Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Lava is advancing down the pali near the abandoned Royal Gardens subdivision in Puna.
USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory map from NASA Earth Observing-1
satellite's Advanced Land Imager

GOV. DAVID IGE ANNOUNCED his support of a bill pertaining to water rights for farmers and ranchers. House Bill 2501 involves state licenses for Ka`u farmers and ranchers, who were afraid of losing them, as well as a state water license on Alexander & Baldwin’s former Maui sugar lands where the court has ordered the return of water to natural streams.

      “We have a water permit process that has not been working,” Ige said. “While I have major reservations about HB2501, it does provide time to transition to a process that ensures water is distributed fairly in accordance with the public trust doctrine and that decisions are made in a timely manner. The issues this bill addresses affect A&B and others such as Kaua`i Island Utility Cooperative and Hawaiian Electric Co. and smaller farmers who have revocable water permits and are not able to convert them to leases in the time allowed under statute.

      “I understand why taro farmers on Maui would want this bill vetoed, and to them I say that water diversions will not continue as they have in the past. The State Water Code explicitly prohibits wasting water, and I expect A&B to stop diverting any water it is not actively using. I also expect A&B to make its plans to support sustainable, diversified agriculture available to the public as quickly as possible and to act in good faith, so we can all pitch in on shaping Maui’s future.

Water will continue to run for farmers and ranchers awaiting
state licenses to replace one-month revocable permits.
Photo from Hawai`i Department of Agriculture

      “My expectation is that the Board of Land and Natural Resources and the Commission on Water Resource Management will act quickly, especially in setting instream flow standards so we all have the same facts. As the Board and Commission consider any application for long-term leases, I also expect them to factor in expected climate change impacts to rainfall, in-stream protection, and forest protection.

      “My administration is committed to helping the parties involved in East Maui to mediate their differences to avoid costly delays for everyone. Let us move forward together.”
      The bill will require that where an application has been made to continue an old lease, a holdover may be authorized annually until the pending application for the disposition of water rights is finally resolved or for three years, whichever is sooner. It will also require that the holdover is consistent with the public trust doctrine and any applicable law.
      Regarding amendments that placed a maximum of three years for applicants’ leases to be approved, Ways & Means Committee chair Sen. Jill Tokuda said, “We wanted to refocus the discussion on the farmers, ranchers and cattlemen statewide who were impacted by the broad ruling of the court. Our committee agreed to these amendments understanding that there are water permit holders throughout the state, including Wood Valley Water & Farm Coop, Kualoa Ranch, Kapapala Ranch, the Kaua`i Island Utilities Cooperative, Kapua Orchards Estate, LLC, Molowa`a Farmers Cooperative and the East Kauai Water Users Co-op, to name a few.”
      Ka`u’s Sen. Russell Ruderman voted for the measure but with reservations, while Sen. Josh Green voted against it.
      “Gov. Ige failed to achieve the right balance in this situation,” said Marti Townsend, Director for the Sierra Club of Hawai`i. “His decision unnecessarily favors profit-driven water diversions above the best interests of the public. Our laws are written to ensure that our water is held in trust for everyone’s benefit. The Ige Administration should follow those laws, not change them to benefit those that divert public water for private gain, while harming the people and our environment.”
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

A geologist collects fresh lava samples for chemical analysis.
Photo from USGS/HVO

THE ACTIVE LAVA FLOW southeast of Pu`u `O`o continues to advance and spread on its way toward the Puna Coast near Kalapana, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported this morning. A satellite image from yesterday showed that the flow was 3.9 miles long, and the flow front was progressing down the pali along the western boundary of the abandoned Royal Gardens subdivision. The advance rate over the past four days has increased to about 0.2 miles per day, likely due to the steeper slope on the pali.

      At Kilauea's summit, the lava lake continues to rise. HVO reported it being 80 feet below the adjacent crater floor this morning.

      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

CONSERVATION COUNCIL FOR HAWAI`I asks for help in reaching a goal of raising $18,000 to produce and distribute this year’s wildlife education poster to 450 public, charter, Hawaiian language immersion and private schools in Hawai`i.

Conservation Council for Hawai`i's poster
features art by Caren Lobel-Fried.

      Posters will also be distributed to community leaders and organizations, wildlife agencies, elected officials, attendees of the IUCN World Conservation Congress in September and anyone who requests them.

      This year’s poster features native Hawaiian birds with a focus on forest birds and the extinct `o`o bird as an example of species extinction in the islands.
      “When we talk with children at community events, we notice our keiki know more about the extinction of dinosaurs than they do about the loss of unique Hawaiian birds,” coordinator Marjorie Ziegler said. “This prompted us to collaborate with award-winning author, artist, and conservationist Caren Loebel-Fried on a book and poster project about Hawaiian birds and the `o`o.
      “Caren’s amazing block print for this year’s poster portrays a local boy communicating with an `o`o bird in a modern-day dream scene.”
      Poster text is written by Dr. Sheila Conant, a leading authority on Hawaiian birds and a dedicated conservationist. The text on the back of the poster includes information on the status of Hawai`i’s birds, their cultural significance, what can be done to help protect them, and the `o`o bird’s special story.
      Suggested donations are $50-$200 for individuals; $200-1,000 for small organizations and businesses; $1,000-$5,000 for medium organizations, businesses and agencies; and $5,000 or more for large organizations. Any amounts are accepted.
      Mail checks made out to the Conservation Council for Hawai`i to PO Box 2923 Honolulu HI 96802, or 808-593-0255 to make a credit card donation.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

Mayor Billy Kenoi comes to Ka`u tomorrow
to open two new playgrounds.

OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION encourages residents to meet with county officials who will discuss the planned Ocean View Transfer Station today at 6 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center.
      Call 939-7033 for more information.

GRAND OPENING OF TWO NEW Ka`u playgrounds is set for tomorrow. Mayor Billy Kenoi and Hawai`i County Council member Maile David invite residents to Na`alehu Park at 10:30 a.m. and Pahala Community Center at 12:30 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

HAWAI`I POLICE DEPARTMENT will make an “active shooter” presentation in Na`alehu Community Center on Wednesday, July 6 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. It is designed to help individuals increase their survivability should they encounter an active shooter or other type of active violent incident.
      Police will provide information on previous incidents of mass violence, recent events, best practices for those caught in such situations, law enforcement’s response and how to work together as a community toward prevention. They will also provide additional resources for participants so they can continue their education on this topic, followed by a question-and-answer segment.

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

See kaucalendar.com/Kau_Calendar_June_2016.pdf.

See kaucalendar.com/TheDirectory2016.html
and kaucalendar.com/TheDirectory2016.pdf.

Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Monday, June 27, 2016

Preservation of Kauleoli fishing village and apuhua`a in South Kona also includes Ala Kahakai National
Historic Trail, which extends from Kohala south through Ka`u and then north into Puna.
Photo from Trust for Public Land

ALA KAHAKAI NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL is adding more to its jurisdiction in South Kona. Bret Yager, of West Hawai`i Today, reported that the Trust for Public Land helped the organization attain 59 coastal acres south of Pu`uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park from willing sellers, and escrow is expected to close next month. It’s Ala Kahakai’s first land purchase.

Ka`u's section of Ala Kahakai is longer than those of other districts.
Photo by Julia Neal

      The landscape envelopes the entire shoreline of Kauleoli ahupua`a, a well-preserved section of the trail and numerous ancient sites at Kauleoli fishing village, such as Hawaiian house foundations, a canoe shed, traditional agriculture areas and salt making ponds.

      The purchase will connect the property to the southern border of Pu`uhonua O Honaunau at the ancient fishing village of Ki`ilea, which was added to the park in 2006, also with assistance from TPL. It will further protect the park and “support continuation of traditions and stories of this treasured South Kona cultural landscape,” according to a statement from TPL.
      “The lineal descendants of the area have been caring for the trail,” Laura Kaakua, native lands project manager for the Trust For Public Land, told Yager. “Now, under ownership of Ala Kahakai, the trail but also the makai lands will have educational, cultural and stewardship opportunities not just for the descendants but anyone who is interested in volunteering.”
      See westhawaiitoday.com.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono

SEN. MAZIE HIRONO, WHO REPRESENTS Ka`u in the U.S. Senate, today applauded the Supreme Court’s 5-3 decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, which struck down a Texas law restricting access to reproductive health care. Had the Court ruled in favor of the Texas law, states across the nation could have enacted similarly restrictive laws.

      Hirono joined her Senate colleagues on an amicus brief to the Supreme Court urging the justices to rule in favor of the plaintiff, Whole Woman’s Health, and to preserve access to reproductive health care services.
      “Earlier this year, when the Supreme Court was hearing Whole Woman’s Health, I joined advocates on the Court steps who were holding signs that read ‘Don’t mess with access,’ and ‘Respect my fundamental human dignity,’” Hirono said. “The Court heard their plea and saw the Texas law for what it really was: an unconstitutional restriction on a woman’s right to access reproductive health care. Significantly, the Court looked at the real effect of the Texas law – which was to restrict access to critical health care services – instead of limiting its review to the state’s ostensible justification.
      “Texas, however, is only one state out of many which has enacted predatory laws aimed at shutting down clinics that provide reproductive health care services and highlights how far some states will go to restrict a woman’s right to choose. We must remain vigilant against such measures going forward.”
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

Amy Shoremount-Obra

MUSICIANS COMING TO PAHALA in August will present a concert to support KAHU Radio and honor Ka`u Coffee growers.

      The concert, a tribute to the 20th anniversary of the post-plantation Ka`u Coffee industry, will, in part, raise funds for Hawai`i Public Radio and its efforts to bring a stronger and more reliable signal to all of Ka`u and the entire state. HPR operates KAHU radio and work is in progress on a tower toward expanding the broadcast to the entire community. The coverage is also considered critical for Civil Defense, as much of Ka`u is without any emergency radio reception.
      Opera singer Amy Shoremount-Obra returns to Pahala Plantation House on Saturday, Aug. 13 at 6 p.m. The concert features the soprano, internationally acclaimed violinist Eric Silberger, cellist Daniel Lelchuk and pianist Kwan Yi. It is one in a series in the inaugural year of the Hawai`i International Music Festival, with other performances at Maui Arts & Cultural Center and on O`ahu.
      Shoremount-Obra’s family includes the founders of Rusty’s Hawaiian 100% Island Coffee, including the late Rusty Obra as well as Lorie and Joan Obra, Ralph Gaston and Shoremont-Obra’s husband Rusty Obra. She brought operatic music to Pahala in 2009 as a community outreach program with a grant she received from the Sing for Hope organization in conjunction with her alma mater The Juilliard School. She was accompanied by a pianist and tenor. The trio performed operatic music for Ka`u Coffee growers and other community members at Pahala Plantation House.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.
      For more, see himusicfestival.com.

Maiki Cofer and John Poetzel received brown belt certification
last Friday. Photo from Cliff Field

PAHALA DOJO MEMBERS Maiki Cofer and John Poetzel successfully completed their promotion test to the rank of brown belt in the International Karate League on June 24. The promotion brings them one step closer to attaining their black belts. 

      Cofer organized and has been teaching a keiki karate conditioning class for ages five to 10 held every Tuesday and Friday at 5 p.m. before the regular beginners class. The class helps youngsters prepare for the beginners class.
      Pahala Dojo, established in 2009, holds classes every Tuesday and Friday at Pahala Community Center. A beginners class from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. is taught by Sensei Susan Field. An advance class follows from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., taught by Sensei Cliff Field. Classes are open to anyone interested in learning a traditional martial art, and the public is welcome to watch classes.
      Pahala Dojo is a member of the International Karate League. Recently, IKL obtained a 501c3 status and now has 31 dojos across the country.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

Mosquitoes in Hawai`i Project works to identify what species
live where.

KA`U RESIDENTS CAN HELP the Mosquitoes in Hawai`i Project identify where mosquito species live. The citizen science project, established in May 2015, is powered by iNaturalist, the primary social network for natural history. The iNaturalist app allows individuals to take photos of any living thing and upload them to the cloud to be identified by thousands of volunteers worldwide.

      To get involved, download the iNaturalist app. Go to iNaturalist and set up an account. Capture a mosquito, or rear from larvae wrigglers, in a closed container. Place adult insects in the freezer for 20 minutes to make sure they have expired. Place them on a sheet of paper, and take several pictures, especially on the back. Open the app and import the best photos. Double-check that dates, times and locations are correct. Upload the record.
      Project organizers urge participants to be cautious when around mosquitoes and wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants, socks, shoes or boots and repellent.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.
      See http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/mosquitoes-in-hawaii.

OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION encourages residents to meet with county officials who will discuss the planned Ocean View Transfer Station tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center.
      Call 939-7033 for more information.

LEARN ABOUT THE EVOLUTION of landscape restoration at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park at After Dark in the Park tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium 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
and kaucalendar.com/TheDirectory2016.pdf.

See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_June_2016.pdf.

Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Sunday, June 26, 2016

Learn about the evolution of landscape restoration at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park Tuesday.
See more below. NPS Images by J. Dawson

KA`U'S REP. TULSI GABBARD AND A BIPARTISAN group of Congress members introduced legislation to prevent the sale of firearms to those on the No-Fly list in an effort to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists, while providing an appeals process to protect constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard

      “We owe it to the American people to work together to try to get sensible gun control legislation actually passed – and in order to do that, it must be a bipartisan effort,” Gabbard said. “Majorities in both parties agree with the vast majority of the American people – we need to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists. However, we must also ensure that any action we take does not compromise the rights to due process guaranteed to every citizen. There are valid constitutional concerns related to the lack of due process and transparency for those who have mistakenly been placed on the No Fly List and Terror Watch List. This legislation is a bipartisan compromise that will help to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists, while protecting our constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties.”

      H.R. 5576, the House companion to the bipartisan Terrorist Firearms Prevention Act, would give the ability to prevent individuals on the “No-Fly” and Selectee lists from legally purchasing firearms and explosives, create a process for American citizens and lawful permanent residents to appeal a denial in Federal Court, protect ongoing counter-terrorism investigations by giving the Attorney General discretion to allow gun sales to go forward for individuals covered by the act, and implement a five-year “look-back” provision to immediately notify the Attorney General and federal, state and local law enforcement if anyone who is or was entered into the broader Terrorist Screening Database attempts to buy a gun from a licensed dealer.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

THE GREAT CRACK and other features of Kilauea’s Southwest Rift Zone are topics of the current issue of Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s Volcano Watch.

USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists investigate a portion
of the Great Crack. Photo from USGS/HVO

      “In 1823, the party of English Reverend William Ellis (1794-1872), including American missionary Asa Thurston and a number of local guides, explored the wild landscape of Kilauea Volcano,” the article states. “Ellis returned with his ailing wife to a family home in London where, in 1824, he began writing up a detailed and important narrative of his journey around the Island of Hawai`i. No other Caucasian visitors had published descriptions of this landscape, and one could say that the ‘history’ of Ka`u and, more broadly, of Kilauea, in the sense of contemporary written documentation, begins with Ellis.

      “The Ellis account (first published in 1825) is significant for several reasons. Not only is it pioneering, it also provides the first European descriptions of active, or recently active, eruptions at Kilauea. A lake – or several lakes – of molten lava spread across the floor of the summit caldera; an awesome spectacle that underscored Hawaiian cultural respect for Pelehonuamea, the volcano deity. 

      “On the western flank of Kilauea, Ellis and company also witnessed the aftermath of a recent outpouring of highly fluid lava, which geologist Harold Stearns, a hundred years later, officially designated the ‘Keaiwa Flow’ (an informal name used by residents of Ka`u at the time). The 1823 flow issued from a 10-kilometer (six-mile) long rupture now known as the Great Crack, and poured into the ocean, destroying one small coastal village at Mahuka Bay.
      “Explosive eruptions occurred at Kilauea’s summit in the decades before Ellis arrived. The 1790 eruption is foremost, but at least seven others, unnoticed by Ellis, took place between then and the early 1820s. Ellis was told about the 1790 eruption but not about the later ones, evidence for which has only recently been discovered.

      “On the west flank (Southwest Rift Zone) of Kilauea, the general assumption made by historians is that nothing much occurred there volcanically in the decades surrounding the unusual 1823 eruption described by Ellis. This assumption, however, is questionable given what we’ve learned in recent years about unreported summit activity. 

      “Ongoing studies have tackled the question of what may be missing from the late 18th to early to mid-19th-century historical record. They use both the Footprints ash, a deposit of the 1790 eruption that fell in part of the area, and the Ellis narrative, which includes important details of how the Ka`u landscape looked back then, to distinguish younger flows from older ones.

William Ellis Photo from wikipedia

      “The geological interpretation of early accounts is daunting, but critical. We cannot reliably reconstruct the route of the Ellis party in terms of his reported travel distances, most of which are more than double what could possibly be true. But directions of travel – the party carried a compass – do seem to be reliable, allowing us to trace a partial route based on descriptions of features that have not changed much in two centuries.
      “Another challenge is descriptive terminology. The terms Ellis and his contemporaries used often had less clear, more poetic meanings than the scientific terms we use today. Much specific terminology we now routinely use simply did not exist then, nor would it be used today by a non-scientist, such as Ellis. We have to guess what Ellis meant by his sometimes colorful terms, and at times we may be wrong in our guess.
      “What has been learned so far is that Kilauea’s Southwest Rift Zone produced far more lava in the decades between 1790 and 1823 than Ellis alone suggests – and from fissures more widespread than only the Great Crack. We suspect this because there are many flows that are not covered by the Footprints ash. The flows instead overlie the ash, and, therefore, are younger than 1790.
      “Care must be taken in our analyses, however, because erosion can remove thin ash quite easily, and the ash in this area was probably thin. Nonetheless, we favor the interpretation that lava flows that lack an ash cover are indeed younger than the ash.
      “The Ellis narrative is a ‘snapshot’ and not a running documentary of Kilauea during his time. In a future column we’ll explore this surprising discovery further.
     “Meanwhile, the engagement of written history and geology, two ordinarily separated academic disciplines, has – once more – proven unexpectedly fruitful in our understanding of Hawai`i’s natural environment.”
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

TUTU & ME TRAVELING PRESCHOOL is looking for two part-time, on-call teaching assistants to assist in implementing its curriculum for caregivers and keiki during the 2016-17 school year beginning Aug. 1.

      Qualified applicants must be available to report to work at 7 a.m. Monday through Thursday on short notice and on a short- or long-term basis as needed.
      Minimum qualifications include a high school diploma; early childhood education or related course work and/or experience working with children preferred; access to vehicle, valid driver’s license, safe driving record, bodily collision and property damage liability insurance coverage.
      For more info, see www.pidfoundation.org.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

Miho Aida Photo from VAC

VOLCANO ART CENTER in Volcano Village presents a film screening and book signing tomorrow at 7 p.m. Miho Aida screens her film The Sacred Place Where Life Begins: Gwich’in Women Speak and signs copies of the book We Are the Arctic.

      See volcanoartcenter.org.

COUNTY OFFICIALS DISCUSS the planned Ocean View Transfer Station with residents Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center.
     Call 939-7033 for more information.

THE EVOLUTION OF LANDSCAPE Restoration at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park is the topic at After Dark in the Park Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.
      Since its establishment in 1916, various attempts to conserve and protect the park’s rich biological resources have been made by the Territory of Hawai`i, the National Park Service, and citizen scientists – with varying degrees of success. Beginning in 1970, park staff adopted a systematic parkwide approach to managing species and habitats, which continues today. Join Chief of Natural Resource Management Dr. Rhonda Loh to learn more about these Special Ecological Areas, or SEAs, and decades of successful restoration in the park.

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

See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_June2016.pdf.

See kaucalendar.com/TheDirectory2016.html
and kaucalendar.com/TheDirectory2016.pdf.