Ka`u News Briefs June 8, 2013

Cardiologist Larry Derbes checks Minda Brown at free heart screenings by Hawai`i Island Cardiovascular, Inc. that end
this afternoon at 4 p.m. at Ka`u High School near the band room. Other free screenings and treatments by military
reserve medical providers continue through the weekend and Monday and Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Ocean
View Community Center and Ka`u High School, wrapping up at noon on Wednesday. Photo by Julia Neal

LAST DAY FOR HEART SCREENING at Ka`u High School. The free service offered by Dr. Larry Derbes, MD, FACC, a Waimea cardiologist, and Hilo cardiologist Nathan Zilz, MD, PhD, runs until 4 p.m. today and is sponsored by Hawai`i Island Cardiovascular, Inc. EKGs and echocardiograms are offered.

Mary Stancill heads up Hawai`i Island Cardiovascular at the
Ka`a Ho`ola health care van sponsored by Kona
Community Hospital and HMSA.
Photo by Julia Neal

      Mary Stancill said the nonprofit she directs seeks to improve heart health on the Big Island where there are more cardiac problems than among the state population overall. The service is in the HMSA Ka`a Ho`ola rural healthcare van stationed near the band room at Ka`u High School. The team is also offering the all-in-one free immunizations for tetanus, whooping cough and dyptheria and finger prick preliminary blood screening for diabetes as well as blood oxygen screening.

TROPIC CARE, with Air Force,  Navy and Army reservist medical care providers, continues its free dental, eye, medical, psychiatric screening and care Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. and Wednesday until noon. Locations are Ka`u High School and Ocean View Community Center. The reservists are staying onsite as if they were in the field for the military. Care is open to anyone with or without insurance. Many of the physicians are specialists.

DEADLINE FOR FILINGS BY HECO AND HELCO regarding the proposed `Aina Koa Pono project was yesterday, and the testimony is expected to be online Monday on the state Public Utilities Commission website at puc.hawaii.gov.

      West Hawai`i Today and Hawai`i Tribune-Herald reported yesterday that state Consumer Advocate Jeff Ono said recently that he supports the proposed biofuel farm and refinery up Wood Valley Road.
      Ono flew to the Big Island recently and toured the proposed refinery location, saw the test plot for biofuel crops and some of the lands where the crops would be grown. He was accompanied by AKP partner Chris Eldridge and a representative of Olson Trust, which owns most of the property proposed for the project.

      Several community members who have studied the issue, given testimony or are farmers and ranchers in Ka`u said they were not contacted to meet with Ono while he was here to discuss possible impacts of AKP on the expansion of coffee and other food crops.
      Sen. Josh Green said he would contact Ono and ask him to visit with Ka`u residents who represent a broader view of the community than those partnered with the venture.
      County energy coordinator Will Rolston told Stephens Media reporter Nancy Cook Lauer that the county will continue to oppose the project. “Hawai`i County Mayor Billy Kenoi has repeatedly said he’s not in favor of any more alternative energy sources for the island unless they result in a lowering of utility bills, not raising of them.”
      Rolston told the reporter that that “he questions whether the refinery, relying on what he says is unproven technology, will even result in a net increase in energy, after plants are grown and harvested, then microwaved, and the resulting fuel is hauled 80 miles from the refinery to the HELCO plant.”
      According to the Stephens Media report, Rolston said, “We’re sitting here and we’re trying to figure out how it could work. The math doesn’t add up.”
      The story also reports that reporter Cook Lauer called Kenton Eldridge, co-founder and chairman of the board of `Aina Koa Pono, last Thursday and that he declined to discuss the PUC process other than saying, “We have technology that works.”
      While the public hearings in Hilo and Kona are over, testimony can still be submitted to hawaii.puc@hawaii.gov. Case number is 2012-0185.
      See more at www.westhawaiitoday.com.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie signing the Civil Liberties and the Constitution
Day bill. Photo from Office of the Governor

GOV. NEIL ABERCROMBIE HAS SIGNED a bill establishing Jan. 30 of each year as Civil Liberties and the Constitution Day in recognition the actions of individuals who have fought for the constitutional and civil rights of all Americans, While not a state holiday, the observance is intended to celebrate, honor and educate the public about these individuals’ commitment to preserving civil liberties.


      “Civil Liberties and the Constitution Day will serve to recognize and remind us of the courage of those who remained committed to freedom, even when their own civil liberties and rights were being challenged,” Gov. Abercrombie said. “It is the actions of these individuals – these brave ‘resisters’ – that best reflect the ideals of the U.S. Constitution.”

      Senate Bill 856, enacted as Act 94, was passed by the 2013 Legislature without dissenting votes and was supported by the American Civil Liberties Union, Hawai`i Council for the Humanities, Japanese American Citizens League, Japanese Chamber of Commerce, Fred T. Korematsu Institute for Civil Rights and Education, State Civil Rights Commission, and University of Hawai`i.
      The bill references actions of the United States government, including the internment of Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 on Feb. 19, 1942, authorizing the removal of any or all individuals from military areas as deemed necessary and desirable and mandating the forced internment of Americans of Japanese ancestry. Hawai`i and the entire West Coast of the United States would later be defined as a military area, resulting in the relocation of more than 110,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry to internment camps. One month later, on March 21, 1942, United States Congress passed Public Law 77-503, which established penalties for violations of Executive Order 9066.

Sunday Walk in the Park explores
Kilauea Iki. NPS Photo by
Jay Robinson

FRIENDS OF HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK hosts its monthly Sunday Walk in the Park tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. Nick Shema leads an exploration of Kilauea Iki Trail, Na Huku, Escape Road and Crater Rim and Byron Ledge Trails. Free for Friends members; non-members can join the organization in order to attend. For more information, call 985-7373 or email admin@fhvnp.org.

NA`ALEHU PUBLIC LIBRARY OFFERS BOOK SPEED DATING this Wednesday, June 12, at 3:30 p.m. Patrons up are asked to bring their favorite book, regardless of genre, fiction or non-fiction, or at least have a short summary prepared to share with other patrons. The event is intended for young adult and adult readers.
      Library assistant Jennifer Losalio said that at the event “in pairs, each person has three minutes to share his or her favorite book with his or her partner. The purpose is to highlight details of the story, without giving too much away, so as to convince his or her partner to read the book. After each partner has had three minutes to share his or her favorite book, one partner will rotate out so that everyone will have a chance to speak to each other.” She added that the “goal of this event is not only to get people interested in reading different books, but to also bring together readers who are perhaps interested in starting a book club that could be hosted at the library once a month.”

      Space for the event is limited. Interested patrons are encouraged to sign up in advance at the library’s circulation desk or call and RSVP at 929-2442. Depending on its success, the event may be hosted again in the future.

PORK IN THE PARK, Ka `Ohana O Honu`apo’s Father’s Day event on Sunday, June 16 is looking for contestants for its barbeque pork contest. First prize is $100. The afternoon, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., includes musicians on stage, samples of pork for the voting for a Fan Favorite, shave ice on sale and a shady tent to enjoy Honu`apo Park on Father’s Day. For more on the contest and the celebration, call Lehua Lopez-Mau at 929-9891.

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

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

Ka`u News Briefs June 7, 2013

County Council member Brenda Ford takes a shot for tetnus, diptheria and whooping cough and encourages all Ka`u residents to get free inoculations along with free medical, dental and eye care at Ka`u High School and Ocean View Community Center this weekend and Monday and Tuesday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Wednesday at noon. A cardiology clinic is also being held this weekend on he school grounds, sponsored by hawaiicardiovascular.org. Photo by Julia Neal

THE HISTORIC PAHALA HONGWANJI JAPANESE SCHOOLHOUSE and its parsonage are reroofed and being painted, the windows being repaired and bathrooms fixed up with funding from the Edmund C. Olson Trust and other donors. The building served as a Japanese language and culture school into the 1960s, a judo dojo, an art teacher’s workshop and an Earthwatch lab for visiting archaeologists studying the nearby Japanese, Chinese and Filipino cemetery. Renovations began with a group of Americorps VISTA volunteers hosted by Pahala Plantation Cottages and the Boys and Girls Club. Over the past several years, renovations have been managed by Wayne Kawachi and Pahala Hongwanji members.
      Ideas proposed for the building have been opening it up for Boys & Girls Club, particularly on those days after school when the children are unable to use their permanent home at Pahala Community Center, boxing and other sports clubs, extended learning in cooperation with Hawai`i Community College and most recently a Charter School to be headed by Na`alehu public elementary school teacher Kathryn Tydlacka.
      About a dozen people met to discuss the school plan on May 25, according to a statement from the organizers. “Discussion about the potential impact of a modest charter school at the site ranged over almost two hours. Traffic to and from the school as well as safety of those now using and playing in the streets around the school itself merited some consideration.

Historic Pahala Hongwanji Japanese Schoolhouse now has a new roof and is being repainted with the windows being repaired and bathrooms fixed up. Photo by Julia Neal

      “There were questions regarding the nature of the educational program to be embraced at the new school. These will be addressed in detail at subsequent meetings conducted by the staff of the proposed charter school during June of this year,” the statement said.
      “They will be part of an iterative process to assure that the school will meet the needs of the community and will represent rigorous academic standards as well as preparation of students for careers in fields directly relevant to enhancing the economy of Ka`u,” the statement concluded.
      Neighboring resident Mike Silva said that in addition to traffic he is concerned about learning whether a Charter School could take away funding from the public Pahala School which has small numbers of students in each grade, with elementary school having as few as 20 and upper school grades having around 55 students. Taking away $13,000 per student budgeted for Pahala School each year could result in a $260,000 a year cut should 20 students leave Pahala School to go to the Charter School, he said. He also said the Charter School could affect funding at Na`alehu School.
      The Charter School, however, could also serve home schooled children who are not funded in the public schools and children who travel long distances to schools outside Ka`u. A letter handed out to some Pahala residents that announced last month’s meeting noted that the proposed school could be under the oversight of Kua O Ka La Charter School, which started as a Hawaiian immersion school in Puna.
      According to the County Planning Department, a school on the agriculturally and residentially zoned land at the Hongwanji location on Pa`a`au Street in Pahala would require a use permit, notification to neighbors, a public hearing and approval from the county Planning Commission. Tydlacka and other organizers said additional meetings about the proposed Charter School will soon be held in Pahala.

Photo from sunetric.com

IN THE SOLAR VOLTAIC ELECTRICITY BUSINESS, “the industry’s amazing growth has started to attract companies from the Mainland, and they are bringing with them new marketing strategies that are changing the way local companies do business,” according to a Pacific Business News story published today.
      The mainland competition is leaving some local entrepreneurs in the dust while others are surviving. The story by Duane Shimogawa points out that “California’s SolarCity and Utah’s Vivint Solar, for instance, were among the first to offer no-cost-to-the-consumer installation. Vivint, a large home-security installation company, filed permits for PV projects on O`ahu in January and February with a collective value of $9.1 million, putting it at the top of the industry, according to City and County of Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting data collected by Marco Mangelsdorf, president of Hilo-based ProVision Solar Inc.
      “Meanwhile, SolarCity ranked sixth in the same category during that time, with new projects with a collective permitted value of $4.7 million.
      “In terms of permits pulled during the first couple of months in 2013, Vivint accounted for 230 and SolarCity another 142, good for third and fourth, respectively, on O`ahu,” reports PBN.
      “I think in some respects, [the leasing model] opened up the market to more people, where this model wasn’t prevalent to the market,” Jon Yoshimura, director of government affairs in Hawai`i for SolarCity, told PBN. “What that ends up doing is it made solar available to more people,” he told the business news journal.
       He noted that the effort by larger Mainland companies to move to Hawai`i shows how strong the local market is. “If anything, the industry just continues to grow,” Yoshimura said, according to PBN.

       Aaron Kirk, chief operating officer of Sunetric, told PBN that “when his company started nearly a decade ago there weren’t any Mainland PV companies in Hawai`i. ‘It’s become much more competitive, and I do think that time will tell whether companies are coming into this market to cash in on the hot market or whether they will be here for a while or short span of time.’” See more at www.bizjournals.com/pacific/
      In Ka`u, the first commercial solar venture has permits for 18 lots in Hawaiian Ranchos and another solar developer is planning for about ten lots mauka, in Hawaiian Ocean View Estates.
      See more in yesterday’s Ka`u News Briefs.

CULTIVATING COMMUNITY is the name of a Green Sands community park event on Saturday. The festivities run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and include a Plant, Seed & Anything Garden Exchange. People are encouraged to bring plants, seeds, old garden tools or anything garden-related to trade and share with others.
       Anyone is welcome to join a composting workshop, sponsored by Recycle Hawai`i, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the park. Workshop fee is $10, and participants receive a voucher for a free Earth Machine.
       Local horticulturists, farmers and landscapers will be on site with booths, information and activities. Participants include Ted Bennett, of Bennett Farm & Nursery; Allison Yahna, of Artemis Smiles Honey Bee Sanctuary and Education; Olivia Ling, of OKOA Pottery and Native Landscaping; Lori Dahlstedt, sharing how to air layer plants. Jendayi will run the Keiki Corner full of garden-friendly fun, activities and crafts.
       The Green Sands Community Association will have burgers and hotdogs for sale by donation. Any donations are accepted and will go toward building a park pavilion. Reach the park by taking Ka`alu`alu Road off Hwy 11 in Wai`ohinu.

KA`U COFFEE FESTIVAL 2014 DATES have been announced by festival organizers. The Ho`olaule`a will be held on Saturday, May 10 with the Ka`u Coffee College to follow on Sunday, May 11, both at Pahala Community Center. Leading up to Ho`olaule`a weekend, Miss Ka`u Coffee Pageant will be on Friday, May 2 at Ka`u Coffee Mill. The Farmers Table dinner at Kalaekilohana will be Saturday, May 3. The Cookies, Candies & Crackers Triple C Recipe Contest will be at Ka`u Coffee Mill on Sunday, May 4. A hike to the rainforest and old plantation water system, leaving from Ka`u Coffee Mill will be Wednesday, May 7. Coffee & Cattle Day will be on Friday, May 9 at `Aikane Coffee Plantation and the Ka`u Star Gazing trek will start from Ka`u Coffee Mill on Friday, May 9.

Last night, several members of the Hawaiian Civic Club
of Ka`u held a weaving workshop for the Tropic Care
military team at OVCA as a thank
you for their services. Photo by Nancy Stafford

AIR FORCE, ARMY & NAVY HEALTH CARE RESERVISTS have been serving people of all walks of life this week and continue free checkups with dental, eye, physical, psychiatric and spiritual care this weekend from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Ka`u High School and Ocean View Community Center.  The Tropic Care team is joined by cardiology screening in the HMSA medical van at Ka`u High School through Satruday.
       The dentistry, optometry and medical care continue from 8 a.m.m through 4 p.m. until Wednesday, the last day, which is over at noon.

THE PEOPLE, A FINE ART EXHIBITION featuring original oil paintings and pastels by Vicki Penney-Rohner and Kira Kamamalu Ventrella starts tomorrow at the Volcano Art Center Gallery in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park with an opening reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The exhibit is open to the public daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Sunday, July 21. Penney-Rohner demonstrates her painting process this Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., followed by a talk with both artists from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. For more visit volcanoartcenter.org or call 967-7565.

ATLAS RECYCLING ACCEPTS RECYCLABLES at South Point U-Cart tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

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

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

Ka`u News Briefs, June 6, 2013

Hawai`i Health Connector, which is designed to help everyone get health insurance, joins Tropic Care free medical services in Pahala and Ocean View. Photo from www.hawaiihealthconnector.com

THE HAWAI`I HEALTH CONNECTOR will join Tropic Care, which is offering everyone free health screening and care from Air Force, Army and Navy reserve physicians, dentists, and optometrists. The screening and care takes place at Pahala High School and Ocean View Community Center daily through June 12. Hawai`i Health Connector will be onsite this weekend and early next week to assist individuals with obtaining health insurance as required by new federal law and help locate them appropriate programs. Tropic Care health care providers, who are Air Force, Army & Navy reservists, said they welcome everyone regardless of income or state of health to come to one of the two locations for free care from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily until noon next Wednesday.

HELCO CAME TO KA`U yesterday evening to go over its Integrated Resource Plan for the future which it will soon submit to the Public Utilities Commission. The meeting was poorly attended by local residents compared to the meeting late last year when residents asked numerous questions about the proposed `Aina Koa Pono refinery. The `Aina Koa Pono issue is still alive, however, with more answers from Hawai`i Electric Light Co. and Hawaiian Electric Industries to be submitted to the PUC within the next week.
      According to the plans presented to the public last night by HELCO biofuel is one of the possible future sources of energy for the electric company. HELCO officials, including the company president Jay Ignacio, talked about possibly using wood chips from existing eucalyptus plantations and other trees to feed its existing Puna electric plant that currently uses oil. Another possibility is the use of Liquid Natural Gas and HELCO is studying the cost of both along with the price to refit the power plant.

HELCO President Jay Ignacio came to Ka`u last night with plans for the future.
Photo by Julia Neal

     The utility and its sister companies across the state are making plans to lower customer bills, create a clean energy future, modernize the grid and come up with fairness policies, utility company representatives said. Fairness involves such issues as which source of electricity should be purchased when too much is coming on line for the load. For example, should all the power coming from existing windmills be purchased before taking the power produced by photovoltaic panels on homes? Under current pricing, the photovoltaic energy on homes is purchased at a higher price than alternatives, like wind, hydroelectric and geothermal. Is it fair to turn down more energy from those who have made large investments in wind, hydro, geothermal and even solar farms as more people install photovoltaics on their houses to feed back into the system?
      HELCO engineer Ken Waltjen explained that technologies are changing very fast and the utility has to make plans for the future that are flexible. Action plans will be made every three years and updated constantly, he said. The last Integrated Resource Plan for the electric companies was completed in 1998.
      Will Rolston, the county's Energy Coordinator, urged the public to weigh in on the planning and other utility issues on the PUC website by reading the documents and sending in comments to be posted in the official docket. Open dockets include `Aina Koa Pono and the planning for the utility company's future.
      Plans being made by HELCO include upgrading the hydroelectric plants on Wailuku River, decommissioning the Shipman electric plants Three and Four in Hilo, which are now on standby, and completing the review of proposals for independent energy producers to provide more geothermal for the grid. HELCO also plans to further study waste to energy projects and will confer with the county, which has also shown interest in making energy from waste that comes from households, businesses and other sources. To read HELCO and HECO planning documents, see www.irpie.com.

SOLAR HUB REPRESENTATIVES met with the Hawaiian Ranchos residents at Ocean View this week to answer questions about its planned solar installations on 18 empty houselots in the subdivision. Pat Shudak, of Solar Hub, told residents that the state and the governor of Hawai`i are committed to getting off of foreign oil. The premise is to use solar to keep the electricity cost from going higher, he said. He explained that the Public Utilities Commission and HECO started a feed in tariff program, allotting 60 megawatts for solar developers on O`ahu, 10 megawatts on Maui and 10 megawatts on the Big Island. He said the utility will buy the power for a cheaper price than the utility can produce it from oil and said the purchase price will be 23 cents per kilowatt hour. He said Solar Hub is locked into a set price for 20 years, which should help keep electric prices from going higher.

Eighteen one-acre solar panel installations are planned for Ranchos.
Photo from www.hawaiianliving.com

    Shudak said, in addition to his project, about ten other solar projects are proposed by developers mauka of the Hwy 11 in Hawai`i Ocean View Estates.
      The lots that were purchased by Solar Hub required three-phase power to accommodate the solar project.
"What are you bringing to this community?" asked one resident, contending that HELCO will not give the community cheaper electricity despite the solar project. Several talked about possible wear and tear on roads.
    One Solar Hub spokesman said the project would fund a  new substation near the highway that will stabilize power. A resident responded that there has never been a problem with black outs in Ranchos.
      “You are turning our subdivisions into an industrial complex,” said one person. Another said he preferred a responsible company – like Solar Hub - to come in and clean up lots and make nice landscaping over some uncared for lots where people raise dogs in Ranchos.
      Shudak said the solar lots would not be industrial eyesores. There would be one acre of solar panels on each 3-acre lot surrounded by a security fence and landscaping.
      One resident asked whether the Solar Hub project would preclude him from having his own feed-in tariff program in Ranchos. Shudak said he was told that the improvements to the electric grid brought in by the project should make it easier for the residents to install their own.
      HELCO is still negotiating with Solar Hub, which will be required to build a new substation for  HELCO, Shudak said.

LOW-INCOME FAMILES can sign up for assistance in paying their electric bills tomorrow at the Old Pahala Clubhouse on Maile Street from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and every Friday during the Month of June. Residents can also sign up Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Hawai`i Economic Opportunity Council office in Na`alehu office behind the community center.

OCEAN VIEW SUMMER FUN PROGRAM sponsored by Hawai`i County Parks & Recreation Department, will run from Monday, June 10 through Friday, July 19 at Kahuku Park from 8
a.m. to 2 p.m. for keiki who have completed kindergarten through sixth grade. There is still space available. Teresa Anderson (formerly

Teresa Anderson and Genny Galletes run Summer Fun in Ocean View.
Photo by Madalyn Mcwhite-Lamson

Alderdyce) was recently hired by Hawai`i County as a recreation technician at Kahuku Park and will lead the program with Genny Galletes. Both have been involved in organizing youth activities for many years in the Ka`u community.

      Registration fee is $100 per child ($20.00 payable by the parent/ family) and the remaining $80 to be subsidized by Friends of Kahuku Park, a committee of Ocean View Community Development Corp., as well as community donors. Robin Lamson , who started Friends of Kahuku Park in 2002 to improve the park, has retired as chairperson and has passed the torch to Genny Galletes.
      Summer Fun will have arts, crafts, sports, games, music and dance, nature exploration, special guests, snacks, etc. as well as five different excursions on Wednesdays to Punalu`u Beach (6/14 & 7/3), Makalapua Cinema (6/19), Kona Aquatics Center (6/26), and K.M.C. Bowling at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park (7/10). Register by or call Teresa at 929-9113 or Genny at 217-5593.