Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Monday, April 25, 2016

Volcano Art Center exhibits Up Close, a collection of bird portraits by Marian Berger, including `I`iwi, beginning Saturday, April 30. See more below. Image from VAC

HAWAI`I PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION seeks testimony on plans to install a substation and high-voltage overhead line across Hwy 11 to support a proposed solar farm in Hawaiian Ranchos.

      Hawai`i Electric Light Co. and the state Consumer Advocate have agreed on a schedule of dates in the PUC’s decision-making process. The schedule is published in Docket 2015-0229. The Consumer Advocate has until May 18 to file Supplemental Information Requests to HELCO and the solar developer. These requests will be partly based on objections raised by members of the public who have submitted public comments to the docket. After receiving answers from HELCO no later than June 1, the Consumer Advocate will announce its Statement of Position on or before June 29.

Ka`u residents can testify on a plan to install an overhead high-voltage
line across Hwy 11 to connect a substation to the grid.
Map from HELCO application to PUC

      The line and substation are proposed for a site next to the Kohala Blvd entrance to Ranchos, across the highway from Ocean View’s King Kamehameha Blvd. It would be in view of homes and a Thai restaurant. HELCO’s application is to serve the 6.75-megawatt project that SPI Solar, an international corporation based in Shanghai, plans to install on 25 housing lots in three Ocean View subdivisions.
      Ranchos residents encourage concerned citizens to submit public comments to the PUC prior to the Consumer Advocate sending information requests to HELCO.

      “HELCO has to justify its request for these very ugly and unnecessary structures,” Ranchos resident Ed NeSmith said. “The more objections we can file, the harder HELCO has to work to overcome them. HELCO will have to work hard to convince the Consumer Advocate that the project is needed, given that there is a surplus of daytime power on the Big Island, and every day, good green power from wind and solar is ‘curtailed’ or not used.”

      Phillis May said, “HELCO will be hard-pressed to make a case that the high rates that HELCO must pay SPI will not drive up the cost of power to all of us on the island. Currently, HELCO charges most retail customers 28.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. Although HELCO has no contract, the feed-in-tariff program mandates that HELCO must pay the developer 23.6 cents per kWh. When HELCO marks this up, our rates will go up, too. This is not a good deal for the ratepayer. I paid 11.5 cents per kWh when I lived in the Bay Area.”

SPI's proposed solar project would require a substation and high-voltage
overhead power line across Hwy 11. Image from SPI

      “HELCO will have to admit that this project is not legal in that it produces more than five megawatts of power,” retired physicist Peter Bosted said. “It should never have been allowed in the FIT program, which was intended for farmers and ranchers. If SPI Solar wants to sell power from a utility-sized installation, SPI must negotiate a Power Purchase Agreement.

      “I hope the Consumer Advocate will look long and hard at all the public comments that have been sent in. Many of them are excellent and really hit the nail on the head. Others paint a picture of residents dismayed at having their neighborhood industrialized.”
      To date, public comments have been overwhelming in opposition to HELCO’s proposal. The PUC received testimony opposing the project from the following individuals and organizations (in chronological order): Kerstin Mueller, Janice Hazen, Phillis May, Thomas Kraft, Mats Fogelvik, Lester Lowe, Kimberly Calverase, Ron Gall, Ed NeSmith, Sandra Mayville, Donald G. Hatch, Ronald Biggs, Hawaiian Ranchos Road Maintenance Corporation, Gary Kneeland, Hoda Hanfy, Jay Hibbard, Karen P. Pucci, Peter and Ann Bosted (with petition signed by 635 people), Janeen Marie, Ka‘ū’s state Representative Richard Creagan, John & Rosemarie O’Connor, Ross Metzger and Ruth Garza. Also, on Feb. 26, a list of Ranchos property owners’ responses to a mid-August letter mailed by Hawaiian Ranchos Community Association’s board was filed.
      Only two testifiers have supported the project: Jim Houston and Patrick McCormick Lee.
      To view public comments and other documents, see http://dms.puc.hawaii.gov/dms/. Type the docket number, 2015-0229, in the Docket Quick Link box and click on go. Then click the Documents tab. Documents are filed chronologically. Each document can be opened by clicking on the icon next to the date.
      Public comments can be submitted at puc.comments@hawaii.gov, with the docket number in the subject line. Public comments can also be mailed to the commission at 465 S. King Street, 1st Floor, Honolulu HI 96813, with recipients Chair Randy Iwase and Commissioners Lorraine Akiba and Michael Champley named in the letter.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Gov. David Ige

OBTAINING A HAWAI`I DRIVER’S LICENSE will be easier for certain foreign citizens after Gov. David Ige signs a bill today. 

      SB 2934 SD2 enables implementation of reciprocal driver’s licenses with foreign jurisdictions by allowing the state Director of Transportation to waive written tests for applicants with recognized licenses.
      The bill also requires all driver’s licenses to include a photograph of the licensee, in compliance with the federal REAL ID Act.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

GET UP CLOSE TO HAWAI`I’S endemic birds. Volcano Art Center Gallery’s new exhibition opening Saturday, April 30 features Marian Berger’s dramatic, close-up watercolor portraits of native birds. Born in Limerick, Ireland, the daughter of a meteorologist, Berger spent her early childhood on Wake Island and in Alaska, where she acquired her father’s love of science, her mother’s artistic bent and her parents’ mutual love of the outdoors. She focused on abstract painting in her earliest endeavors until she took a class in representational drawing at Humboldt State University. After graduating with a degree in wildlife management, Berger moved to Hawai‘i Island in 1976.

Palila, one of Marian Berger's portraits.
Image from VAC

      Berger had her first one-woman show at VAC Gallery and has had several since. In 1987, she created a series of paintings of Hawai`i’s endangered birds and plants for Aston Kaua`i Resort. An edition of 2,000 prints was published, and proceeds from the sales were given to Hawai‘i Nature Conservancy. In 1988, she painted a number of watercolors presented to U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye and U.S. Rep. Daniel Akaka for their contributions in preserving Hawai‘i’s native wildlife. In 2009 and 2010, she won top honors for her entries in the Hawai`i Nei Art Contest celebrating native species. In 2006, she was commissioned to paint Living Endemic Birds of Hawai`i, a series of Audubon-style paintings which she completed in 2011. Following its success and the awareness and financial support the exhibition provided to Hawai`i’s Endangered Bird Recovery Programs, discussion on a follow-up project began. Berger’s stunning watercolor close-up of an `i`iwi inspired this new Up Close collection, which then took her more than three years to complete. 

      Continuing in the spirit of John James Audubon’s style, the paintings featured in this collection are presented in classic double-elephant folio size measuring 26 inches by 39.5 inches. “At this scale, the viewer has no choice but to be Up Close and intimate with these special birds, observing details that we would never get to see otherwise,” said gallery manager Emily C. Weiss. Weiss also mentioned that this exhibit begins a series of programs and events benefiting San Diego Zoo Global’s Hawai`i’s Endangered Bird Recovery Program, including re-introduction of the Hawaiian ‘alalā this fall.
      The exhibit runs through June 5 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is open to the public and free of charge; park entrance fees apply.

      For more information, see volcanoartcenter.org.

Meet Pete Hoffmann this evening. Portrait by
Kira Kamamalu from Hoffmann

HAWAI`I COUNTY MAYORAL CANDIDATE Pete Hoffmann meets with Ka`u residents today at 6 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center.

      See more about Hoffmann’s campaign at friendsofpetehoffmann.com.

ECOLOGIST DAVID BENITEZ DISCUSSES some of the most unwanted species in the park, Hawai`i and around the world at After Dark in the Park tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. $2 donations support park programs; park entrance fees apply.

LEARN HOW TO CREATE designs on a bamboo stamp and make nose flutes. Staff from Hawai`i Pacific Parks Association and National Park Service rangers share their knowledge and love of two of Hawai`i’s popular traditional arts Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.

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

See kaucalendar.com/TheDirectory2016.html
or http://www.kaucalendar.com/TheDirectory2016.pdf

See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_April_2016.pdf.

Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Sunday, April 24, 2016

Rep. Richard Creagan, Sen. Kaiali`i Kahele and Council member Maile David welcomed the koa canoe, Malolo, back to Miloli`i.
Photo from Maile David

MILOLI`I YESTERDAY WELCOMED the return of their koa wa`a (canoe), the Malolo, with a blessing and feast. Built in Miloli`i in the 1920s, the Malolo is one of the oldest and most storied koa racing canoes in Hawai`i. Many current members of Miloli`i Canoe Club had grandparents who paddled on the Malolo in the 1930s. The Malolo also won and set the record at the 1954 Moloka`i Channel race. 

Canoe paddling is a longtime tradition for Miloli`i `ohana.
Photo from Miloli`i Canoe Club

      Hoe wa`a (canoe paddling) has been a longtime tradition for the families of the fishing village of Miloli`i. The kupuna of this tiny village paddled in numerous canoe regattas and long distance races, and many owe their physical strength to paddling their own personal `opelu canoe on a daily basis to fish for `opelu to feed their family and community.

      In 2015, after 81 years, the newly formed Miloli`i Canoe Club, with the help of Pa`a Pono Miloli`i, returned to the water with a total of 22 paddlers, many of whom have lineage to those past kupuna of the village.

      Both the Novice B men’s and women’s teams dominated the water course throughout the 2015 canoe regatta season which gave them berth into the 2015 HCRA State Races held in Hilo. Hard work and dedication by each paddler and supporter of the canoe club paid off.

      “The King Kamehameha Day race was the most exciting,” said Miloli`i native Laila Kaupu. “We had lane one with the worst swells coming in against Kailua pier. We still won gold in both the women’s and men’s team races.”

      The season also featured a number of open water distance races. Frank Durao, who moved to Miloli`i from California and is operating a macnut and coffee farm, likes the longer races. “We raced in the Queen Lili`uokalani Race,” he said. “The women paddled from Kailua pier to Honaunau, which is eighteen miles, and then the men paddled back. There were over 100 wa`a from all over the Pacific. In a race like that, you learn to feel the rhythm of everyone paddling together. You can feel the single motion of the wa`a moving forward with each stroke.”

Miloli`i Canoe Club paddlers celebrate a victory.
Photo from Pa`a Pono Miloli`i

      In its second year, the Miloli`i Canoe Club aims to not only build participation in the club but to also build the community that fuels the club. “We hope the history and cultural practice of paddling will boost the morale of the village,” said Lei Kaupu, “and motivate the paddlers to strive and work harder and inspire the future generation to continue on in the practice of their kupuna.”

      Nohea Kaiaokamalie, 2015 president of canoe club, agreed. “Paddling a canoe is the true Hawaiian sport,” she said. “It is ingrained in us. Even if it has been gone for a generation in Miloli`i, we can still find it.”
      The canoe club has brought together a wide community of paddlers. In the wa`a, participants may find themselves paddling with a fisherman, an ethnobotanist, a farmer, a minister, an emergency room doctor, a grandmother or someone from as far away as Vermont. They all become “part of the family here. Our small club is very welcoming, and people learn quickly. Only a few of us paddled when we were young,” said Didja Llanes, head coach of Miloli`i Canoe Club.
      Before the fall of 2014, Amoe Taetuna hadn’t paddled before, but after a few weeks as the club began to train, she was asked to take the steering seat and captain the women’s boat in the 2015 Pa`a Pono Miloli`i Ocean Fest. “It just came naturally to me,” she said. “I know the feeling of the water – the currents, the wind, the waves. I grew up on the water. Now as captain, I want to share this with the crew. I like to talk to them and motivate them. We are all learning together.”
      Miloli`i Canoe Club welcomes new members to practices on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. and on Saturday mornings at 8 a.m. The wa`a are launched at the southern end of Miloli`i village, and paddles are provided.
      For more information, contact Didja Llanes at 345-6738 or Nohea Kaiaokamalie at 937-9333 and nkaiaokamalie@gmail.com. Sponsorships and donations are welcomed.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Ka`u's state Sen. Russell Ruderman and Rep. Richard Creagan, in blue
shirts, joined other members of the Hemp Caucus who all wore
hemp shirts to celebrate Earth Day. Photo from Sen. Ruderman

KA`U’S STATE REP. RICHARD CREAGAN announced that he is running for re-election.

      “My main issues are to preserve our good life on the Big Island and in our district,” Creagan said. One focus of Creagan’s is improving schools. He said he hopes to have capital improvement projects funded at several schools for various projects.
      “My biggest effort will be in working on a plan for the West Hawai`i University Hospital, which will hopefully be sited on or near the Palamanui campus across from the Kona Airport,” he said.
      “Providing land and water for our small farmers as well as more outlets for their produce is also a major issue for me,” he said. “Exploring the conversion of some of our more marginal agricultural land to rural designation is also something I want to explore during the campaign ahead.”
      Creagan, along with Ka`u’s state Sen. Russell Ruderman, who previously announced his candidacy, is a member of the Legislature’s Hemp Caucus. Members celebrated Earth Day yesterday by wearing their hemp shirts. Ruderman said members expect a hemp bill to pass this year, after years of effort.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

KA`U RESIDENTS CAN PROVIDE INPUT on Hawai`i Department of Education’s review and extension of its joint Strategic Plan. The plan, which was last updated in 2012, is a combined effort to further develop comprehensive strategies focused on three foundational goals of quality education: Student Success, Staff Success and Successful Systems of Support. Public input is essential for revisions and updates that will be included in the development of the 2017-2020 extension of the Joint DOE/BOE Strategic Plan.

Hawai`i Department of Education seeks input
on its Strategic Plan. Image from HIDOE

      “Over the past five years, we’ve experienced great progress in our public school system and our schools,” Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi said. “To help all students reach their aspirations, we are taking a close look at lessons learned and ongoing challenges.”

      Notable progress includes reduction of chronic absenteeism, improvement in high school-level academic achievements and increasing college enrollments. The number of high school students taking college-level courses for dual credit, for example, rose four percentage points between the graduating classes of 2013 and 2015. The number of graduates enrolled in college also rose by six percentage points between 2010 and 2015.
      HIDOE is seeking input from students, teachers, school leaders and community partners to help define student success and support student aspirations. This feedback will be reviewed and incorporated into the revised Strategic Plan for presentation to BOE in December 2016.
      Tammi Chun, Ed.D., Assistant Superintendent of the Office of Strategy, Innovation and Performance, said, “The passage of the new federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, is a critical opportunity to reconsider our current strategies and indicators for success.”
      ESSA, which replaces No Child Left Behind, provides more flexibility to states to direct their own educational strategies to support states’ goals, while keeping several federal requirements tied to funding in place. The Strategic Plan sets the vision for Hawai`i’s public school system, supported with strategies and objectives for the state's students, educators and schools. The BOE approved the review and extension at its General Business Meeting on January 19.
      The public can provide input in several ways. Take the survey through May 31 at the Strategic Plan community conversation blog, where you can also leave a post with ideas for students and schools: hiqualityed.tumblr.com​. Email input directly to StrategicPlan@notes.k12.hi.us or mail to Office of Strategy, Innovation and Performance, PO Box 2360, Honolulu, HI, 96804. Join the conversation on social media with #HIQualityEd.
      For more information about the review and extension effort, see bit.ly/DOEBOEstratplan​.
      The DOE will work collaboratively with a separate effort announced by Gov. David Ige on April 14 to form an ESSA team, comprised of 17 individuals, which plans to hold an education summit and town hall meetings.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Pete Hoffmann

NATIONAL PARK WEEK ENDS TODAY. Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park waives entry fees.

HAWAI`I COUNTY MAYORAL CANDIDATE Pete Hoffmann meets with Ka`u residents tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center. He plans a short, 10-minute presentation and will answer questions. “Bring issues,” he said. Pupus, water and soft drinks will be provided.

      See more about Hoffmann's campaign at friendsofpetehoffmann.com.

WHAT MAKES A SPECIES INVASIVE? Ecologist David Benitez answers that question and discusses some of the most unwanted species in the park, Hawai`i and around the world at After Dark in the Park, Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Attendees learn what they can do to stop their spread. $2 donations support park programs; park entrance fees apply.

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

See kaucalendar.com/TheDirectory2016.html or
http://www.kaucalendar.com/TheDirectory2016.pdf.

See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_April_2016.pdf.

Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Saturday, April 23, 2016

National Park Week continues through tomorrow, with free entry to Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. See more below. Photo from NPS

RURAL HEALTH AT WORK in Our Communities was the theme of Ka`u Rural Health Community Association’s 19th annual general membership meeting and conference on Friday, April 15 at Pahala Community Center. 

Ka`u Rural Health Community Association's new board and staff
are, in front, Jessie Marques, Stacyn Lopez, Shawnetter Navarro,
Mahealani Taganas and Donna Kekoa. In back are Theresa Richardson
and Devin Navarro. Missing is Tracey Andrade. Photo from KRHCAI

      Newly elected Board of Directors and staff are Jessie Marques, Stacyn Lopez, Shawnetter Navarro, Mahealani Taganas, Donna Kekoa, Theresa Richardson, Delvin Navarro and Tracy Andrade.

      Five Community Health Worker Program Scholarships of $1,000 each went to the organization’s program students Stacyn Lopez, Resa Salmo, Daniel Mokiao, Nicole Moore and Sunshine Kahapea. The scholarships were funded by the Alu Like Employment & Training Program.
      Hawai`i Department of Health’s Office of Program, Planning & Policy provided five more scholarships for Betty Jo Adams, Donna Kekoa, Terri Scott, Annabelle Stone and Lauren Wong Yuen.
      KRHCAI founder Jessie Marques presented certificates from Hawai`i legislators and Hawai`i County Mayor Billy Kenoi to KRHCAI President Donna Kekoa.
      Conference attendees heard presentations from representatives of Ka`u Hospital & Rural Health Clinic, USDA Rural Business & Development Grant Programs, Commission on the Status of Women, Alu Like, Ka`u Intermediate & High School Health Occupation Students of America and Hawai`i County Office of Aging/Aging & Disabilities Resource Center.
      Attendees received free blood pressure and vision screenings.
      For more, see krhcai.com and Ka`u Rural Health Community Association’s Facebook page. Call 928-0101.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Miss Peaberry candidate Khloe Moses

KEIKI WAHINE FROM SIX TO NINE years old are participating in Miss Ka`u Coffee Pageant’s Miss Peaberry category on Saturday, May 14. They join Junior Miss Ka`u Coffee and Miss Ka`u Coffee candidates on stage at Ka`u Coffee Mill at 6 p.m.

      Miss Peaberry candidates are six-year-old Pahala Elementary School Kindergartener Khloe Moses, daughter of Jack and Brenda Moses, of Pahala; eight-year-old Pahala Elementary School student Jazmyn Navarro, daughter of Jonathan and Jennifer Navarro, of Pahala; and nine-year-old Pahala Elementary School student Chazlynn Pua Queja, daughter of Chad Queja and Jerilyn Pua, of Pahala.

HOMELESSNESS CONTINUES to be a focus at county, state and federal levels
      Gov. David Y. Ige signed a fourth supplemental proclamation on homelessness, which will remain in effect until late June. The supplemental proclamation allows the state to continue its coordinated efforts with the counties to create short- and long-term housing projects statewide.
      Under the most recent extension, the proclamation cut the development time by up to a year for units specifically dedicated to homeless persons. There are three such housing projects currently underway.

Miss Peaberry candidate Jazmyn Navarro

      “Extending the proclamation will continue the momentum,” said Scott Morishige, the Governor’s Coordinator on Homelessness. “It’s the right thing to do. When we consider the number of homeless individuals in our state, we must employ every tool at our disposal to connect these people to homes as quickly as possible. This is a statewide issue which affects nearly everyone.”

      Since October 2015, the emergency proclamation has temporarily suspended laws that impede or are detrimental to rapid and efficient execution of emergency functions.
      Projects currently underway include the following a 32-unit permanent supporting housing project by Hawai`i County in Kona.
      U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee advanced the Fiscal Year 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, legislation that will provide key funding for programs to support Native Hawaiian housing and address homelessness. Sen. Brian Schatz, a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, worked to ensure more homeless assistance funds go to states with a greater need for housing resources. He also worked to include $5 million in funding for the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant program and additional resources for affordable housing programs in Hawai`i and across the country.

Miss Peaberry candidate Chazlynn Pua Queja

      “Homelessness and affordable housing are major challenges for us in Hawai`i, and this bill increases federal resources the state can use to help families access safe, affordable housing,” Schatz said. “Hawai`i will need the federal government to remain a strong partner in the effort to combat homelessness, and this bill is a good start. It provides funding for housing assistance including veterans housing vouchers, shelters, supportive housing and homelessness service providers.”

      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

VOLCANO SCHOOL OF ARTS & SCIENCES Middle School classes present Theater Night Spring 2016 on Thursday, May 5. Each class performs a one-act play with a comic theme.
      Sixth grade offers Poultry in Motion by Patrick Rainville Dorn. The fractured fable scrambles the stories of Chicken Little, who believes the sky is falling, and the Little Red Hen, who tries to get her feather-brained friends to stop loafing around and bake some bread. Meanwhile, Foxy Loxy is lurking nearby Young MacDonald’s Free-Range Poultry Farm, hoping to snatch some chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys for an afternoon buffet.

      Seventh grade takes on the humorous murder mystery No Body to Murder by Edith Weiss. Bad news, in the form of severe thunderstorms and an escaped convict, threatens the guests at the Come On Inn of Nova Scotia. By the end of the day, gung-ho aerobics instructor Billie Body is mysteriously murdered during a power outage. Was it the cook’s lemonade that poisoned her, or did someone else have a hand in Body’s death? Inspector Black, on the scene in search of the escaped convict, has his job cut out for him. Suspicions range from Garth the gardener, who weeds with an axe, to an inept doctor on holiday from malpractice suits, to a hairdresser who constantly changes her appearance. Everyone has a hidden motive to want Billie Body dead. 

      In their final performance for VSAS, eighth-grade students perform After Hours by Kevin Stone. All is quiet on the storefront as the owner of a small clothing shop locks up for the night. Little does she know that when the lights go out, activity in her store really picks up. Two lively mannequins, LuAnn and Patty, have been waiting all day for a chance to loosen up. When they discover fellow mannequin Danny in a mistakenly delivered crate, the night really gets interesting. He not only gets out of his box, he thinks outside the box when a pair of bungling burglars breaks in.
      To find out how these zany plots resolve, head to Kilauea Military Camp Theater in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Curtain is at 6 p.m. Admission is free; donations are gratefully accepted.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar.

LEARN ABOUT THE VITAL ROLE of `ohi`a lehua in native Hawaiian forests, the many forms of the `ohi`a tree and the lehua flower tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. at the Kahuku Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. See nps.gov/havo.

Learn about the health benefits of kalo tomorrow. Photo from NPS

TOMORROW IS NATIONAL PARK Rx DAY, a community health initiative to “prescribe” time in parks to promote wellness.

      From 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park Park rangers and Dr. Craig Kadooka lead an easy, one-mile roundtrip hike of upper `Iliahi Trail. Meet at Kilauea Visitor Center lanai. The first 200 walkers receive a reusable water bottle and fresh fruit. Hawaiian practitioners Edna and Sam Baldado demonstrate the health benefits of kalo, and Ka`ohu Monfort shares how Hawaiians use plants to heal and cure. HMSA will also provide a table with health information.
      National Park Week ends tomorrow, with free entry to the park continuing today and tomorrow.

JAZZ IN THE FOREST CONTINUES with performances at 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. a week from today on Saturday, April 30. The shows at Volcano Art Center in Volcano Village feature the Jazz guitar artistry of Curt Warren and Grammy-nominated guitarist Reggie Griffin with Volcano Art Center’s Jazz Ensemble.
      Tickets are $20 for VAC members and $25 for non-members for both shows. Ticket holders will be able to purchase wine and Volcano Red Ale and Mauna Kea Pale Ale from Mehana Brewing Company before each performance.
      Tickets are available at volcanoartcenter.org, VAC’s Administration Office in Volcano Village and VAC Gallery in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.

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

See kaucalendar.com/TheDirectory2016.html or
http://www.kaucalendar.com/TheDirectory2016.pdf.

See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_April2016.pdf.