Ka`u News Briefs July 20, 2012

Hawai`i County Council delays the vote to override the Mayors vetos on plans, emergency readiness and putting geothermal revenues into health and other community funding. Photo from hawaiisenergyfuture.com

VOTING TO OVERRIDE VETOS ON PLANS FOR GEOTHERMAL, emergency readiness and to put geothermal county revenues into health and other community funding was delayed yesterday by the County Council. The County Council also voted to delay action on overriding a veto of their bill that would require the county to pay health insurance payments for retirees sooner than the mayor plans.

Mayor Billy Kenoi.
Photo from hawaiicountymayor.com

County Council member and
mayoral candidate Dominic Yagong.
Photo from conforhawaii.com

      Last month, the geothermal evacuation bill passed the entire County Council 7 – 2, and the bill on redirecting royalties passed 6-3. County Council chair Dominic Yagong introduced both bills but Mayor Billy Kenoi signed vetos, saying that evacuation plans by Civil Defense are sufficient to handle emergencies and that royalties for geothermal are already helping the community. 

      Council members Donald Ikeda, Fresh Onishi and J Yoshimoto supported the mayor’s veto with Ikeda arguing yesterday that the council delayed the vote on the override because Puna councilmember Fred Blas was missing from the meeting. Ikeda argued that some council members may have violated the Sunshine Law, which Yagong disputed. 

      The vote will be taken again on Aug. 1. Yagong is running against Kenoi in the Democratic Primary Election on Aug. 11.
      Ka`u’s County Council member Brittany Smart and Kona Council member Brenda Ford, who is seeking Smart's seat, have long insisted that the retiree health insurance payments should be paid ahead of time.
      County Council candidates for the Aug. 11 primary in Ka`u weighed in this morning.

BRENDA FORD said regarding the two geothermal bills, “the most important thing we can do as a council is to protect public health, safety and welfare, which is why these bills were brought forth. We need to have access temporarily to money to buy gas, water and particulate monitors and for medical studies on people. We want to place monitors throughout the community and along the east rift zone. We must determine whether problems are coming from the geothermal plant, natural venting from the volcano itself, or something else. We don’t now know why these people are becoming ill.” 

County Council member
Brenda Ford.
Photo from County of Hawai`i

      Ford said: “It is very sad that the mayor disapproved of these bills putting these studies at risk. These are going to be multi-year studies. We need to do this now.”
       Regarding paying ahead for medical plans for future retirees and county employees who already retired, Ford said, “We pay our bills as they come due. We don’t kick them down the road to the next administration who may be forced to raise taxes to pay the bills.” She contended that “The mayor has said over an over again that he has lowered the cost of government, but the truth is that revenues are less than before. People are losing their homes, assessed values have dropped and we are not getting as much tax revenues in. He had to adjust his budget in accordance with the law that requires a balanced budget. Paying those actuarial estimates for post retirement benefits is part of balancing a budget and he is not doing it.”

County Council candidate
Maile David.
Photo from  Maile David

MAILE DAVID, who is running for council in Ka`u, said she is ok with the retiree health insurance payments being delayed as long as the county’s finance ratings are in good standing and not in danger of going down, at least for the 2012-2013 budget. Regarding the geothermal royalty funding –it was meant for the safety and potential relocation of the people. She said she would defer to the people of the district to determine how it would be used.

County Council candidate
Lee McIntosh.
Photo from Lee McIntosh

LEE MCINTOSH, who is running for County Council in Ka`u, said that he supports the mayor’s position to delay paying ahead on the retiree health insurance for two years, so that public services would not have to be cut back. Regarding geothermal, he said that the state has already done studies on the effects of geothermal and that the royalties are going to good use such as a county council satellite office and paving roads.

County Council candidate
Bradley Westervelt.
Photo from Bradley Westervelt

BRADLEY WESTERVELT, who is running for County Council in Ka`u, called the argument over the retiree health insurance payments a “niggling detail.” He said that “Hawai`i County is in way better condition in terms of funds being paid ahead for various programs than many counties across the country. While it is not a perfectly balanced budget, it is the only thing that Mr. Yagong can bring up to Mayor Kenoi and say you’re not perfect in your finances. I don’t think it is fair to pick on the administration regarding that particular fund.” Regarding changing the way geothermal royalties are spent and coming up with a new geothermal disaster plan, Westervelt said, “these are unnecessary expenditures.”

KICK ICE sign waiving takes place today from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in front of Na`alehu School gym.

RECYCLING MATERIALS ARE ACCEPTED AT NA`ALEHU SCHOOL TOMORROW, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the school gym. Sort HI-5 by type and receive five cents per container and additional 20 cents per pound on all aluminum. Atlas Recycling donates 20 cents per pound on all aluminum redeemed to the school. For more, call 929-2413, ext. 230.

A VOLCANO HISTORIC HOMES TOUR at 9 a.m. tomorrow in Volcano Village is lead by Boone Morrison and William Chapman, director of the UH-Manoa's graduate program in historic preservation. The tour is $40 per person, and includes transportation within the village and a light lunch. To sign-up or for more information, email volcanocommunity@gmail.com or call 967-7366. 

Seven panels of dye on silk with wax resist sewed
over acid free foam core and slotted into a mango
 wood base. Forest Spirals by Patti Peace Johnson 

BEGINNING & INTERMEDIATE SILK PAINTING classes are taught tomorrow at Volcano Art Center from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Patti Pease Johnson leads the workshops. The beginning class includes an introduction to color theory, tips on mixing color, a lesson on stretching silk on a frame and more. The result is an 8" by 53" silk scarf.
     The intermediate class includes lessons about painting on silk using wax and tjanting tools to create resist lines for dyes to achieve more realism. Students bring design concepts from original photos or from plant materials or objects.
     Beginning and experienced artists ages 10 and up are welcome to sign-up to either class at $65 per person, $58.50 for VAC members, and a $10 supply fee. For more, call 967-8222.

SOCIETY OF CREATIVE ANACHRONISM, a medieval recreation group, meets tomorrow from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. to talk, plan events, do handicrafts and more. Call Michael at 895-8013 for the location.

OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION BBQ is hosted tomorrow at the community center from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. For more call, 937-7033.

A NIGHT OF CHICAGO JAZZ WITH ELENA WELCH starts at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at Volcano Art Center's Niaulani Campus in Volcano Village. Entrance is $15 per person. For more, call 967-8222 or visit volcanoartcenter.org.

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

Ka'u News Briefs July 19, 2012

The new Ka`u Disaster Gym & Shelter is to be built in the open, grassy field makai of the school offices
and next to the Pahala tennis courts. Photo by Julia Neal

THE KA`U DISTRICT GYM & SHELTER contract has been awarded for $17 million to Summit Construction, of Aiea on O`ahu. According to a release from the County of Hawai`i yesterday, construction is scheduled to begin in September and last 18 months. 

      Location will be on the Ka‘ū High & Pāhala Elementary school campus in the large field makai of the main school building on the Volcano side of the cafeteria and elementary building. The facility will take up approximately 43,300 square feet in two buildings, one primarily for the gymnasium, and another for a recreation center. It will be operated and maintained by the County of Hawai`i Department of Parks & Recreation and provide space for both sheltering the public during a disaster, and for school athletics, community sports and other recreational activities.

      The 43,300 square-foot facility will be constructed to “Enhanced Hurricane criteria,” the county press release states. While the main building, which is to serve as the primary disaster shelter, will include air cleaning equipment for vog, the release states that “in acknowledgment of Ka`u’s proximity to vog emissions, the multipurpose room and recreational room are provided with filtration systems and can serve as a shelter when there is an increased level of volcanic discharge in the area's atmosphere.” The two rooms with filtered air during volcanic emission events could handle a total of 318 people for a short-term stay, according to David Yamamoto, county planner for the facility. 

     The size and diversity of the facility is in direct response to comments gathered in November and December from the community, said Mayor Billy Kenoi. “The Ka`u District Gym & Shelter has been designed to expand athletic and recreational opportunities, serve as a destination for community events and emergency shelter during natural disasters."
      The gym will accommodate three regulation HHSAA basketball or volleyball courts, and will host the Big Island Interscholastic basketball and volleyball games. Accessory rooms will include: locker and training rooms, and restrooms; a lobby, courtyard, certified kitchen, and ticket booths; office space and storage areas for the state Department of Education, county Department of Parks & Recreation, and the American Red Cross.

      Mary Correa, Complex Area Superintendent of Schools for the Ka`u – Kea`au, Pahoa Complex Area, said, “We are appreciative of the partnership between the County of Hawai`i, the Department of Education Facilities Section Duane Kashiwai, Nick Nichols, Tracy Okumura, Ka`u High Principal Sharon Beck and Athletic Director Kalei Namohala. They worked diligently and quickly to figure out what was needed to award a construction contract before the fiscal year ended in June. We are also grateful to state Sen. Gil Kahele and state Rep. Bob Herkes for securing funding for a new gym and shelter in Ka`u District. Our students and the community are excited to have a new gym in their midst and continue to dream of possibilities once it is completed."

An architectural rendering of the new Ka`u District Gym & Shelter. Construction begins this fall.

     Gov. Neil Abercrombie recently told The Ka`u Calendar that he is proud that releasing the funding for the gym was one of his first actions for Ka`u as governor. He said he hopes to visit the area again soon. A groundbreaking will be held prior to the start of construction. Releasing the gym funding was also one of the first efforts by Ka`u County Council member Brittany Smart. She asked the governor to release the funds the first time she met him after the election. Sen. Gil Kahele and Rep. Bob Herkes also helped with funding.

      The acquisition of money for the gym followed an effort led by former County Councilmember Guy Enriques, in cooperation with the Pahala School principal. Enriques, who runs volleyball tournaments on the mainland each summer and takes local students to volleyball events across the country, said he hopes to bring volleyball tournaments to Pahala.
      Ka`u Coffee Growers Cooperative President Gloria Camba said she looks forward to the day when the Miss Ka`u Coffee Pageant can also be held in the gym.

Pa`au`au Gulch makai of Pahala cleared
 of brush by wildfire.
Photo from Hawai`i County Fire Dept.

IS ARSON THE REASON for six fires between June 14 and last Sunday around Pahala? The county fire department, landowners, fire officials and police are looking for clues. One fire burned 4,800 acres makai of Hwy 11 blazing through and around the floor of macadamia nut orchards and windbreaks and makai into the Ka`u Desert. Since the fires, winds have churned up dust and ash creating storms of particulates blowing across Hwy 11 mauka to Makanau and covering Pahala and surrounding farms and ranches with dust, dirt and ash. A mauka fire burned 400 acres in Pear Tree coffee farms and surrounding eucalyptus groves. Another burned 200 square feet at the Pahala Transfer Station and another more than 60 acres between Hwy 11 and Pahala Transfer Station. The most recent burned on the old cane haul road at Makanau.
      Anyone with clues on possible arson connected with any of the fires can call the police non-emergency line at 935-3311 or anonymously to Crime Stoppers, 961-8300. An award of up to $1,000 is offered.

ML MACADAMIA ORCHARDS, L.P. has announced it has signed a nut processing agreement with Buderim Macadamias of Hawai`i, LLC, which also owns MacFarms. The agreement provides that Buderim will process between 1.5 million and 7 million pounds of wet-in-shell macadamia nuts into kernel for the partnership during 2013. The wet-in-shell nuts will be available as a nut purchase contract with Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corp. covering a portion of the production, the partnership expires Dec. 31, 2012.

      The partnership intends to use the kernel processed by Buderim to launch the partnership’s new Royal Hawaiian Orchards product line. The partnership has also signed an amended credit agreement with American AgCredit PCA, its primary lender, extending its current $5.0 million revolving credit facility until May 1, 2014.

      The term loan with American AgCredit with a balance of $8.4 million outstanding as of June 30, 2012 and the revolving credit facility continue to be secured by the partnership’s owned real property.
      ML Macadamia Orchards, L.P. describes itself as the world’s largest grower of macadamia nuts, owning or leasing 5,070 acres of orchards on the Big Island.

KA`U AGRICULTURAL WATER COOPERATIVE meets today at 4 p.m. at ML Macadamia office in Pahala. Anyone interested in water for farming and ranching or joining the coop. can contact Jeff McCall at 928-6456 or mccalljeffreyw@gmail.com.

HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUB OF KA`U meets today. Call 929-9731 or 936-7262 for more information.

KICK ICE SIGN WAIVING takes place in front of Na`alehu School gym tomorrow from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

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

Ka`u News Briefs July 18, 2012

The Ka`u Desert has many unusual soils and a landscape used for training to go to the moon and robots to Mars.
Photo by Tom Stein, Washington University in St. Louis, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. 

NASA IS ON THE BIG ISLAND to evaluate techniques for exploring the moon. The research is being done in lava-covered soil similar to the volcanic plains on the moon. The project tests a device that would map distribution of water and ice on the moon and drill into the lunar surface. NASA said, Tuesday, the lessons it learns will become increasingly important as it embarks on deep-space missions. The agency says that resources already on the moon could mean that a human could go to the moon knowing natural resources are waiting, instead of carrying everything along for the ride. NASA is working with the Canadian Space Agency on the project. Hawai`i’s Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems is assisting. 

     This follows an announcement last year of a new partnership between NASA and the State of Hawai`i in helping to develop an International Lunar Research Park, a project envisioned as a multinational base on the moon's surface from which future space research could be performed. An Earth based research park is planned for University of Hawaii-Hilo and could involve test sites inside Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park to simulate lunar conditions. Ka`u Desert was used to train astronauts on the original Apollo moon-landing missions and for the robotic Mars Rover. 

     "These very islands of Hawai`i continue to provide a basis for training that's unparalleled anywhere else in the rest of our planet,” said Gov. Neil Abercrombie. 

Public schools in Ka`u achieved AYP with encouragement by such activities
as this math and science fair earlier this year.
Photo by Nalani Parlin

NA`ALEHU, KA`U HIGH & PAHALA ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS all achieved Adequate Yearly Progress in the Race to the Top program, according to results released yesterday. Ka`u’s schools joined a statewide trend of improvement with higher scores in reading and math in the 2012 Hawai`i State Assessment, according to data from the Hawai`i state Department of Education. Hawai`i stood out as the only state in the nation to better its scores in mathematics and reading in grades 4 and 8 on the Nation’s Report Card.
     U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan offered congratulations, “Student performance data signal an encouraging sign that more than ever before, Hawai`i is focused on efforts to support classroom instruction and student learning. Despite challenges and setbacks in meeting Race to the Top goals, Hawai`i has maintained a relentless commitment to moving forward.”
     Public schools superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi said: “Our plan to create systemic change is working. Increasingly, more students in more schools across the state are on the path toward college and career readiness.”
      Among highlights: The number of students proficient in reading and math increased by about 6,000 in each subject, compared to the previous year. The statewide jump in reading and math proficiency was educationally significant at 5 percentage points.

REPUBLICAN LINDA LINGLE says the next governor should have "a foot in both camps,” referring to the deeply divided congress and public.

U.S. Senate candidate Linda Lingle and
Hawaiian Airlines CEO Mark Dunkerley.
Photo by Vernon Brown

     During an interview with Honolulu Star Advertiser writer Derek DePledge, she said: "These people in Congress today have completely lost that their obligation is to the people, not to their political party. They should have known that but obviously they've really gone astray." Lingle told DePlege that it is “important to reflect in my language what I hear from the public, which is, ‘How come they don't get along? How come they can't get anything done? Why don't they compromise? How come they can't come together?'"
     Lingle said that being the former Hawai`i governor gives her an understanding and a leadership quality missing from Democratic contenders, former congressman Ed Case and current congresswoman Mazie Hirono.
     "The other candidates have never had to make tough personal decisions in a public setting. Personal in the sense it was them — they couldn't hide behind a committee chairman or a caucus or a legislative body," she said. "I had to make the decisions, sometimes very difficult ones, but I had to do it," she told the Star Advertiser.
     If Hawai`i elects Lingle to take the place of Sen. Dan Akaka, who is retiring, she will be the first Republican in the U.S. Senate for this state in 36 years. See this story in today’s edition. The story on Hirono was printed on Tuesday and the story on Case was carried on Monday. See www.honolulustaradvertiser.com. 

Mahalo Air flew prop jets from 1993 - 1997 between the Hawaiian Islands,
lowering the cost of inter-island travel. Hawaiian Airlines plans to
bring prop jets back to the market. 

TURBO PROP PLANES, similar to those that flew in the 1990s by Mahalo Air, may be the answer to more affordable interisland transportation and additional neighbor island destinations. Hawaiian Airlines also announced yesterday a drop in fares by four to 25 percent, which immediately drove up sales for the 170 daily neighbor island flights. 

Hawaiian has increased capacity to the neighbor islands by 13 percent over the last year. Hawaiian has also signed an intent to acquire three to six turboprops, according to spokesperson Ann Boticelli. Turboprops have a better chance of landing at such airports as Lana`i, Moloka`i and possibly Waimea on the Big Island than bigger jets during varying weather conditions. They also save on fuel.

KA`U AGRICULTURAL WATER COOPERATIVE meets tomorrow at 4 p.m. at ML Macadamia office in Pahala. Anyone interested in irrigation water or joining can contact Jeff McCall at 928-6456 or mccalljeffreyw@gmail.com.

Hilo One plays tomorrow at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.

HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUB OF KA`U meets tomorrow. Call 929-9731 or 936-7262 for more information.

KICK ICE SIGN WAIVING takes place in front of Na`alehu School gym on Friday from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

HILO ONE performs tonight, 6:30 p.m., at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The group features Kahele Miura on electric 12-string rhythm guitar, Aaron Agres on electric upright bass, and R. Likeke Teanio on lead guitar and `ukulele. Five-dollar donations support park programs, and park entrance fees apply. 

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