Ka`u News Briefs June 28, 2012

Coffee berry borer on a coffee bean. Photo by Peggy Grebe of USDA Agricultural Research Service

KA`U’ S CONGRESSWOMAN Mazie Hirono issued a statement on today’s decision by the Supreme Court of the United States to uphold the Affordable Care Act: “This ruling means that Americans can now count on secure and stable insurance coverage. If you have a pre-existing condition, you’ll be able to get health care; if you become seriously ill, there will be no annual limits on your care; if you’re a woman you won’t be charged higher premiums; and if you don’t have coverage, you will be able to buy affordable coverage,” Hirono said. “The Affordable Care Act has already had a positive impact on the lives of Hawai`i’s families and seniors. 

Mazie Hirono
Photo by William Neal

"An estimated 6,000 young adults in Hawai`i now have access to health insurance. Nearly 25,000 people on Medicare have saved over $14.5 million in prescription drug costs. More than 200,000 people helped control long-term health costs by gaining preventative health service coverage. And Hawai`i has received millions of dollars for critical investments including the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, the College of Pharmacy at the University of Hawai`i at Hilo, and the West Hawai`i Community Health Center,” Hirono stated. 

SURVEYING TUNNELS, PIPELINES AND ACCESS routes for the old plantation irrigation system between Kapapala Ranch and Wai`ohinu has been contracted by the state Department of Agriculture. Ka`u Agricultural Water Cooperative District members said the contract has gone to Dennis Hirota and the survey will be completed and presented to the state Department of Land & Natural Resources. 

Old sugar plantation waterways will be restored. Photo from Olsen Trust.

The effort is a step toward restoration water source and distribution systems for irrigation of farms and ranches, left over from the old sugar operations in Ka`u. 

The state Department of Agriculture has released $700,000 for the first phase of the project. A two man survey crew will begin scoping work in Ka`u in early July and Hirota’s survey crew will start Aug. 1. Farmers and ranchers will help surveyors by showing the way to the water sources, as some of them are very remote and require hiking through forest. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 19 at 4 p.m. at ML Mac Nut Field Office on Pikake Street in Pahala. For more information, contact Jeff McCall at 928-6456. 

BRITTANY SMART, A STATE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE CANDIDATE and current County Council member, said she plans to help the community with coordination of the Air National Guard Innovative Readiness Training Program.

Brittany Smart
Photo by Julia Neal.

She attended the June meeting of the Ka`u Agricultural Water Cooperative District, and told members that the program that brings Air National Guard trainers and trainees to communities with volunteer labor may be able to provide labor to renovate regional irrigation systems. Smart is in her first term as a County Council member and is running for the new state House of Representatives seat from Punalu`u into Hilo along Hwy 11. The seat currently includes Volcano through all of Ka`u into South Kona and is held by Rep. Bob Herkes, who is running for Senate. In her campaign, she notes her work on the governor releasing funding for the $20 million gym and disaster shelter to be built in Pahala, her input in revising the county building code and easing requirements to build farm structures on ag land, and her efforts to establish a satellite office for community input to county government. See briefs on all the candidates daily on this blog.

WILD AND

ABANDONED COFFEE infected with coffee berry borer may be destroyed to push back the spread of the pest with new state and federal funding. SHAC – the new Synergistic Hawai`i Agriculture Council received a $330,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service to fight the coffee berry borer. The organization, comprised of the Hawai`i Coffee Association, Hawai`i Floriculture and Nursery Association and Hawai`i Papaya Industry Association, plans to help purchase fungus that attacks the borer and also clear the region of abandoned coffee that can harbor the pest. The organization set a goal of reducing infestation to 2 to 5 percent within three years. 

Eric Tanouye of SHAC and Green Point Nurseries.
Photo from Big Island News

     The coffee berry borer devastated many coffee farms, particularly in Kona. It spread to Ka`u where growers are intent on keeping their coffee farms clean and pest free. SHAC Vice President Eric Tanouye, who is also VP of Green Point Nurseries, said he is very pleased with the funding for Synergistic Hawai`i Agriculture Council and particularly with Rod Yonemura writing the grant for the coffee berry project and his guidance for the new organization. “The best part is seeing Hawai`i agriculture come together to live up to the organization’s mission and its Synergistic name.” 

     Gov. Neil Abercrombie announced this week that he will use taxes on petroleum products to fund $200,000 to fight coffee berry borer. He said this barrel tax will be used instead of money included in House Bill 283 which he plans to veto. Bill 283 would have used a state agricultural loan fund.



A VENTURE ACCELERATOR FUNDING PROGRAM was signed into law by Gov. Neil Abercrombie yesterday with $2 million in startup money. The governor called the program an "engine for job creation" to "nurture talent, attract talent, and keep the talent here." New ventures will be chosen for funding with a workshop in August, selection program later this year and launching in early 2013. 

Writing in Civil Beat, Jason Rushin said such efforts can help Hawai`i with “reversing the brain drain, broadening the talent pool and drivers of the economy, bringing in outside investment, creating sustainable jobs, and much, much more.
     “As everyone seems to advise, we need to take a 20-year view and commit to supporting local startups,” Rushin said. “The first few accelerator or incubator cohorts might not produce any "successful" businesses, and that would be OK, as long as our ecosystem is learning, growing, and advancing. While the accelerated startups should be aiming high and shooting for the billions, we, the ecosystem, need to understand that a billion-dollar (or even million-dollar) 'exit' is akin to winning the lottery,” he wrote. See more at the websites of the Hawai`i Strategic Development Corp at www.hsdc.hawaii.gov/ and High Technology Development Corp. at http://www.htdc.org/

A CANDIDATE FORUM for Hawai`i County Council and Prosecuting Attorney will be held at Ocean View Community Association tomorrow, Friday at 5 p.m. Candidates are Maile David, Brenda Ford, Lee McIntosh and Bradley Westervelt running for County Council District 6. Lincoln Ashida, Paul Dolan and Mitch Roth, running for prosecuting attorney, will also be on hand. Call 939-7033 for more information. 

Independence Day Parade begins at 11 a.m. Na`alehu this Saturday.
Photo by Julia Neal

THE PARADE KEEPS GROWING for Independence Day, this Saturday along Hwy 11 in Na`alehu beginning at 11 a.m.. Many of the policitians wanting the vote on Aug. 11,  primary election day, will participate, along with churches, community groups, fire trucks, the county band, and pa`u riders who, along with their horses, will be draped in lei and the colors representing each Hawaiian island. For more information call Debra or Lee McIntosh at 937-0991. 

     The Fourth of July Parade will be on July 4 beginning at 9 a.m., along Old Volcano Hwy and Wright Road.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM.

Ka`u News Briefs June 27, 2012

Kawa during a surf meet. The county is meeting with Ka`u families and discussing the fate of Abel Simeona Lui.
Photo by Julia Neal

THE BILL TO END REQUIREMENTS for farmers to certify origin of their coffee through state inspectors will be vetoed, according to Gov. Neil Abercrombie. The bill, which affects Ka`u and coffee throughout the state, was opposed by the 300-member Kona Coffee Farmers Association, which contends that coffee origin is an integral part of marketing and quality assurance. On the other side of the argument are wholesalers, blenders and their coffee farmer supporters who call for self-regulation rather than government oversight.
      Ka`u Farm and Ranch manager Chris Manfredi, who represents landowners where the most famous Ka`u Coffee grows, fought for the measure to end oversight, saying the market would self-regulate the industry and that lack of government employees to inspect the coffee can hold up coffee going to buyers.

Kona Coffee Growers took the lead on opposing the bill to end
government inspection of coffee origin.

      Kona Coffee Farmers Association celebrates the governor’s pending veto, saying on its website: “It’s a happy day for 100 percent Kona Coffee Farmers because the integrity and reputation of 100 percent Kona Coffee will not be compromised by dubious self-certification.” Legislative coordinator Bruce Corker told West Hawai`i Today, “We are delighted, and we commend the governor. We appreciate his taking a careful look at what we think is an extremely important issue.… We hope the governor stands for principles and small farms.”
      Jim Wayman, head of Hawai`i Coffee Co., the state’s biggest roaster, supported doing away with the government certification and claimed that the majority of other large and small producers support the measure to end the government origin certifications.
      Supporters of the bill also noted that tougher laws and penalties will still be enforced to prevent mislabeling of origin.
      Abercrombie in his intent-to-veto message said, “House Bill 280 removes the requirement that all Hawai`i-grown green coffee beans shall be inspected and certified by the Department of Agriculture. The implications of this measure are problematic. Further discussion is needed to ensure that the Hawai`i brand will not be undermined.”

Mayor Billy Kenoi and Abel Simeona Lui met to talk about management
of Kawa. Photo from Big Island Video News

A COURT ORDER allowing Hawai`i County to evict Abel Simeona Lui from Kawa doesn’t mean the administration will take action soon, according to a story in this morning’s West Hawai`i Today. The Erin Miller report, entitled Residents Push Kawa Eviction, says “Lui has lived at Kawa through three mayoral administrations.”
      It also quotes a longtime Lui adversary, rancher Kyle Soares, who says he hassled for years with Lui over access to water at Kawa for his livestock and now the county is telling him he cannot go on the property to fix the water line because it is classified as conservation land.
      West Hawai`i Today quotes Mayor Billy Kenoi saying that “he was unaware of any comment from a county official to Soares about the water easement.” Kenoi told citizens at his talk story session in Na`alehu earlier this year that the county is working with families with ties to Kawa to come up with a management plan. He told West Hawai`i Today that additional families have come forward to be part of the planning and that a meeting will be conducted in the next two weeks. During the earlier meeting Kenoi said he wants “to do it right” and take as much time to solve the Kawa management issue as possible. He said that, when he saw Hawaiians living on beaches and Sand Island being evicted when he was younger, he hoped he would never have to be party to such actions and could work out land issues peacefully.
      The story quotes longtime Ka`u resident Pele Hanoa claiming, “Abel (does) not belong to Ka`u. He (doesn’t) belong to Kawa.” She called for open public access to the Kawa lands that were recently purchased from the landowners for preservation of open space with its ponds and shoreline, and for surfing, shore fishing, hiking and other recreation.
      Lui, who has gone to court many times to claim ownership and lives there in a house he built, has been accused of keeping some people out, particularly in recent years as the land changed hands and preservation of the property secured.
      The West Hawai`i Today story also quotes County Council member Brittany Smart as saying that many Ka`u residents “feel threatened when they go down there. All sides should abide by the court decision.” It says that both Dominic Yagong and Harry Kim, who are running against Kenoi in the primary election Aug. 11, said they would enforce the eviction, if elected.

Fire Chief Darren Rosario

FIRE CHIEF DARREN ROSARIO is commending all of his crew who prevented the Pahala fires from hurting people and buildings and prevented more damage to coffee farms, macadamia orchards, pastures and wildlands. He said the fires are no longer spreading, but firefighters, both county and volunteer, are putting out hot spots. The Hawai`i County Fire Department is also investigating the cause of the fires mauka and makai. There are reports of the makai fire possibly starting from sparks during repair of macadamia equipment in the field and possibly an arsonist starting the mauka fire. Rewards for clues may soon be offered through Crimestoppers.
      There is also the question of how much of the fire traveled through gulches and how much jumped from tree to tree and through open grassy areas.

OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION holds a candidate forum at the community center Friday at 5 p.m. Candidates invited are Maile David, Brenda Ford, Lee McIntosh and Bradley Westervelt, who are running for County Council District 6 and Lincoln Ashida, Paul Dolan and Mitch Roth, who are running for prosecuting attorney. Call 939-7033 for more information about the forum.

Motorcycle teams will join in the procession down Hwy 11 Saturday at
11 a.m. in Na`alehu. Photo by Julia Neal

INDEPENDENCE DAY PARADE IN NA`ALEHU is this Saturday, June 30 along Hwy 11 at 11 a.m. Organizer Debra McIntosh said that entries include political candidates – with one of them riding a horse.
      The Pahala Fire Department and Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park will bring their trucks. Other participants include businesses, church groups, county marching band, Summer Fun, the Kama`aina Choo Choo Train, Ka`u School of the Arts, Halo Riders Motorcycle Ministry and Ka`u Hospital.

Pa`u riders will represent the islands at Na`alehu's
Independence Day parade. Photo by Julia Neal

      About 20 horses bedecked in lei will represent the islands with riders in traditional Hawaiian costumes.
      Elected officials include Brittany Smart and Denny Coffman, who are running for state House in Ka`u; Brenda Ford, who is running for County Council in Ka`u; and Dominic Yagong, who is running for mayor. Mayoral candidate Harry Kim will also participate. Other political candidates include Lee McIntosh, Fred Fogel, Charles Collins, Gary Safarik, Kawika Crowley, Marlene Hapai, Wendell Ka`ehu`ae`a, Maile David, Bradley Westervelt, Michael Gillespie, Leolani Oyama, Jeff LaFrance, Mike Last, Daniel Cunningham, Rafael Del Castillo, Dave Bateman, Mitch Roth, Tom Baker, Paul Dolan, Richard Onishi and Lincoln Ashida.
      Additional entries can call Debra or Lee McIntosh at 929-9872.

Sen. Josh Green

DISTRICT 3 STATE SENATOR JOSH GREEN will be walking door-to-door and informally talking story for several hours in and around Na`alehu on Sunday, July 1. Sen. Green currently represents West Hawai`i residents from beyond Hawi to just before Ocean View, and will represent residents from just before Kona International Airport to Honu`apo, should he win the election. Sen. Green said he’ll have signs, banners, and bumper stickers for anyone who asks. “I’m very excited to have this return to my roots from 2000 to 2004 when I was the clinic doctor in Ka`u.”

      Green is the only Democratic candidate running for the state Senate District 3 seat against nonpartisan Michael Last and Republicans Jeff LaFrance and John Totten. Anyone needing to reach Sen. Green can call 937-0991.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM.

Ka`u News Briefs June 26, 2012

Hawksbill Sea Turtle Recovery Project manager Lauren Kurpita and The Nature Conservancy resource manager Shalan Crysdale inspect Kamehame this morning. Photo by Geneveve Fyvie

KA`U COFFEE FARMERS planned to irrigate and rinse off trees this morning, following a week of flames, smoke and ash, with help from Wally Andrade's water truck, organized by coffee lands manager Chris Manfredi. According to Ka`u Coffee Growers Cooperative president Gloria Camba, the trees will be handled gingerly to see which ones will be able to recover and become strong and productive. Severely damaged trees, which could die or come back as weak and diseased, may be cut later, but for now the farmers will hope for the best.

Damage to world famous Ka`u Coffee farms made headlines statewide and
was filmed for network television and Big Island Video News by Lynn
Beittel, who talks with Ka`u Coffee Growers Cooperative president
Gloria Camba. See bigislandvideonews.com  Photo by William Neal

      Scot C. Nelson, of the University of Hawai`i Department of Plant & Environmental Protection, wrote to Camba with the following recommendation for farmers with trees damaged by the fires:
      “Scrape off a very small section of the charred bark and see if there is a pale, moist layer preserved below. If it’s whitish, pink or pale green, that’s a good sign; if it’s yellow, orange or brown, it’s probably damaged.
      “If 60 percent or more circumference of the trunk is uninjured, the tree is a good candidate for preservation. Trees damaged more seriously than this may recover, but they are more likely to be unstable and subject to attack by insects and diseases. Smaller trees are more sensitive than larger trees.
      “Hire a consulting arborist or forester to do evaluations of trees and develop recovery plans.
      “Delay all pruning except safety pruning. It can take a long time for some trees to re-sprout. In a year, it will be much easier to evaluate which parts are dead and which are alive.
      “Continue to irrigate the trees, but after the soil is rewetted, the trees won’t need as much water as they previously required.
      “Don’t cut down trees just because they ‘look dead.’ Left alone, many trees will survive and even flourish.”
      Manfredi, who represents the land managing company Ka`u Farm and Ranch and WWK Hawai`i-Moa`ula, LLC, the hui subdividing the coffee farms at Moa`ula and Pear Tree, said some of the burned lands not already in production may provide an opportunity to plant more coffee trees. When asked about more help for the farmers, Manfredi said, “The scope and depth of my assistance to the coffee farmers and the industry as a whole is incalculable at this time. This is a sad tragedy. While some farms were severely impacted, others were untouched. By working together, we will fully recover. I expect that we will also take advantage of the cleared land to expand farms.”

      See a detailed feature story on the fire at bigislandvideonews.com.

Dust storm with ash and smoke blew through farms and ranches yesterday between Na`alehu and Pahala.
Photo by Julia Neal

RED, BROWN AND BLACK DUST, smoke, soot and ash blew from the Ka`u desert across Hwy 11 in several places yesterday, reaching ranches, farms and clusters of homes along the old sugar cane haul road between Pahala and Na`alehu. Makanau and the other table top and distinctive points like Caterpillar Hill stood as mere outlines in reddish sky that seemed to rain mud on the landscape.
      During the dust storm, however, no precipitation came to the home of Phil and Merle Becker, of Aikane Plantation Coffee Co. farm. They said their land, house and farm buildings are covered in soot, and closing windows could not keep out the ash and dirt. Phil Becker said, “Our coffee is safe and undamaged compared to many other coffee farmers who have worked so hard to make a good product and Ka`u Coffee the best in the world. Our hearts go out to the farmers with their losses.”
      In Pahala, some people returned to shutting their windows and turning on air cleaners usually used for vog events as the smell of smoke and a light haze drifted into the village. This morning the air was clear.

Turtle tracks likely lead to a nest at Kamehame
this morning, where the preserve was found free
of fire damage. Photo by Geneveve Fyvie

HAWKSBILL SEA TURTLE RECOVERY PROJECT manager Lauren Kurpita, along with The Nature Conservancy resource manager Shalan Crysdale, visited Kamehame this morning to check on turtle nests. They found turtle tracks in the black sand and the preserve unharmed, with no evidence of fire, smoke or ash damage from the weeklong fire that still smolders with hot spots mauka of the preserve. Fire engines were headed makai from Hwy 11 at about 9 a.m. The Turtle Project plans to soon bring in volunteers who watch over the turtle nesting beach each season, Kurpita said. 

DENNY COFFMAN, state House of Representative candidate, came through Ka`u yesterday in his campaign to win votes from citizens from Honu`apo to Kona Airport. Coffman is the incumbent in Kona and also chairs the House Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection, a position left by Mina Morita when she became chair of the Public Utilities Commission. His new, expanded district includes a big section of Ka`u. The other House district will represent citizens from Punalu`u through Volcano into Puna.

Denny Coffman Photo by
William Neal

      Regarding Hawai`i’s reliance on fossil fuel and soaring electric rates, Coffman said his approach is that alternative energies must make electric bills less expensive for Hawai`i residents. He said, “We have no choice but to support geothermal” as a solution for firm, affordable electricity for homes and businesses, as well as economic development. He described Hawaiian Electric Co. on O`ahu, Maui Electric Co. on Maui, Lana`i and Moloka`i and Hawai`i Electric Light Co. on the Big Island as “not good citizens.” He said they are attempting to push back on truly renewable energies and come up with such alternatives as biofuel to keep operating their old, oil burning plants where their money was invested.
      Coffman completed a career in information technology for financial institutions and business management. He has also been a weekend homebuilder. Coffman said the Legislature can put more money into water systems for agriculture and food sustainability. “These programs need more focus to make sure the funding goes to the right areas.” Speaking of campaigns to better Hawai`i, he said he believes in “putting money where our mouth is. You can’t just say it. You have to go through with it.” See more at www.dennycoffman.org, and read about all the candidates everyday on kaunewsbriefs.blogspot.com until two days before primary election day, which is Saturday, Aug. 11.

KALAEKILOHANA BED & BREAKFAST will become a five-bedroom lodge with certified kitchen. The application by owners Kenny Joyce and Kilohana Domingo to expand their operation has been approved by the Windward Planning Commission. The expansion allows them to serve lunch and dinner, as well as breakfast, to a maximum of 15 registered guests, “so the guests can avoid long travel times and driving at night on unfamiliar roads,” states Commission chair Zendo Kern’s approval letter. The lodge on South Point Road will also be able to hold community and private events once a month with a maximum of 75 guests.

ELIZABETH PICKETT, executive director of Hawai`i Wildfire Management Organization, offers a presentation that describes what residents and communities can do to prepare for wildfire at After Dark in the Park tonight at 7 p.m. Based on the Ready, Set, Go! program, the presentation takes place at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Two-dollar donations support park programs; park entrance fees apply. Call 985-6011 for more information. 

FEATHER KAHILI MAKING is the topic during a free program given by rangers Jaeneise Cuison and Keoki Wells tomorrow on the lanai of Kilauea Visitor Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Park entrance fees apply.

CANDIDATES FOR COUNTY COUNCIL District 6 and Prosecuting Attorney meet the public at Ocean View Community Center Friday at 7 p.m. County Council District 6 candidates are Maile David, Brenda Ford, Lee McIntosh and Bradley Westervelt. Prosecuting Attorney candidates are Lincoln Ashida, Paul Dolan and Mitch Roth. Call 939-7033 for more information about the forum.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM.