Ka'u News Briefs Feb. 1, 2012

Everyone is invited to join the Ka`u `Ohana Band, which rehearses every Wedneday and Thursday at Ocean View
Community Center. Photo from Ka`u School of the Arts

CONGRESSWOMAN MAZIE HIRONO AND FORMER CONGRESSMAN ED CASE are battling it out for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat that Sen. Dan Akaka will leave at the end of the year. According to a release from Case yesterday, he has raised almost $112,000 for his campaign, while the Hirono camp reports $625,000 in contributions from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31. Former Gov. Linda Lingle, who is seeking the Republican nomination, has raised almost $1.8 million.

Ed and Audrey Case

Mazie  Hirono

      According to Civil Beat, the majority of Lingle’s money comes from individuals. However, she is bringing in more money from mainland PACs, the Political Action Committees, than the other candidates. The online news service reports that her war chest took in more than a quarter of a million dollars from 75 Political Action Committees, as filed with the Federal Election Commission. See http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?C00504159. 

      The only PAC that gave to Lingle that is based in Hawai`i is Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. which provided Lingle with $2,500 and Hirono $3,000. A&B also gave U.S. House of Representatives candidates Mufi Hannemann and Colleen Hanabusa $2,500 each, Civil Beat reports.
      The story also states that many of the PACs contributing to Lingle are inside the Beltway around Washington, D.C. – the place where many lobbyists set up headquarters. Civil Beat is tracking political money during this campaign year, since a new ruling allows corporations and unions unlimited contributions to independently support or oppose candidates and ballot measures. Donations made directly to candidates are still limited.

Linda Lingle

      Civil Beat reports that Lingle has received money from such far away places as Mississippi, where Gov. Haley Barbour’s PAC gave her $10,000; from Arizona, where Sen. John McCain’s Country First PAC gave $5,000; and Kentucky, where Mitch McConnel’s Bluegrass Committee threw in $10,000 to Lingle for the U.S. Senate race here in Hawai`i.
      See more at civilbeat.com.

DIRECT FLIGHTS FROM WASHINGTON, D.C. TO HAWAI`I should make it easier for Ka`u’s representatives in the U.S. House and Senate to come home more often and visit such remote districts as the south end of the Big Island. United Airlines announced yesterday that it will begin direct flights from Dulles Airport outside of Washington to Honolulu beginning June 7. This will be the only direct flight between the two cities, and Hawai`i Tourism Authority CEO Mike McCartney estimates another $135 million a year in visitor spending as a result of the new route. He also pointed to Hawaiian Airline’s recent announcement of a new direct flight beginning June 5 between New York City and Honolulu. Both flights will contribute to more visitors coming here from the East Coast, he said.

LEGALIZED GAMBLING IN HAWAI`I lacks support by the majority of the population, according to a Civil Beat poll. The recent poll of 1,358 likely voters shows that 62 percent would oppose even the one casino in Waikiki that is proposed through a bill before the 2012 Hawai`i State Legislature. Utah and Hawai`i remain the only two states in the U.S. where gambling is prohibited. Supporters of the casino bill state that people in Hawai`i gamble illegally or fly off to Las Vegas to gamble legally, and that much needed state revenue could be garnered by allowing a casino in Waikiki. The bill at the Legislature would allow the state to take a 15 percent tax on gross revenues from gambling and establish a Hawai`i Gaming Control Commission.
      See more at civilbeat.com.

ELECTRIC RATES IN HAWAI`I ROSE 79 PERCENT in a decade, nearly twice as much as in other places in the U.S., reports the U.S. Energy Information Agency. The statistics from 2000 to 2010 show Hawai`i electric rates are the highest in the nation. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser carried the report this morning, showing electric rates rising from 14.03 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2000 to 25.12 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2010. Across the nation, the average electric rate increase over the same decade was 41.9 percent, from 6.81 cents per kilowatt-hour to 9.83 cents per kilowatt-hour. 

      After 2010, the discrepancy became worse, according to the Star-Advertiser story. The national average for electric rates declined. In Hawai`i, electric rates continued to climb to 33.43 cents per kilowatt-hour, as of last November. The national average rate was 9.67 cents per kilowatt-hour.

KA`U `OHANA BAND HOLDS rehearsals today and every Wednesday and Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center. Ka`u School of the Arts sponsors the band, and everyone is welcome to join. Call 929-7544 for more information.

ALSO AT OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY CENTER, certified instructor Erin Cole offers Zumba classes tomorrow and every Thursday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Contact Cole at 640-8473 for more information.

Ka'u News Briefs Jan. 31, 2012

Rotary International came to Ka`u yesterday to donate computers to the high school. Photo by Tui Masaniai

FORTY-TWO NEW LAPTOP COMPUTERS and 27 printers, along with a slew of digital cameras, were donated by Rotary Club International yesterday at Ka`u High School. Rotary Clubs of Hilo and Pahoa participated along with two Rotary Clubs from Taiwan. Principal Sharon Beck said that she worked for a year and a half with English teacher Kim Williamson and social studies teacher Wilma Roddy and Rotary to receive the computers. 

Students went right to work in Kim Williamson's English class
on their computers donated by Rotary. Photo by Tui Masaniai

      Hilo Rotarians visited the classroom yesterday, including former mayor Lorraine Inouye, Jon McElvaney, co-chair for the project, and Steve Yoshida, who recently chaired the Rotary Global Peace Forum in Honolulu.
      Yoshida said that “this is just the beginning of help for Ka`u High School. The teachers and students were great. This is a special school.”
      A group from the Taiwan Rotary Club plans to visit Ka`u High School on Feb. 15.

TENURE would no longer be the way that teachers and principals keep their jobs in Hawai`i schools if a bill passes the 2012 Hawai`i Legislature. Florida, Idaho and Rhode Island have done away with tenure. Hawai`i is one of five states in the country that provide tenure to teachers with only two years on the job. 

      The Hawai`i State Teachers Association, the union for public school teachers, opposes the measure. HSTA president Wil Okabe called the measure a “direct attack on our membership, our profession and a lack of recognition and respect for the valuable service that our veteran teachers provide.” He told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser yesterday: “We feel that teachers are going to be stripped away from due-process rights, to be hired and fired at will by politicians or by administrators.”
    The union has asked teachers to write in testimony against bills that would eliminate the tenure. State Rep. Roy Takumi, chair of the House Education Committee, introduced one of the bills and said that term tenure needs discussion to determine what it really means. The bill goes to hearing at the House of Representatives in Honolulu tomorrow. The public can submit testimony online by going to www.capitol.hawaii.gov and searching for House Bill 1668. The Senate Bill goes to hearing on Friday.

THE POST OFFICE IN PAHALA has new hours. They are 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. The post office was open shorter hours over the last few years.

THE NEW ROOF AT PAHALA COMMUNITY CENTER is going up to replace a roof well rusted and damaged from years of exposure to vog. The county project is expected to be finished by the end of February. In the meantime, martial arts classes and some community events are being held at the Old Pahala Clubhouse at the south end of Maile street, which was restored by the Edmund C. Olson Trust.

A THIRD CANDIDATE FOR MAYOR has announced, according to a report by Nancy Cook Lauer in this morning’s Hawai`i Tribune-Herald. Anne Marsh, 52, told the Tribune-Herald that the county should fix old infrastructure and handle social ills and crime before luring more tourists to the island. She told Cook Lauer that she is an environmental advocate, experienced in nonprofit organizations and could “bring the island back from the brink of extinction,” the story says. She moved to the Big Island from Alaska seven years ago, and this is her first time running for public office. Also running are incumbent Mayor Billy Kenoi, County Council chair Dominic Yagong and possibly former Mayor Harry Kim.

Markings on humpback whale flukes are used to identify individuals.

WHALE FLUKES are the subjects of a new Hawai`i Marine Mammal Consortium poster being sold to raise money for the organization. Scientists use the whales’ tails – the flukes – much like humans use fingerprints to identify them. The shape, color and markings are unique to each humpback whale. The poster shows 56 photographs of 53 different whales with a built-in “fluke matching” quiz to identify three whales that appear twice in the photos. The answers can be found at the HMMC website: www.hmmc.org. 

      Sightings and whale counts, like the ones last weekend at Punalu`u, South Point and on the coast within Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, help scientists to describe their social behavior, migrations, and life histories.
      The website shows information about the sighting history of each whale and links to pages about whale biology and behavior.
      Copies of the poster are available through the HMMC website. The purchase of the poster is tax deductible, and proceeds support HMMC’s whale and dolphin research in Hawai`i.
      The HMMC is a Big Island 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2003 by four biologists who first met while conducting whale research for the University of Hawai`i on the Big Island in the early 1990’s. The organization has assisted with whale disentanglement efforts led by the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. It focuses on marine mammal conservation, research and education and has a science advisory group from top universities around the U.S. and abroad. The HMMC hosts education programs for classes of high school and college students from Hawai`i and the mainland, including an annual week-long class on whale bioacoustics for Cornell University students and a collaboration with faculty at the University of Alaska Southeast in Sitka and the University of Hawai`i Hilo to connect students from Hawai`i and Alaska. For more information about HMMC scientists, research, education programs and scientific papers, visit www.hmmc.org or email info@hmmc.org.

Volcanic gases are on tap at After Dark in the Park's gas tasting party tonight.
Photo from USGS

GEOCHEMISTS JEFF SUTTON AND TAMAR ELIAS give an update about volcanic gases, especially those related to the 2008 - 2011 activity at Halema`uma`u Crater, at After Dark in the Park tonight at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. At the “gas tasting” party, participants learn to identify volcanic gases by smell. $2 donation supports park programs, and park entrance fees apply.

KA`U `OHANA BAND HOLDS rehearsals tomorrow and every Wednesday and Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center. Everyone is welcome to join, and instruments are supplied. Call 929-7544 for more information.

Ka'u News Briefs Jan. 30, 2012

New teacher performance evaluations tied to the progress of students are being implemented at Ka`u High and
Pahala Elementary School. Photo by Julia Neal

KA`U HIGH & PAHALA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL is one of the campuses where the state Department of Education is implementing new teacher performance evaluations that are tied to the progress of students. Ka`u is among 18 campuses where evaluations are being conducted as a test before establishing the program in all schools across the state. The first reports are expected soon and will tie student test scores and learning to teacher practices. 

      The state is implementing a number of programs in its effort to ensure it will receive some $75 million in the Race to the Top federal program. The federal Department of Education has threatened to pull the funding if progress isn’t made.
      One stumbling block has been negotiations with the Hawai`i State Teachers Association, which recently rejected a bargaining agreement that was pounded out between the union and state school administration. The union has been going from school to school to listen to the teachers before going back to the bargaining table. Teachers met with the union at Ka`u High last Friday. A team from the Department of Education is on campus this week to work with teachers and the school administration.

Rep. Bob Herkes at the recent blessing
of Ka`u Coffee Mill. Photo by
Geneveve Fyvie

KA`U’S REPRESENTATIVE in the state House of Representatives has measures on the move. Rep. Bob Herkes submitted a bill that gives small farmers an income tax break. It would allow farmers to deduct up to $500,000 in income from selling farm products and hosting tours of their agricultural operations. The Department of Agriculture asked that aquaculture also be included. Some testimony asked that the measure be limited to farms growing food that is sold in Hawai`i and warned against giving the tax breaks to “fake farms” owned by land speculators. Another measure would exempt farm products from excise taxes.

LIMITING THE SIZE OF FARM DWELLINGS on prime agricultural land is also a bill being championed by Herkes. The legislative narrative says "the Legislature finds that there has been a proliferation of residential dwellings within agricultural districts that may not be occupied in connection with an actual farm." This act “should reduce the attractiveness of agricultural land for subdivision and development into ‘fake farms’ or ‘gentlemen’s estates’ on which agricultural activity is nonexistent, negligible, or inauthentic,” the bill says. It would limit farm dwellings to 2,000 square feet in size. It would encourage farm activities such as agricultural tourism and biofuel processing facilities, provided that “they do not adversely impact agricultural land and other agricultural uses in the vicinity.”

Houses on prime ag land would have to be reasonable for small farms,
under 2,000 square feet. Photo by Julia Neal

AGRICULTURAL SUBDIVISIONS AND AG CONDOMINIUMS would only be allowed through approval by the County Council by ordinance, if  another ag preservation bill introduced by Herkes passes. 

TO BOLSTER AG EXPORTS, another Herkes bill would help establish a refrigerator storage facility at Hilo Airport.

EXEMPTING THE STATE AND COUNTIES from being forced to improve roads and highways turned over to them by private land ownes is another Herkes measure. Roads in limbo could be included.

LIMITED GAMBLING IN HAWAI`I has been supported by Rep. Bob Herkes. He co-introduced a measure in January that would allow one stand-alone casino in Waikiki, with a 15 percent wagering tax going to the state from gross receipts. The casino would not be inside a hotel.

The Herkes bill would cut taxes on bonafide agricultural business.
Photo by Julia Neal

AN OFFICE OF DISASTER PREPAREDNESS would be established by the state, under a proposal by Rep. Bob Herkes. His bill at the Legislature would establish a director of Disaster Preparedness who would oversee creation of a Natural Disaster Plan that would look at scientific data to assess risks to different communities for various disasters, including vog, and building codes would be addressed to adapt to the risks, including vog. 

THE KA`U COMMUNITY CHORUS rehearses at Discovery Harbour Community Hall tonight and every Monday from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Call 929-7544 for more information about this and other programs sponsored by Ka`u School of the Arts.

OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY CENTER hosts duplicate bridge games tomorrow and every Tuesday at 1 p.m. Beginners are welcome; help is available, and partners can be arranged. To sign up, call Pat at 375-6271 or Susan at 375-6821.

KILAUEA’S VOLCANIC GASES and their environmental impact is the topic at After Dark in the Park tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Geochemists Jeff Sutton and Tamar Elias give an update about volcanic gases, especially those related to the 2008-2011 activity at Halema`uma`u Crater. Participants are invited to the “gas tasting” party, where they learn to identify volcanic gases by smell. $2 donation supports park programs, and park entrance fees apply.