize the Agricultural Development Corp. to issue revenue bonds to finance marine transportation to help agriculture and mariculture in transporting products to local markets. Another introduced by Kahele would establish a process for preferential rates for electricity used for agricultural activities. 

     In testimony, Russell Kokubun, who now chairs the state Board of Agriculture, says the Department of Agriculture supports the intent of the measure to reduce the cost of electricity to qualified agribusiness but defers to the Public Utilities Commission regarding the feasibility. A similar bill would establish preferential water rates for ag activities. The Chair of the Public Utilities Commission testified that there is concern that electric rates for other users would go up and lead to an unreasonable discrimination between localities or between users or consumers….” The Hawai`i Farm Bureau supported the preferential rates.

Beekeepers are hoping that honey sold in
stores will be labeled with place of origin
to help promote locally produced honey.

     On Feb. 15, a bill will be taken up to decide whether to require grocers to list country of origin of all honey sold. A hearing will be held on providing a grant to 4 Ag Hawai`i for its Buy Local, It Matters program to promote eating locally grown food.

SOME REAL ESTATE ACTIVITY has been brewing in Ka`u recently with some homes selling at affordable prices. The median sales price of houses in Ka`u between November 10 and Jan. 11 was $169,000 in Pahala, $181,350 in Na`alehu, which includes Kamaoa and South Point Roads and Discovery Harbour; $135,000 in Ocean View and Ranchos; and $195,000 in Volcano. Here are some examples of recorded sales prices in January: a sale for $105,000 on Princess Kaiulani Boulevard in Ocean View, a sale for $129,000 on Haehae Loop in Discovery Harbour, and a $361,564 sale on Pukeawe Circle in the Volcano golf course area. These statistics were gathered by The Honolulu Star Advertiser and Trulia.com.

THE HAWAI’I POLICE DEPARTMENT has published its community satisfaction survey. Here are some of the results. More than 55 percent of participants said that this island is a safe place to live and a safe place to work and visit. Less than 10 percent disagreed. Regarding their relationship with police officers, about 35 percent said the interaction in the last year was a casual encounter, while 30 percent said they had made a police report, 24 percent a 911 call, and 16 percent had been involved with a police community program.
     More than 50 percent of participants said their interaction was such that they believe the officers expressed interest in helping them and that the police officers demonstrated professionalism with aloha and respect. More than 40 percent of respondents said they were concerned with the way the police department responds to crime. Police Chief Harry Kubojiri said he will use the survey to help improve operations.

John Matsushita creates an ice sculpture at last night's
Love the Arts fundraiser for Volcano Art Center.

VOLCANO ART CENTER’S seventh annual Love the Arts fundraiser had a full house last night at the new educational center in Volcano Village. CEO Tanya Aynessazian took on the role of auctioneer to raise money for the center’s arts and educational programming. Guests enjoyed hors d’oevres, entrees, homemade truffles, wine and champagne. The evening’s theme was Fire and Ice. Rose Adare and Alex Stitt wowed spectators as they spun flaming batons accompanied by music, with an ice sculpture by John Matsushita in the background. 

THE 2011 DIRECTORY, published by the Ka`u Chamber of Commerce, is being circulated this week throughout Ka`u and Volcano. The 80-page, color book of businesses, community organizations, churches, and government listings features a cover photo by Peter Anderson. There are many photos of Ka`u, a phone-book style listing of people and businesses, maps of all the communities and important public information.

AREA RESTAURANTS ARE OFFERING special occasions for Valentine’s Day.
     In Na`alehu, South Side Shaka’s has shrimp and steak specials tonight, as well as entertainment by Boni Narito from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Call 929-7404 for reservations.
     Hana Hou Restaurant is offering Sweetheart Dinners tonight and tomorrow night. Call 929-9717 for reservations.
     Tomorrow night, Kilauea Military Camp has a Valentine Chef Special from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Crater Rim Café. At the Lava Lounge, couples can enjoy a special Occasion to Remember dinner. Call 967-8354 for reservations.