Ka`u News Briefs Dec. 19, 2010

The Ka`u High School Band will perform on Monday, Dec. 20 from 4 to 6 p.m.
at Prince Kuhio Plaza in Hilo.

CONGRESSOWMAN MAZIE HIRONO and President Barack Obama vowed yesterday to continue working for the DREAM Act, which would provide opportunity for young people brought illegally into the U.S. a chance at residency if they attend college or serve in the military. The House passed the bill last week, but Senate supporters were short five votes to bring it out of debate for a vote. “The DREAM Act is important to our economic competitiveness, military readiness, and law enforcement efforts,” said Obama. Citing the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office report, the President said, “the DREAM Act would cut the deficit by $2.2 billion over the next 10 years” since these young people with college and the military experience would declare their income, pay taxes and be able to openly accept higher paying jobs. 

     Hirono voted for the DREAM Act when it passed the House. She said she knows of many young people in Hawai`i who came here as children with their parents and face the nightmare of deportation. She also stated: “Our nation was founded on the powerful ideals of freedom and tolerance. These values still elude other nations to this day, which is why the American Dream endures in the minds of so many around the world. As an immigrant to this country myself, I know the power of that dream. That I could become a member of the People’s House shows that the dream can come true.” Opponents call it a back door to illegal immigration.

IN OTHER CONGRESSIONAL ACTION, the Senate repealed the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law by a 65 to 31 vote. President Barack Obama praised the outcome, saying that no longer will many thousands of gays and lesbians serving in the military be “asked to live a lie in order to serve the country they love.” 

Young Brothers has threatened to leave the Islands.

YOUNG BROTHERS is threatening to reduce its service or leave Hawai`i altogether, according to editors of Pacific Business News who met with Young Brothers CEO Glenn Hong. Young Brothers opposes the Public Utilities Commission allowing the San Diego based shipping company Pasha Hawai`i Transport Lines to make interisland deliveries on its way to and from the mainland. Young Brothers contends that Pasha is not required to play by the same rules, giving it an unfair advantage over Young Brothers, which is forced to serve unprofitable routes. 

Dr. Kauanoe Kamana

ON HAWAI`I ISLAND, Kauanoe Kamana, who along with her husband Pila Wilson has mentored many native Hawaiian children at Punalu`u, was granted a doctorate in Hawaiian and indigenous language and culture revitalization at University of Hawai`i-Hilo. Kamana is the first native Hawaiian to be granted a doctorate in her field and is one of the Mellon fellows who gather at Pahala Plantation House annually to share their research. 

Duke Aiona visited Ka`u during his campaign
for Governor and talked to Kapapala ranchers
Lani Petrie and Jan Cran.

DUKE AIONA, who lost his bid to become governor on November 2, has taken a new job, this one as executive vice president of development and recruitment at St. Louis School. He will also be the spokesman for the all-boys Catholic school. He graduated from St. Louis in 1973 and has been a board member for nearly a decade.

Lynn Finnegan helped put together
The Ka`u Calendar newspaper
during her run for Lt. Governor.

Aiona’s running mate, Lynn Finnegan, who served in the state legislature, has taken the post of executive director of the Hawai`i Charter School Network. 

MUFI HANNEMAN, who lost his bid to become governor in the Democratic Gubernatorial Primary after stepping down as Honolulu mayor, has also accepted a new job. He will be president of the Hawai`i Hotel & Lodging Association starting Jan 1. The trade group represents 170 properties and more than 48,000 rooms.

Ka`u News Briefs Dec. 18, 2010

HAPA is sold out tonight at the Volcano Art Center Concert
at Kilauea Military Camp Theater.

NUMEROUS NAMES are being submitted to the Democratic Party for the replacement of Senator Russell Kokubun, who represents Ka`u, Puna and South Hilo, as he is expected to leave his post to head the Department of Agriculture at the end of the month. The nominee must be a registered Democrat for at least six months. The process to select his replacement involves submission of resumes from those interested in becoming Senator, interviews and voting by the Democratic Party officers of each precinct in the senatorial district. The precinct officers’ votes will be tabulated, and the top three vote-getters’ names will go to Governor Neil Abercrombie, and he will select the next Senator from this district. 

Senator Josh Green

JOSH GREEN will be the chair of the Senate Health Committee in the 2011 state legislature. The physician has lived at Punalu`u and practiced medicine at the Ka`u Hospital Emergency Room. Green, who now serves Kona as its Senator, will become the longest serving senator from this island when Senator Russell Kokubun resigns to head the state Department of Agriculture, with Senator Dwight Takamine leaving his seat to head up the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Green was one of the candidates considered for director of the state Department of Health but has confirmed that he wants to stay on the legislative side of government. In a letter to his constituents, Green vows to fight for tougher DUI penalties to prevent drunk driving tragedies, keep doctors and nurses in Hawai`i by helping them to repay loans for their education and to strengthen Hawai`i’s hospital system and health care safety net. 

Proceeds from whale art T-shirt sales support NOAA's
whale count. See www.hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov. 

HUMPBACK WHALES ARE BACK to winter in Hawaiian waters, and official whale counts will be held the last Saturdays of January, February and March from 8 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. With Ka`u having the longest uninhabited coast, people are needed to make the trip down the long roads to the shoreline around the south side of the island. About 12,000 humpback whales winter in Hawai`i, the first arriving in October and the last leaving in late spring. Over the winter they have their babies before making the long swim back to Alaska, where they feed all summer. To volunteer, you can register at sanctuaryoceancount.org or call 888-559-4253. See hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov, where you can purchase a whale art T-shirt to raise money for the whale count. NOAA reminds everyone to look out for the whales, as many of them weigh 45 tons and can be dangerous when they breach and slap their giant tails and flippers. Federal regulations prohibit people and their boats, kayaks, paddleboards and surfboards from approaching within 100 yards of whales. Aircraft are prohibited from flying within 1,000 feet of them. Again, see hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov. 

OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION’S Christmas Party will be held at 1 p.m. today at the community center. Santa arrives on a fire truck. Children receive gifts, and everyone enjoys music, food, games and lucky number drawings.

NA MEA HAWAI`I HULA KAHIKO brings hula and chant to the rim of Halema`uma`u Crater today at the hula platform inside Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park at 10:30 a.m. Cultural demonstrations will be held at Volcano Art Center Gallery from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

THERE ARE ONLY TWO MORE DAYS to vote on the Kilauea Military Camp Cottages Christmas displays. Name your top three favorites on an entry blank available at the KMC Front Desk, Café, General Store and Recreation Center. Each person who votes will receive a Holiday Dollar that can be used at KMC – including the bowling lanes. The judging for the lights takes place through December 20.

THE HAPA CONCERT IS SOLD OUT tonight at Kilauea Military Camp Theater. If you can’t find a spare ticket outside before the 7 p.m. show time, you can retreat to the Open Mike Volcano Jam Session from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Lava Lounge. 

THERE ARE TICKETS available for the upcoming Volcano Art Center concert series at KMC Theater. Honolulu Jazz quartet and Junior Choy, with Moons Landing play Jan 15. Slack Key guitarist Jeff Peterson performs Feb. 5, and the Spring Wind Quartet on March 13. Call 927-8222 or see volcanoartcenter.org.

Ka`u High School Band will perform at Prince Kuhio Plaza on Monday, Dec 20 from 4 to 6 p.m. Come out and support our local youth!

Ka`u News Briefs Dec. 17, 2010

Programs to help make Hawai`i less food-dependent on the mainland were chopped
from the federal budget yesterday. This taro, beef and papaya was all grown on the Big Island.

MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN FEDERAL FUNDING for this island went on the chopping block yesterday as the U.S. Senate failed to pass a $1.3 trillion appropriations bill, with a call from Republicans to delete all earmarks. Among the earmarks affecting us locally are:

SIX MILLION DOLLARS to the University of Hawai`i for the Development of High Yield Tropical Feedstocks and Biomass Conversion Technology for Renewable Energy Production, and $6 million for Hawai`i Renewable Energy Development Venture at the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research.
     These relate to Ka`u since a biofuels venture, reportedly funded with private money, is planned for thousands of acres between Pahala and Na`alehu, with a refinery to make oil from plants and trees, designed for industrial sites in either Pahala or Na`alehu.

ALSO LOST WAS $250,000 for the Kohala Center’s Food Self-Reliance program. The money, requested by Senator Daniel Inouye, was for equipment purchases to increase economic development opportunities for low and moderate income farmers. The Kohala Center has stated it wants to focus on Ka`u for agricultural sustainability.

MONEY CUT FOR PROJECTS close to home also included $250,000 for partnership between U.H. and the U.S. Geological Survey here at Hawai`i Volcano; $500,000 for Native Hawaiian Culture and Arts Programs through the National Park Service; $2 million for Hawai`i endangered bird species recovery; $1 million for Hawai`i invasive species partnerships; $2.7 million for animal and plant health inspection; and $2.6 million for an agricultural pest facility.

HAWAI`I-DESIGNATED money cut from the federal budget included $2 million dollars for Saddle Road Improvements proposed by Representative Mazie Hirono, money to improve federal highways on the island, new weather cameras for the Federal Aviation Administration, $1.6 million for the new pharmacy school at UH-Hilo, $350,000 for U.H. Hilo Nursing School to expand training for rural nursing, $100,000 for another UH–Hilo program for occupational safety and health research, sponsored by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
     Also being cut is $400,000 for Hawai`i Community College programs to promote Native Hawaiian and other secondary education programs, $300,000 for technology for rural schools, and $300,000 for educational programs for the Polynesian Voyaging Society.
     Also, $500,000 for well monitoring around the state was cut.

MILLIONS OF DOLLARS for projects to protect coral reefs and manage seafood in Hawai`i went on the chopping block.

MONEY DELETED from the federal budget also included funds for the Hawai`i County Police Department and the YWCA, $2.5 million for `Imiloa Astronomy Center, $284,000 for Hilo Harbor Modifications, $5 million for a National Disaster Preparedness Training Center at U.H., $587,000 for a General Flood Control Plan Update for Hawai`i and Pacific Territories and $300,000 for Hurricane Evacuation Studies.
     Since the massive bill helps fund the federal government itself, the Senate is expected to come up with a continuing resolution to fund the basics of government while it finalizes the budget. Whether any of the money for local projects will be approved is yet to be seen.

Mazie Hirono

OVER IN THE HOUSE of Representatives, Mazie Hirono voted against the compromise tax bill worked out between President Barack Obama, Republicans and some Democrats. She said “Hawai`i needs jobs. This bill does not create jobs, and it adds to our country’s deficit. What kind of compromise is that? I voted no because it doesn’t provide a fair deal to the middle class and the unemployed. It does, however, provide generous tax cuts to the wealthiest families, and it raids Social Security to provide a payroll tax holiday. We needed to fight for a better deal,” said the Congresswoman. 

Ocean View Community Association holds its annual Keiki Christmas Party tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center. To volunteer, call 939-7033.