Ka`u News Briefs Dec. 24, 2012

Vote on Kilauea Military Camp's decorations through the end of December. Photo by Julia Neal

TODAY IS THE DEADLINE for applications from those seeking to fill the vacancy in the U.S. Senate created by the passing of the late Sen. Dan Inouye. The most recent applicant is Esther Kia`aina, who Gov. Neil Abercrombie recently appointed as deputy director of Department of Land and Natural Resources. Kia`aina, who began a 20-year career on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. as an intern for Inouye before becoming chief of staff for two different congressmen in the U.S. House of Representatives, was a candidate in the August primary election for Hawai`i’s 2nd U.S. Congressional District seat.

Esther Kia`aina

      Others who have expressed interest in the position include former U.S. Rep. Ed Case, Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz, state Sen. Will Espero and current U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa.
      The Democratic Party plans to meet on Wednesday and consider three names to submit to Gov. Abercrombie for consideration. It is up to Abercrombie to make the final decision.

KAHU RADIO is more than $100,000 in debt, but is hoping to survive, according to Christine Kaehuaea, who came on board a little more than a year ago and is now station manager. She told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser: “If we turn in our call letters there’s no window open for a new station,” says the Leila Fujimori article in this morning’s newspaper.
      The story says that Kaehuaea decided to “take down the broadcasting antenna and transmitter equipment at a tower in Na`alehu, which cost $1,500 a month to rent. That was done Dec. 17, and the gear was moved to the station in Pahala, saving the station a big monthly expense,” says the Star-Advertiser story. The equipment was purchased with a grant from state Civil Defense, and the plan was to extend emergency messaging throughout much of Ka`u from the Crown Castle tower between Na`alehu and Pahala.
      The story also describes support from `O Ka`u Kakou, which was founded by former County Council member Guy Enriques. Says the story, “Wayne Kawachi, president of `O Ka`u Kakou, a community service organization, said the group and its members have made donations to support the station.”

Wayne Kawachi and Christine Kaehuaea say they are working to help
KAHU Radio survive. Photo by Julia Neal

      Kawachi told the Star-Advertiser, “They let the community know what’s going on, any type of warnings.… We decided we’re going to help and try to keep it open for that reason.”
      The story reports that `O Ka`u Kakou “members have also lent physical help in preparing for a farmers market fundraiser for the station.”
     However, Kaehuaea announced last Wednesday that the farmers market in Pahala would shut down, saying that an anchor vegetable farmer was pulling out and that other vendors would no longer be able to go to the site for the time being.
      According to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Kawachi said that the radio station “still covers a lot of Ka`u…. I think it’s a good thing. People like it. The only thing is the cost to keep it running.”
      Kawachi also contended that “Pahala itself and the Ka`u area, we have the highest unemployment, the highest welfare.… We just don't have enough people who financially can support it. It’s been a battle, not only the radio station’s. We have a lot of businesses that open up and close. It’s hard to survive. We’re economically depressed,” Kawachi claimed.
      The Star-Advertiser also said that “Kawachi gives the station a ‘50-50 shot’ of surviving, ‘but we’re going to try our best to keep it going. It’s going to be a long road.’
      ‘It’s Kaehuaea’s commitment that engenders that support,’ he said. ‘She tries really hard, and she has her heart into it. She wants to make it survive.’”
      The story states that Kaehuaea is co-owner of KAHU, which is licensed by the FCC as a community, nonprofit radio station.
      The story also says that (founder of the station), Christine Kaehuaea’s father, Wendell Kaehuaea “retired from the day-to-day station management and is now strictly an announcer.”

      See staradvertiser.com.

Volcano Awareness Month is coming up in January.
Photo from USGS/HVO

HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK and U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory recognizes January as Volcano Awareness Month with programs throughout next month that focus on the importance of understanding and respecting the volcanoes on which we live. Each Tuesday except for New Year’s Day, the park offers After Dark in the Park programs at 7 p.m. On Jan. 8, the program marks the 30th anniversary of Kilauea’s ongoing east rift zone eruption, with HVO geologist Tim Orr reviewing highlights and talking about recent developments. On Jan. 15, HVO geologist Matt Patrick presents an overview of Kilauea’s summit eruption, including a survey of the volcanic processes occurring within the vent. A below-the-scenes look at Kilauea’s plumbing system takes place Jan. 22, when HVO scientist Michael Poland presents a picture of what Kilauea’s subsurface might look like based on observations from eruptions, earthquake patterns, ground deformation, chemical changes and geologic studies. On Jan. 29, HVO’s chief technical support specialist Kevan Kamibayashi presents the story behind monitoring Hawaiian volcanoes and how HVO gets data it needs to track eruptions and earthquakes. 

      Other programs are scheduled at UH-Hilo as well as in South Kona and Puna. Visit hvo.wr.usgs.gov for more information.

CANDLELIGHT CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES in Ka`u include one at Na`ohulelua Historical Garden on Kama`oa Road that begins at 6:30 p.m. on the grounds of the historic Catholic Church. Everyone is welcome at this non-denominational Christian celebration. Bring a chair and flashlight to walk the path to the ceremony. Space is limited. RSVP to 345-9374. 

NA`ALEHU METHODIST CHURCH also offers Candlelight Christmas Eve Service at 7:30 p.m., with lessons and carols that retell the Christmas story in word and song. For more, call Julie White at 503-756-8035.

KILAUEA MILITARY CAMP’S HOLIDAY CHALLENGE continues through Dec. 31. The front row of cottages at KMC in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park has been decorated by employees, a nd visitors can vote for their favorites at KMC Front Desk.

KILAUEA MILITARY CAMP’S CRATER RIM CAFÉ offers buffets tomorrow from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. and on New Year’s Day from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The price of $24.95 and $12 for children 6 to 11 includes entrees, side dishes, desserts and beverages. Open to authorized patrons and sponsored guests. Park entrance fees apply.

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

ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/KAUCALENDAR.

FIND MORE OF OUR DECEMBER 2012 EVENT PHOTOS ON OUR FLICKR ACCOUNT. 

Ka`u News Briefs Dec. 23, 2012

Ninety-year-old Hatsuyo Sakata oversees the traditional Japanese mochi-making, an annual family event for more than 100 years.
Photo by Julia Neal

KA`U COFFEE GROWERS remembered Sen. Dan Inouye last night in a prayer at their annual Christmas dinner. Ka`u Coffee Growers Cooperative president Gloria Camba said Inouye, who died last week, helped to secure federal funding for displaced sugar workers to start their own coffee-growing businesses on land left fallow when the cane company shut down in 1996.

Gloria Camba, president of the cooperative, with partner
Bong Aquino. Photo by Julia Neal

      On small plots ranging from five to seven and even larger acreage, local residents built the Ka`u Coffee industry as sugar phased out. During the last 16 years, Ka`u Coffee has become one of the state’s most successful post-plantation economic development stories, with individual family businesses becoming the backbone of a growing entrepreneurship in the local community.

      This year in which Inouye passed away, noted Camba, is the year of the Ka`u Coffee growers seeing the most success, with the market outstripping supply. It is also the year in which growers are scrambling to lease more acreage and are seeking more land security with longer-term leases so they can plan for expansion of their businesses.
      The market for Ka`u Coffee is worldwide, with a number of the farmers having accounts with gourmet and gift stores, coffee shops and roasting houses. Starbucks is selling Ka`u Coffee with prices topping $50 a pound. Ka`u Coffee Mill sends Ka`u Coffee in containers to one of Europe’s largest roasting houses in Germany that distributes throughout the continent.

Air Force One's backup plane waits in the Hilo rain while Pres. Obama
attends Iouye services and  Christmas on O`ahu. Photo by Ko Ueno

      Ka`u Coffee continues to place in the top ten for coffees worldwide in the annual Specialty Coffee Association of America’s competition, held this year in Portland and next April in Boston.
      Rusty’s 100 Percent Ka`u Coffee has a strong marketing program in Japan and is placed on shelves in international airport stores, all the while still being sold at the farmers market in Na`alehu by the grower Lorie Obra.
      JN Coffee has ABC Store accounts and the gourmet food store at Queens Shops in Waikoloa.
      The Bull Kailiawa brand is featured along with other Ka`u Coffees at Alan Wong’s restaurants. Most of the more than 30 Ka`u Coffee Growers Cooperative members have their niche markets that have led them to success.

      All of this success would not have been possible without the start that Inouye gave to the hardworking coffee growers, Camba said.

Pres. Barrack and Michelle Obama with Irene Inouye at
 Punchbowl this morning. Photo from Hawai`i News Now

SEN. DANIEL INOUYE was honored yesterday with his body arriving from Washington, D.C. to lie in state at the Hawai`i Capitol. Gov. Neil Abercrombie said that “Daniel Inouye comes to us not in his role as U.S. Senator but as a Keiki O Ka `Aina, a child of these islands to remain with those who loved him, remembered with Aloha.… Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Rest easy now, you are home with us in paradise,” said the governor.

      Remains of Inouye will be brought this Thursday to the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium in Hilo with noon viewing of the koa box containing his ashes and a service at 1 p.m. Hilo is also the location of the backup plane at the airport for Pres. Barack and Michelle Obama, who attended a service for Inouye this morning at Punchbowl National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific on O`ahu.
      The ceremony ended with bagpipes playing Danny Boy, a military jet flyover and presentation of American flags to Inouye’s wife, Irene, and his son, Ken, with one also provided for Inouye's granddaughter.

Grandson helps the men oversee steaming of the rice for making mochi. Photos by Julia Neal

MOCHI MAKING TOOK OVER THE GROUNDS of the Hatsuyo Sakata house on Maile Street in Pahala today, with the annual event drawing many members of the Japanese, Japanese-Hawaiian and Japanese-Filipino community. 

Next generation learns mochi-grinding process.

      The Japanese tradition begins with rice steamed in stacks of wooden boxes over an open flame and ground through a homemade machine to make a paste that is rolled out and formed into treats filled with azuki beans. Sakata, who is 90 years of age, said her grandparents started the family tradition in Ninole more than a century ago when they lived in sugar plantation housing below the mountain of Makanao. Family and friends would walk or come by horse and donkey, which were the major forms of transportation for working, visiting the villages, shopping and getting to school in Hilea. She remembered the cane rushing in the overhead wooden flumes that would carry it by water from the mountains to the sugar mills. 

      Sakata’s father’s family, the Koharas, continued the annual mochi-pounding tradition. Today she carried on and watched her great granddaughter begin to learn the art of mochi-making, as little Dhaylee Ceberos helped her extend the tradition to the next generation.

OFFICIALS IN HAWAI`I ARE MAKING PLANS to spend $100,000 for marine debris clean-up, according to an Associated Press story in today’s Hawai`i Tribune-Herald. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is providing $50,000, with a matching grant from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. NOAA provided grants of $50,000 to each of five Western states expected to be affected by debris from the 2011 Japan tsunami.
      Beach clean-up groups can apply for funds in February, and the goal is to spend the funds by the end of next summer, according to Laura McIntyre, of the state Department of Health. See hawaiitribune-herald.com.

Volunteers from Ka`u can sign up to record behavior of whales during the
2013 Ocean Count. Photo by Barbara LaCorte/NOAA

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS HUMPBACK WHALE National Marine Sanctuary is seeking volunteers in Ka`u for its 2013 Sanctuary Ocean Count. The project offers the community a chance to monitor humpback whales and provide important population and distribution information. Site leaders and general volunteers are needed for events on Jan. 26, Feb. 23 and March 30. For more information and to register, visit hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov. 

DISCOVERY HARBOUR COMMUNITY CENTER hosts Ka`u School of the Arts’ holiday concert today at 7 p.m. Ka`u `Ohana Band, Ka`u Community Chorus and Hannah’s Makana `Ohana Hula Halau.

TOMORROW’S CANDLELIGHT CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE at Na`ohulelua Historical Garden on Kama`oa Road begins at 6:30 p.m. on the grounds of the historic Catholic Church. Everyone is welcome at this non-denominational Christian celebration. Bring a chair and flashlight to walk the path to the ceremony. Space is limited. RSVP to 345-9374.

NA`ALEHU METHODIST CHURCH also offers Candlelight Christmas Eve Service at 7:30 p.m., with lessons and carols that retell the Christmas story in word and song. For more, call Julie White at 503-756-8035.

Ken Gaub

CHRISTMAS DAY BUFFET IS AVAILABLE at Kilauea Military Camp’s Crater Rim Café in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Menu items include braised beef in red wine and forest mushrooms, seared ono lu`au-style, mushroom and leek pot pie, three cheese scalloped potatoes, cream of butternut squash soup, salad bar, desserts and beverages for $24.95 and $12 for children 6 to 11. Open to authorized patrons and sponsored guests. Park entrance fees apply. 

KEN GAUB BRINGS HIS MINISTRY to Na`alehu Assembly of God next Sunday, Dec. 30 at 6:30 p.m. His website states that “Ken Gaub Ministries is about helping you find the life of peace and joy that God wants you to have. He motivates people to be more than average in a very unusual, humorous style.”
      Gaub speaks before diverse crowds in places such as colleges, high schools, universities, conventions, prisons, music festivals, state and county fairs, some of the world’s largest churches and even the Pentagon.
      For more information, call 929-7278 and visit gaubministries.org.

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

ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/KAUCALENDAR.

FIND MORE OF OUR DECEMBER 2012 EVENT PHOTOS ON OUR FLICKR ACCOUNT. 

Ka`u News Briefs Dec. 22, 2012

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki with Sen. Daniel Inouye. Both grew up in Hawai`i.
Photo from U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

SEN. DAN INOUYE’S REMAINS WILL COME TO HILO this Thursday, Dec. 27. The Afook-Chinen Civic Center will be the venue for a noon visitation and a 1 p.m. service.
      Inouye is remembered by two Ka`u veterans who were members of the famed 442nd Combat Team in World War II. Iwao Yonemitsu and Toku Nakano, like Inouye, are both decorated heroes who served in Europe in battalions comprised of Japanese-Americans who not only fought for the U.S. but also for equality.
      Inouye served in the Second Battalion, Company E. Yonemitsu served in the Third Batallion, Company L, while Nakano served in the Regimental Headquarters Company. Their slogan was Go for Broke!
      Yonemitsu recalls that Hawai`i’s Japanese and mainland Japanese recruits were having problems with one another. Both Yonemitsu and Inouye were among those chosen to visit Japanese relocation camps on the mainland to help Hawai`i’s Japanese World War II soldiers empathize with mainland Japanese taken from homes and jobs and placed in relocation camps.

Ka`u residents Iwao Yonemitsu and Toku Nakano were in the 442nd Combat
Team, along with Sen. Dan Inouye. Photo by Julia Neal

      Both Inouye and Yonemitsu went to Arkansas, Inouye visiting Roher camp and Yonemitsu visiting Jerome camp. “The idea was to help the Hawai`i boys understand the tribulation of the mainland Japanese boys. The relationship improved after that,” said Yonemitsu.
      After the war was over and Inouye entered civilian public service, Yonemitsu recalled, “I always supported Inouye because I thought he was a very good representative of the people. I think he was knowledgeable, in the sense that he knew what was required and where he should put his efforts.”
      Said Yonemitsu, “Inouye could relate to the problems of various people from the lower to the upper class and of all races and cultures. Yonemitsu has another tie to Inouye. His neice, Barbara Sakamoto, who grew up in Na`alehu, worked for Inouye for 30 years in both Washington, D.C. and Honolulu.
      Another 442nd hero, Toku Nakano, described Inouye as “a terrific man. I never heard of him complaining during his career. He was always trying to help others. He would never think of anything good for him, but always try to help the people and the community.”
      The last time that Nakano and Yonemitsu saw Inouye was in November 2011, when the two of them traveled to Washington, D.C. to receive a Congressional Gold Medal. Inouye spoke during the ceremony.
      An educator from Ka`u also remembers Inouye. Bill Derasin, owner of B&E Propane in Na`alehu, worked for 30 years teaching the trades at Hilo Community College. He said Inouye was a great help in supporting the purchase of facilities and equipment for education. He said he also helped to fund many programs for Native Hawaiians.

Jonathan B. Jarvis Photo from NPS

      In relation to Inouye’s work for land preservation, including expanding the National Park in Ka`u, a statement from National Park Service director Jonathan B. Jarvis says: “Senator Daniel K. Inouye was a remarkable man and a special friend of the National Park Service.” Jarvis called Inouye “a champion of civil rights and social justice. His passion for those causes served as the foundation for his work to preserve hundreds of thousands of acres of historic, cultural and natural landscapes which are now cared for by the employees and volunteers of National Park Service for the future of Hawai`i and the United States of America.”
      Yesterday, during Inouye’s service at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., Eric Shinseki, U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs and former U.S. Army chief of staff, said that Inouye led generations of Japanese-Americans into public service. Shinseki was born in Hawai`i of Japanese heritage. “I have had the broadest shoulders to stand on,” he said. “Aloha, Senator. Aloha and mahalo.”

      In a statement, Shinseki said, “Sen. Daniel K. Inouye stood among the greatest of our Greatest Generation. Recipient of the Medal of Honor, our Nation’s highest award for valor; distinguished service as a long-serving member of the U.S. Senate; and role model to generations of Americans of Asian-Pacific Islander heritage, especially those growing up in his beloved Hawai`i, Sen. Inouye made public service a noble and honorable calling. Dan Inouye’s courage on the battlefield and in Congress, his passion for making a difference in the lives of average Americans, and his intense modesty spoke volumes about a remarkable American, who embodied the bedrock values and quiet virtues of our Nation. On behalf of America’s 22 million Veterans, I salute the memory of a brave man, a great patriot, a devoted public servant, an unwavering benefactor to Servicemembers and Veterans of every generation, and my friend and mentor. I extend my deepest personal condolences to the entire Inouye family.”

FIREFIGHTERS fought flames along Hwy 11 again last night between Honu`apo and Na`alehu near the 63 mile marker. A windy day fueled embers to reignite a fire that burned for hours and shut down a lane of traffic Wednesday night.

TWO ADMINISTRATORS FOR COUNTY PARKS & RECREATION, one in West Hawai`i and one in Hilo, are now on the job, according to the county website and a story in this morning’s Hawai`i Tribune-Herald. The arrangement means a swap in jobs, as Clayton Honma is the new director of Parks & Recreation, and former parks director Bob Fitzgerald is the new deputy director. According to Hawai`i Tribune-Herald, Honma said, “We still have the same leadership in place. We had some internal ideas.” Among the major projects involving Parks & Recreation is the new Ka`u Gymnasium & Disaster Shelter in Pahala, a complex costing more than $18 million. See more at www.hilotribune-herald.com.

KA`U HOSPITAL CHARITABLE FOUNDATION’S scholarship committee is working to generate ideas for the upcoming year after raising more than $4,000 at its rummage sale and silent auction, said organizer Ursula D’Angelo. 

      Residents can donate HI-5 redemption monies to the Ka`u Hospital Charitable Foundation at any transfer station redemption center across the island.
      The group is looking for people who would be willing to have donation jars in their places of business. The jars are decorated by residents of the hospital and have information about the scholarship fund.
      Cookbooks, tote bags and T-shirts are available for purchase. Cookbooks are $15 each or $25 for a two-volume set. T-shirts are $15 each, and reusable totes are $3 each. “For the holiday season, we also have special edition handmade pot-holders and trivets available at two for $5 with the purchase of a cookbook or $3 each. All these items make lovely holiday gifts,” D’Angelo said.
      KHCF is planning an online auction as well as a silent auction at its Fall into Christmas event on Sept. 21, 2013. Donations of antiques, collectible items, gift certificates, and Hawai`i-grown or made items are being accepted.
      The scholarship committee welcomes community members to join in helping with future events. For more information or to suggest ideas for fundraising, contact D’Angelo at beautycallsursula@hawaiiantel.net.

YOUNG WOMEN WANTING TO BECOME Miss Ka`u Coffee contestants for 2013 are welcome to sign up for the competition by Jan. 15 for the spring pageant. Categories will be Miss Ka`u Coffee for young women ages 17 to 24 and Miss Ka`u Peaberry for girls ages 7 to 9. The winners will reign over the annual Ka`u Coffee Festival on Saturday, May 4.
      Candidates must be age 17-24 by May 13 for Miss Ka`u Coffee. Candidates must be age 7-9 by May 13 for Miss Ka`u Peaberry. Pick up and drop off applications at R&G Store in Pahala, Pahala Community Center, Grandma’s Closet in Na`alehu and Kahuku Gift & Garden Shop in Ocean View. For more, contact Gloria Camba at 928-8558 or call Pahala Plantation Cottages at 928-9811. Organizers also welcome volunteers to help produce the pageant.

OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY CENTER hosts Ka`u School of the Arts’ holiday concert today at 3 p.m. Ka`u `Ohana Band, Ka`u Community Chorus and Hannah’s Makana `Ohana Hula Halau also perform tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Discovery Harbour Community Center.

CANDLELIGHT CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE begins at 6:30 p.m. at Na`ohulelua Historical Garden on Kama`oa Road on the grounds of the historic Catholic Church from the mid-1800s. Everyone is welcome at this non-denominational Christian celebration. Bring a chair and flashlight to walk the path to the ceremony. Space is limited. RSVP to 345-9374.

Na`alehu United Methodist Church hosts a Candelight
Christmas Eve Service. Photo from wikipedia

NA`ALEHU UNITED METHODIST CHURCH also offers Candlelight Christmas Eve Service at 7:30 p.m., with lessons and carols that retell the Christmas story in word and song. For more, call Julie White at 503-756-8035. 

KILAUEA MILITARY CAMP’S CRATER RIM CAFÉ in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park serves Christmas Day Buffet from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Menu items include braised beef in red wine and forest mushrooms, seared ono lu`au-style, mushroom and leek pot pie, three cheese scalloped potatoes, cream of butternut squash soup, salad bar, desserts and beverages for $24.95 and $12 for children 6 to 11. Open to authorized patrons and sponsored guests. Park entrance fees apply.

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

ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND FACEBOOK.COM/KAUCALENDAR.

FIND MORE OF OUR DECEMBER 2012 EVENT PHOTOS ON OUR FLICKR ACCOUNT.