Ka'u News Briefs Feb. 9, 2012

The state hopes to double the number of priority watershed preserved, like this one, already under management of The Nature Conservancy at Kaiholena between Pahala and Na`alehu in Ka`u. Photo from TNC

IMMEDIATE PROTECTION OF PRIORITY WATERSHED FORESTS is the aim of a Department of Land & Natural Resources senate bill, SB 2782, discussed in Honolulu this week. It is part of Hahai No Ka Ua i Ka Ulula’au, The Rain Follows the Forest initiative to double protected watersheds within the next 10 years. Conservation Council for Hawai`i Executive Director Marjorie Ziegler says, “this is one of the most important things the DLNR and the legislature can do for our people and generations to come. If you drink water and bathe, you should care.” Testimony can be sent to the Senate Committee on Water, Land and Housing and the Senate Committee on Energy and Environment via http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=2782&year=2012.

Ka'u cattle ranchers receive help from the USDA
Rural Development program.  Photo by Julia Neal

THE HAWAI`I CATTLE PRODUCERS COOPERATIVE has won a grant for its 50 ranch members statewide for transportation, marketing and other services. Ka`u ranches that are members of the co-op include Kapapala and Kuahiwi. Funding comes from U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Value-Added Producer Grant Program. The cooperative helps members transport their cattle and sell their beef. The grant totals more than $58,000.

ENERGY CONSERVATION EDUCATION and installation of solar water heaters and photovoltaics also received funding from Rural Development. This money went to the Hawai`i Economic Opportunity Council here on the Big Island and totals $1,218,791.
      Sen. Dan Inouye said, “This grant provides multiple opportunities for Hawai`i Island families to save money by using the power of the sun to heat their water, a cost-effective way to manage their utility bills while lessening Hawai`i’s dependence on imported fossil fuels. Hawai`i’s high energy costs are a burden on many segments of our society, and any effort to enhance energy efficiency should be encouraged and supported. I am very pleased that the Obama administration recognizes Hawai`i’s role as the clean energy leader and continues to support our efforts with federal investments.”

Sen. Dan Inouye supports solar.

      Sen. Dan Akaka said, “Solar water heaters are a great investment, and I encourage businesses and homeowners to look into this cost-saving technology. This program—along with the support and ingenuity of people across Hawai`i—will help us continue to move forward as a leader in clean energy.”
      Rep. Mazie Hirono said, “The people of Hawai`i pay the highest electricity costs in the country – close to $170 per household per month. I know first-hand how a solar water heater unit can help ease those costs, as my family has used one for years in our home on O`ahu. This is the type of program that puts people to work installing solar heating units and helps Hawai`i families save money, especially our rural communities on Hawai`i Island. This also keeps our island state on the path to reaching our goal of becoming energy self-sufficient.”
      Chris Kanazawa, USDA Rural Development Hawai`i State director, said, “The High Energy Cost Grant Program assists rural residents and businesses in Hawai`i to upgrade energy infrastructure and make other energy efficiency improvements. These grants are another example of how USDA Rural Development in Hawai`i works to help local rural communities overcome economic obstacles and create opportunity.”
       To sign up, applicants go through an energy audit of the home, attend an energy education workshop and sign assurances to comply with guidelines.
       While the program is set up for families living in poverty, households at 200 percent or above the poverty level can participate in a cost-sharing arrangement. The project covers 80 percent of costs and homeowners pay the remaining 20 percent. Call 322-3428.

Constance Lau, CEO  of HEI

HAWAI`I ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES MADE $128.2 MILLION IN PROFITS LAST YEAR as electric rates reached historic highs. In a statement, HEI President and CEO Constance Lau said, “Our improved earnings help us fund the upfront investments necessary to support Hawai`i’s move to clean energy. We are continuing to reinvest earnings in an aggressive infrastructure program to modernize the electric grid for reliability and to prepare it for significant amounts of renewable energy.” She said HEI invested $200 million in infrastructure in 2011.
      A hearing will be held at the state Legislature tomorrow to consider taking HEI out of the electricity producing business, opening up competition for lower rates to consumers. HEI would be tasked with distributing the electricity through its power lines and charging customers for that service only.


THE HAWAI`I MEDICAL SERVICES ASSOCIATION has granted the American Lung Association in Hawai`i $25,000 for its Ma`opopo Oli Hano (Understanding Asthma) program. The mission is asthma education and management for Native Hawaiian children, their families, and caregivers. School programs provide asthma education and management skills to teachers. Another HMSA grant goes to the National Alliance on Mental Illness Hawai`i to help families understand and cope with a family member who has a mental illness. This program also helps people with a mental illness avoid becoming homeless.

KA`U RED HATTERS host an annual bake and craft sale for Ka`u Hospital tomorrow and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Punalu`u Beach Park. Call Barbara Beatty at 929-9072.

VOLCANO ART CENTER hosts Love the Arts Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tickets are available at VAC Gallery, the Niaulani Campus in Volcano Village, and online at www.volcanolovethearts.org. Tickets are $50 in advance and $60 at the door.

Park visitors hike to Mauna Ulu (top right). Photo by Geneveve Fyvie

TWO GUIDED HIKES are offered at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park this Sunday.
      People & Land of Kahuku at the Kahuku Unit is a moderately difficult hike across 2.5 miles of rugged terrain. Wear appropriate walking attire and bring water. The tour, starting at 9:30 a.m., focuses on human history and ends around 12:30 p.m. The Kahuku Unit entrance lies between miles 70 and 71 on Hwy 11. Call 985-6011.
      Sunday Walk in the Park is offered by Friends of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., in the Kilauea side of the park. Nick Shema leads this three-mile round-trip exploration of the Mauna Ulu area. Group size limited to 15. Free to Friends members; non-members welcome to join in order to attend. Park entrance fees apply. Call 985-7373 or email admin@fhvnp.org.

Thank you our news briefs sponsors: Ka'u Coffee Mill and Pahala Plantation Cottages.

Ka'u News Briefs Feb. 8, 2012

Participants at Na`alehu Elementary's Math & Science Night viewed projects such as anemometers. Photo by Nalani Parlin

A PUBLIC HEARING ON INVEST IN HAWAI`I ACT 2012 will be held this Friday at the state Capitol at 9 a.m., and anyone can submit testimony online. A statement from the Senate describes the bill as “garnering bipartisan support” and describes it as “an aggressive $500 million general obligation bond-funded Capital Improvement Program package aimed at creating jobs by investing and stimulating our local economy from all corners of the state.”
      Among the investments would be development of sustainable and renewable energy resources, such as photovoltaic technology. “Investing in renewable energy and upgrades to information technology initiatives throughout schools, hospitals, and office buildings will ultimately lead to cost savings and a reduction of the State’s carbon footprint,” says a statement from the Senate. Public state facilities in Ka`u that could possibly receive such funding include Ka`u Hospital and the new Ka`u High School Gym and regional disaster shelter, both funded by the state. 

Photovoltaics could save the state money and reduce the carbon footprint
of public buildings, the state Senate says. Photo from solar-green-wind.com

      The Senate statement says that, “with Hawai`i experiencing the lowest interest rates on record and significant savings made from the State’s most recent bond authorization and issuance, now is the time to invest in our State. The program will appropriate funds for shovel-ready jobs projects that will create jobs for all trades in the construction industry – from carpenters to consultants.”
      The Senate statement points to estimates by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism’s job multiplier, calling them “conservative” and contending the projects could “create or sustain more than 5,000 jobs.”
      Projects would focus on repair and maintenance needs to address aging infrastructure concerns and to extend the useful life of existing state-owned assets and facilities. Projects would include those that address health and safety code concerns. Infrastructure funding would go to the Department of Education, including the State Public Library System; the University of Hawai`i, including athletic facilities; the Department of Accounting and General Services; the Department of Agriculture; the Department of Defense; the Department of Health and health care facilities of the Hawai`i Health Systems; the Department of Human Services; the Department of Land and Natural Resources; the Department of Public Safety and the Judiciary.
      In order to expedite the backlogged repair and maintenance projects, Senate Bill 2012 makes revisions to the State’s permitting, approval and procurement process. “The accelerated process will expedite the creation of jobs and facilitate the return to work for many of our residents,” said the Senate statement.
      Testimony can be submitted online at http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/submittestimony.aspx.

Scientists at Keck Observatory were involved in discovering a potentially habitable planet 22 light-years from Earth.
 Photo from www.keckobservatory.org

A POTENTIALLY HABITABLE PLANET, orbiting a star about 22 light-years from Earth, was discovered by an international team including scientists living here on the Big Island and working for the Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea. The “super-Earth” has a minimum mass 4.5 times that of the Earth. The planet has a similar orbital period to Earth of about 28 days and is within the star’s “habitable zone,” where temperatures are neither too cold nor too hot for liquid water. 

      “This planet is the new best candidate to support liquid water and, perhaps, life as we know it,” said a discovery team leader, Guillem Anglada-Escudé, of the Carnegie Institution for Science.
      Evidence suggests at least one additional planet, possibly more, orbits the star, which is said to be a member of a triple-star system. Scientists say the host star, an M-class dwarf star called GJ 667C, has a different composition than Earth’s sun, indicating that potentially habitable planets can exist in a greater array of environments than believed in the past. “This was expected to be a rather unlikely star to host planets. Yet there they are, around a very nearby, metal-poor example of the most common type of star in our galaxy,” said Steven Vogt, a member of the discovery team and a professor of astrophysics and astronomy at UC Santa Cruz. “The detection of this planet, this nearby and this soon, implies that our galaxy must be teeming with billions of potentially habitable rocky planets.”
      Published by Astrophysical Journal Letters, the teams’ manuscript will be posted online at http://arxiv.org/archive/astro-ph.

Gardening was a topic at Na`alehu School's Math
& Science Night. Photo by Nalani Parlin

AT NA`ALEHU ELEMENTARY’S Math & Science Night yesterday, participants dove into learning with fun, educational hands-on activities for the whole family. Gardeners planted beanstalk to take home, and others learned about kites and wind socks and viewed student projects such as creating anemometers. 

FISHERMEN SHOULD BE CAUTIOUS of heavy vog that sometimes covers the nearshore waters off of Kilauea Volcano, warns Pahala and Milloli`i fisherman Guy Sesson. Sesson said he recently headed out from Punalu`u to fish near Halape but had to return after he ran into heavy volcanic fumes. “I couldn’t breath,” he said. Another fisherman who left out of Punalu`u on Monday passed away on his boat, and medical personnel are attempting to determine what happened to him. Two experienced hikers passed away after being overcome with sulfuric steam about eight years ago.

STARBUCKS wants more Ka`u Coffee, according to Chris Manfredi, who has helped to seal the deal between Ka`u Coffee farmers and the chain of gourmet coffee cafés. Starbucks is selling Ka`u Coffee in more than 250 stores worldwide, Manfredi told farmers at the Ka`u Coffee Growers Cooperative meeting last night. The packaging describes Ka`u Coffee as an exciting find for Starbucks buyers who visit coffee growing areas around the world and recently visited Ka`u to see the farms on the slopes of Mauna Loa. Ka`u is sold as one of the elite Starbucks Reserve coffees, and the company may look for a long-term arrangement with the local farmers if supply and good quality are consistent, he said.

THE KA`U RED HATTERS host their annual bake and craft sale to benefit Ka`u Hospital this Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Punalu`u Beach Park. For more information, call Barbara Beatty at 929-9072.

VOLCANO ART CENTER hosts their eighth annual Love the Arts benefit gala this Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Participants will be transported to Venice, Italy, through food, artwork and installations by some of Hawai`i’s most gifted artisans. Tickets are available at VAC Gallery, the Niaulani Campus in Volcano Village, and online at www.volcanolovethearts.org. Tickets are $50 in advance and $60 at the door.

Ka'u News Briefs Feb. 7, 2012

This kind of  container home could meet building code requirements. However, some families are now living in
containers without the amenities. Photo from weburbanist.com

BLOWING UP THE BUILDING CODE is the way Bob Herkes has described his bill in the 2012 Hawai`i Legislature to make it easier to construct houses. The measure passed the House Committee on Water, Land & Ocean Resources last Friday and now goes before more committees and public hearings.
      Herkes told The Ka`u Calendar that it pains him to see people forced to live in lava tubes, vans, and shipping containers. He said that people should be able to build four walls and a roof and live in the structure. The measure, House Bill 2358, would allow counties to apply for changes in the state building code by going to a revised building code council. 

This lava tube is protected in Hawai`i Volcanoes
National Park, but some lava tubes in Ka`u
have residents. Photo from USGS

      Honolulu Fire Chief Kenneth Silva, who also chairs the State Fire Council, testified that he is concerned about easing requirements that would protect residents from faulty building practices that could lead to fire hazards. He said the Hawai`i Fire Council should be represented on the Building Code Council.
      The planning department on O`ahu also aired concerns, pointing out that Herkes wants the basic building code to revert to standards of the 1929 Honolulu Building Code. “The City and County of Honolulu has not used this building code for over 60 years,” testified David Tanoe, director of Planning and Permitting for the City & County of Honolulu. “If adopted, this building code would be the most backward building code of all states in this nation,” he said. He said the “outdated code goes against logic and would have serious detrimental affects on the life-safety and the economy.” Numerous testimonies have been submitted, acknowledging a need for change in the building code but also expressing concerns for safety.

A NATURAL DISASTER PREPAREDNESS COMMISSION is another Herkes measure within House Bill 2358. The volunteer commission would serve under the state Civil Defense Agency. The commission would consist of nine members appointed by the governor with expertise in climate, geology and other scientific disciplines to advise the Hawai`i state building code council on matters relating to natural disasters. It would conduct annual scientific evaluations to determine frequency, location and intensity of natural disasters here, determine the necessity and effectiveness of proposed amendments to the building code relating to natural disasters and would recommend changes to the state building code.

      Much has been made of building designs that that ignore vog and earthquakes on the Big Island but are designed to withstand hurricanes that rarely come here and have caused no major damage.
      The Structural Engineers Association of Hawai`i opposed the Herkes bill, noting that it would eliminate standards such as shower control valves to prevent scalding and energy conserving features of the building code.
      The state Farm Bureau and an aquaculture alliance sent in testimony saying they want a representative from agriculture on the building code council and that it hopes for permit relief for ag buildings.
      To keep up with testimony and proposed legislation, see www.capitol.hawaii.gov.

Japanese wedding at Pahala Plantation House. Photo by Julia Neal

JAPANESE TOURISM to Hawai`i has been constant and growing, even after the tsunami and earthquake. Hawai`i Pacific University professor Jerry Agrusa has come up with a reason, following interviews of visitors from Japan. The reason is that life can be taken away so quickly that one must enjoy beauty while one can. Hawai`i is a place of beauty to most Japanese people. According to representatives of Pahala Plantation Cottages here in Ka`u, the visitor count from Japan is up, including weddings and plans for a halau to stay in Ka`u during the upcoming Merrie Monarch festival.

DISCOVER YOUR INNER SCIENTIST or mathematician at Na`alehu Elementary’s Math & Science Night tonight from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Na`alehu School Gym. Dive into learning with fun, educational hands-on activities for the whole family. Plant and take home your very own beanstalk, check out the world of kites and wind socks and peruse student projects. Free chili and rice dinner will be served, and free books given to attending Na`alehu Elementary students.

NATIVE HAWAIIAN PRACTITIONER Momi Subiono teaches la`au lapa`au, the traditional uses of Hawaiian plants, tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on the lanai of Kilauea Visitor Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The event is free, and park entrance fees apply.

THE KA`U RED HATTERS’ annual bake and craft sale to benefit Ka`u Hospital takes place this Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Punalu`u Beach Park. For more information, call Barbara Beatty at 929-9072.

VOLCANO ART CENTER’S eighth annual Love the Arts benefit gala is this Saturday, Feb. 11 from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Participants will be transported to Venice, Italy, through food, artwork and installations by some of Hawai`i’s most gifted artisans. Tickets are available at VAC Gallery, the Niaulani Campus in Volcano Village, and online at www.volcanolovethearts.org. Tickets are $50 in advance and $60 at the door.