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| Nonbinding mediation could begin in January regarding the state's failure to issue homestead awards to Native Hawaiians. |
NONBINDING MEDIATION COULD BEGIN in January as an attempt to resolve a class-action lawsuit filed in 1999 regarding the state’s failure to issue homestead awards to Native Hawaiians in a timely manner, reports Rob Perez in Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Hawai`i Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that claimants have a right to sue for monetary damages, and plaintiffs are only those who filed claims with the Native Hawaiian Claims Panel between 1991 and 1995. The plaintiffs allege breach of trust in the management and disposition of trust resources between 1959 and 1988. Complaints included Hawaiians waiting for houselots, homes and land; some of them died while on the waiting list for decades. Other complaints include the state losing their applications, being unable to leave their homes and farms to their children and being given uninhabitable properties. Most are Native Hawaiians still on the waiting list for Hawaiian Home Lands. |
| DHHL has 11,312 acres in Ka`u. Map from DHHL's Ka`u Region Plan |
The Hawaiian Home Lands Trust was established by Congress in 1921 to rehabilitate Native Hawaiians by awarding them homesteads. The state of Hawai`i assumed the trust obligation when it became a state in Aug. 1959.
In 1991, the state waived its sovereign immunity and granted Home Lands Trust beneficiaries the right to sue for past breaches of trust between 1959 and 1988. HRS Chapter 674 established a Native Hawaiian Claims Panel to consider claims and recommend resolution of claims to the state Legislature. More than 2,700 beneficiaries filed over 4,000 claims with the Claims Panel between 1991 and 1995.
In 1999, the state eliminated the Claims Panel that reviewed breaches of trust by the state between 1959 and 1988, prompting the class-action lawsuit. The judge ruled that the claimants had the right to sue the state because the Claims Panel did not complete its work.
The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has 11,312 acres in Ka`u. Hawaiian Home Lands in Ka`u are located in the ahupua`a of Wai`ohinu; Kama`oa, Pu`ue`o and Ke at South Point; and Wailau, Ninole and Ka`a, above Punalu`u.
The state also own 237,410 acres managed by the Department of Land & Natural Resources.
Other large landowners in Ka`u are Kamehameha Schools, with about 67,357 acres, and the U.S. Government, which owns more than 117,000 acres in its Kahuku section of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, making the total acreage owned by the national park in Ka`u some 246,690 acres.
Read about the history of Hawaiian Home Lands in Ka`u, along with archaeology and the meaning of place names in the Ka`u Region Plan by Hawaiian Home Lands Trust at http://dhhl.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Kau-Regional-Plan-Draft-120323.pdf.
A FREE HAWAIIAN MUSIC SONGWRITERS RETREAT is offered this Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Environmental Education Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Kenneth Makuakane and Kaliko Trapp-Beamer help beginning participants create original Hawaiian compositions through interactive presentations and small group sessions in haku mele and leo.
The workshop is limited to 20 participants. Park entrance fees apply.
To sign up, contact Elizabeth Bell at 985-6019 or elizabeth_bell.nps.gov.
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.
In 1991, the state waived its sovereign immunity and granted Home Lands Trust beneficiaries the right to sue for past breaches of trust between 1959 and 1988. HRS Chapter 674 established a Native Hawaiian Claims Panel to consider claims and recommend resolution of claims to the state Legislature. More than 2,700 beneficiaries filed over 4,000 claims with the Claims Panel between 1991 and 1995.
In 1999, the state eliminated the Claims Panel that reviewed breaches of trust by the state between 1959 and 1988, prompting the class-action lawsuit. The judge ruled that the claimants had the right to sue the state because the Claims Panel did not complete its work.
The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has 11,312 acres in Ka`u. Hawaiian Home Lands in Ka`u are located in the ahupua`a of Wai`ohinu; Kama`oa, Pu`ue`o and Ke at South Point; and Wailau, Ninole and Ka`a, above Punalu`u.
The state also own 237,410 acres managed by the Department of Land & Natural Resources.
Other large landowners in Ka`u are Kamehameha Schools, with about 67,357 acres, and the U.S. Government, which owns more than 117,000 acres in its Kahuku section of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, making the total acreage owned by the national park in Ka`u some 246,690 acres.
Read about the history of Hawaiian Home Lands in Ka`u, along with archaeology and the meaning of place names in the Ka`u Region Plan by Hawaiian Home Lands Trust at http://dhhl.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Kau-Regional-Plan-Draft-120323.pdf.
To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.
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| Sen. Brian Schatz |
“PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS TAKEN THE PROPER STEP in announcing that he will seek Congressional authorization before taking military action (in Syria),” Sen. Brian Schatz said in a statement. “Congress must weigh in. And this decision should spur an important debate, allowing us to review the facts. Most importantly, this assures the country that the gravity of taking military action is weighed fully before decisions are made. I will continue to participate in briefings with the President’s senior national security advisors and reviewing relevant intelligence in order to give this decision the serious consideration it deserves.”
Previously, Schatz released the following statement on the situation in Syria: “The President and his National Security team have provided strong evidence that the Assad regime is responsible for the recent horrific chemical weapons attack against innocent Syrian civilians. We must send a clear message that the use of chemical weapons is abhorrent and will not be tolerated by the United States or the international community. It is important that whatever actions the United States takes in Syria are consistent with America’s long-term strategic interests and are done with as broad an international coalition as possible. I know that the President, his National Security team, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff are thinking carefully about their options in the coming days. The War Powers Act provides procedures for Congress and the President to participate in decisions to send U.S. Armed Forces into hostilities, and it is critically important that both the executive and legislative branches comply with the provisions of the Act which require Congressional consultation.”
To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.
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| Videoconferencing is available at Ocean View Community Association Center during Wednesday's county meeting on GMOs. |
HAWAI`I COUNTY COUNCIL’S COMMITTEE on Public Safety & Mass Transit considers two bills regarding genetically modified organisms Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. at Council Chambers in Hilo. Ka`u’s Council member Brenda Ford has introduced a bill calling for a total ban on GMOs except for research located in a biosafety level three containment facility, and Kohala Council member Margaret Wille has drafted a new bill after withdrawing her original one. Wille’s bill would allow GMO papaya to be grown.
Both bills call for a $100 GMO crop registration fee and penalties of up to $1,000 per day per violation. Ford’s bill includes an option of up to 30 days in jail.
Ka`u residents can participate in the meeting and provide testimony via videoconferencing from Ocean View Community Association Center.
Ka`u residents can participate in the meeting and provide testimony via videoconferencing from Ocean View Community Association Center.
To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.
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| Lisa Kimura |
NONPROFITS NEED A NEW BUSINESS MODEL to thrive today, according to a story by Jenna Blakely in Pacific Business News. “The old business model of applying for numerous grants and dabbling into various areas of service is not the way to run a nonprofit organization anymore,” she said.
Blakely suggested that one method to increase revenue is to have fundraisers. She interviewed Lisa Kimura, executive director of Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawai`i, who said grants “worked as far as maintaining existing programs, but as far as doing anything new, we can’t do that without more money.”
Kimura said, “I think a good goal is to raise at least 15 percent of our total revenue from fundraisers.” The organization has also begun to ask people to donate.
Collaboration and formation of partnerships are other keys to nonprofits’ success, Blakely said. She spoke to Jennifer Creed, a director at Hawai`i Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations, who said that the more nonprofits there are in the community, the more competitive funding becomes.
See more at bizjournals.com/pacific.
Kimura said, “I think a good goal is to raise at least 15 percent of our total revenue from fundraisers.” The organization has also begun to ask people to donate.
Collaboration and formation of partnerships are other keys to nonprofits’ success, Blakely said. She spoke to Jennifer Creed, a director at Hawai`i Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations, who said that the more nonprofits there are in the community, the more competitive funding becomes.
See more at bizjournals.com/pacific.
To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.
“WE ARE GOING TO MOLOKAI!” proclaims the post on Ka`u High School football’s Facebook page. Team member volunteers who have been raising money for travel required for the new eight-man football schedule express their mahalos: “Thank you to the community, families and everyone that is making this eight-man season possible. Thank you to the boys that were able to come out for a fundraiser and work your butts off: Tala`i, Nalu, Devin, Dalton, Cy, RJ, Anthony, Chance, Makana. This season is gonna be awesome….”
The first game for the Trojans is this Friday at home against Seabury Hall from Maui at 6 p.m.
To comment on or “Like” this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.
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| Tom Peek, author of Daughters of Fire, offers a writing workshop this weekend. Photo by Julia Neal |
INNER EXPLORATION AND LIFE REFLECTION, a writing workshop with Tom Peek, takes place Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Volcano Art Center’s Ni`aulani Campus in Volcano Village. The workshop is for journal keepers, autobiographers, spiritual seekers, memoir and family history writers, and anyone who enjoys writing. No previous writing experience is necessary. Fee is $100 or $90 for VAC members. Call 967-8222 to register.
A FREE HAWAIIAN MUSIC SONGWRITERS RETREAT is offered this Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Environmental Education Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Kenneth Makuakane and Kaliko Trapp-Beamer help beginning participants create original Hawaiian compositions through interactive presentations and small group sessions in haku mele and leo.
The workshop is limited to 20 participants. Park entrance fees apply.
To sign up, contact Elizabeth Bell at 985-6019 or elizabeth_bell.nps.gov.
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.
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