Ka`u News Briefs March 28, 2011

Napau Fire started March 5, sparked by lava. It is more than 80 percent contained.  Photo from Napau Fire Crew

THE COUNTY COUNCIL will spend most of its time on the county budget this week with Special Finance committee meetings all day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Hilo council chambers. The goal is to establish the operating budget for July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012. Council chair Dominic Yagong wants to reduce the police department budget by holding back their pay increases. Mayor Billy Kenoi does not. Yagong wants to consider continuing two-day a month furloughs for county workers, while the mayor wants to end furloughs.

Gov. Abercrombie promises more ag inspectors.  Photo by Geneveve Fyvie

GOV. NEIL ABERCROMBIE has released a statement regarding the upcoming state budget and state legislature decisions. He asks: “Do we want to produce our own energy instead of exporting billions of dollars to unstable oil-rich countries? Do we want to use these dollars to pay our own solar installers, biofuel farmers, geothermal engineers and wind energy technicians? If we do then we need to connect the islands, accelerate the transition to clean energy with the right incentives, and build functioning regulatory agencies so projects aren’t stuck in paper and process.” The governor also asked, “Do we want to grow our own healthy food instead of being so dependent on multi-national food conglomerates and food and fuel grown and produced in developing countries? If we do we’ll need to repair our irrigation systems and invest in agricultural research and education. Reinstating eliminated agricultural inspectors is a step in the right direction, but that step alone won’t get us there – not even close.” The governor said that in these challenging times, everyone – including the public sector – is going to do more with less. “We must commit ourselves 100 perent to solve our fiscal crisis and focus on economic growth,” he said.

THE NAPAU FIRE that burned nearly 2100 acres is more than 80 percent contained, after more than an inch of rain and heavy work on hot spots by firefighters over the weekend. The fire was ignited by the Kamoamoa Fissure Eruption that started on March 5 and has since ended. More than 50 local and mainland firefighters and Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park staff worked to protect Special Ecological Areas that are home to many endangered species.

Mainland firefighters came from national parks, forests and recreational areas.  Photo from Napau Fire Crew

HAWAI`I STATE CIVIL DEFENSE opens a Community Disaster Assistance and Recovery Center tomorrow for anyone on the island with March 11 tsunami damage. Hours at the Old Kona Airport Events Pavilion are Tuesday, March 29 and Wednesday, March 30, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The center will be staffed by representatives from the Office of the Mayor in Kona, the Department of Environmental Management and the Department of Public Works along with private organizations such as American Red Cross and Catholic Charities Hawai`i. Mayor Billy Kenoi said: “This cooperative government and private-sector effort will efficiently deliver the information and assistance that our residents need for the most rapid recovery possible.”
     State Civil Defense officials are contacting all of the people who called Aloha United Way’s 2-1-1 hotline for assistance in connection with the tsunami to invite them to the meeting. Kenoi and Gov. Neil Abercrombie have issued emergency proclamations in connection with the tsunami, and Abercrombie has requested that President Barack Obama issue a presidential disaster declaration.

One Journey's fundraising CD sold out, and the band is still raising money for Honolulu.  Photo by Julia Neal

ONE JOURNEY has made the finals in the Brown Bags to Stardom’s music video competition on OC16 television. A new round of voting begins this Wednesday, March 30 at 7:30 p.m. on OC16. Anyone with an email address or access to the Internet can vote. Log onto brownbagtostardom.com to see the video Lover’s Dream, written by Eunice Longakit and James Tyson. The band, under the direction of Ka`u High School teacher Laura Saijo, is still raising money to fund its trip to the Brown Bags to Stardom talent contest on O`ahu on April 23. At a recent fundraiser at KAHU FM 91.7, produced by Ka`u Productions, LLC, the band raised funds and sold out its CDs but is still short about $500. Donations can be dropped by the radio station or Ka`u High School. The band also hopes to raise money to print more copies of the CD to sell as another fundraiser.

Ka`u News Briefs March 27, 2011

Ko Aloha `Ukulele were built from koa by Ka`u youth. The group visited KAHU FM 91.7                            Photo by Julia Neal 

LAVA RETURNED TO KILAUEA VOLCANO’S EAST RIFT ZONE yesterday after a 17-day pause in eruptive activity. The U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports the eruption began at 10:09 a.m. inside Pu‘u ‘O‘o, with lava slowly filling the deepest parts of the crater. The event was heralded by a brief seismic tremor burst, in which tremor levels doubled and tslowly decreases. Jim Kauahikaua, Scientist in Charge, said, “Lava is currently confined to the Pu‘u ‘O‘o crater and, so far, poses no threat to structures within Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park or outside Park boundaries.”  

Composite photo from temporary webcam placed at Pu`O`o shows new lava.
                                                                                                     Photo from HAVO

      On March 5, Pu‘u ‘O‘o crater’s floor, on which lava accumulated to a depth of nearly 250 feet during the past year, began to collapse. A fissure opened southwest of Pu‘u ‘O‘o and fountains of lava erupted, extending to Napau Crater. Lava continued to erupt from this  Ka-moa-moa fissure until the night of March 9, when all activity on Kilauea’s east rift zone paused. Since then, no lava had erupted from east rift zone vents until yesterday. Visit the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Web site at http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov and see the webcam.

Triangles show hot spot targets of firefighters who control the Napau Fire, which has burned more than 2,00 acres.
                                                                                                                                                             Map from Napau Fire Crew

 THE NAPAU FIRE containment has reached beyond 50 percent with firefighters working on hot spots throughout the 2,000 acres of burned forest. The team from Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park and from other national parks, national forests and recreational areas on the mainland  has protected Special Ecological Areas. The fires was ignited by lava from the eruption that began March 5.

Alan Okami, of Ko Aloha,  Keoki Kahumoku
                                        Photo by Julia Neal

MORE THAN 30 `UKULELE are going home with the youth of Ka`u this weekend after an `ukulele building workshop sponsored by Ko Aloha `Ukulele, Keioki Kahumoku, the Queen Liliu`okalani Trust, Pahala Plantation Cottages and the Edmund C. Olson Trust. Alan and Paul Okami, of Ko Aloha `Ukulele, which manufactures the musical instruments on O`ahu, brought their crew to Pahala to teach students how to build them. The `ukulele are made of koa and the workshop saw parents, grandparents, aunties, and uncles helping the younger children to construct their `ukulele. Ko Aloha has sponsored similar workshops on Moloka`i and plans to come back to Ka`u for another `ukulele build in October.

ABOUT FACE, JUMP START AND COMMUNITY ALL STARS programs, which have been helping Ka`u youth for years with after-school training, are all on the chopping block and they end in April. The reason is a cut in federal funding that comes was going to the state Department of Defense and managed by the Paxen Group. The program not only eliminates training for youth, it eliminates employment for the Ka`u residents who teach the young people. Also unlikely, this summer, is a program that hired more than 100 Ka`u youth for summer jobs at such places at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, the hospital and for community groups throughout the district.

Jump Start kids raised money to help a family whose house burned in Na`alehu. The Jump Start, All Star and About Face programs are being dropped.
                                                                                                                                                                            Photo by India Young

 THE DAMAGE FROM THE JAPAN TUSNAMI that reached our shores on March 11 totals more than $30 million to the Islands, according to state estimates. Gov. Neil Abercrombie asked for the Small Business Administration to help homeowners, businesses, nonprifits and renters with low-interest loans for repairs on the Big Island. On the southside it was homes in Honomolino, Okoe and Kapua Bays that were damaged. The governor will also ask Pres. Barack Obama for a disaster declaration which would provide some reimbursement to counties for repair of public infrastructure, like Ali`i Drive in Kona.

No dangerous radiation  here, but more evacuations possible in Japan.

RADIATION CONTINUES TO ESCAPE from the damaged nuclear reactor farm on the northern coast of Honshu Island. Nuclear expert Joe Cirincione said that he doesn’t expect any radiation problem here. 

However, the end result could be spikes of radiation in Japan and the possibility of thousands more people 

      Small amounts of radiation have reached Las Vegas, but in tiny amounts and the health departments say not to worry.

Ka`u News Briefs March 26, 2011

History of the Napua Fire, ignited by lava on March 5, was 50 percent contained by March 26,. Mainland firefighters help out.

THE NAPAU FIRE is more than 50 percent contained, following heavy rains over two days and an aggressive mop-up and fire suppression. The fire is confined to the perimeter with 50 firefighters, fire management staff and park resource advisors working to protect the Special Ecological Areas at Kealakomo and Naula. Firefighters from other national parks, national forests and recreational areas on the mainland have been helping and Chain of Craters Road is open again. The fire was sparked March 5 by the Kamoamoa Fissure Eruption. There are currently no active lava flows in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.

BUILDING A NEW COMMUNITY-BASED re-entry program between Hilo and Ka`u to help bring inmates from the mainland back home to Hawai`i is the subject of resolutions introduced by Sen. Gill Kahele and Rep. Bob Herkes at the 2011 Legislature. A public hearing will be held Thursday, March 31 at the Capitol. One proposal is to build the facility on Hawaiian Homes Land and a committee to study the issue would included the chair of the Hawaiian Homes Commission as well as representatives from the Pana`ewa Community and Farmers Associations. A bill introduced by Herkes would establish a prison for 1,000 to 1,200 inmates on unoccupied Hawaiian Home Lands.

The home of the PUC in the Territorial Building in Honolulu.

THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION is expected to be revamped through legislation. A proposal would add commissioners and require more public notice and public input before decisions are made. The Keahole Defense Fund supports amendments to the PUC law, saying that current regulations do not require the PUC to hold open meetings or vote in public. The consumer advocate and utility are allowed to negotiate without much public participation, testified Keahole Defense attorney Michael Matsuaka. The PUC would receive more funding to cover its wide berth of responsibilities, from regulating interisland ocean transportation to dealing with electrical rates and the emergence of the renewable energy industry.

The Ka`u water system is over 100 years old.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE  CHAIR Russell Kokubun has been battling for money to repair water systems around the state that fell into disrepair after the sugar industry shut down. He testified to the 2011 Legislature that “irrigation systems provide an essential resource to farms. Most of the systems are over 100 years old and are in need of significant improvements to reduce water losses and maintenance costs,” he said . Kokubun said repairs are needed to move Hawai‘i toward a more sustainable future. The measure is supported by the Hawai`i Farm Bureau and other pro ag organizations. The bill, which is also being promoted by Sen. Gil Kahele and Rep. Bob Herkes would allow the state to issue bonds to fund the Ka`u Irrigation System between Pahala and Na`alehu with $500,000 in 2011 and 2012, and another $2 million in 2012 – 2013, along with other irrigation projects around the state. It passed the Senate and has gone to House Finance.

ANOTHER AG BILL that lost traction in the legislature would have allowed agricultural inspectors to be trained and hired by contract in such remote areas as Ka`u. The bill was supported by a number of Ka`u coffee farmers who say they are experiencing problems with getting their coffee inspected before shipping out. The inspectors are in Kona where Ka`u farmers do not want to take their clean coffee and vehicles since Kona is the hotbead of the coffee cherry borers, Hypothenemus hampei, which could ride back to Ka`u on vehicles. Megan Collins of Paradise Orchard and bee Farm testified for the measure as a director of the Ka`u Farm Bureau. Coffee farmer Effran Abellera testified that he doesn't want his coffee going to Kona. Coffee farmer Lorie Obra also supported the measure along with Ka`u Farm Bureau President and statewide Farm Bureau vice president Chris Manfredi who also testified on behalf of Ka`u Farm & Ranch, which manages land where many of the Ka`u farmers have their coffee.

         The Department of Agriculture and Hawai`i Government Employees union opposed the measure, saying that it would be difficult to ensure quality and consistency of an independent agent’s work performance and that the measure would privatize the inspection function of the Department of Ag. The HGEA testified that  higher costs, lower quality of services and loss of accountability are some of the common results of the privatization of government services and recommended restoring inspector jobs that were cut from the department under Gov. Linda Lingle’s administration. Coffee farmers said they are documenting added costs of transportation and time going to Kona and added risks taken that could bring coffee borers to their farms. They said they hope inspectors will come here.

DENGUE FEVER is in Pearl City on O`ahu and even though that seems far away, the state Department of Health encourages everyone to disperse standing water that hosts mosquitoes to prevent the spread of the disease across the island. Dengue is more common in more tropical places. Dengue fever is a virus and causes a sudden high fever and a flat red rash, headache, aching joints and muscles. Hydration is important during the illness. Anyone thinking they have the virus should contact a physician for treatment and so the health department can track the outbreak.