Ka`u News Briefs Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Traffic near Punalu`u was detoured onto Ninole Loop yesterday when a runaway brushfire reached and crossed Hwy 11.
Photos by Daryl Lee licensed to The Ka`u Calendar

A RUNAWAY BRUSHFIRE NEAR Punalu`u at the intersection of Hwy 11 and Ninole Loop closed the highway yesterday. According to Assistant Fire Chief Glen Honda, the fire burned 217 acres. The wind-fed blaze crossed Hwy 11 and spread up the hillside, coming as close as 200 yards from homes.

Scorched earth following yesterday's brushfire near Punalu`u. Photo by Daryl Lee

      Fire personnel are still in the area to monitor against possible flare-ups.
      During the fire, traffic was detoured onto Ninole Loop.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

KAHUKU COASTAL PROPERTY PRESERVATION comes before Hawai`i County Council tomorrow. Resolution 184-15 authorizes the mayor to enter into an agreement with the state of Hawai`i, Board of Land and Natural Resources and Legacy Land Conservation Commission and to accept funds for acquisition of the parcel makai of Ocean View. According to the resolution, the purchase would expand monitoring, management and protection of the potential Hawksbill turtle nesting habitat.

      On Sept. 16, 2011, the county applied for funding by grant in the amount of $621,245 from the state, Board of Land & Natural Resources and Legacy Land Conservation Commission for acquisition of the 3,127.95 acres at Tax Map Key parcel (3)9-2-01:75. The request was approved by LLCC on Dec. 14, 2011 and by BLNR on May 11, 2012.

Kahuku Coastal Property preservation is on Hawai`i County Council's
agenda tomorrow.

      On Jan. 16, 2012, the state Department of Land & Natural Resources applied for funding by grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish & Wildlife Service, Recovery Land Acquisition program. That request for more than $1.2 million was approved Sept. 10, 2012.
      An additional $761,641comes from the county’s Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Committee, funded by two percent of collected property taxes.

      Total funding is $2.6 million.

      Tomorrow’s meeting at 9 a.m. at Council Chambers in Hilo is streamed live at hawaiicounty.gov. Click on Council Meetings.

      Ka`u residents can participate via videoconferencing at Ocean View Community Center.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Miss Ka`u Coffee 2014 Amery Silva is featured
in a new Japanese guidebook.

MISS KA`U COFFEE 2014 AMERY SILVA is featured in a new Japanese tour book for the Big Island of Hawai`i. She introduces a section in the Globe-Trotter Travel Guidebook entitled Volcano – South Point. Points of interest listed include Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, Volcano Village businesses, Pahala Plantation House, Aikane Coffee Plantation, Moa`ula Ka`u Cloud Rest Coffee stop, Ka`u Coffee Mill, Pahala Hongwanji, Wood Valley Temple, Punalu`u Black Sand Beach, Honu`apo Green Sand Beach, Punalu`u Bake Shop and Ka Lae Coffee.

      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

TODAY’S OVERLOOK CRATER LAVA LAKE, which first formed in 2008 at the summit of Kilauea Volcano, has already outlasted all other Halema`uma`u lava lakes since 1924, according to Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s latest issue of Volcano Watch. Scientists give a history of previous lava lakes in the article.
      “Over the past week, lava has risen within the Halema`uma`u Overlook crater (active vent at the summit of Kilauea) and overflowed onto the floor of the larger Halema`uma`u Crater. As a result, visitation to Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park has skyrocketed. This is understandable because it’s the first time that a lake of lava within Halema`uma`u Crater has been visible from park visitor overlooks since 1974.
      “The Overlook crater opened on March 19, 2008, but until this week, only the gas plume and nighttime glow from the vent had been visible. Over the years, the vent opening enlarged as parts of its rim spalled off and dropped dramatically into the lava lake. Today, the opening is about 160 meters (175 yards) wide and about 220 m (240 yds) long, and the lava lake within it slowly circulates – ascending in the north and descending in the south.
      “This is the16th lava lake hosted in Halema`uma`u Crater since the explosions of May 1924, which doubled the crater’s width and increased its depth to about 410 m (450 yds).
      “From 1924 to 1934, seven lava lakes occurred in Halema`uma`u, each lasting from two to 33 days. After 1934, Kilauea Volcano was completely inactive until June 27, 1952, when an active lava lake reoccupied Halema`uma`u for 136 days. Four more short-lived lava lakes popped up in the crater in 1954 and 1961. Accumulation of lava from these 11 lakes decreased the depth of Halema`uma`u Crater to 170 m (186 yds).

Firefighters head toward the blaze on Ninole Loop. Photo by Daryl Lee

      “In early November 1967, another lava lake was created by an eruption that occurred in phases over a period of 251 days. By the time the eruption ended on July 13, 1968, Halema`uma`u Crater had been filled with another 100 m (110 yds) of lava.

      “The 1967-1968 eruption produced perched lava lakes or ponds. These are bodies of circulating lava that build their own rims, much like an above-ground swimming pool. The 1967-1968 eruptive phases typically started with lava erupting from, and covering most of, the Halema`uma`u Crater floor before being confined within its perched boundaries. The rest of the eruptive phase would consist of stationary and migrating spattering sources, or low lava fountains, within the perched circulating lava lake.

      “Not long after the 1967-1968 summit eruption ended, activity picked up in Kilauea’s upper East Rift Zone, where, in 1969, the Mauna Ulu eruption began. Twenty-nine months later, Mauna Ulu activity waned, and Kilauea’s summit started to inflate rapidly. On August 14, 1971, a brief fissure eruption occurred in the east summit caldera. This was followed in September by a five-day eruption in the Southwest Rift Zone and within Halema`uma`u Crater, where lava fountains filled a broad ring along the outer edges of the crater before the summit activity ceased.

      “But changes within Halema`uma`u Crater were not only due to lava filling. By the end of the September 1971 eruption, the central part of the floor, still covered with 1968 lava, had dropped 45 m (49 yds), leaving a 150-m- (165-yd-) wide bench of lava about halfway up the crater walls. The bench is now narrower, but can still be seen about halfway up the walls of Halema`uma`u Crater.

This example of a perched lava lake within Pu`u `O`o in May 2011 shows what could
happen with Kilauea's current summit lava lake. Lava overflowing the vent could
build a levee around the lake and increasing the rim's height. Photo from HVO  

      “In February 1972, eruptive activity resumed at Mauna Ulu in Kilauea’s upper East Rift Zone and continued until late July 1974. This was followed by three brief eruptions at the summit and upper Southwest Rift Zone of Kilauea. The second of these eruptions included a fissure that crossed the floor of Halema`uma`u Crater on Sept. 19, 1974. But unlike the September 1971 eruption, the September 1974 eruption remained within Kilauea Caldera.
      “The 1974 fissure erupted for less than half a day, but lava covered the Halema`uma`u Crater floor – except for the tops of three high spatter cones formed in the 1967-1968 eruption – before the lava level dropped about seven m (eight yds). The current floor of Halema`uma`u Crater is what remains of the September 1974 eruption… .
      “Will (the volcano) continue to build a perched lava lake on the Halema`uma`u Crater floor? Or will the lava lake collapse back into the crater in response to another rift zone breakout? Whatever happens, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists will be closely watching and documenting the activity.”
      See hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

AUDITIONS FOR KDEN’S PRODUCTION of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I are coming up. Auditions will be held on Monday and Tuesday, May 18 and 19 at 6:30 p.m. at Kilauea Military Camp Theater in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. 

      The show is directed by Suzi Bond, with musical direction by Kait Wilson and choreography by Carmen Richardson. Pedro Ka`awaloa conducts the orchestra, Jonathan Sudler is designing the set and costume construction is lead by Helie Rock.

      The story is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam, by Margaret Landon. English widow, Anna Leonowens, and her young son arrive at the Royal Palace in Bangkok, having been summoned by the King to serve as tutor to his many children and wives. The king is largely considered to be a barbarian by those in the West, and he seeks Anna’s assistance in changing his image, if not his ways. With both keeping a firm grip on their respective traditions and values, Anna and the King grow to understand and, eventually, respect one another, in a unique love story.
      KDEN’s summer musical is a family affair with parts available for all ages. Principal parts are available for three women, two men and two boys. There are featured roles for two men and a singing-dancing ensemble consisting of royal dancers, wives, children, priests and amazons. Auditioneers should be prepared to sing with accompaniment and dance some. Dress comfortably to be able to move freely on stage. There will be some line readings for those interested in the lead roles.
      For more information, contact KDEN at 982-7344 or kden73@aol.com.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

CINCO DE MAYO BUFFET TAKES PLACE today from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Kilauea Military Camp’s Crater Rim Café in Hawa`‘i Volcanoes National Park. Cost is $18 per adult and $9 per child $9. KMC is open to authorized patrons and sponsored guests. Park entrance fees apply; Call 967-8371 for more information.

HISTORIAN DAWN DUENSING DISCUSSES National Park Service roads in Hawai`i during After Dark in the Park this evening at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. $2 donations support After Dark programs. Park entrance fees apply.

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

See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_May2015.pdf.

See kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.pdf and
kaucalendar.com/Directory2105.swf.

Ka`u News Briefs Monday, May 4, 2015

Rock falling from the wall of Halema`uma`u Crater into the Overlook Crater's lava lake caused an explosion yesterday afternoon.
Photo from USGS/HVO

VOLCANIC ACTIVITY CONTINUES at the summit of Kilauea Volcano.
      A collapse of a portion of the wall of Halema`uma`u Crater impacted the lava lake yesterday afternoon at 1:20 p.m. and triggered an explosive event, which deposited fist-size clasts around the rim of Halema`uma`u Crater, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists reported.
      HVO seismologists reported that a magnitude-3.6 earthquake in the upper East Rift Zone occurred this morning at 4:42 a.m. and was widely felt in the Volcano Village area.
      The lava lake level has been at, or near, the rim of the Overlook crater over the past day, but the lake did not overflow onto the floor of Halema`uma`u Crater during that period. Yesterday afternoon, the lava lake level was measured at roughly three yards above the original, pre-overflow floor of Halema`uma`u Crater. The recent overflows have accumulated and built the rim of the Overlook crater up several yards above the original floor. This morning, the lava level is close to the rim of the Overlook crater.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

David Waldman confirmed the increase sophistication
of coffee buyers.

KEEP THE QUALITY HIGH, coffee experts and statewide Hawai`i Farm Bureau President and Ka`u Coffee Festival organizer Chris Manfredi urged coffee farmers yesterday. They were speaking at Ka`u Coffee College, the last event of ten days of festival experience. 

      David Waldman of Rojo’s Roastery in Princeton and Lambertville, N.J. talked about increased sophistication of coffee buyers in the high end market. “There is no fooling people anymore about quality of coffee. They will pay high prices for high quality.” He said that ten years ago people didn’t want the citrus flavors of lighter roasts, but now they want to experience these specific qualities. He said that people are using less milk with coffee, showing they want to taste it. He said customers will pay $5 for a pour-over, but the coffee has to be excellent. He urged farmers to allow buyers to visit with them, see the farms, the soil, the trees and to sit with them to cup coffee and be open to suggestions.
      Andy Newbom, a coffee buyer from San Diego, talked about tough competition in pricing, with excellent coffee coming from countries where there is cheaper land and less expensive labor than in Hawai`i. He said this makes it all the more important for Ka`u to preserve the highest of standards and to share the farmers’ stories that connect with coffee drinkers and also to distinguish Ka`u from Kona coffee. He shared his saying, “Never give customers what they want. Only give them what you do best.” He said it is not resasonable to think that a coffee business can be sustained by riding on the fame of Hawai`i as a visitor destination. “You have had it easy,” he said.

Andrea Kawabata, of University of Hawai`i, encourages Ka`u farmers
to methodically manage the Coffee Berry Borer problem
to save Ka`u's excellent reputation. Photo by Julia Neal

      Andrea Kawabata, from University of Hawai`i, also encouraged high quality. “Once you have tarnished your reputation, it is hard to get it back,” she said. She urged farmers to look toward long-term rather than short-term profit. She said that coffee berry borer treatments have to be planned carefully. “If CBB subsidies (funding) doesn’t come in, spray anyway,” she urged. Farmers were told to save the receipts for possible reimbursement.
      Dr. Andrew Hetzel talked about many defects that can degrade coffee beans. He talked about sour beans, withered beans, immature, broken and chipped beans all being detriments to holding onto a reputation for specialty coffee. Defects can come from farming, harvesting, processing, transportation and storage methods. All of these have to be handled with the utmost care to keep coffee reputation and prices high, he said. He encouraged farmers to frequently cup their own coffee and those of other farmers and coffees from around the world and to learn to detect defects and how to prevent them.
      Manfredi encouraged farmers to keep up with treatments for CBB. “Don’t wait. The bugs don’t know that the grant is coming.” He suggested strip-picking at the end of the season and to spray early. He also talked high prices. “For us to sell Ka`u, we need the quality.”
      Farmers were urged to become involved with the Hawai`i Coffee Association’s annual convention this summer. See www.hawaiicoffeeassoc.org.

Andy Newborn talked about tough competition in coffee pricing. Hawai`i Farm Bureau
President Chris Manfredi, left, urged farmers to keep up the quality.
Photo by Julia Neal

A BILL THAT WOULD PHASE OUT the non-dedicated agricultural use assessment program and replace it with a short-term dedicated agricultural use assessment program is on Hawai`i County Council Finance Committee’s agenda tomorrow at 1 p.m. 

      According to Bill 317, the purpose of the agricultural use assessment program is to encourage continual and committed agricultural use of lands.
      “In order to achieve this purpose, the Council finds it necessary to phase out the non-dedicated agricultural use assessment program and replace that program with a short-term dedicated agricultural use assessment program,” the bill reads. “This ordinance provides for a three-year transition period to provide ample opportunity to implement the transition to the short-term agricultural use dedication program and to provide ample opportunity for those seeking to participate in the short-term agricultural use dedication program to make any necessary adjustments in their farming operations. The requirements of this three-year short-term agricultural use dedicated program parallels those of the existing ten-year dedicated agricultural use program.

      “This ordinance does not propose any changes to the existing ten-year agricultural use dedicated program. Thereafter, those parcels not in a three-year short-term dedicated agricultural use program or the ten-year dedicated agricultural use program shall be assessed at market value.”

Dr. Andrew Hetzel explained the importance of reducing defects of coffee going
to market, from husks in green beans to chipped, dried out and unripened beans.
He said coffee enthusiasts are becoming more sophisticated in their ability
to taste specialty coffee. Photo by Julia Neal

      The bill defines commercial agricultural activity as “use of property to generate income, monetary gain or economic benefit in the form of money or money’s worth of a minimum $2,000 annual gross income per family operation.”
      Ka`u residents can participate in this and other committee meetings tomorrow. Videoconferencing is available at Ocean View Community Center, and the meetings are also streamed live at hawaiicounty.gov. Click on Council Meetings.
      Public Works and Parks & Recreation meets at 9 a.m.; Public Safety & Mass Transit, 9:30 a.m.; Agriculture, Water & Energy Sustainability, 10 a.m.; and Finance, 1 p.m.

      The full council meets Wednesday at 9 a.m. All meetings take place at Council Chambers in Hilo.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN for Volcano Rain Forest Runs on Saturday, Aug. 22.

      All runs start and finish at Cooper Center on Wright Road in the heart of Volcano Village and traverse the quaint village roads through the native rain forest and ranch lands with stunning views of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa in the distance.
      The Half Marathon is the final race of the Triple Crown Hawai`i, along with the Big Island International Marathon and the Kona Marathon. Medals are awarded at the Volcano Rain Forest Runs.

      Entry fees for runners who register by June 1 are $65 for the Half Marathon, $40 for the 10K and $25 for the 5K. Fees increase after June 1 and again after Aug. 1.
      For more information and to register, see volcanorainforestruns.com.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

THE PUBLIC IS INVITED to Ka`u Scenic Byway Committee’s meeting today at 5 p.m. at Na`alehu Methodist Church. Agenda items include an update on the Na`alehu Park kiosk, communications from the state Scenic Byway Committee and locations of proposed lava flow signs in the Kahuku area.
      For more information, email richmorrow@alohabroadband.net.

CINCO DE MAYO BUFFET TAKES PLACE tomorrow from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Kilauea Military Camp’s Crater Rim Café in Hawa`‘i Volcanoes National Park. Cost is $18 per adult and $9 per child $9. KMC is open to authorized patrons and sponsored guests. Park entrance fees apply; Call 967-8371 for more information.

The history of roads in Hawai`i's national parks is the topic tomorrow
at After Dark in the Park. Photo from NPS

THE TOPIC AT AFTER DARK IN THE PARK tomorrow is Lying Lightly on the Land: National Park Service Roads in Hawai`i. Historian Dawn Duensing has studied Hawai`i’s scenic roads since 1999, when she prepared a history of roads in Hawai`i National Park for the Historic American Engineering Record, a division of the National Park Service. This illustrated presentation highlights challenges, construction techniques and design principles involved in building Hawai`i’s national park roads, while explaining why these roads are important in contemporary Hawai`i. Building on her extensive NPS experience and research, Dawn’s new book, Hawai`i’s Scenic Roads: Paving the Way for Tourism in the Islands, examines the political, economic, social and environmental history of the islands’ most renowned scenic drives, including those at Hawai`i Volcanoes and Haleakala National Parks. 

      The program begins at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. $2 donations support After Dark programs. Park entrance fees apply.

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

See kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.pdf and
kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.swf.

Ka`u News Briefs Sunday, May 3, 2015

Halau Hula o Leionalani, under the direction of Kumu Hula Debbie Ryder, perform at Ka`u Coffee Festival Ho`olaule`a.
Photo by Julia Neal

TEN DAYS OF KA`U COFFEE FESTIVAL EVENTS concluded this morning with Ka`u Coffee College at Pahala Community Center. Yesterday’s ho`olaule`a there featured a full day of entertainment, with performers coming from as far away as Japan.

Annabelle Orcino receives her $1,000 prize from Miss Ka`u
Coffee Maria Miranda and Chris Manfredi. Photo by Julia Neal

      Miss Ka`u Coffee Maria Miranda was on hand to present Annabelle Orcino with a check for $1,000 that she won in the Buy Local It Matters drawing. The promotion encouraged residents to frequent local businesses.
      Booths lined the park’s perimeter, offering plate lunches, poi, sandwiches, snacks, baked goods, beverages, health and farm information, and Ka`u Coffee tastings and sales.
      Ka`u Coffee Experience participants sampled Ka`u Coffees prepared using a wide variety techniques served by expert baristas. Brew methods included Hario Pour-over, Clever, French Press, Chemex and Toddy Cold-brew plus a variety of prepared espresso beverages.
      Buses left throughout the day for tours of Ka`u Coffee farms and Ka`u Coffee Mill, where participants learned how beans are processed and roasted while enjoying coffee tastings and demonstrations.
      See kaucoffeefestival.com.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

HCEOC members and supporters at rededication of the center in Na`alehu.
Photo by Nancy Stafford

OFFICE OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY rededicated its center on the grounds of Na`alehu Park yesterday. OEO was a nationwide part of Pres. Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. The local program later became Hawai`i County Economic Opportunity Council. 

      According to HCEOC Housing & LIHEAP’s retired Program Manager Mary Miho Finley, the program grew out of a need for activities for children. “There was nothing for the kids or young people in those days,” Finley said.
        Finley said recently retired HCEOC Executive Director George Yokoyama, who was in charge of youth programs at the time, challenged the kids. “What do you want?” he asked. “As they had been kicked out of meeting at the shopping center, in the park by police, got rained out in the tennis courts, etc., they asked for a place of their own,” Finley said. “The young people – over 150 from eight years old to high school, from Na`alehu to Ocean View – said they wanted a place of their own that they could not be kicked out of. Yokoyama said, ‘You will have to mobilize resources to make this happen.’

Ka`u Coffee Growers Co-op Pres. Gloria Camba joins Miss Ka`u Coffee Second
Princess Vivien Santos, Miss Ka`u Coffee Maria Miranda and First Princess
Joyce Ibasan at Ka`u Coffee Festival Ho`olaule`a. Photo by Julia Neal

         “ADM Investment was beginning the development of Punalu`u Resort and in the process had to demolish an old gentlemen’s clubhouse. ADM said the youth could have the building if they would take it down. It just happened that Dante Carpenter, who later became councilman from Ka`u and still later the Mayor of Hawai`i County) was working for C. Brewer/Ka`u Sugar at the time and took an interest in the kids and their plight. He made arrangements for Ka`u Sugar to provide the land where the youth clubhouse got built that has been used by HCEOC as an office, teaching center and a center of services to serve the disadvantaged. Ka`u Sugar later donated the entire Na`alehu Park to the county. But at this time they were the owners and gave the youth permission to construct their clubhouse on a back portion of the property.)
        “Others who helped were Job Corps, a young people’s training program that was stationed at Kilauea Military Camp. Their leader was Pilipo Kenoi. They who knew how to build and volunteered to help the Ka`u young people. In addition, KMC provided a driver and flat-bed truck to move the building materials being generated by the Punalu`u demolition. Ka`u Sugar also helped with building material transport. Two of the truck drivers were Adolpho Pascubilio and Joe Tassill.

Na Hoku Hanohano Award-nominated Bolo
entertained the crowd. Photo by Julia Neal

        “This project became the happening thing during that summer, with young people coming from Keaukaha Rap Center and HCEOC youth groups in Laupahoehoe and even Honoka`a to help with the build.
        “As the building took shape, the project was entered into a national an OEO/Community Action contest, and the Na`alehu Youth Clubhouse took fourth place and was awarded a $750 prize. HPM donated the building plans and prepared the building permits. Atherton and McInerny foundations and Hilo Kiwanis donated funds. Tommy Ishimaru donated construction of the cesspool. Na`alehu Community Club donated a kitchen sink and pool and ping-pong tables. Several Ka`u families (the Beck `ohana, Kailiawa and others) helped their young people with this project that took up most of a year. During this time, police reports confirm that crime went down.
        Mayor Billy Kenoi, Contractor Micheal Tonini, former Youth Advisor Anna Cariaga, former Ka`u District Supervisor Mary Evangelista offered comments, emphasizing the importance of investing in our young people, as they are our future. Several other members of the youth gang also attended, and we had a good time listening to their recollections of the hard work, the challenges, the good times and the wonderful memories of this seminal event in their young lives.”
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

THE BIG ISLAND AND OTHER neighbor island counties would be allowed to raise the four-percent state sales tax by a half a percent to fund local transportation projects, should the measure pass final votes at the state Legislature. Permission to raise the General Excise Tax would be allowed from 2018 though 2027. The idea passed a Senate and House conference committee, unanimously, Friday. The impetus for the tax hike came from proponents of O`ahu’s new rail system which is under construction and strapped for cash.

Will Tabios tries his luck at CU Hawai`i Federal Credit Union's
Wheel of Fortune. Photo by Julia Neal

      An effort that would have required counties raising the GE tax to assume ownership of “roads in limbo” like the end of Kama`oa Road near South Point Road and the old cane haul road between Pahala and Na`alehu failed to make it through House and Senate negotiations.
      The tax hike bill is expected to go through House and Senate floor votes this week and be sent to Gov. David Ige for his signature. Should it pass, the County Council would have to pass its own measure in order to raise the sales tax locally.
      To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

HAWAI`I ISLAND POLICE ARE WARNING the public about scams known as advance fee schemes.
      In one recent case, a 62-year-old Kona woman received a check for more than $6,000 that appeared to be from a known legitimate bank. Along with the check was a letter claiming she had won money in a lottery and advising her to deposit the check into her bank account and then wire a fee to the sender. The woman was suspicious and took the check to her bank, where she learned that it was counterfeit.

The Inouye family from Japan joined Demetrius Oliveira on stage.
Photo by Julia Neal

      Financial institutions have informed police that these types of scams are common. They can include claims of winnings, gifts, investments, loans or other proposed opportunities. The common factor is that the victim pays money to someone with an expectation of receiving something of greater value but doesn’t receive it.
      If they receive a suspicious check, they should take it to their financial institution to verify its authenticity. Recipients of questionable checks should not send any fee money until the check clears the bank.
      The public should be particularly leery of companies that have only a post office box number rather than a street address and don’t have a direct telephone line that is answered when called. If they are unfamiliar with a business, they should check with the State Department of Consumer Affairs or the Better Business Bureau to see if it is legitimate and reputable.
       To comment on or like this story, go to facebook.com/kaucalendar.

Aikane Plantation's Phil Becker, seated, manned the ho`olaule`a's
information booth. Photo by Julia Neal

SUMMER FUN REGISTRATION BEGINS Monday for the program June 8 to July 17. Summer Fun consists of arts and crafts projects, indoor/outdoor games, sports, music, dance, nature exploration, swimming special events and excursions. 

      For more information, call Nona at 928-3102 at Pahala Community Center or Richard at 939-2510 at Na`alehu Community Center.

KA`U SCENIC BYWAY COMMITTEE meets tomorrow at 5 p.m. at Na`alehu Methodist Church. Agenda items include an update on Na`alehu Park kiosk, communications from the state Scenic Byway Committee and locations of proposed lava flow signs in the Kahuku area.
      The public is invited. For more information, email richmorrow@alohabroadband.net.

CINCO DE MAYO BUFFET TAKES PLACE Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Kilauea Military Camp’s Crater Rim Café in Hawa`‘i Volcanoes National Park. Cost is $18 per adult and $9 per child $9. KMC is open to authorized patrons and sponsored guests. Park entrance fees apply; Call 967-8371 for more information.

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

See kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.pdf and
kaucalendar.com/Directory2015.swf.