Ka'u News Briefs Jan. 22, 2012

Father Joel blessed Ka`u Coffee Mill, with owner Edmund C. Olson following. Photos by Geneveve Fyvie

Visitor center at Ka`u Coffee Mill
will be open within a month.

THE BLESSING OF THE KA`U COFFEE MILL brought some 300 people to Keaiwa along Wood Valley Road above Pahala yesterday to celebrate the new mill, agricultural park and hydroelectric project. John Cross, who manages both the Edmund C. Olson Trust lands and the Ka`u Coffee Mill, said the visitor center and mill was built for all the Ka`u Coffee farmers. Not only the Ka`u Coffee Mill coffee will be sold at the visitor center, but boutique and award-winning coffee from individual farmers will be sold there, with the first brands displayed being those of Bull and Jamie Kailiawa, Leo Norberte and the Ka`u Coffee Growers Cooperative. Cross pointed to the Ka`u Coffee Mill staff, mill supervisor Lee Segawa, administrative assistant Brenda Iokepa-Moses, coffee consultant Richard Loero, contractor Bob Taylor and others who helped put the operation together. Demetrius Oliveira gave the opening prayer. Father Joel, the Rev. Bruno C. Barut, sprinkled holy water around the facility. The band Keaiwa and Keoki Kahumoku provided music. Miss Ka`u Coffee Brandy Shibuya performed hula. Attendees enjoyed Hawaiian food by the Kailiawa family and fresh vegetables all grown on Olson Trust and Hester lands in Ka`u. 

Miss Ka`u Coffee Brandy Shibuya performed hula,
accompanied by Keoki Kahumoku.

“NOT TOO OFTEN DO YOU FIND ME SPEECHLESS, but this finds me close to that,” said state Rep. Bob Herkes during the ceremonies. He praised the Olson Trust for building the mill for local coffee farmers to process their beans and save the time and cost of driving them to Kona and Hilo mills. Herkes descends from a great-grandfather who came to Hawai`i from Scotland in 1898 and built the first water pipe in Ka`u. “Not a flume, a water pipe, and it was made of wood,” he said. Herkes applauded Edmund C. Olson for “taking abandoned sugar cane lands and putting the people back on the ground, working in agriculture.”

County Council member Brittany Smart and state Senator
Gil Kahele promote Ka`u Coffee.

SEN. GIL KAHELE told the people attending the event that he promotes Ka`u Coffee every chance he can, serving it at his office in the state Legislature and displaying a Ka`u Coffee Mill bag on the wall for everyone to see when they enter his office. He said he has followed the plight of displaced sugar workers from the closing of the sugar company to their journey starting their small coffee farms. 

     He said Ka`u is a special place to him, that his uncle was a fisherman and his grandmother was from Hilea and Honu`apo and that he spent summers here as a child and became good friends with Thomas Kailiawa. He said he is so proud to see the success of Kailiawa’s son Bull and noted that Ka`u has the top-rated coffee in the United States. Kahele described Olson as a “good guy” for investing capital in the economic development of Ka`u.

COUNTY COUNTY MEMBER BRITTANY SMART praised Ed Olson and the coffee farmers for all their hard work the last 15 years since the sugar plantation shut down.

Kathleen Kam autographed cards bearing her artwork.

KA`U COFFEE MILL is also a place of art, and Kathleen Kam was noted for her original murals of the land, the wildlife and the people of Ka`u. Two murals are completed in the visitor center, and another one is in progress. Four paintings of native birds are on display. A giclee print of Ka`u Coffee with nene, the Hawaiian state bird, was presented to Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park supervisor Cindy Orlando to be placed in the regional headquarters of the National Park Service in San Francisco. Graphic Artist Tanya Ibarra was recognized for developing the Ka`u Coffee Mill logo. The Pahala Plantation House crew, under the direction of artist Kathleen Kam, created a sculpture of locally grown vegetables for display. Local woodworker Michael Worthington created koa cabinetry for the visitor center, and the crew from sister company Hamakua Macadamia Nuts designed the retail space. The coffee mill visitor center will be open to the public within a month.

Ed Olson presented a giclee print of
Nene & Ka`u Coffee to Cindy Orlando.

A HYDROELECTRIC PLANT using water at the old Keaiwa reservoir was described at the opening of the Ka`u Coffee Mill yesterday. The water would drop down the mountain, and its energy would power an electric turbine to make electricity for the coffee mill and macadamia nut husking mill. It could also power up about 400 homes, according to manager John Cross, who said he also hopes to sell the power to Hawaiian Electric Light Company, particularly since Pahala is so isolated from the utility’s other electric generating plants.

A RED CODE FOR sulfur dioxide coming from Kilauea volcano was issued this morning for at least an hour. The red advisory states that “everyone may begin to experience health effects. Members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects. It recommends that sensitive people avoid outdoor activities and remain indoors, that people feeling effects consider leaving the area and that everyone else avoid outdoor activities that cause heavy breathing or breathing through the mouth. There was a less serious orange alert for five hours this morning. The wind came up just before 9 a.m., and the air quality went back to good.

Keiki visit with donkeys packing Ka`u Coffee.

VOLCANO AWARENESS MONTH continues with guided hikes most days. Today’s hike into Kilauea Iki Crater begins at 1 p.m. at Kilauea Iki Overlook parking lot on Crater Rim Drive. Hikers hear the story of Kilauea’s dramatic 1959 eruption in this four‐mile, three-hour hike across the still‐steaming crater floor. For more information about Volcano Awareness month events, visit hvo.wr.usgs.gov. 

VOLCANO ART CENTER’S group exhibit celebrating Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s centennial continues through Feb. 19. Entitled Observation/Inspiration, this multimedia exhibit features artists who gather inspiration from the volcanic activity at Kilauea and highlight the ever-changing appearance of the volcano.

ALSO FOR HVO’S CENTENNIAL, volcanologist Frank Trusdell discusses Mauna Loa’s eruptive history and current status at After Dark in the Park on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium. $2 donations support park programs. Park entrance fees apply for events in the Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.

Ka'u News Briefs Jan. 21, 2012

The County Council and administration are haggling over whether to allow private industry to bid on recycling and
sorting trash to keep the island and the ocean clean. Photo from Campaign for Recycling

THE STATE SUPREME COURT yesterday turned down an appeal to keep state House and Senate voting districts as they are and told the Reapportionment Commission to move forward in redrawing the lines. The Big Island is expected to gain an additional Senate seat and could gain a House seat, as this island had the largest population growth during the last ten years, according to the recent census. The ruling, however, could lead to a delay in candidates filing to run for the Legislature, and the commission says it needs more precise population statistics to do its job. Those numbers are not yet available, and the commission said it could not draw the lines by Feb. 1, the day when candidates can start filing for the election. 

The state Supreme Court has told the Reapportionment
Commission to redraw district lines.

     Primary election day has already been moved from September to August, making the length of time candidates will have to campaign much shorter. The delay in settling on district boundary lines would make that time even shorter, unless the election day is put back to September. There are 25 Senate seats and 51 House seats at stake. 

     The existing maps leave Sen. Gil Kahele representing Ka`u and beyond, but Rep. Bob Herkes would lose representation of Na`alehu, Kalae and Ocean View.
     If the commission can confirm that there are 120,000 nonresident military, university students and other people counted in the Hawai`i census who claim permanent residency elsewhere, the Big Island will have an additional House member. If the number is in the area of 78,000, only the new Senate seat will be gained.
     The Supreme Court ruled that the voting district maps were unfair after Sen. Malama Solomon, the Hawai`i County Democrats and an attorney from Kona filed suit.

BROAD REFORMS IN THE STATE SCHOOL SYSTEM will go forward, Gov. Neil Abercrombie said yesterday, responding to the teachers union voting down an agreement for a new contract. Teachers apparently feared provisions in the contract that would have tied teacher salaries to student performance, saying the manner in which the teachers would be judged remained unclear. The teachers voted down the union contract two to one, putting $75 million at risk in federal Race to the Top funding. 

Kathryn Matayoshi

     According to a story in this morning’s Star-Advertiser, the superintendent of the state school system, Kathryn Matayoshi, urged teachers to accept the proposed evaluation system as a way to improve their teaching practices. Union leaders, who negotiated and agreed to the new contract said they would go back to the members to address their concerns. 

     In the meantime, the governor said that practices will be put in place to save the $75 million in federal funding.

PRIVATIZATION OF RECYCLING AND SORTING GARBAGE on the island could become a campaign issue this year. Likely mayoral candidate Dominic Yagong and County Council candidate Brenda Ford are pushing the administration to put recycling and sorting of trash out to bid, a measure that is also supported by current County Council members Brittany Smart, Pete Hoffmann and Angel Pilago. They said that private industry may be able to do a better job and generate income to the county. They asked the county to put the sorting process in Hilo out to bid, but the county has divided its budget for trash into increments so it doesn’t have to go through the County Council for approval, according to a story in this morning’s Hawai`i Tribune-Herald. 

     The county would contract for some of the services but operate the sorting station in Hilo itself, with the addition of county employees. According to the story, Ford said, “If you don’t have a right to award a contract, you’re bargaining in bad faith.” Council chair Yagong said he will propose new legislation to require the county to involve the Council in the process.

Humpback whales in Hawai`i. Photo from Benjamin L. Richards/NOAA

HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK encourages volunteers to help count humpback whales during the annual Sanctuary Ocean Count held the last Saturdays of January, February and March from 8 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. 

     Ka`ena Point, at the end of Chain of Craters Road, is one of 22 Sanctuary Ocean Count sites islandwide where volunteers onshore monitor humpbacks in nearshore waters for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. Residents and visitors enjoy this yearly event that provides important population and distribution information about humpback whales around the Hawaiian Islands.
     “This is an ideal opportunity for the community and for Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park to work together as stewards of our ocean,” said ranger Adrian Boone, site leader for the Sanctuary Ocean Count. “These magnificent creatures swim more than 2,000 miles to Hawai`i from Arctic waters every winter, and the annual count is one way we can help observe and record their behavior and ensure their future,” he said.
     Volunteers can sign up on the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary website:
http://hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov/involved/ocvolunteer.html or call 1-888-55-WHALE ext. 253.

HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY holds its open house today until 4 p.m. The observatory, which is not usually open to the public, is celebrating its 100th anniversary. A schedule of activities for the open house is online at hvo.wr.usgs.gov.

VOLCANO ART CENTER hosts a Poetry Slam at its Niaulani Campus tonight. Participants bring two poems of their own creation that are no longer than three minutes each. Prizes are awarded to the top three finishers as chosen by the judges. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the event begins at 7 p.m. Admission is $6.

Ka'u News Briefs Jan. 20, 2012

HSTA members have turned down a contract previously approved by union leadership. Photo by Julia Neal

FEDERAL RACE TO THE TOP FUNDING is threatened by the teachers union voting to turn down a proposed six-year contract with the state. The fed warned the state that $75 million could be cancelled if significant changes are not made in the school system. 

     The proposed contract has competency requirements for teachers that include tying their status to the success of students. Some teachers said this could be unfair to teachers in schools and classrooms where students have many challenges. It also called for pay increases after keeping pay cuts in place for several years. The Hawai`i State Teachers Association leadership had approved the contract and sent it to a vote, but teachers rejected it in a two-to-one vote.

EASING OF VISAS from China, India and Brazil could bring more visitors here, according to the Hawai`i Tourism Authority, commenting on Pres. Barack Obama’s tourism speech yesterday. The Chinese opportunity is particularly important to Hawai`i, and tourism authority chief Mike McCartney said it could lead to an additional 150,000 jobs statewide. Obama promised to fast-track changes to the visa process for people coming from these countries to make it easier for them to go on vacation in the U.S.

Solar panels convert sunlight to energy to charge
electric vehicles. Photo from Honda

ELECTRIC CARS FOR THE COUNTY is a new pilot program, and the County Council Finance Committee approved $41,863 in funding, which came from a rebate from the Hawai`i Energy Efficiency Program. This follows another $70,000 in funding, according to a Nancy Cook Lauer story in this morning’s Hawai`i Tribune Herald. The story says the first pilot project will be set up at West Hawai`i Civic Center, where carports already have solar panels where county vehicles can plug into charging stations. The county currently uses about $1.5 million in gasoline and diesel each year, at an expense nearing $10 million, with increasing fuel costs. The Cook Lauer story quotes Laverne Omori, who is deputy director of the county Department of Research and Development, saying, “Utilization of power from the sun to charge electric vehicles will stabilize county fuel cost, promote new transportation industry in the community and allow county government to lead by example.” 

REP. BOB HERKES’ LAW against unfair foreclosures has forced lenders to choose between mediation or court proceedings before homes are taken away and has helped keep people in their houses, according to the Mortgage Foreclosure Task Force member Jeff Gilbreath. He told members of both the state House and Senate Consumer protection Committees yesterday said that the latest Realty Trac report shows a 53 percent drop in foreclosures in Hawai`i. Before the legislation was passed, Hawai`i was 11th in foreclosures nationwide. Herkes accused mortgage holders, including Bank of America, of unfair practices that led to people being thrown out of their houses without even knowing a foreclosure was pending. He said that lenders refused to negotiate with homeowners, even those who had good jobs and the ability to pay toward the debt, but their houses were underwater because of the crash in the real estate market. This came after the same lenders gave loans for overpriced houses to people who could not really afford them. Legislators said they will study this session whether additional legislation could help prevent predatory lending to people desperate to save their homes. Educating prospective homebuyers and people looking to refinance was suggested as part of the solution. 

Kamanaopono Crabbe

THE NEW OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS CEO is Dr. Kamanaopono Crabbe, who succeeds Clyde W. Namuo, who retired after a decade on the job. Crabbe, 48, “steps in at a time when OHA is strengthening its focus on a number of initiatives aimed at improving conditions for Native Hawaiians,” says an OHA statement. Chairwoman Colette Machado said the appointment “enables a smooth leadership transition at OHA. Kamanao has an outstanding reputation for organization and managing by consensus.”
     Crabbe joined OHA’s executive team in November 2009 as research director. He came to OHA from the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, where he served as a licensed psychologist and director of training.
     He has long-served the Native Hawaiian community and the residents of Hawai`i in the area of clinical psychology, family therapy and Native Hawaiian health research. He is a graduate of Kamehameha Schools and received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Hawai`i at Manoa.
     “OHA is guided by a vision and mission to ensure the perpetuation of the culture, to protect the entitlements of Native Hawaiians, and to build a strong and healthy Hawaiian people and nation,” the statement says.

ISLAND RESIDENTS AND VISITORS are invited to tour Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and interact with HVO scientists at an open house on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The observatory, which is not usually open to the public, is celebrating its 100th anniversary. A schedule of activities for the open house is online at hvo.wr.usgs.gov.

KA`U HIGH BOYS BASKETBALL TEAMS hosted Kamehameha yesterday. The junior varsity team won 47-40, with Larry Al-Navarro scoring 17 points.
     Kamehameha’s varsity team won with a score of 72 to Ka`u’s 30. Holden Galigo was high point scorer with seven.