Ka`u News Briefs Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2014

Santa and his reindeer were seen at Kilauea Military Camp. Ka`u residents can vote for their favorite decorated KMC cabin
 for one more week. Photo by Dave Berry

HAWAI`I’S ELECTRIC UTILITIES have achieved a Renewable Portfolio Standard of 17.97 percent, which means Hawai`i has effectively surpassed the 2015 interim goal of using 15 percent of renewable resources to create electricity two years early. Programmatic updates have also increased the prevalence and utilization of renewable energy projects statewide, according the state Energy Office’s 2014 annual report.

Hawai`i's reich natural resources support a diverse renewable energy portfolio.
Graph from Hawai`i Energy Office

      “By deploying clean energy infrastructure and attracting test bed investments and innovation, Hawai`i is creating a clean energy cluster that is becoming a new driver for our economy,” said Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism Director Richard Lim. DBEDT oversees the state Energy Office.
      “As a result of this progress, we are now committed to going beyond the original target of 40 percent renewable energy by 2030 as outlined in the Hawai`i Clean Energy Initiative,” Lim said.
      2014 also marked the launch of the DBEDT-initiated Green Energy Market Securitization program and establishment of the Green Infrastructure Authority pursuant to Act 211. “The creation of innovative programs like this will help raise the capital needed for Hawai`i to pursue its clean energy goals,” Lim said.
      “Through our responses to landmark Public Utilities Commission dockets on distributed generation interconnection and utility planning, DBEDT offered its vision for a new utility business model that supports a network of smart, interconnected grids,” Lim said. This will bring higher rates of renewable energy penetration and potential savings to electric utility customers.
      “Hawai`i’s leadership in late-stage development and deployment of these technological innovations is a key part of our emerging status as one of the world’s top clean energy test beds.
      “It is imperative that Hawai`i remain committed to the energy transformation now underway. Doing so will help bring our energy prices under control, provide greater energy security for Hawai`i, protect our environment and strengthen and diversify our local economy.
      See the report at http://energy.hawaii.gov/wpcontent/uploads/2011/10/ERC2014_12.01.14.pdf.
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FLORIDA POWER AND LIGHT “is becoming the ultimate in vertically integrated utilities by owning fuel production, generation, transmission and distribution while minimizing alternatives like rooftop solar and energy efficiency,” according to Henry Curtis, director of Life of the Land, which studies many energy issues and is involved in many dockets considered by the Public Utilities Commission. FPL is a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, the company that is buying Hawaiian Electric Light Co. FPL promotes itself on Hawai`i television stations as using solar energy during the day and natural gas at night to make electricity.
       According to Curtis, Bloomberg News reported that “NextEra Energy Inc. won approval from Florida regulators for its utility to skip the middleman and drill for its own natural gas,” and the Miami Herald reported that “Florida Power & Light wants to get into the natural gas fracking business.”
      FPL proposed investing nearly $50 million in a joint venture with Petroquest Energy, Inc. to develop wells in southeastern Oklahoma’s Woodford shale.
      Curtis said Florida’s consumer advocate called the proposal “a speculative investment” and claimed that the risk was too high. Ratepayers would save two cents a month over 50 years “but would be left holding the bag if the investment failed.”
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A 68-YEAR-OLD KA`U MAN DIED MONDAY in waters off Ka`alu`alu Bay. Perfecto Mercado, of Na`alehu, was found floating in waters approximately 40 to 50 yards off the bay. Bystanders removed him from the water and moved him to South Point Road. Police and Hawai`i Fire Department medics transported the victim to Kaʻu Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:49 p.m.
      An autopsy has been ordered to determine the exact cause of death.
      A lifeguard rescue saved a visi†or at Punalu`u yesterday after she drifted far from shore and was unable to swim in. She was taken to Ka`u Hospital and on to Hilo Hospital for an overnight watch and set to be released today.
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HIS ROLE IN STOPPING THE PROPOSED Ka`u spaceport was on Mayor Billy Kenoi’s mind when he testified in opposition to making Keauhou Aquifer System a Ground Water Management Area. When he was a law student, Kenoi drafted the petition to shut down the Ka`u project. He said his first legal effort was “to protect this island. That’s what we do.”
      Kenoi referred to Koloko-Honokohau National Historical Park’s petition to create the management area as “a whiff of paternalism” and interpreted it as the federal government telling the county, “You guys don’t know what you’re doing; we gotta come in, help you guys – you don’t know how.” Concerns expressed by some community members are that a management area would restrict development of approved projects including higher education facilities, recreation areas and housing for Native Hawaiians.

Mayor Billy Kenoi
Photo by Julia Neal

      Concerns voiced by National Park Service are that increased withdrawal of water from the aquifer could negatively effect Kaloko-Honokohau’s ability to manage public trust resources in the park. The petition states that the designation “is necessary to ensure that optimal conditions exist for the fragile ecosystems that support coastal fisheries, traditional and customary subsistence fishing and shoreline gathering, recreational opportunities, and rare native species.”
      Kenoi said all levels of government have the kuleana to malama the island and because the county is protecting the island, a management-area designation is not necessary. He said science, law and proof of violations should be used to make decisions regarding management of the aquifer.
      According to science, Kenoi said, the aquifer is not in trouble based on present use and future projections of use.
      Regarding law, Kenoi said developers beg him to approve projects that would increase water use, but they have to meet strong requirements.
      He said that if violations regarding water management are occurring, he would be the first to make the Department of Water Supply answer such allegations. He called for the concept of strategic allocation to be used regarding water resources.
      Kenoi said this is not a conflict with the national park. “You cannot submit one petition because you can; because you like; just because you feel you know you might have the votes on one commission …, just because you are the federal government. This island no exist in a national park; the national park sits in our community, and we’re all here to work together.”
      NPS suggests that it is necessary to follow the precautionary principle and interprets state law as saying, “pursuant to that principle, when ‘the water resources in an area may be threatened by existing or proposed withdrawals or diversions of water,’ the Commission has a duty to designate a water management area.
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KA`U HUNTERS CAN RIDE THEIR SLEIGHS to Pohakuloa Training Area Christmas Day and Friday. Army officials are opening several training areas for bow hunting tomorrow from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. Training areas 1-4, 9, 12-16 and the Keamuku Training Area will be open for shotgun hunting of birds only. Use of shotgun slugs is not permitted.
      On Friday from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., the same areas will be open for bow hunting of mammals only. Hunters are allowed one pig, one goat and one sheep per day, in keeping with state bag limits. Shooting sheep with blue collars is not permitted.
      For rules and information about access, see www.garrison.hawaii.army.mil/pta/.

KILAUEA MILITARY CAMP’S CRATER RIM CAFÉ in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park offers a Christmas buffet from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Menu items include prime rib au jus, stuffed roast turkey and holiday lamb stew. $26.95 for adults and $13.50 for child 6-11 years old. Open to authorized patrons and sponsored guests. Park entrance fees apply. Call 967-8356 for more information.

AMAHL & THE NIGHT VISITORS PREMIERS Friday at Kilauea Military Camp Theater in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. KDEN presents the production through Sunday, Jan. 4. Showtimes are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. For tickets, call 982-7344 or email kden73@aol.com.

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

                                 

Ka`u News Briefs Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014

Kilauea Military Camp's Christmas tree brightens the darkness in front of decorated cabins that spectators can vote for through New Year's Eve. Photo by Dave Berry

EIGHTY-TWO THAI FARM WORKERS found to have been exploited on Ka`u and other farms in Hawai`i have been awarded $150,000 each by U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi.

Anna Park, trial lawyer for U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission

      The awards follow a federal lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed in 2011against Global Horizons and six Hawai`i farms, including MacFarms of Hawai`i, which draws a majority of its local workers from Ka`u to its macadamia orchards just north of the Ka`u and South Kona district borders. The lawsuit focused on working and living conditions, including the accusation that 20 MacFarms workers hired by Global Horizons were crowded into a house in Na`alehu that was ill-equipped for even five persons. According to allegations, the accommodations “lacked a fully functioning toilet, toilet paper and hot water and had a buckling kitchen floor.” Five farms settled for a total of $3.6 million.
      According to a story by Jennifer Sinco Kelleher in West Hawai`i Today, Mordechai Orian, former president of Global Horizons, continued to deny the workers were mistreated. “We paid those guys to the last penny they worked for,” he said. “We tried to keep legal farming in the United States alive, and this is the thanks we get.”
      Orian said the company is no longer in business and cannot pay the awards. “We will fight this ridiculous decision,” he said, and called the awards “insane.”
      Anna Park, EEOC trial attorney in Los Angeles, said the agency is pleased, but the next challenge will be getting money from Global Horizons, she said.
      Awards come from $3.6 million in settlements and $8.7 million Global Horizons is liable for.
      “The million dollar question is whether they’ll ever see any of it,” said Clare Hanusz, an attorney who represents several of the workers with immigration issues. “I’d be surprised if there really was no money, though. I think it’s very carefully hidden.”
      According to the story, Global Horizons plans to appeal.
      See westhawaiitoday.com.

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Wes Machida is Gov. David Ige's Director of Budget
and Finance.

GOV. DAVID IGE AND WES MACHIDA, Director of Budget and Finance designee, yesterday outlined the proposed biennium budget for the upcoming fiscal years 2016 and 2017. The budget was developed primarily by the outgoing Abercrombie administration to ensure continuation of state services at current levels and to provide the Ige administration with flexibility to make budget adjustments that are in line with its policy and budget priorities.

      The budget anticipates four percent increases in spending during each of the next two fiscal years. Revenues are projected to grow by 5.5 percent each year.
      “One of the most important responsibilities that I have, as governor of the state of Hawai`i, is to deliver a balanced budget to the Legislature and to the people of our state,” Ige said. “To that, I am fully committed.
      “We will not propose new programs when we cannot afford to pay for them – we will live within our means, just like Hawai`i’s families. We will spend public funds wisely to avoid raising taxes.
      “State government should be run like a business, striving to increase efficiency and reduce waste and costs. Accountability and transparency will be the core principles upon which we provide services to our customers, the people of Hawai`i.
      “As government, we must focus our energies to nurture a sustainable economy – a healthy economy to support Hawai`i’s families and allow them to thrive. There is hard work to be done, but we expect no less of ourselves than the public expects of us.
      Highlights of the budget and copies of documents that have been submitted to the Legislature are available online at http://budget.hawaii.gov/budget/executive-biennium-budget.

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Lopaka Ryder Photo from youtube

KUMU HULA DEBBIE RYDER, of Pahala, yesterday asked the murderer of her son to turn to God during his sentencing in a Kona courtroom to life imprisonment. Martin Frank Booth pled guilty to the killing, in late 2013, of the popular musician Lopaka Ryder, of Kona, whose body was found in a lava field on the Kohala Coast after he had been missing for months.

      According to the story by Chelsea Jensen, of West Hawai`i Today, Debbie Ryder stood in the court and stated: “You are inhumane to take someone’s life like you did my son. He was a kind and loving person. He was God’s child; Lopaka believed in Him, and he tried his best throughout his 37 years to apply what the Lord guided him to do,” she said.
      “You will have nightmares, and you will have flashbacks for murdering my son. You need to put God in your heart so he can help you live the rest of your life behind bars, and my family and I will make sure of that. And, in the end, only God will judge you according to your actions and the way you choose to live your life.”

The snow-white summit of Mauna Loa as seen from Mauna Kea.
Photo from NOAA

     Booth apologized to the family. “Lopaka was a very talented and loving person. He was a friend of mine. I’m sorry,” he said. “There’s nothing I can do to change that and what I’ve done, and for that I am sorry, and there is no excuse.”
      See more at westhawaiitoday.com.

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IT COULD BE A WHITE CHRISTMAS on the slopes of Mauna Loa, with the National Weather Service issuing a blizzard watch for Big Island summits in effect this morning through tomorrow afternoon. Snowfall could exceed six inches. Even if the heavy snow does not materialize, very strong winds are expected, according to NWS.
      A blizzard watch means there is a potential for falling and/or blowing and drifting snow with strong winds and extremely poor visibilities. This can lead to whiteout conditions and make travel very dangerous.

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Chad Keone Farias Photo from Hawai`i DOE

CAREER EDUCATOR CHAD KEONE FARIAS will take the helm of complex area superintendent for the Ka`u-Keaau-Pahoa complex, succeeding Mary Correa, who mentored him for the position and will be retiring on Dec. 31.

      Farias, 43, has spent his entire career on Hawai`i Island, most recently as Kea`au Elementary principal since 2008. Under his leadership, Kea`au Elementary was one of the pioneers in digital learning among its staff and students, boosting student achievement and lowering chronic absenteeism. Farias previously served as vice principal at Keonepoko Elementary and his alma mater, Hilo High, where he held his first teaching job.

      Hawai`i State Board of Education appointed Farias to the Complex Area post on Sept. 16 to be effective on Jan. 1.

      Correa retires with more than 40 years in the state Department of Education, the last decade as the KKP complex area superintendent. She also served as an administrator at Ho`okena Elementary, Hilo Community School for Adults, Pahoa High and Intermediate and Hilo Intermediate schools. Early in her career, Correa taught at Waiakeawaena Elementary, Laupahoehoe Elementary, Waimea Elementary and Intermediate and Saint Joseph Elementary and Intermediate.

      Correa is known for her phrase, “If can, can; if no can, how can,” which challenged educators to overcome severe socioeconomic barriers and raise student achievement among what had been historically known as Hawai`i’s lowest performing schools. The KKP complex schools have since emerged as a successful improvement model for the state after receiving targeted supports as “Zones of School Innovation” in the DOE’s Race to the Top federal grant. The KKP complex has close to 5,500 students in nine schools spread across the largest geographic region of any complex area in the state.

      Correa’s leadership has been vital in the last four months in weathering two hurricane threats that closed schools, and the Puna lava flow, which forced closure of Keonepoko Elementary indefinitely. She led her KKP team in ensuring a seamless education transition for 1,700 students and 300 staff to relocate to other schools within the complex.

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Santa took center stage at Ocean View
Community Center Saturday.

SANTA MADE IT TO OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY CENTER Saturday for the community association’s annual keiki Christmas party. Gift, food and other goodies made for a festive event.

KA`U GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM STARTED the season off strong last night. It was the first season game for the girls varsity team against Pahoa and successfully showcased Ka`u’s strength as a team. Holding the lead for most of the game, Trojans took the win with a score of Ka`u 59 and Pahoa 42.

      With a majority of experienced seniors on the roster, the Trojans’ season looks promising. Seniors include Kerrilynn Domondon, Denisha Navrro, Shyann Flores-Carvalho, Kehaulani Ke, Sky Kanakaole-Esperon, Jennifer Tabios, and Bridget Pasion.
      Pasion was high scorer with 15 points, and 
Domondon contributed 12
 points.
      The Ka`u Calendar’s journalism intern Kaweni Ibarra wrote the majority of this story.

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

NA`ALEHU UNITED METHODIST CHURCH offers Christmas Eve Candlelight Service tomorrow at 7 p.m. with carols, biblical Christmas story and specialty music featuring choir, Aloha Handbells, spiritual dance, trumpets, flutes, `ukulele and more.

CHRISTMAS BUFFET IS AN OPTION for holiday meals Thursday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Kilauea Military Camp’s Crater Rim Café in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park features prime rib au jus, stuffed roast turkey and holiday lamb stew. $26.95 for adults and $13.50 for child 6-11 years old. Open to authorized patrons and sponsored guests. Park entrance fees apply. Call 967-8356 for more information.

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

See kaucalendar.com/Directory2014.swf.

Ka`u News Briefs Monday, Dec. 22, 2014

The brightest and most well known open cluster of stars, the Pleiades, is visible in Ka`u's night sky this month. Astronomer Lew Look, author of Stars Over Ka`u, asks, "How many can you count?" NASA image from Lew Cook

COFFEE BERRY BORERS are making headlines not only for their destructive behavior on Ka`u Coffee farms but also what news and social media are spreading as "kinky sex." 

      “See that cup of coffee you grabbed this morning?” asks Brandon Ambrosino at vox.com. “That delicious, life-sustaining beverage comes from coffee beans. And before those beans were roasted, insects were having sex in them.

The sex life of coffee berry borers is the subject of several media reports.
Photo by Peggy Greb/USDA Ag Research Service

      “According to a recent study published in the Journal of Insect Behavior, coffee berry borers (Hypothenemus hampei), which are native to Africa, spend a good deal of their lives in coffee beans, which means, writes Discovery News, ‘kinky sex takes place in many coffee beans before they are roasted.’
      “As The Week points out, the sex is also incestuous sometimes. When females aren’t reproducing through parthenogenesis (i.e. by herself) then they ‘have to be copulated by their sibling males before leaving the native coffee fruit to improve their chances of successful colonization,’ writes study co-author Weliton Dias Silva.
      “These insects, which are tiny beetles, are incredibly small, with the females averaging slightly larger lengths (.07 inches) than males (.06 inches). Because the males are smaller, they're called ‘dwarves.’
      “So how do the insects find their way into the actual coffee beans? According to Discovery, they find their way into the beans ‘after sniffing out chemicals released by coffee plants.’ Females leave the beans at 15 days old, but males stick around, which means, yeah, your roasted coffee beans could have male insects in them.
      “If you’re worried about using sex-ruined coffee beans, here are two tips for avoiding them. If the coffee beans seem more hollow than others, or if there are tiny, beetle-sized holes in them, avoid them. And if you like Arabica beans, find a new flavor because that seems to be the most infested bean.
      “Granted, writes The Week, you probably shouldn’t be too worried about the sexual history of your coffee beans as most of the infected ones are taken off the market. That’s good news for coffee drinkers, but bad news for farmers. According to estimates from the USDA, these losses can add up to more than $500 million annually.”

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

Spinner dolphins rest in Hawai`i's bays, where tourists go to interact with them.
Photo from wikipedia

IMPORTANCE TO TOURISM is a strategy suggested by a new study outlining dangers to spinner dolphins and how to preserve their populations in Hawai`i. The study from Duke University attempts to find ways to reduce pressures placed on dolphins as the number of tours to the state’s bays such as Kealakekua Bay in West Hawai`i, which dolphins use as safe places to rest, increases.
      According to the researchers, a combination of federal regulations and community-based conservation measures is the best way to protect Hawai`i’s wild spinner dolphins in Hawai`i. Community-based conservation efforts involve local residents working together to manage the bays and discourage human behaviors that can harm dolphins. Educating and reaching out to the public are key to the efforts, according to the study.
      Heather Heenehan, a doctoral candidate at Duke University’s Marine Laboratory who led the study, said it “explicitly acknowledges that all users of these bays have the right to take advantage of the resources they offer – including dolphins, which are protected from harassment under federal law.”
      David Johnston, assistant professor at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, said, “A combination of management approaches is needed immediately to make interactions between humans and dolphins sustainable. Neither top-down mandates nor bottom-up stakeholder efforts are the sole answer to this problem.”

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

As lava approaches Pahoa Marketplace, Jungle Love gift shop employees told
Gov. David Ige they hope to remain open until Christmas.
Photo from Big Island Video News

AS CHRISTMAS APPROACHES, so does lava on its way toward Pahoa Marketplace. Merchants still open are taking advantage of a slowing of the lava’s progress. A Jungle Love employee, a gift shop in the center, told Gov. David Ige during his visit Thursday that this is their busiest time of year. “This is how we get our bread and butter,” she said. She hopes to stay open until Christmas. “I don’t know very much after that,” she said. 

      Lava remains active about about one-half mile upslope of Pahoa Marketplace. Having entered a more level area, the flow front is widening rather than following a narrow path downhill.

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IN HIS CURRENT ISSUE OF STARS OVER KA`U in The Ka`u Calendar, astronomer Lew Cook discusses how planets are formed, their relationships to stars and stars visible in late December. 

      “Astronomers have known planets come from gas and dust that forms around very young stars,” Cook says. “Those stars themselves were born from this very dust and gas cloud. For the first time, ESO, the European Southern Observatory in Chile, reports imaging clearly the disk around a young star.

      “‘A new image from ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array, reveals extraordinarily fine detail that has never been seen before in the planet-forming disc around a young star. ALMA‚ Ao’s new high-resolution capabilities, were achieved by spacing the antennas up to 15 kilometers apart. This new result represents an enormous step forward in the understanding of how protoplanetary discs develop and how planets form.

The disk and gas around the star HL Taurus ALMA image from Lew Cook

      ‘ALMA has obtained its most detailed image yet showing the structure of the disc around HL Tau (a variable star), a million-year-old sun-like star located approximately 450 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Taurus. The image exceeds all expectations and reveals a series of concentric and bright rings, separated by gaps.’ 

      “Planets are forming in the gaps seen in the image. The location of the star, HL Taurus, is shown on the Dec. 2014 star chart, but don’t expect to be able to see it, as it is 14th magnitude. You can see, on a good night, stars to the sixth magnitude. Even with a large amateur telescope of 12 inches diameter, it is only just visible.
      “Nearly overhead … at 9 p.m. during the last part of the month is the group of stars called the Pleiades. Galileo was the first to examine the Pleiades through a telescope, discovering there were many stars in the cluster. He counted 36. I doubt he was aware of how may stars there were at the time. Astronomers term this grouping an Open Cluster of stars. The Pleiades is about 400 light years away.
      “It has recently formed from a dust and gas cloud like the Orion nebula and contains around 3,000 stars. Over the next 250 million years they will lose their association with each other, becoming random stars in the Milky Way. The founders of our civilization used the Pleiades as a test of vision for their soldiers: If a person could see seven stars, he passed the test for an archer.
      “The Pleiades is the brightest and most well known open cluster. There are many other star clusters like the Pleiades, but fainter. The stars being born in the Orion nebula are an example (at 1,300 light years). So is the Hyades (150 light years) just southeast of the Pleiades. “Although Aldeberan appears to be part of the Hyades, it is much closer to us at 65 light years. There is another type of cluster that has so many stars in it that the cluster’s gravitational stronghold on the stars keep it together for a very long time. We’ll discuss these globular clusters of stars at a later time. 

      “Speaking of Orion, he rises and continues his relentless chase of the seven sisters of the Pleiades where the Ancient God Zeus cast him after his death from the scorpion’s sting. Be sure to look for the Andromeda Galaxy – the most distant object visible to the unaided eye before it follows Pegasus past the western horizon. Use binoculars or a telescope for a better view.”

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

Aloha Handbells return for Wednesday's Christmas Eve candlelight service
at Na`alehu United Methodist Church. Photo from Julie White

KA`U RESIDENT DICK HERSHBERGER brings Hawaiian Volcano Observatory founder Thomas Jaggar to life tomorrow. A Walk into the Past programs begin at 10 a.m., 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Participants meet at Hawai`i Volcano National Park’s Kilauea Visitor Center and walk to his underground laboratory near Volcano House. 

NA`ALEHU UNITED METHODIST CHURCH offers Christmas Eve Candlelight Service Wednesday at 7 p.m. with carols, biblical Christmas story and specialty music featuring choir, Aloha Handbells, spiritual dance, trumpets, flutes, `ukulele and more.

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

See kaucalendar.com/Directory2014.swf.