Ka`u News Briefs Jan. 7, 2013

Royal Hawaiian Orchards, one of Ka`u's largest employers, changed the old Ka`u Agribusiness
signage at its Pahala offices in time for the Plantation Days parade. Photo by Julia Neal

ROYAL HAWAIIAN ORCHARDS CEO Dennis Simonis, with satellite offices in Pahala and thousands of acres in macadamia nuts in production in Ka`u, has been named one of the top ten business persons to observe this year by Pacific Business News. The list is called PBN’s 10 to Watch in 2013. A story in Friday’s PBN by Stephanie Silverstein says that Simonis’ “efforts to create a new business model for his company” led to the acknowledgement.
      The article describes the change from the name ML Macadamia Orchards to Royal Hawaiian Orchards and says the company “will produce, package and distribute a line of macadamia nut snack foods in a rainbow of colorful packages and flavors.”
       Products include Seasoned Macadamia varieties: Sea Salt, Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper, Maui Onion, Wasabi and Soy, and Hawaiian BBQ. Fruit & Macadamia Crunches include: Papaya Banana, Mango Pineapple, Passion Fruit Orange Guava, Kona Coffee Banana, Banana Nut and Papaya Lime.
      The website royalhawaiianorchards.com promotes macadamia as a health food and says Royal Hawaiian Orchards products are GMO-free, sulfite-free, wheat-free, soy-free, cholesterol-free, gluten-free, whole foods. It says that macadamia oil is similar to olive oil.

Royal Hawaiian Orchards is the new name of ML Macadamia,
and the company has launched a new website.
Image from royalhawaiianorchards.com

      “Though deliciously sweet, macadamia nuts are also a healthy, nutritious and all-natural addition to a well-balanced diet. Macadamias are a high source of protein and rich in a number of components that contribute to well-being such as fiber, phytochemicals, minerals and vitamins. Our nuts are also cholesterol-free and have a favorable fatty acid profile that is comparable to olive oil. The macadamias contain 80 percent monounsaturated fat (the good kind!), which lowers overall cholesterol and harmful LDL cholesterol while raising levels of HDL (good) cholesterol. Macadamia nuts can be a healthy substitute for foods rich in saturated fatty acids.” the website says.
      Slogans include “Good for Your Body” and “Good For Nature,” and the website includes sections entitled “How Do You Live Aloha,” “From Our Orchard to Your Market,” and “Share Some Aloha With a Tasty Gift.”
      The website also promises:  “At Royal Hawaiian, we show our respect for the land and Hawai`i’s delicate ecosystem by practicing sustainability. We conserve water by relying almost exclusively on rainfall for irrigation. We’ve rejuvenated hundreds of acres and plan to rejuvenate hundreds more. Giving back to nature is the Royal Hawaiian way.”
      The website also states that the company turns waste into energy. “We recycle and reuse almost every part of the nut to fuel our next batch of home-grown macadamias. The hulls of the nuts are composted to renourish the soil and fertilize the rest of our orchards. Used macadamia nut shells are burned as an energy source to power our facilities. Our macadamia nuts are a gift from nature that never stop giving.”
      PBN quotes Simonis saying the revamped business “will be as successful and big as we have the nut supply to fuel it.”
      The story notes that “among the challenges that lie ahead for Simonis in 2013 is the limited supply of macadamia nuts to meet growing consumer demand.”
      It quotes Simonis: “I think that’s probably the biggest issue in the industry right now – are there enough macadamia nuts to go around? If we had five million pounds of nuts, I think we could sell them all today.”
      Contracts that required ML Macadamia to deliver most of its nuts to Mauna Loa are set to expire over the next three years, the PBN story says. “When the first contract expires this year, Royal Hawaiian Orchards will reallocate seven million pounds of macadamia nuts, which equates to about 1.5 million kernel pounds, to its supply,” PBN reports.
      Royal Hawaiian Orchards has offices in the old sugar plantation headquarters building on the corner of Maile and Pikake streets in Pahala and also in Kea`au. See more at royalhawaiianorchards.com and bizjournals.com/pacific.

Hawaiian Airlines plans to purchase 16 A321 neo airplanes from Airbus.
Photo from airbus.com

MORE FUEL EFFICIENCY AND CONNECTIVITY with the rest of the world, provided by Hawaiian Airlines, headlines a plan to purchase 16 A321neo long-range Airbuses. “Everyone at Hawaiian wants us to keep our position as the market leader in service quality, cost efficiency and choice of destinations,” said the company’s CEO and President Mark Dunkerly, in a statement this morning. 

      The 146-foot-long A321neo will be the most fuel-efficient airplane in its category. “With its slightly smaller size we’ll be able to open new markets that are not viable for wide-body service, while also being able to augment service on existing routes to the West Coast of North America,” said Dunkerly.
      The planes are expected to roll into service over time, between 2017 to 2020, and Hawaiian has reserved the rights to buy nine more, Dunkerly said, noting that the investment could generate 1,000 new jobs.
      According to Hawaiian, the aircraft are valued at about $2.8 billion. However, going forward with the contracts to purchase them is contingent on agreements with pilots and attendants.
      “Our tourism-based economy and local employment will benefit as we continue our strategy of diversifying our business while improving the efficiency of our operation,” Dunkerly said.
      The 190-seat, single-aisle aircraft will join the twin-aisle, wide-body aircraft now used for flights between Hawai`i and the West Coast.

Hawai`i Natural Energy Institute has issued a report on importing
liquified natural gas. Photo from ferc.gov

A STUDY RELEASED BY HAWAI`I NATURAL ENERGY INSTITUTE concludes that liquefied natural gas “has the potential to achieve huge savings for Hawai`i energy consumers—but it is critical to obtain it from the right source on gas-indexed prices.” The report also says that, while LNG could provide fuel savings in the O`ahu power sector of 40 to 50 percent or more compared to oil, neighbor-island generation could also reap major savings from LNG even with the additional costs of interisland transportation. In an example steam plant of 40 MW, savings in power costs were 22 to 44 percent.
      While Gov. Neil Abercrombie favors importing LNG, environmental groups such as Blue Planet Foundation and the Sierra Club oppose it. Jeff Mikulina, of Blue Planet Foundation, told Civil Beat that replacing oil imports with LNG will detract from large-scale investments needed for the switch to renewable fuel sources and that lower LNG prices could also make it more difficult for renewables to compete.
      Robert Harris, executive director of the Sierra Club, told Civil Beat’s Sophie Cocke, “We don’t stop smoking by switching from cigarettes to cigars. Similarly, we don’t wean ourselves off of fossil fuels by simply switching to a different fossil fuel.”
      The report in online at hnei.hawaii.edu/sites/web41.its.hawaii.edu.www.hnei.hawaii.edu/files/story/2013/01/Liquefied%20Natural%20Gas%20for%20Hawaii%20Policy%20Economic%20and%20Technical%20Questions-FINAL.pdf.
      See more at civilbeat.com.

THE FIRST MEETINGS OF 2013 for Hawai`i County Council committees begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow, and the full Council meets Wednesday at 9 a.m. in Hilo. Residents can participate from Ocean View Community Center’s remote testimony site.
      Agendas for the meetings are available at hawaiicounty.gov.

Volunteers help Hawai`i Wildlife Fund with Ka`u Coast cleanups several
times each year. Photo from HWF

TOMORROW’S AFTER DARK IN THE PARK program begins at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist Tim Orr reviews highlights from the past 30 years of Kilauea’s ongoing east rift zone eruption and talks about recent developments. $2 donations support park programs, and park entrance fees apply. 

HAWAI`I WILDLIFE FUND is looking for volunteers for its first Ka`u Coast cleanup for 2013 this Saturday, Jan. 12 at Kamilo Beach. Sign up with Megan Lamson at 769-7629 or kahakai.cleanups@gmail.com.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/KAUCALENDAR.

Ka`u News Briefs Jan. 6, 2013

John Carroll (left) and Michael Thieman, of `Aina Koa Pono, worked with Lance Santo (center), from Hawai`i Agricultural Research Center, in 2011 to plant and grow sugar cane and bana grass to see which would do best on the proposed biofuels farm between
 Wood Valley and Pahala and Na`alehu. Photo by Michael Neal

HAWAI`I ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES CHAIR Constance Lau says HEI and its subsidiaries “will work with the community and potential renewable-energy developers this year, using requests for proposals to determine the best sources for O`ahu, Maui and the Big Island,” reports a story in Friday’s Pacific Business News.

HEI chair Constance Lau

      The Duane Shimogawa article reports: “Some say that the success of the Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.’s companies is inextricably linked to the health of Hawai`i and its economy.
      “That is why HEI President and CEO Constance Lau plays such an important role as the state moves farther away from its dependence on imported oil,” Shimogawa concludes.
      Lau told Shimogawa that “together with American Savings Bank’s financing of clean-energy projects, our companies aim to lead Hawai`i’s transition to a clean-energy economy and to break the state’s dependence on imported oil, which hurts the pocketbooks of Hawai`i families and our state’s economy.”
      One of HEI’s proposals is to finalize a fixed-rate, 20-year contract to purchase diesel that would be manufactured by `Aina Koa Pono at a proposed refinery off Wood Valley Road above Pahala. The company promises 400 union construction jobs and 200 permanent farm and factory jobs. Land that is currently in pasture, trees and brush would be cleared between Pahala and Na`alehu, and `Aina Koa Pono would plant biofuel crops to be harvested for the refinery where biomass would be dried into pellets. The pellets would be processed in microwave units that would turn them into diesel. The diesel would be trucked up Hwy 11 to the Kona power plant.
      The state Public Utilities Commission turned down the proposal last year based on the projected high cost of the fuel, and the hui has reapplied with a lower fixed price  – some $200 per barrel. Opponents say that such a long-term contract for pricing higher than current costs for oil could deter other alternative energies, like geothermal, which could be much less expensive. Opponents also state that an emerging local beef industry could lose pasture, and coffee farmers, whose demand is outstripping supply, could lose opportunity to expand, if most of the good ag land goes into biofuel crops.

     The County of Hawai`i is participating in the legal discussions before the PUC. Mayor Billy Kenoi stated that the island does not need more renewable energy. "We need cheaper renewable energy." Environmental and consumer group Life of the Land has intervened in the PUC proceedings and the Consumer Advocate and state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism are also participating. Testimony from citizens and various agencies can be seen on the PUC website at http://puc.hawaii.gov/dockets. Click on `Aina Koa Pono and on Documents.

OCEAN CHAMPIONS has bestowed the title of Congressional Champion for the 113th Congress on both Sen. Mazie Hirono and Rep. Colleen Hanabusa. The political action committee endorses and backs candidates. It bills itself as the “Only Political Voice for the Ocean.” The PAC is “dedicated to protection of the ocean and its wildlife. Ocean Champions is focused on building champions for ocean conservation in the U.S. Congress,” says its website at www.oceanchampions.org.

Rep. Colleen Hanabusa

      According to Ocean Champions, in her first term in Congress, Hanabusa stole “the spotlight with her active, bipartisan, responsible governance. Representing the state of Hawai`i, she maintains a firm commitment to protecting the health of the environment and ecosystems that are so important to her state. She has co-sponsored Amendments to the Endangered Species Act that increased the protections for endangered species and joined the Congressional Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition which promotes the development of renewable energy technologies. Furthermore, in the debate over offshore drilling, she proposed amendments that require the calculation of a worst-case scenario, and, that the responsible party demonstrates it has the capacity and technology to respond to future leaks. Rep. Hanabusa’s cool-headed demeanor and philosophy of bipartisan cooperation makes her an ideal ocean champion; a champion that protects our oceans through cooperation with a long-term, sustainable mindset."
      Ocean Champions points out that Hanabusa is co-sponsor of:

• H.R. 738 (Coral Reef Conservation Act Reauthorization and Enhancement Amendments of 2011) 
• H.R. 1171 (Marine Debris Act Reauthorization Amendments of 2011) 
• H.R. 1229 (Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act of 2011) 
• H.R. 1375 (Clean Water Protection Act of 2011) 
• H.R. 1689 (Big Oil Welfare Repeal Act of 2011) 
• H.R. 1761 (Marine Turtle Conservation Reauthorization Act of 2011) 
• H.R. 1938 (North American-Made Security Act of 2011) 

Sen. Mazie Hirono

      According to Ocean Champions, “Mazie Hirono was committed to protecting the environment as the Representative for Hawai`i’s 2nd District. Since 2007, “the Congresswoman has co-sponsored legislation to prevent expanded offshore drilling, clean up ocean garbage and protect coral reefs. She has supported implementation of the National Ocean Policy and co-sponsored its legislative precursor, Oceans-21, because she knows that improved ocean governance is needed to protect, maintain and restore ocean and coastal resources for the future.”

      Ocean Champions points out that in 2012, Hirono sponsored two Coastal Preservation Acts for Hawai`i’s North Maui (H.R. 3907) and Ka`u coasts (H.R. 3908). In 2011, she co-sponsored the West Coast Protection Act (H.R. 612), and the Coral Reef Conservation Act Reauthorization and Enhancement Amendments of 2011 (H.R. 738). Ocean Champions noted that Hirono is a member of many environmentally focused House committees and caucuses including the National Marine Sanctuary and House Oceans caucuses and the Water Resources and Environment subcommittee. “We look forward to Rep. Hirono championing new ocean conservation legislation in the Senate in 2013,” Ocean Champions states. Its website lists her accomplishments:
      Hirono Sponsored:

• H.R. 288 (Renewable Energy Applied Partnerships (REAP) ACT of 2011) 
• H.R. 3907 (North Maui Coastal Preservation Act of 2012) 
• H.R. 3908 (Ka`u Coast Preservation Act of 2012) 
• H.AMDT.469 to H.R.2112 ($3 million for preventive measures under the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act and the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 2011) 

      Hirono Co-Sponsored:

• H.R. 612 (West Coast Ocean Protection Act of 2011) 
• H.R. 738 (Coral Reef Conservation Act Reauthorization and Enhancement Amendments of 2011) 
• H.R. 192 (Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries Boundary Modification and Protection Act of 2011) 
• H.R. 501 (Implementing the Recommendations of the BP Oil Spill Commission Act of 2011) 
• H.R. 502 (Clean Energy Technology Manufacturing and Export Assistance Act of 2011) 
• H.R. 572 (Clean Ports Act of 2011) 
• H.R. 601 (End Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act of 2011) 
• H.R. 1171 (Marine Debris Act Reauthorization Amendments of 2011) 
• H.R. 860 (Coral Reef Conservation Act Reauthorization and Enhancement Amendments of 2009) 
• H.R. 81 (Shark Conservation Act of 2009) 
• H.R. 2055 (Pacific Salmon Stronghold Conservation Act of 2009) 
• H.R. 21 (Ocean Conservation, Education, and National Strategy for the 21st Century Act of 2009)

Residents can participate in Hawai`i County committee and Council
meetings, to be held this week in Hilo, at Ocean View Community Center.

HAWAI`I COUNTY COUNCIL COMMITTEE meetings begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday, and the full Council meets Wednesday at 9 a.m. in Hilo. Ocean View Community Center’s new remote testimony site is available for residents to participate in the meetings. 

      One resolution on the County Council’s agenda strongly urges the state to continue funding the HI-5 recycling program for another year while budget and related issues are addressed. Council member Margaret Wille, who introduced the measure, says an estimated $765,000 is needed to continue the program through the fiscal year.
      Agendas for the County Council and committee meetings are available at hawaiicounty.gov.

Lava enters the ocean 30 years after Kilauea Volcano's
current eruption began. Photo from USGS/HVO

AS PART OF VOLCANO AWARENESS MONTH, After Dark In The Park has programs every Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. This Tuesday, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist Tim Orr reviews highlights from the past 30 years of Kilauea’s ongoing east rift zone eruption and talks about recent developments. During its first three years, spectacular lava fountains spewed episodically from Pu`u `O`o vent. Since then, nearly continuous lava effusion has built a vast plain of pahoehoe lava that stretches from the volcano’s rift zone to the sea. Although the eruption has been relatively quiet during the past year, with mostly steady but unusually weak activity, it has produced some dramatic lava flows in past years. 

HAWAI`I WILDLIFE FUND’S first Ka`u Coast Cleanup for 2013 is this Saturday, Jan. 12. Volunteers meet at Wai`ohinu Park to carpool to Kamilo Point. Sign up with Megan Lamson at
769-7629 or kahakai.cleanups@gmail.com.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/KAUCALENDAR.

Ka`u News Briefs Jan. 5, 2013

Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary seeks volunteers for its 2013 ocean count on the last Saturdays of January, February and March. Photo by Barbara LaCorte/NOAA

A MAGNITUDE 4.4 EARTHQUAKE shook the south flank of Kilauea Volcano at 4:37 a.m. this morning. It was one of several earthquakes around the Pacific Rim, 4.4 and larger, including a magnitude 7.7 near Cordova, in southeastern Alaska, and temblors from Ecuador to Chile, Vanuatu, New Guinea and Japan. The U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported that the local earthquake was in the Pulama Pali area about seven miles west of Kalapana and four miles southeast of Pu`u `O`o crater, at a depth of six miles.
 The earthquake was widely felt on Hawai`i Island. The USGS “Did you feel it?” website (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/dyfi/) received 160 felt reports within the first hour of the earthquake. There were no aftershocks.

      Pulama Pali has been the site of 23 earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 or greater during the past 50 years, with eight since 1983. HVO reports that most are caused by abrupt motion of the volcano’s south flank moving southeast over the ocean crust at an average rate of 2.6 inches per year as a result of magma injected into the rift zone. The earthquake did not have any apparent effect on Kilauea’s ongoing eruption. HVO monitoring networks have not detected any significant changes in activity at the summits or rift zones of any other Hawaiian volcanoes.


      For eruption updates and information on recent earthquakes in Hawai`i, visit the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory website at http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov. 
HVO is celebrating the 30th year of the ongoing Kilauea eruption which began on Jan. 3, 1983.

HAWAI`I’S DELEGATION HAS ACCEPTED ASSIGNMENTS for the 2013 U.S. Congress.

SEN. MAZIE HIRONO serves on the Committee on Armed Services, Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Veterans Affairs.
      Concerning the Armed Services Committee, she said, “Hawai`i is home to the U.S. Pacific Command and thousands of men and women who serve our country in the armed forces.
      “Our military’s presence in Hawai`i not only plays a critical role in our national security but also in driving our state’s economy and supporting thousands of jobs in the public and private sectors. I look forward to partnering with my colleague on the House Armed Services Committee, Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa, in preserving Hawai`i’s important role in our national security,” said Hirono. Hirono is Hawai`i’s first female senator and the nation’s first immigrant and first Buddhist member of the U.S. Senate.

Sen. Mazie Hirono, joined by step-daughter Malia Paul and husband
Leighton Oshima, is sworn into the U.S. Senate by Vice Pres. Joe Biden.
Photo from the office of Sen. Mazie Hirono

SEN. BRIAN SCHATZ serves on Committees for Indian Affairs, the Committee on Energy & Natural Resources and the Committee on Commerce.
      “Indian Affairs is an assignment I wanted because of its importance to Native Hawaiians and all the people of Hawai`i,” said Schatz. “There is a lot of work ahead to attain what is right for Native Hawaiians with respect to federal recognition, and I will do my utmost to build from the groundwork that has already been laid by Senator Akaka and Senator Inouye.”
      Through the Energy Committee, Schatz said, he could help direct financial resources to this state. “Energy is a continuation of the work I have been doing in clean energy and transition fuels.”
      According to a Washington, D.C. publication called The Hill, Hirono, who served on the Energy Committee when she was in the House, had been expected to have the same assignment in the Senate. “Green groups had expressed excitement about Hirono’s committee assignment, calling her an advocate of clean energy and conservation. They likely will be just as pleased with Schatz who, like Hirono, has said he is committed to combating climate change,” reported Zack Colman, a writer for The Hill’s E-2 Wire on energy and the environment.
      Schatz called the Commerce Committee “pivotal,” saying he can help Hawai`i and the rest of the country with ocean, road and rail transportation. He said he wants to direct interest and “spur international technology development in the Islands.”

REP. COLLEEN HANABUSA, who represents urban O`ahu,  serves on the Committee on Natural Resources and the Armed Services Committee.

Tulsi Gabbard was sworn into Congress this week, putting her hand on the
Bhagavad Gita. It marked the first time the Hindu book of religion has
been used in Congress for the ceremony, which usually employs the
Bible or Torah. Photo from Rep. Tulsi Gabbard

REP. TULSI GABBARD, who represents Ka`u along with the other rural communities in the state, has assignments to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Homeland Security. 

      She stated, “As the U.S. pivots its focus toward the Asia-Pacific region, my work on the Foreign Affairs Committee will ensure Hawai`i benefits from, and provides leadership in, this shift in policy and strategy.
       “By drawing on military background and experience leading counter-terrorism training during my deployment to Kuwait, I plan to bring unique insights and a firsthand perspective to my position on the Homeland Security Committee. Given Hawai`i’s location and crucial international ports, I will work to bring into focus the impact our nation’s Homeland Security policies have on the islands.” Gabbard, 31, is the first American Samoan and first Hindu in congress. Newspapers in Hindu communities across the world noted that she took the oath on the Bhagavad Gita instead of the Bible or Torah.

HAWAI`I’S LOW UNEMPLOYMENT is a positive trend in the economy. However, a possible reduction in federal funding and an aging population could hamper growth, states economist Paul Brewbaker, who submitted testimony to a briefing yesterday for Hawai`i state legislators. The economist called Hawai`i’s economic recovery a “plodding path.” He recommended “greater efficiency, higher productivity and faster economic growth,” as ways to meet the challenge. He recommended incentivizing tourism by pulling back on regulations. 

      He noted that a particularly difficult problem is the promise to pay Social Security and government employee retirement when the percentage of people over 65 is growing, leaving the fewer younger working people to pay the bills.
      Gov. Neil Abercrombie issued a statement saying that his administration and the state Council of Revenues show that “the tourism economic sector is performing strongly, state unemployment rates continue to decline and other sectors like construction are showing signs of improvement.”
      The Council of Revenues issued its report this week saying tax revenues will grow more than earlier expected in 2013 and 2014. The governor’s proposed state budget is $11.8 billion for fiscal 2014 and $12.1 billion for 2015.

NA`ALEHU BRANCH OF CU Hawai`i Federal Credit Union will close next Saturday, Jan. 12 for construction work to allow 24-hour access to the ATM. The credit union is extending its Friday, Jan. 11 hours until 6 p.m. and reopens on Monday, Jan.14. Also, the Pahala office will be open from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 11 and again on Saturday, Jan. 12 from 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 am.

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS HUMPBACK WHALE National Marine Sanctuary sends Happy New Year greetings to Ka`u residents. The 2013 Sanctuary Ocean Count begins Jan. 26 and continues Feb. 23 and March 30. Site leaders and general volunteers are needed to gather population and distribution information. Hawai`i Island South Shore count locations are Punalu`u, Ka Lae and Miloli`i Lookout. For more information and to register, visit hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov. 

TALENTED KA`U RESIDENTS of all ages can begin preparing acts now for Volcano Art Center’s Valentine Variety Show. Auditions take place Thursday, Jan. 17 at 4 p.m. and Saturday, January 19 at 10 a.m. at VAC’s Ni`aulani Campus in Volcano Village. All applicants and performers must be able to make the scheduled audition, one mandatory dress rehearsal on either Feb. 7 or 8 and show times on either Feb. 9 and 16 or Feb.10 and 17. Acts should be no longer than five minutes and can be music, dance, drama, comedy, magic, juggling, acrobatics or any other form of entertainment. Solo and group acts are encouraged. Application fee of $15 is waived for VAC members. For an application or more information, email julie@volcanoartcenter.org.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/KAUCALENDAR.