Ka`u News Briefs Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014

Panoramas of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument are now live on Google Maps after operators used Google Street
View Trekker equipment to record them. Photo from PMNM

HAWAI`I FARM BUREAU HAS ANNOUNCED its 2014 legislative priority list for lobbying the state Legislature. According to Chris Manfredi, acting Hawai`i Farm Bureau Federation president, Government Affairs Committee chair and Ka`u Farm Bureau president, the list was “developed and confirmed through a rigorous democratic process that is representative of Farm Bureau Counties from across the state.” Proposals on the list include:

HFBF wants to create a farmers market vendor policy within the
state Department of Health. Photo from hfbf.org

• Strengthen Hawai`i’s agricultural policy to support and promote its agricultural industry. 
• Continue the appropriation for the Hawai`i Association of Conservation Districts. Each of the Districts receives $2,360 annually to cover expenses for administering duties of the volunteer directors. 
• Appropriate funding for capital improvement projects to various irrigation systems statewide. 
• Seek funding for mitigation of the coffee berry borer. 
• Continue to fund the livestock revitalization program to administer and disburse funds to qualified sheep, goat, cattle, dairy, hog, and poultry, fish and crustacean farms. 
• Seek funding for research and mitigation of the macadamia felted coccid, which HFBF says could devastate the macadamia nut industry. 
• Seek funding for research into alternative, less burdensome methods by which Hawai`i’s farmers can satisfy the requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act, and to demonstrate to the FDA that such methods are acceptably safe. 
• Seek additional resources that HFBF says are needed to carry out the duties and responsibilities of the Department of Agriculture in controlling invasive species. 
• Seek dedicated resources for better enforcement of crimes against agriculture. 
• Request for state budget allocation of $150,000 to help fund 4H and FFA programs. 
• Provide agricultural rates for electricity, which HFB says are needed for farmers to be competitive and self-sustaining. 
• Appropriate $8 million for infrastructure improvements and other agricultural development of Galbraith Estate lands. 
• Create a farmers market vendor policy within Department of Health. 
• Convene a task force to explore mobile slaughterhouses.

      For more information about Hawai`i Farm Bureau Federation, see hfbf.org.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Chris Manfredi is known in Ka`u for promoting Ka`u Coffee
and is a broker who sells Ka`u Coffee to Starbucks
and other buyers.

HAWAI`I WILL BE REPRESENTED by Chris Manfredi at the American Farm Bureau annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas. He is serving as acting president of Hawai`i Farm Bureau Federation since Dean Okimoto’s recent resignation. AFBF aims to help shape agricultural policy at a national level. 

      AFBF’s convention has many workshops scheduled. Topics include Viewing Ag from a Media Perspective, Drones: Turning Technological Controversy into Profit, Ensuring our Access to Biotechnology, Creative Leadership, Apps for Agriculture: Technology that Helps Your Bottom Line and Building Consumer Trust.
      Keynote speakers are Alan Robertson, of Duck Dynasty, and Gen. Stan McChrystal, former commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan.
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RIMPAC IS SAILING INTO NEW WATERS this summer, with China participating for the first time. China’s People’s Liberation Army accepted an invitation from former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to join the Rim of the Pacific war games scheduled for Hawaiian waters this summer. According to a Reuters story by Phil Stewart, U.S. law prohibits the Pentagon from any military contacts with the PLA if it could “create a national security risk due to an inappropriate exposure” to activities including joint combat operations.
      “U.S.-China military-to-military engagements can include a range of activities in areas of mutual interest including maritime security, military medicine and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief,” Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. Catherine Wilkinson told Stewart. “The U.S. Navy has operational security safeguards to protect U.S. technology and tactics, techniques and procedures from disclosure.”
      Dean Cheng, of Washington’s conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, told Stewart, “If they (China) have a frigate, or even a hospital ship, in the middle of that exercise, the hospital ship is going to be staffed by intelligence officers.” He noted that if the drills were designed in a way that was unhelpful to the Chinese, they would also be unhelpful to allies, according to Stewart.

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A view of Pearl and Hermes Atoll captured using Google Street
View Trekker. Image from maps.google.com

THE FIRST 360-DEGREE PANORAMIC IMAGES from five new locations within Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument are now live on Google Maps. Internet users can virtually visit Tern Island and East Island at French Frigate Shoals, Laysan Island, Lisianski Island, and Pearl and Hermes Atoll.
      During July 2013, PMNM staff from NOAA and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service spent a week capturing thousands of new panoramas of features in the monument, covering 20 miles on foot using the Google Street View Trekker. This effort focused on five of the primary emergent land masses in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, which are also part of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge.
      PMNM has collaborated with Google to use digital imagery and Web technology to bring Papahanaumokuakea to a broader audience and expand PMNM’s efforts to “bring the place to the people.” In 2012, Google Street View went live with imagery of Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. In total, more than ten thousand images across 41 miles have been captured from within the monument.
      “The goal of collecting this imagery was to show the world how special and important the remote islands and atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are, in turn inspiring the next generation of conservationists and supporters,” said Kalewa Correa, NOAA’s Mokupapapa Discovery Center manager and project leader. “We hope that bringing the monument to the people through Google Street View will reach a larger audience but with minimal environmental impact, helping to preserve this amazing place for the future.”
      Monument managers also plan to use the imagery as an assessment tool to capture the present conditions and health of the NWHI. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Specialist Ty J. Benally, who took part in this year’s mapping expedition, said, “This imagery enables resource managers to initiate discussion and planning, without actual access to the islands, and helps locate conservation sites where efforts are most needed. In fact, turtle biologists have already utilized Google Street View imagery of Midway Atoll to determine where to look for turtles and see which beaches were closed in preparation for their research.”
      For more information, see papahanaumokuakea.gov.

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Ka`u Plantation Days is featured on Na Leo O Hawai`i Channel 54 today and
throughout the month. Ka`u's Sen. Russell Ruderman and the band El Leo
performed there in October. Photo by Julia Neal

KA`U IS FEATURED on Na Leo O Hawai`i Channel 54 this month in films by Wendell Kaehuaea.

      One show covers Keoki Kahumoku’s music concert at the end of his annual Hawaiian Music and Lifestyles workshop in November 2013 for local students and people from afar.
      Air dates are: Friday, Jan. 10, 1 p.m.; Monday, Jan. 13, 9 p.m.; and Tuesday, Jan. 14, 3:50 p.m.
      The next Kahumoku workshop is set for November of this year.
      A show about Ka`u Plantation Days, held in Oct. 2013, can be seen today, Thursday, Jan. 9, 6 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 11, 3 p.m.; Monday, Jan. 13, 4 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 18, 12:30 p.m.; Sunday, Jan. 19, 12 p.m.; and Tuesday, Jan. 21, 6:30 p.m.
      Ka`u Class Reunion/Gathering of Class of 1958 airs Friday, Jan. 10, 6:30 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 11, 6 p.m.; Monday, Jan. 13, 7 p.m.; Wednesday, Jan. 15, 7 p.m.; Thursday, Jan. 23, 5:30 p.m.; and Saturday, Jan. 25, 6:30 p.m.

KA`U HIGH GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAMS hosted Kohala yesterday. Junior varsity lost 18 – 28, with Deisha Gascon scoring 7 points. Varsity also lost, 64 – 77. Denisha Navarro was high scorer with 35 points.

ITEMS FOR VOLCANO ART CENTER’S Colossal Rummage yART Sale are being accepted at the Ni`aulani Campus in Volcano Village today for the event this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
      Call 967-8222 for more information.

Appointments are still available for Tuesday's
spay and neuter clinic.

A CONCERT BENEFITING UNITED WAY takes place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Pahala Community Center. Entertainment includes Just in Case, JR Band, Keaiwa, Boni Narito, Honokua, Hui Okinawa Kobudo Taiko, Ka`u High School ensemble class and more. There will be vendors, games, raffle tickets and prizes. For more information, call producer Kamrie Koi at 430-4964 or Jolene Koi at 936-6249.

KARES (Kohala Animal Relocation and Education Service) is having a Spay/Neuter Clinic on Tuesday, Jan. 14. The free clinic will be held at St. Jude's church in Ocean View. There are still some available slots.  Anyone interested in bringing their dogs can call 328-8455 to schedule a time.

KA`U HOSPITAL URGES RESIDENTS to complete its Community Health Needs Assessment atsurveymonkey.com/s/93HQ5MX. The deadline has been extended to Jan. 31.

SEE THE DIRECTORY from the Ka`u Chamber of Commerce at http://snack.to/fzpfg59c.

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

Ka`u News Briefs Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014

Ka`u High boys soccer team members celebrate on of the nine goals they made against HAAS yesterday. Photo by Dave Berry

THE BIGGEST WAR GAMES IN HAWAIIAN WATERS to date invite military ships from all over the world for this summer’s RimPac. Gov. Neil Abercrombie suggests private-government partnerships, the state providing land (possibly on this island) for military housing as 2,700 marines are expected to move from Okinawa to Hawai`i. The governor says the state supports developing the Pohakuloa Training Area along Saddle Road into a premier, 132,000-acre military exercise facility.

     These are some of the prospects put forth at the Hawai`i Military Conference on O`ahu yesterday, sponsored by the state of Hawai`i and the Hawai`i Chamber of Commerce. It drew hundreds of military, business and government representatives to Hilton Hawaiian Village.

This year's Rimpac is expected to be the biggest to date in Hawaiian waters.
Photo from U.S. Navy

    The goal of the state and the Chamber is to retain and possibly increase the $8.8 billion spent annually in Hawai`i by the U.S. military, according to a story about the conference in this morning’s Honolulu Star Advertiser. “Adm. Harry B. Harris, head of U.S. Pacific Fleet, called Hawai`i the ‘gateway’ to America’s re-balance to the Pacific.” He also cautioned that “it would be a mistake for anyone to assume that because our nation is re-balancing to the Asia-Pacific, Hawai`i will easily be able to maintain the resources that we have become accustomed to,” reports the story by Star-Advertiser reporter William Cole.
     The writer notes that “the death of powerful U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye in late 2012 was noted more than once” during the conference and that Abercrombie’s former chief of staff, Jennifer Sabas, “detailed an initiative to establish new committees within the chamber’s expanded military affairs council.” Cole reports her saying, “It’s going to take all of us. It’s going to take us to be focused. It’s going to take us to reach out much broader than we’ve ever had to.”
    According to the Star-Advertiser story, one of the new chamber committees “will take on training range and ‘encroachment’ issues — a term used for civilian conflicts with military bases.” The story also reports the governor saying that he will seek $525,000 in state funding for “liaisons” in Hawai`i and Washington, D.C. “to protect and enhance and advance the military presence in Hawai`i.”
     The Rim of the Pacific (RimPac) war games in Hawaiian waters are expected to draw 23 nations this summer with new participants China and Brunei.
     See more at staradvertiser.com.
     To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Greggor Ilagan

HAWAI`I ISLAND’S GMO BAN MADE the New York Times recently. A story by Amy Harmon followed Hawai`i County Council member Greggor Ilagan in his quest for information about genetically modified organisms. Ilagan represents eastern Puna, home of many genetically modified Rainbow papaya farmers.
      The story says that after Kohala Council member Margaret Wille introduced the proposal for a GMO ban in May, about 200 papaya farmers appeared, “pacing restlessly,” outside Mr. Ilagan’s office. “They wanted to be sure he understood that genetically modified papayas … account for three-quarters of the 30 million pounds harvested annually here.”
      Ilagan talked about his inbox being full of letters is support of the ban. “Do the right thing,” one woman wrote, “or no one will want to take a toxic tour of your poisoned paradise.”
      The story also follows his research and discussions with scientists about claims that GMOs cause superweeds and cancer in rats and cross-pollinate with other crops.
      “It takes so much time to find out what’s true,” Ilagan told Harmon.

      Ilagan ultimately voted against the ban that became law when Mayor Billy Kenoi signed the bill.
      See more at nytimes.com.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Pasha no longer offers interisland shipping service.

PASHA HAWAI`I TRANSPORT LINES ended its interisland shipping service in Hawai`i at the end of 2013 and won’t reapply for a permanent permit to resume service according to a story in Pacific Business News. 

      Pasha began shipping among the islands in 2011 after a state Public Utilities Commission’s interim decision allowed the shipper to operate interisland service.
      The PUC’s Sept. 2010 decision allowed Pasha to operate between Honolulu and Kahului Harbor on Maui, Hilo Harbor on the Big Island and Nawiliwili Harbor, without serving ports deemed unprofitable, such as Moloka`i, Lana`i and Kawaihae on the Big Island. The permit was granted on an interim basis after Young Brothers Ltd., the state’s largest interisland shipper, opposed the application, saying Pasha chose only the profitable interisland routes.
      Critics, however, viewed it unfair that other companies like Young Brothers Ltd. were required to serve unprofitable destinations while Pasha did not. Pasha claimed that its only vessel was too large to service the smaller ports.

      See bizjournals.com/pacific.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Ka`u High boys soccer team scored big against HAAS yesterday,
with a final score of 9 - 0. Photo by Dave Berry

KA`U HIGH BOYS SOCCER TEAM WON BIG in their match against HAAS at home yesterday. The final score was 9 – 0, with goals scored by seven Trojans. David Pilette and Andrew Garcia scored two goals each. Players scoring one goal each were Kupono Palakiko, Anthony Emmsley-Ah Yee, Carlos Uribe-Bounos, Thanchit Khofaklang and Raycin Salmo-Grace.

      The teams' next matches are Saturday, when they host Kealakehe.

      In other Ka`u High sports, boys basketball travels to Kea`u Friday. On Saturday, girls basketball travels to Hilo, and wrestlers go to Kealakehe. BIIF Invitational Swim Meet takes place at HPA.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

ITEMS FOR VOLCANO ART CENTER’S Colossal Rummage yART Sale are being accepted at the Ni`aulani Campus in Volcano Village today and tomorrow for the event this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

      Call 967-8222 for more information.

OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY CENTER HOSTS a Volcano Awareness Month program this evening, with Hawaiian Volcano Observatory volcanologist Frank Trusdell discussing Mauna Loa’s eruptive history and current status at 6:30 p.m.

STEWARDSHIP AT THE SUMMIT IS SCHEDULED Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Volunteers meet at Kilauea Visitor Center to help remove invasive Himalayan ginger from park trails. Free; park entrance fees apply.

UNITED WAY BENEFIT CONCERT is coming up this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Pahala Community Center. Entertainment includes Just in Case, JR Band, Keaiwa, Boni Narito, Honokua, Hui Okinawa Kobudo Taiko, Ka`u High School ensemble class and more. There will be vendors, games, raffle tickets and prizes. Call producer Kamrie Koi at 430-4964 or Jolene Koi at 936-6249 for more information.

THE COLOR OF SACRED OPENS SATURDAY with a reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Volcano Art Center Gallery in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Christina Skaggs presents new art. Park entrance fees apply. Call 967-7565 for more information.

TOM PEEK OFFERS A WRITING WORKSHOP Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Volcano Art Center’s Ni`aulani Campus in Volcano Village. In Tapping Your Creative Right Brain, participants learn to unlock the part of their minds that holds wild dreams, fascinating associations, deep metaphors and other gems of imagination, then apply them to writing. Open to all levels and genres; no writing experience necessary. Register at 967-8222.

KA`U HOSPITAL URGES RESIDENTS to complete its Community Health Needs Assessment at surveymonkey.com/s/93HQ5MX. The deadline has been extended to Jan. 31.

SEE THE DIRECTORY from the Ka`u Chamber of Commerce at http://snack.to/fzpfg59c.

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

Ka`u News Briefs Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reaches out to Ka`u tomorrow with a Volcano Awareness Month program at Ocean View Community Center.
Photo from USGS/HVO

KA`U COFFEE FESTIVAL AND HO`OMALU KA`U are two of 138 programs chosen to receive funding and other resources from Hawai`i Tourism Authority through its Product Enrichment Programs for 2014.
      The PEP consists of three HTA programs: County Product Enrichment Program, Kukulu Ola: Living Hawaiian Culture Program and Natural Resources Community-Based Program in partnership with Hawai`i Community Foundation. There were 91 CPEP programs, 22 LHCP programs and 25 NRCBP programs that were selected in 2014.

Preliminary work on the site of the Ka`u Heritage Center can begin with funding
from Hawai`i Tourism Authority. Photo by Shalan Crysdale

      Ka`u Coffee Festival is receiving funding through the County Product Enrichment Program, while Ho`omalu Ka`u's funds come from the Natural Resources Community-Based Program. Ho`omalu Ka`u’s Manuka Land Protection Project will complete a biological survey, an archaeological survey and fencing to keep out ungulates on 15 acres on Mamalahoa Hwy in Manuka, where the nonprofit organization is planning the Heritage Center of Ka`u.
      “Our Product Enrichment Programs provide us with the unique opportunity to support community events and programs that our residents are able to enjoy, while also drawing visitors to experience our host and multi-cultures and vast natural resources,” said Mike McCartney, president and CEO of HTA. “Through our collective efforts with the four counties and the Hawai`i Community Foundation, we are able to provide unique experiences that highlight our greatest assets – our people, place and culture.”
      In line with HTA’s Strategic Plan to support Hawai`i’s community programs and events, the goal of PEP is to support community-based programs that enhance visitor experiences, as well as create opportunities for economic development, natural resources management and perpetuation of the Hawaiian culture. HTA, together with the four counties, their visitors’ bureaus, HTA’s marketing partners and Hawai`i Community Foundation, is working with the recipients to align with the branding of their respective island, set forth by HTA.
      Other local programs chosen for CPEP funding are Friends of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park’s Hawai`i Volcanoes Institute program called Inspirational Experiences in the Great Outdoors and Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park’s Hula Arts at Kilauea.
      Big Island Invasive Species Committee’s program called Healing the Land; Awakening the People, which BIISC said enhances the visitor experience by controlling and preventing the spread of invasive species through tourism activities on Hawai`i Island, also was chosen for funding through NRCBP.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

KA`U’S COUNTY COUNCIL MEMBER BRENDA FORD is bringing her bill that would ban all genetically modified crops back for discussion, according to a story in today’s Hawai`i Tribune-Herald. It had been on the agenda of today’s Public Safety and Mass Transit Committee meeting, but Ford, who chairs the committee, is ill and has postponed the discussion.
      The County Council originally voted down Ford’s bill last September, but a Council rule kept the bill alive after the vote, according to the Tribune-Herald story. Because it involved the county’s Environmental Management Department, the bill was sent to the Environmental Management Commission for review. The commission gave it a negative recommendation on Oct. 30.
      The Council approved a different GMO bill by Kohala Council member Margaret Wille, and Mayor Billy Kenoi signed Bill 113 into law on Dec. 5 of last year.
      While Bill 113 allows exemptions for some GMO crops already being grown, Ford’s Bill 109 would ban all GMO crops and require their removal within 30 months.

Ka`u residents can meet Sen. Josh Green
and other Hawai`i Island legislators
at a forum in Kona next Tuesday.

      Ford told reporter Tom Callis that she doesn’t expect it to pass and defended bringing her bill back while the county is beginning implementation of Bill 113. “I don’t think it’s a waste of time,” she said, adding the Council needs to have a discussion about “where we go from here.”
      According to Callis, Wille said she supports having Ford’s bill discussed again. “I just see it as an opportunity to look ahead,” Wille said.
      Council Chair J Yoshimoto told Callis, “I think we’re done. We spent a lot of time on testimony.”
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

THE MILITARY IS HIRING CULTURAL EXPERTS in their management of Mauna Loa And Mauna Kea lands where it conducts exercises and war games.
      The job description states that cultural resources technicians provide day-to-day support in implementing the Island of Hawai`i Cultural Resource Program Scope of Work.
      The technicians perform assigned tasks to implement programs developed by the Cultural Resources Program Manager for U.S. Army Hawai`i and supports all fieldwork, including accompanying cultural accesses, monitoring, pedestrian survey, data collection and input and coordination of assigned tasks/projects. They also become familiar with installation plans, undertakings and cultural studies and inventories.
      For more information, see rcuh.com or contact Ana Tejeda at 969-3340 or atejeda@hawaii.edu.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

A COMMUNITY FORUM WITH Hawai`i Island state legislators is set for next Tuesday, Jan. 14, at Old Kona Airport Park’s Maka`eo Pavilion. West Ka`u Sen. Josh Green and others will discuss what they will be working on during the upcoming legislative session. The forum begins at 6 p.m.
      The new, but yet unnamed, state representative replacing Denny Coffman from District V will be invited and is expected to participate. Members of the County Council have also been invited to report and discuss County activities.
      Following their presentations, the legislators will participate in a panel discussion moderated by Sherry Bracken and will answer written questions from the audience.
      Pupus and beverages will be served. For more information, call John Buckstead at 326-9779 or email jbuckstead@hawaii.rr.com.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Little League is coming to Ocean View.

LITTLE LEAGUE HAS BEEN LAUNCHED in Ocean View for boys between the ages of nine and 12. The team, the Ocean View Islanders, is coached by Guy Delumeau with assistance from Rod Ducosin, both Ocean View residents. The team practices every Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the Ocean View field at Kahuku County Park. Ducosin said approximately ten players are coming to practice. The team needs more players. All players’ parents or guardians must sign registration papers and pay a $35 fee to join Little League. He said that fundraisers are planned for the youth who cannot afford the equipment and fees and that donations are greatly welcomed. The team is holding raffles, with the current item a 32-inch screen television. More raffles are planned in the future. In Ka`u, both Pahala and Na`alehu have teams. The season begins in March. For more information, call Delumau at 345-0332 or Ducosin at 808-445-6818.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

HAWAI`I COUNTY COUNCIL HOLDS ITS first regular meeting of the New Year tomorrow at 9 a.m. at Council Chambers in Hilo. Ka`u residents are urged to participate via videoconferencing at Ocean View Community Center.

THE ART OF LEI MAKING IS THE TOPIC tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center lanai in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, with Ab Kawainohoikala`i Valencia and Puamae`ole O’Mahoney.

BLAISE DE LIMA, A STAFF MEMBER from U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s office, meets with constituents and assists with casework and other issues tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Pahala Community Center. Call 541-1986 for more information.

AS PART OF VOLCANO AWARENESS MONTH, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory volcanologist Frank Trusdell discusses Mauna Loa’s eruptive history and current status tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center.

KA`U HOSPITAL URGES RESIDENTS to complete its Community Health Needs Assessment at surveymonkey.com/s/93HQ5MX. The deadline has been extended to Jan. 31.

SEE THE DIRECTORY from the Ka`u Chamber of Commerce at http://snack.to/fzpfg59c.

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