Ka`u News Briefs Monday, Sept. 7, 2015

The number of yellow tang in West Hawai`i waters has increased in Fish Replenishment Areas as well as open areas.
Photo from wikipedia

SUCCESS OF WEST HAWAI`I’S Fish Replenishment Areas is considered in the current issue of Environment Hawai`i. The state established FRAs in 1999, creating areas where collecting fish for the aquarium trade is prohibited. 

      According to William Walsh, an aquatic biologist with the state Department of Land & Natural Resources’ Division of Aquatic Resources in Kona, the FRAs were also established “to serve as a model for the application of a Marine Protected Area network in Hawai`i more generally.”
      Walsh reported mixed results for the FRAs. He said FRAs “have more fish than areas where fishing occurs but “even in open areas, the number of yellow tang have increased by 10 percent. Overall, he said numbers of yellow tang, which accounts for 84 percent of aquarium take, have increased from 2.3 million in 1999-2000 to 4.8 million today.
      Kole, which make up eight percent of the take for aquariums, have increased from 4.4 million to 7.7 million.
      However, the number of Achilles tang, the third most popular fish taken for aquariums, has been going down in most areas, “although there has been a small spike recently in protected areas,” Walsh said.
      The number of saddle wrasse is “going down in all areas, protected or not,” Walsh said. However, instead of being caused by overfishing, Walsh said it was due to “natural fluctuation.”
      See environment-hawaii.org.

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

VOLCANO ART CENTER IS ONE of several nonprofit organizations participating in Foodland’s Give Aloha program through Sept. 30. Foodland directs its charitable giving to organizations that are important to its customers through the annual program. 

      Customers are invited to make donations up to $249 to participating Hawai`i nonprofit organizations at checkout. Individuals must use their own Maika`i card to make a donation. Foodland and the Western Union Foundation will match a portion of each donation made with a Maika`i card. Donations made without a Maika`i card will not be matched.
      The Western Union Foundation has donated $50,000 to add to Foodland’s gift of $250,000 to Hawai`i nonprofit organizations participating in the program this year, bringing the total gift that will be given to all participating organizations combined to $300,000.
      At checkout, use the code 77000 for Volcano Art Center.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

FORMER STATE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION Chair Mina Morita sees Hawai`i lawmakers’ recently announced exploration of publicly owned utilities as an option to investor-owned utilities as “just lots of big talk and just more studies,” she wrote on her blog at minamoritaenergydynamics.com.

A graph from Mina Morita's blog compares various utility ownership models.

      “These people have very little understanding how much it will cost, where to start and what it will take to run an efficient and financially viable electric utility during a technological disruptive period. As these politicians spew their ‘beliefs’ – and that's just what it is, rhetoric not based in critical analyses or an understanding of utility operations or regulation – they create an unstable regulatory environment and business climate which has the potential to send up red flags and wreak havoc on HECO's ability to finance its operations with or without the merger.” 

      Morita responded to lawmaker’s announcement last week about their plan. The group of lawmakers includes Ka`u’s state Sens. Russell Ruderman and Josh Green and Rep. Richard Creagan.
      Morita asked, “It’s so easy for you just to say no to the merger, so have you mapped out a serious alternative strategy to reach the 100 percent renewable portfolio standard objective? If so, how much is your alternative strategy going to cost? As the public ownership option and dissolution of the franchise are solely in your hands, what would be the timeframe for such a proposal? What would be the opportunity cost for switching to a new ownership model? Other than the Hawai`i Island Energy Cooperative, what other nonprofits have been formed to seriously look at cooperative models for Moloka`i, Lana`i, Maui and O`ahu? If none, what will it take to form a credible nonprofit to move forward, and again, what would be the opportunity cost? Do you understand that in these alternative models all risks is transferred to the electricity customer and taxpayer? How do you feel about that? Or, what matters most, how do your constituents, who will be carrying 100 percent of the risk, feel about that? And, the threshold question, are you willing to put state or county’s money where your mouth is? Who is going to upfront the money for a serious look at cooperatives? ...
      “Politicians and the governor need to let the Hawai`i Public Utilities Commission, as the regulator, and the Consumer Advocate, whose statutory duty is to represent the interest of Hawai`i’s ratepayers, … do their jobs in evaluating the application and all the questions and responses to come to an evidence-based decision that is in the public interest.”
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Cyril Pahinui, here with Peter Moon, is leading an effort to record
Hawai`i's musical history. Photo from Cyril Pahinui

CYRIL PAHINUI AND THE NA`ALEHU THEATRE invite Ka`u residents to become a part of Hawaiian music history by joining his hui to collect the untold story of the Hawaiian Music Renaissance, No Ka Poli Mai No O Waimanalo, Straight From the Heart of Waimanalo. Pahinui is a familiar face in Ka`u, having taught at Ka`u High School and at music workshop in the district. 

      Building on the success of Let’s Play Music - Slack Key with Cyril Pahinui and Friends Part I, Pahinui’s hui has begun production of part two of this series, to be followed by monthly web episodes that will bring together Hawai`i’s best musicians to share their story and their music.
      By contributing to this kickstarter campaign, Ka`u residents help preserve the story of Hawai`i’s pivotal musical generation from the 1970s and ‘80s and make it possible to create some amazing new music, kanikapila style.
      “The timing of this project is critical, as recognized through the passing of Dennis Kamakahi shortly after the completion of Let’s Play Music Part I. We cannot begin too soon to record and capture these treasured performers and their beloved music,” Pahinui said. “The question is how big can we make it? Although our goal is $65,000, we have an angel investor who has committed to match up to $115,000 if we can raise it. So every dollar counts and is sincerely appreciated.”
      Only 18 days remain for the group to reach its goal. See www.kickstarter.com/projects/cyrilpahinui/lets-play-music-cyril-pahinui-and-friends-part-ii.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

OCEAN VIEW VOLUNTEER FIRE Department’s meeting scheduled for today at 4 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center is cancelled due to the Labor Day holiday. The next training will be on Oct. 5.

Ka`u artists are invited to learn how nature can inspire them. Today is the deadline
to sign up for the Sept. 19 program. NPS Photo by Michael Szoenyi

TODAY IS THE DEADLINE to register for Inspiration Hike – Artists in the Park at Kahuku when artists appreciate the beauty of the Kahuku Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park and learn how nature can inspire them to connect with their own creativity.
      Local artists show how to witness nature’s handiwork and see the magic within the landscape. This program requires advance registration and is limited to 15 people. It is an interactive, moderately easy 1.5-mile hike and program offered from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday Sept. 19.
      Call 929-8075 to sign up.

TODAY IS THE DEADLINE to sign up for Friends of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park’s Forest Restoration Project taking place this Friday Sept. 11. Volunteers remove invasive faya plants in the park from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Register at forest@fhvnp.org or 961-5012.

HAWAI`I WILDLIFE FUND INVITES Ka`u residents and visitors to sign up now for its annual Get the Drift & Bag It Ka`u Coast Cleanup. Volunteers meet HWF staff at Wai`ohinu Park at 7:45 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 20 to carpool to Kamilo for this International Coastal Cleanup event. Register at kahakai.cleanups@gmail.com.

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

See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_September2015.pdf.

See kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.swf
and kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.pdf.

Ka`u News Briefs Sunday, Sept. 6, 2015

Ka`u residents can sign up through tomorrow to help Friends of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park remove invasive weeds from the park on Friday. FHVNP Photo by Elizabeth Fien

PUBLIC OPPOSITION TO A PROPOSED solar project in the Ocean View Ranchos neighborhood is acknowledged in a document Hawai`i Electric Light Co. filed with the state Public Utilities Commission. “The residents of Ocean View Ranchos are divided on the subject of the proposed solar projects, with significant outspoken opposition,” the document states.

HELCO seeks PUC approval of overhead electric lines to connect a new
substation to existing lines. Map from HELCO application to PUC

      HELCO is planning to build a substation on Kohala Blvd. near the intersection of Hwy 11 to accept power generated by a PUC-approved solar project that would cover more than two dozen heavily wooded, mostly three-ace lots in Ranchos with solar arrays. The utility is asking the PUC to approve installation of overhead high-voltage power lines, as opposed to underground lines, to connect the substation to its grid.
      According to the document, “the Ocean View Substation is being built to serve the Ocean View subdivision. The area is currently developed with three-acre homesites. The proposed overhead 69kV line extension to the new Ocean View Substation will be visible from adjacent parcels and the highway. The terrain and vegetation obscure visibility for most residents of Ocean View Estates and Ocean View Ranchos. One home, across the street on Kohala Boulevard, will have a clear view of the substation and line extension.”
      The document states that the substation is fully funded by the solar project developers. “During peak production, the FIT companies will produce more than 700 percent of the daytime load, and the excess energy will need to be exported to the transmission system,” the PUC filing says.
      “The plan is for the Ocean View Substation construction to occur at the same time that (the solar) projects are constructed in Ocean View, starting in 2015 and completing in 2016,” the document states. “Construction of the 69 kilovolt line extension is expected to start in 2016 and be completed by the end of the third quarter 2016. (The 69kV line extension will be needed to energize the Ocean View Substation.) The (solar) projects need to be completed in 2016 in order for tax benefits to be realized for the developers.”
      A public hearing on the transmission line is expected to be scheduled. According to HELCO, “whenever a public utility plans to place, construct, erect or otherwise build a new 46kV or greater high-voltage electric transmission system above the surface of the ground through any residential area, the public utilities commission shall conduct a public hearing prior to its issuance of approval thereof.”
      The public can submit testimony at puc.hawaii.gov. Docket number is 2015-0229.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

THE SOLAR PROJECT PROPOSED at Ocean View Ranchos is receiving criticism from energy experts. According to Bret Yager, of West Hawai`i Today, the price for Hawai`i Electric Light Co. to pay for the energy produced by the project developers is higher than standard. Under the Feed-in-Tariff program whereby energy producers sell to HELCO, SPI is eligible to sell at 23.8 cents per kilowatt-hour.

According to West Hawai`i Today reporter Bret Yager, SPI did not respond
to several inquiries about its proposed solar project in Ocean View Ranchos.
Image from SPI

      Stephen Holmes, a retired former energy and sustainability coordinator for the City and County of Honolulu, told Yager, “You should be under 16 cents per kilowatt hour for a project of that combined size. They (SPI Solar) are breaking a large megawatt-scale project into smaller Feed-In Tariff projects, so ratepayers are not able to benefit from better pricing. The PUC should have rejected this.”
      Marco Mangelsdorf, president of Hilo-based ProVision Solar and director of the new nonprofit Hawai`i Island Energy Cooperative, told Yager, “The Feed-In Tariff unfortunately turned into something of a fiasco with companies — some local and others from the mainland — making a very nice return on investment at the expense of the rest of us.”
      According to Mangelsdorf, because the price of commercial and utility-scale solar energy has dropped significantly, utilities now can close deals with solar developers at rates lower than SPI’s.
      “FIT has been a boon for the developers who have been able to bring projects online quickly, and a boondoggle for the rest of us,” Mangelsdorf said. “We end up subsidizing that.”
      Former Public Utilities Commission chair Hermina Morita told Yager, “The purpose of FIT was to encourage smaller projects, not as a loophole for larger projects, which would have been negotiated under different terms.”
      Yager also reported that although the PUC has approved SPI’s applications, agreements with HELCO to buy the electricity have not yet been executed.
      “It’s a crummy deal,” Holmes told Yager. “I think the Public Utilities Commission should revisit the whole thing.”
      See westhawaiitoday.com.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

KILAUEA VOLCANO’S STATUS CHANGES are discussed in the current issue of USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s Volcano Watch. Last week marked the one-year anniversary of when the June 27th lava flow began erupting from Pu`u `O`o on Kilauea Volcano’s East Rift Zone. At that time, it was considered by HVO scientists to be an imminent threat to Kaohe Homesteads residents in Puna. 

      “On Sept. 4, 2014, HVO increased the USGS Volcano Alert Level for Kilauea Volcano from watch to warning as the flow advanced to within 1.2 kilometers (0.7 miles) of the Kaohe Homesteads boundary,” HVO scientists wrote. “Since early July, the lava flow had been advancing an average of 250 m (820 ft) per day.

On Sept. 12, 2014, the leading edge of the June 27th lava flow burned
through thick forest less than 220 yards from Kaohe Homesteads.
Photo from USGS

      “When the warning notification was issued, lava was just emerging from the third set of ground cracks that the flow had poured into along the East Rift Zone about 13 km (eight mi) from Pu`u `O`o. At the average rate of advance, HVO scientists projected that the lava flow could reach the Kaohe Homesteads within five to seven days, if it stayed within the rift zone’s ground crack system. 

      “Instead, lava escaped the cracks and flowed along a northerly path on the west and north boundaries of Kaohe Homesteads. The flow eventually advanced in fits and starts another eight km (five mi) into the middle of Pahoa town by late October 2014, and then to the outskirts of Pahoa Marketplace in late December 2014 through March 2015.
      “During this time, the flow fronts were only a few hundred meters (yards) from homes, businesses and power and communication lines, so HVO kept the Volcano Alert Level for Kilauea at warning.
      “A series of breakouts from the lava-tube system near Pu`u `O`o in early 2015 spawned many surface flows far upslope of Pahoa, which eventually helped to break down the tube system only six km (four mi) from the vent. With no lava moving through the lower part of the tube, surface flows near Pahoa Marketplace became completely inactive by March 13.
      “With the active parts of the June 27th lava flow far from inhabited areas and moving very slowly, they were no longer considered to be an immediate threat to people and property. So, HVO decreased the USGS Volcano Alert Level to watch on March 25, 2015, where it remains today.
      “The volcano watch and warning alert levels might sound a lot like notices issued by the National Weather Service for hazardous meteorological events, including the parade of tropical storms and hurricanes that have approached Hawai`i this summer. That’s because the USGS adopted these familiar terms to create a similar standardized notification system for volcanic activity in the United States. A full description of the USGS Volcanic Activity Alert-Notification System is provided in a USGS Fact Sheet, available online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3139/fs2006-3139.pdf.
      “This notification system was formalized in 2006 to include Volcano Alert Levels that inform people on the ground about a volcano’s status –normal, avisory, watch, and warning. For Kilauea, the current watch level means that an eruption is occurring but poses limited hazards to people and infrastructure on the ground. For a volcano that is not erupting, it means that the volcano is showing elevated signs of unrest with the potential of eruption increased but not certain.
      “The notification system also includes an Aviation Color Code to inform the aviation industry (especially flying aircraft) about a volcano’s activity, with a particular focus on volcanic ash – green, yellow, orange and red. Kilauea’s color code today is orange, which means an eruption is underway with no, or minor, volcanic-ash emissions. Thus far, the color code has not changed from orange during the June 27th lava flow activity.

      “USGS volcano notifications are issued by all five U.S. volcano observatories, including HVO, based on analyses of data from monitoring networks, direct observations and satellite-based sensors. You can receive all or some of these notifications via email by subscribing to the USGS Volcano Notification Service at http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vns/. We encourage island residents to sign up for this free service and to stay informed about the status of Hawaiian volcanoes!”

      See hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Faya is on the Hawai`i State Noxious Weed List. Photo from NPS

TOMORROW IS THE DEADLINE to sign up for Friends of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park’s Forest Restoration Project taking place Friday Sept. 11. Volunteers remove invasive faya plants in the park from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Register at forest@fhvnp.org or 961-5012.

OCEAN VIEW VOLUNTEER FIRE Department meets tomorrow at 4 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center. Call 939-7033 for more information.

VOLCANO WINERY'S HARVEST FESTIVAL is a week from today on Sunday, Sept 13 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The third annual event benefits Volcano School of Arts & Sciences. Live music, heavy pupus, souvenir wine glass and vineyard tours are included in the price of $40 for adults over 21 and $20 ages 2 – 21. Buy tickest at 967-7772 or volcanowinery.com.

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

See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_September2015.pdf.

See kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.swf
and kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.pdf.

Ka`u News Briefs Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015

Ka`u High Trojan Rowlie Flores participated in a meet at Hawai`i Preparatory Academy Saturday. Photo by team assistant Jay-R Abalos

HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK has a new centennial logo. Founded on Aug. 1, 1916, Hawai`i Volcanoes was the 15th national park established in the U.S. and celebrates its centennial anniversary next year along with the National Park Service itself, which turns 100 on Aug. 25, 2016. The logo depicts the three elements that define the park: culture, geology and biology.

Hawai`i Volcanoes new centennial logo.
Image from NPS

      In the center, Halema`uma`u Crater erupts on Kilauea Volcano under a starry night sky. The ongoing eruption is characterized by a glowing lava lake and dramatic plume of gas and ash wafting skyward. 
      Massive, active volcano Mauna Loa, sometimes capped in snow during winter months, stands above the erupting crater, a scene visitors can see from the Keanakako`i side of Halema`uma`u. 
      A nene, the endemic and federally endangered Hawaiian goose, is seen in flight and is a reminder of the success of the park’s nene recovery efforts. 
      On the right, a Hawaiian petroglyph is reminiscent of an actual petroglyph found at Pu`uloa in the park, the largest concentration of petroglyphs in the Hawaiian islands. 
      On the left, the red bloom of the `ohi`a lehua symbolizes both the importance of the native `ohi`a tree found throughout the park and its significance as a sacred flower of Pele. 
      The stars represent the night sky that visitors can experience while in the park after dark. 
      For more info, see nps.gov/havo/getinvolved/100th-anniversary.htm. 
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Hurricanes Kilo, Ignacio and Jimena continue to surround Hawai`i.
Image from NASA'S Earth Observatory

WHY RECORD-BREAKING HURRICANE Trio Swirls Above the Pacific was the title of a Live Science report yesterday on news.yahoo.com. 

      The story by Stephanie Pappas described it: “A parade of tropical storms traipses across the Pacific in a new satellite image showing the once-in-a-lifetime (or more than one lifetime) event. This is the first time three major hurricanes have lined up across the central and eastern Pacific at the same time, according to meteorologist Eric Blake of the National Hurricane Center.”
      The story explained that the unusual event is “made more likely by the climate cycle called El Nino. She quoted Tom Evans, the acting director of the Central Pacific Hurricane Center: “The reason we’re getting so many tropical cyclones in our area is that El Nino is keeping the very warm waters well north of the equator. That’s one of the main contributors to the energy found in hurricanes.”
      Evans also told Pappas that El Nino interrupts trade winds and decreases vertical wind speeds that help to lessen tropical storms’ strength.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Firefighters were able to keep a house fire in Ocean View from spreading
to other properties. Photo by Jordan Anger

HAWAI`I ISLAND POLICE HAVE CHARGED an Ocean View woman with arson in connection with a fire Wednesday, Sept. 2 at the house she occupied. 

      At 9:20 a.m. Thursday, Sept., detectives from the Area II Criminal Investigations Section charged 36-year-old Emily Smith of Ocean View with first-degree arson and third-degree assault.
      The assault charge was for allegedly striking a firefighter who responded to the house on Reef Circle Mauka on Wednesday morning. He did not require treatment.
      After determining that the fire was set intentionally, police arrested Smith at the scene.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

EMPLOYEES OF MULTINATIONAL SOFTWARE corporation SAP who supported and participated in the annual Aloha Run contributed half of $60,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of the Big Island. The company matched their donations. SAP is a sponsor of the Aloha Run.
      Boys & Girls Club members also participated in an activity with SAP CEO Bill McDermott and professional golfers, World Cup soccer players and other athletes at the Fairmont Orchid. McDermott and the athletes encouraged and motivated the youths, showing how optimism, hard work and team performance can set them on paths to success.
      Another recent donation to the Ka`u Boys & Girls Club totaled $5,000 from Edmund C. Olson Trust II.

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

Michael Gibson

KA`U LANDING’S PUBLISHER, Michael Gibson, who lived in this district in 1992 when he founded and edited the monthly and grew it into Hawai`i Island Journal, is realizing a longtime dream. He is creating an agricultural hub for education, a farmers market and community enrichment. Gibson is realizing this goal, however, up the Hamakua Coast, and the project is called Hamakua Harvest.

Gibson's Hamakua Harvest showcases products from farmers
in that area. Image from Hamakua Harvest

      According to its website, the mission is to “promote and advance local farmers, enriching the region’s social fabric and promoting healthy rural lifestyles.” It says the idea was “conceived in direct response to the community’s desire to maintain its rural lifestyle based on sustainable family farms” and that the project “will provide a whole-systems, integrated agricultural hub, market and teaching model for the community at large. Its design, purpose and location ... reflect the region’s deep agricultural history and aims to demonstrate what a truly sustainable and agriculturally rich future could look like.”
      The farmers market opens tomorrow in Honoka`a. See hamakukaharvest.org.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

THE KA`U COFFEE TRAIL RUN, coming up in two weeks on Saturday, Sept. 19, is drawing an international field. Runners from Japan, Austria, Germany and the United Kingdom are competing. Runners will descend on Ka`u, with the start and finish at Ka`u Coffee Mill, from as far away as Alaska, Oregon and Alabama. Registration is open until race day for the 5K, 10K and half marathon for people of all ages. One 5K participant from Kamuela is 91 years of age. An eight-year-old and a 72-year-old will be coming from Honoka`a. There are numerous racers signed up from Pahala, Na`alehu, Ocean View and Volcano. 

      Events take participants into macadamia and coffee orchards as well as the rainforest on the edge of Wood Valley. Entertainment follows the race.
      To sign up, see www.race360.com/21357.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Ka`u High cross country team member Chloe Gan ran at HPA last Saturday.
Photo by Jay-R Abalos

KA`U HIGH CROSS COUNTRY RUNNERS participated in their first race of the season last Saturday, Aug. 29 at Hawai`i Preparatory Academy. The race was three miles long. Boys race first this year, and girls, second. Ka`u athletes are familiar with the steep hills on the HPA course. Rowlie Flores came in 160th out of 193, with a time of 28:33. Chloe Gan came in 56th out of 140 with a time of 29:44.

      The runners are at Kamehameha today, with more Ka`u athletes running in this race. “The team is training hard and looking forward to the next races,” Coach Erin Cole said.

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

KA`U GIRLS VOLLEYBALL TEAMS continue their winning season. Yesterday, Ka`u won all sets when they hosted Parker. Varsity

 scores were 25-12 and 25-10; JV scores were 25-8 and 25-14.
      After playing three opponents at home this week, the wahine Trojans get some time off before traveling to Christian Liberty next Friday.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

PARTICIPANTS DISCOVER Hawaiian goddesses Pele and Hi`iaka and the natural phenomena they represent tomorrow from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Kahuku unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Visitors will experience the sisters coming alive through epic stories depicted in the natural landscape of Kahuku on this moderate one-mile walk. 

      Call 985-6011 for more information.

KA`U AG PRODUCERS ARE INVITED to Western U.S. Agricultural Trade Association’s FundMatch Workshop next Saturday, Sept. 12 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at West Hawai`i Civil Center’s Council Chambers in Kona.

      The county Department of Research and Development and the state Department of Agriculture are hosting this free workshop open to agribusinesses with products containing at least 50 percent U.S. agricultural content, exclusive of added water and packaging.

      WUSATA is now accepting applications for FundMatch 2016, formerly known as the Branded Program. This workshop walks attendees through the ins and outs of FundMatch, how to apply, leverage new export opportunities and more. A question and answer session follow.

      Participants learn how WUSATA can offset their companies’ international marketing budgets and how WUSATA can offset overseas marketing costs, including foreign trade show exhibition and travel, advertising, in-store promotions, international product labeling modifications and more.
      For more information, contact Glenn Sako at 961-8811 or Glenn.Sako@hawaiicounty.gov.

KA`U FARMERS UNION UNITED invites current and prospective members to Earth Matters Farm at the corner of Kama`oa and South Point Roads two weeks from today on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 10 a.m. Rep. Richard Creagan will talk about plans for the 2016 Legislature and his field trips on issues. Membership is not required to attend. Call 443-3300.

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

See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_September2015.pdf.

See kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.swf
and kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.pdf.