Ka`u News Briefs Nov. 18, 2010

Dr. C. Dexter Hayes

A NEW DOCTOR will be coming to Ka`u Hospital and Ka`u Rural Health Clinic in January. Dr. C. Dexter Hayes is a board-certified family physician and comes from a rural community in Arizona. She said she is interested in diabetes and high blood pressure and preventive care. She will replace Dr. Sheareen Gedayloo, who leaves December 10. 

Nona Wilson

KA`U HOSPITAL NURSING DIRECTOR Nona Wilson is being honored by University of Hawai`i School of Nursing for her dedication to quality patient care, teaching and community outreach. Her accomplishments were acknowledged at a recent Faces of Nursing celebration on O`ahu.

KA`U COFFEE FARMERS were on O`ahu yesterday to oppose putting Ka`u in a quarantine area with Kona. Ka`u Coffee Co-op president Lorie Obra reports that the board recommended that the primary quarantine are start north of Na`alehu, extending into Kona. Other areas of Ka`u would be in a secondary quarantine area that includes the rest of the island and may face quarantine in the future.

BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK, an investors’ resource website, lists Aina Koa Pono, the company that plans to establish a large plantation of biofuel crops in Ka`u and build a biofuel refinery in or near Pahala. The site says that Aina Koa Pono, LLC develops non-fossil fuel energy technology. It specializes in the gasification of biomass and the manufacture of electricity and liquid fuels from synthetic gas. The company designs and builds integrated bio-refineries to generate a variety of products, including fuels, ethanol, bio-diesel, and electricity in Hawai`i. Aina Koa Pono, LLC also offers various biofeedstock products, including sweet sorghum, saccharum species hybrids, refuse-derived fuel, pennisetum purpureum and hybrid species of grasses; eucalyptus grandis, other eucalyptus species and hybrids; other tree genera, such as Leuanena and Albizia; and supporting research and design for gasification and electricity, states the Businessweek site. Company spokesmen also said they are seeking leases on large parcels of land and a site to build their refinery in Ka`u. The business address is listed as Fort Street in Honolulu. Also see ainakoapono.com.

INTERESTED IN JOINING A COMMITTEE TO establish scenic byways program along Highway 11 in Ka`u? Ka`u Main Street is helping to set up a committee to work with the state and federal Departments of Transportation. The program emphasizes partnership, promotion of preservation, and pride, as a community effort can reap national recognition and funding for educational signage to honor cultural and historic sites and vistas. In other locales, an average of one new job has been created for each 1.37 miles of scenic byway. Ecotourism also increases in areas with scenic byways. Call 929-7236.

THE STATE COMMISSION ON WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT is accepting applications for members through this Saturday. Names will be reviewed by a committee, who will propose three or more nominees for selection by Governor-elect Neil Abercrombie. The committee members will serve for four years and help set stream flow standards to determine how much water can be taken for agriculture and development. They will also help set regulations for surface water use. Members serve without pay except for reimbursement for expenses, including travel, necessary to do the job. Applications are available at http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/cwrm.

THE HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUB will have its regular third Thursday of the month meeting at Na`alehu Methodist Church tonight at 6:30 p.m. Native Hawaiians and non-natives are invited to join. Call President Blossom DeSilva 929-9731 or 936-7262.

VOLCANO ART CENTER’S Niaulani Campus in Volcano Village hosts a Poetry Slam tomorrow night at 7 p.m. In this competition, poets read their own works, and the winners receive prizes. Call 967-8222 for more information.

ST. JUDE EPISCOPAL CHURCH in Ocean View hosts its second annual Plant, Craft and Ye Olde Bake Sale this Saturday, Nov. 20 from from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

HAWAIIAN SLACK KEY GUITARIST Makana performs on Sunday, Nov. 21 at Kilauea Military Camp Theater in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The concert starts at 5 p.m. Call 967-8222 or visit www.volcanoartcenter.org for tickets.

Ka`u News Briefs Nov. 17, 2010

Ground golf employs wooden
mallets and wooden balls.

Ka`u and Puna seniors play
ground golf at Na`alehu Ballpark.

A HOT COMPETITION was held between seniors from Puna and Ka`u yesterday at Na`alehu Ballpark when they played Ground Golf. Teams came up with such names as the Turkeys, the Corn and the Sweet Potatoes. They took home such prizes as turkeys for Thanksgiving. Scorekeepers included 87-year-old Iwao Yonemitsu and 88-year-old Takumi Shirakawa.

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY producers can sign up on the Internet to sell power to the electric company starting November 24. Hawaiian Electric Light Company will accept applications from Hawai`i Island residents and businesses who want to sell electricity from windmills, photovoltaics and small hydroelectric plants. HELCO will pay 21.8 cents per kilowatt-hour for photovoltaics, 26.9 cents for concentrated solar power, 16.1 cents for wind-generated power, and 21.3 cents for hydropower. Applications are available on the Hawai`i Electric Company website. 

THE HAWAI`I CLEAN ENERGY INITIATIVE AND 2050 SUSTAINABILITY PLAN are the subject of a meeting next Tuesday, November 23rd at the Hemmeter Building in Honolulu. The purpose is to facilitate renewable-energy projects, energy-efficiency programs, agricultural infrastructure and development, and other measures for food and energy security. The Hawaii Economic Development Task Force hosts the discussion to balance energy and agricultural development with economic, social, community, and environmental priorities. Ka`u Senator Russell Kokubun chaired the committee that produced the Hawaii 2050 Sustainability Plan, which can be read at www.hawaii2050.org.

MELE ASSOCIATES is one of the companies proposing alternative energy for Ka`u. According to a report from the Hawai`i Clean Energy Initiative to the Task Force, it would grow crops to make biofuel to sell to the electric company. It could lead to hundreds of jobs and a new mill in Pahala to manufacture biofuels. Invasive plants like Christmas berry, haole koa, eucalyptus and such crops as sorghum or other grasses would be processed. The biofuel crops would be planted on thousands of acres between Pahala and Na`alehu. Read more at hawaiicleanenergyinitiative.org, at meleassociates.com and at ainakoapono.com.

REAPPORTIONMENT COMMISSIONS to redraw voting maps will go to work next year after the 2010 census numbers are counted and released. Census results are expected to show that Hawai`i Island’s population has grown by nearly 30 percent in the last decade, and that Puna and Kona have grown most. Ka`u Senator Russell Kokubun said that he hopes that reapportionment will not create “canoe districts” in which legislators would represent sections of more than one island. Hawai‘i Island formerly shared a canoe district that included North Hawaii and East Maui. The district lines for elected officials for county council, the House and Senate could all change as they are related to population.

KA`U COFFEE FARMERS are on O`ahu today to oppose putting Ka`u in a quarantine area with Kona. Ka`u Coffee Co-op president Lorie Obra and Bull Kailiawa, both farmers of award-winning coffee above Pahala, said they hope that Ka`u will stay clean of the coffee berry borer pest that has infested Kona farms. It is suspected that the coffee berry borer was brought to Kona by importing cheap green coffee beans from Latin America to blend with Kona coffee. 

Hezekiah Keohuloa makes a tree
of Thanksgiving for his mom.

Rubberband Turkey Shoot Target
 for next Tuesday's celebration in Pahala.

CREATING THANKSGIVING TREES was a project of Parks and Recreation and the Boys & Girls Club of Pahala yesterday. Children wrote on the leaves of each tree - the people and things for which they are thankful - like parents, the family dog and the beach. Also leading toward Thanksgiving is the annual Rubber Band Turkey Shoot, which will be held on next Tuesday November 23 at Pahala Community Center from 3 p.m to 5 p.m. Everyone of any age is invited to compete. Call Nona Makuakane at 928-3102.

JOIN KENNETH MAKUAKANE, a 12-time Na Hoku Hanohano award-winning singer, songwriter and producer, tonight in Volcano as he shares original songs from his latest albums, The Dash and White Bath Tub, his first solo album, Makuakane, and other award-winning compositions.
     He will be on stage from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Kilauea Visitor Center auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The concert is free; park entrance fees may apply.
     Makuakane is a member of the multi-talented and award-winning group, The Pandanus Club.

THE HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUB will have its regular third Thursday of the month meeting at Na`alehu Methodist Church tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. Native Hawaiians and non-natives are invited to join. Call President Blossom DeSilva 929-9731 or 936-7262. 

Ka`u News Briefs Nov. 16, 2010

KAHU Radio manager Demetrius Oliveira gives Hawai`i Island teachers
a tour of the station.

BELOVED KAHU RADIO manager, musician and composer Demetrius Oliveira hosted school teachers from around the island on a tour of historic buildings in Pahala. Big D's Ohana and the Edmund C. Olson Trust  are challenging the community to help raise $20,000 for surgery for Demetrius that is critical to restore his health. Olson will match up to $5,000 in donations raised by December 7. Donations can be made at the Ka`u Federal Credit Union.

Landowners and farmers are looking at easements and other methods
of protecting agriculture in Ka`u.

METHODS FOR PRESERVING LAND for agriculture and nature were explored last night at the monthly meeting of The Ka`u Chamber of Commerce. John Henshaw, of The Nature Conservancy, and Doug Sensenig, of Hawai`i Island Land Trust, explained that buying or donating development rights can make properties more affordable for farming and conservation, as their land value and taxes go down. They said conservation easements have been used in other places to take the pressure off subdividing precious farmlands. The two are working on 8,000 acres in Ka`u to be preserved by the Olson Trust for farming and nature.
     Several people attending the meeting said they are concerned about native rights of access to conserved lands and keeping hunting trails open. Cheryl Torres, of Pahala, said that local people need to be assured that they can hunt and gather in the forests of Ka`u as this is part of their livelihood. Trini Marques, of Pahala, said that she appreciates such efforts to conserve land but wants to make sure that Hawaiian rights are recognized. John Henshaw, of The Nature Conservancy, said they try to achieve a balance of preserving native species while respecting the traditions of people to hunt and use the forest for recreation and food gathering.

The Nature Conservancy preserve at Kaiholena.

     Placing conservation easements, donated by owners of small lots in Volcano, could help preserve the rainforest within in the neighborhoods between Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park and state forest preserves. The idea is to keep the trees on the land and place the homes within the forest, instead of clear-cutting the houselots. This gives the birds an overstory - a bridge between the two forest preserves. Caroline Garrett, of Volcano, said she is looking into such easement ideas for her own property. Both The Nature Conservancy and The Hawai`i Island Land Trust are working on the project.

INCOMING COUNTY COUNCILWOMAN Brittany Smart said she supports the conservation easement movement and hopes it becomes contagious around the island.

SEVERAL KA`U COFFEE FARMERS are scheduled to fly to O`ahu tomorrow to oppose putting Ka`u in a quarantine area with Kona to fend off the coffee borer pest. Lorie Obra and Bull Kailiawa, both farmers of award-winning coffee above Pahala, said they hope that one farm in Ka`u that has been infested with the coffee borer will be cleared so that Ka`u coffee farms can have a clean bill of health. It is suspected that the coffee borer pest was brought to Kona by importing cheap green coffee beans from Latin America to blend with Kona coffee.

KA`U COFFEE GROWERS don't mix their beans with foreign coffee and don’t want to be included in the quarantined area. The quarantine would prevent shipping untreated greens beans from here to other islands. Kailiawa is organizing a group of volunteers to help any farmer in Ka`u with coffee borers to clean their orchards. Call 895-6099.

THE COUNTY COUNCIL IS scheduled to vote on borrowing $56 million for projects around the island during its meeting tomorrow at Keauhou. Among the projects are a recycling and waste transfer station at Wai`ohinu which is budgeted for more than $8 million. Mayor Billy Kenoi said the funding will help stimulate the economy and improve the quality of life on this island. Current Council Chair J Yoshimoto and incoming Council chair Dominic Yagong oppose the measure, saying it will increase burden the county with too much debt, costing the county $4.26 million a year for 20 years. Outgoing Ka`u Council member Guy Enriques has supported the measure.

GOVERNOR ELECT NEIL ABERCROMBIE told state Senators yesterday that he plans to help out the Kupuna Care and Healthy Start programs by releasing rainy day funds that have been held up by outgoing governor Linda Lingle. Healthy Start helps many low-income mothers and mothers-to-be in Ka`u. Kupuna Care reaches out to seniors in their homes.

A NEW BOOK ON VOLCANOES will be unveiled tonight at After Dark in the Park at 7 p.m. in the Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park Visitor Center Theater. The title is Volcanoes – Global Perspectives. It was written by Volcano resident and volcanologist Jack Lockwood and professor and former Volcanoes park Ranger Rick Hazlett.

THE HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUB will have its regular third Thursday of the month meeting at Na`alehu Methodist Church at 6:30 p.m. on November 18. Native Hawaiians and non-natives are invited to join. Call President Blossom DeSilva 929-9731 or 936-7262.

Kahuku artwork by Dietrich Varez

THE KAHUKU UNIT of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park is hosting more programs to celebrate the history of Kahuku. A guided hike called People and Land of Kahuku is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday and again Dec. 18. The Kahuku gate on the mountain side of Highway 11 near mile marker 70 in Ka'u will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Participants should meet inside the gate by 9:30 a.m. for this hike. Advanced registration is not required, and four-wheel-drive vehicles are not needed. The 2.5-mile hike explores ways people have lived on the vast Kahuku lands from the earliest Hawaiian settlements through the park's current and future projects. For more information, call 985-6011.