Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Exploring Pu`u o Lokuana at the Kahuku Unit of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park is one activity of the park's free Summer Junior Ranger Program. See more below. Photo from NPS

HAWAI`I STATE LEGISLATURE’S $389 million capital improvements budget includes projects in Ka`u.

The state Legislature's budget includes funds to repair
and/or replace Ninole Bridge. Photo by Julia Neal

      The budget calls for $150,000 for design and construction of walkway lighting, ground and site improvements, and equipment and appurtenances at Ka`u High School.

      Na`alehu Elementary School would receive $290,000 to address repair and maintenance projects, including repairing and resurfacing wood hallways, improving drainage, constructing a wheelchair lift and replacing gutters, downspouts, basketball poles and hoops.
      Eight million dollars is allocated for rehabilitation and/or replacement of Ninole Bridge along Hwy 11.
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HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK offers free Summer Junior Ranger Programs beginning June 7 and June 14. Keiki from ages seven to 13 years old are invited to “Find Your Park” and become junior rangers through the park’s free Keiki o Hawai`i Nei summer program during the park’s centennial year. A fun-filled, three-day program for keiki ages seven to 10 is June 7-9, and a program for youngsters ages 11 to 13 is June 14-16.

Ranger Noah teaches keiki how to play the Hawaiian
game konane. Photo from NPS

      Each age group begins Tuesday and ends on Thursday. For the first two days, Keiki o Hawai`i Nei begins at 8 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m. On the last day (Thursday), the program begins at 7:30 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. The programs start and end at Kilauea Visitor Center lanai.

      Keiki o Hawai`i Nei is designed to encourage a child’s enthusiasm for discovery by connecting the child with the park’s resources and staff, and to inspire his or her appreciation of what is uniquely Hawaiian by exploring the natural and cultural heritage of Hawai`i.
      Participants must bring and be able to carry their own day pack with water, snacks, lunch and raingear, and hike up to three miles over uneven terrain at a leisurely pace. All interested applicants must submit an application to register. Download the application form here, or contact Education Specialist Lanakila Anderson at 985-6020 or emailgwen_anderson@nps.gov for information and an application.
      Applications are due by noon on Monday, May 16. Selections will be made, and parents notified, on Wednesday, May 18.
      The program is co-sponsored by Hawai`i Pacific Parks Association, Friends of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park and Roberts Hawai`i.
      Founded on Aug. 1, 1916, Hawai`i Volcanoes was the 15th national park established in the U.S. and celebrates its centennial anniversary this year, along with the National Park Service itself, which turns 100 on Aug. 25, 2016. The goal for both anniversaries is to connect with, and create, the next generation of park visitors, supporters and advocates.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

Sen. Mazie Hirono and Gov. David Ige honor active duty personnel,
veterans and military families. Photo from Office of Sen. Hirono

MAY IS MILITARY APPRECIATION MONTH. U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono joined Gov. David Ige in expressing their gratitude for the hard work and dedication of service members.             “This time each year, our nation recognizes the service and sacrifices made by our active duty personnel, veterans and military families,” Hirono said.

      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

THIS MONTH BEGAN with the U.S. Travel Association celebrating National Travel and Tourism Week, May 1-7.

George Szigeti

      Congress endorsed this annual salute to tourism in 1983 as a reminder of the industry’s economic and social benefits to communities nationwide.

      “Hawai`i sees the benefits of our state’s largest industry every day in the approximately 180,000 jobs that support families and communities on all islands,” said George Szigeti, President and CEO of Hawai`i Tourism Authority. “Hawai`i’s tourism industry came through the first quarter, traditionally an off-peak period, in good shape, and the year-to-date visitor statistics show we are slightly ahead of last year’s record-setting pace for arrivals and expenditures. 

      “Those results are especially heartening considering the economic struggles of some key international markets and the negative publicity generated by the dengue fever outbreak on Hawai`i Island.
      “Nevertheless, visitors continue to crave the authenticity of the Hawai`i experience and embrace how the Aloha Spirit guides the way we live and the goodwill we show everyone coming to our islands.
      “Mahalo for supporting Hawai`i’s tourism industry.” 

      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

Tutu & Me is selling Big Island Candies' chocolate bars as a fundraiser.

TUTU & ME IS HAVING ONE LAST fundraiser before closing for the summer.

      Representatives are selling ono chocolate bars from Big Island Candies. The cost per bar is $3.50.
      “These bars are available only through fundraisers, and I’ve been told on good authority that they freeze well, so this is your chance to stock up!” site manager Betty Clark said.
      To purchase, call 929-8571 or 430-1802.

Tom Peek Photo by Julia Neal

      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

AUTHOR TOM PEEK discusses his novel Daughters of Fire this evening at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. $2 donations support After Dark in the Park programs; park entrance fees apply.

LEARN HOW TO MAKE the traditional haku-style of lei tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Free; park entrance fees apply.

THIS MONTH’S THURSDAY NIGHTS at the Center on May 12 features the `Alala Project at 7 p.m.

      Hawai`i’s endemic Hawaiian crow, the `alala, once made its home across the length and breadth of Hawai`i Island. In the fall, `alala will be restored to their natural habitat, and these very intelligent birds will take their place once again among the fauna of Hawaiian forests.

Learn about The `Alala Project Thursday.
San Diego Zoo Global photo from VAC

      Volcano Art Center in Volcano Village welcomes Lea Ka`aha`aina of Hawai`i Department of Land & Natural Resources’ `Alala Project, who will relate the amazing account of the `alala’s recovery and plans for its upcoming release.

      Volcano Art Center and the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research are proud to announce a statewide Call to Artists: All `Alala! for the exhibit, Return of `Alala: Restoring the Voice Of Hawai`i’s Native Forests. Open to Hawai`i artists, 18 years and older, working in all media who choose to represent the `alala (Corvus hawaiiensis) in their art work. VAC’s Gallery Manager, Emily C. Weiss, will share details about the Call to Artists: All `Alala!
      Thursday Nights at the Center is a series at focusing on art, Hawaiian culture and the environment. The series is intended to inspire, enhance art and life experiences and foster community connections. The event is free; $5 donations are greatly appreciated.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS ATPAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM ANDKAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.

See kaucalendar.com/TheDirectory2016.html
and kaucalendar.com/TheDirectory2016.pdf.

See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_May2016.pdf.

Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Monday, May 9, 2016

Deadline to enter Ka`u Coffee Festival's Recipe Contest has been extended from today to Friday. See more below.
Photos from Ka`u Coffee Festival

KA`U CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS are included in Mayor Billy Kenoi’s eighth and final budget. His Capital Improvements Budget includes 55 projects requiring a total of $144.8 million.

      Ocean View Recycling & Transfer Station would receive $3 million, with $374,000 previously allotted.

Mayor Billy Kenoi

      Work on local wastewater systems would continue, with $650,000 appropriated for Na`alehu, which previously received $2.987 million.

      In Pahala, $645,000 would be used for land acquisition, infrastructure improvement and planning of a sewage treatment plant, with $250,000 previously allotted.
      “Through the tough economic times our county faced during the Great Recession, we preserved funding for public safety and essential core county government services,” Kenoi said. “We protected funding for services to seniors and preserved and expanded programs for our youth. We maintained county funding to nonprofit organizations serving the people most in need.
      “In this proposed budget, we continue this commitment to investing in our communities.
      “This budget represents our departments’ collective, collaborative effort to address the needs of our island’s growing population in a way that is both responsive to our community and fiscally responsible. Our administration’s final budget reflects eight years of careful planning and conservative budgeting that has positioned our county to maintain services to our residents, meet our obligations to our employees, and continue to invest in our communities.”
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION has awarded a $20,000,000 grant to the University of Hawai`i for a clean water research project. The project, titled `Ike Wai, from the Hawaiian words for knowledge and water, will address the critical needs of the state to maintain its supply of clean water, most of which comes from groundwater sources.

University of Hawai`i will conduct a clean water research project.
Photo from Hawai`i Department of Land & Natural Resources

      “Due to our volcanic origins, our system of aquifers is far more complex than we once thought,” Sen. Brian Schatz said. “This grant will allow scientists to use modern mapping tools to provide policymakers with critical information about our water resources and help ensure that there is enough for the needs of people, agriculture and future generations.”

      “Hawai`i’s water is a precious resource, and this competitive funding will support the University of Hawai`i’s research into protecting our fresh water sources for future generations,” Sen. Mazie Hirono said. “Ike Wai and other projects that build an innovative, sustainable future are essential to understanding and finding solutions for our island state’s unique needs and also underscore the importance of significant federal investments in research in these critical areas, something that I strongly support.”
      “Pollution, fracking, unsustainable farming practices and overdevelopment have put serious pressure on our clean water supply across the globe. It is essential that we protect and maintain access to fresh and clean water in Hawai`i due our isolated location in the Pacific,” Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said. “There is still much unknown about how water flows through the unique landscapes and volcanic foundations of our islands. This grant from the National Science Foundation will help us to better understand how to use our precious natural resources to ensure a continuous and high quality water supply.”
      The `Ike Wai project, awarded under the NSF’s Research Infrastructure Improvements Program, will greatly improve understanding of where the water that provides for the needs of Hawai`i’s cities, farms and industries comes from and how to ensure a continued, high quality supply. This supply is under increasing pressures from population growth, economic development and climate change. The funding provided by the NSF will encourage collaboration with federal, state and local agencies and community groups concerned with water management.
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

Reuniting Filipino WWII veterans with their families has been
a priority for U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono.
Photo from Office of Sen. Hirono

CERTAIN FAMILY MEMBERS of Filipino World War II veterans can soon apply to come to the United States to be reunited with their aging Filipino veteran family members who are U.S. citizens or Legal Permanent Residents under a program announced by the Obama Administration last year. Applications will begin to be accepted next month.

      Filipino veterans were granted citizenship in recognition of their service to the United States during World War II. Their children, however, were not granted citizenship. Due to backlogs in the U.S. immigration system, it can take more than 20 years for immigration applications to be reviewed. Under the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Filipino World War II Veterans Parole Policy, Filipino veterans whose service has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Defense, or their surviving spouses, may apply to bring their children to the U.S. The policy will allow families who have been waiting, in some cases decades, for their immigration applications to be approved to be together rather than apart while their applications are processed.
      Sen. Mazie Hirono has made fighting for Filipino veterans to receive this benefit a top priority during her time in Congress. After years of advocacy by Hirono, the Obama Administration announced last July that it would create a parole program to reunite the families of Filipino World War II veterans. Hirono pushed the Administration to quickly implement the program and make children eligible for expedited consideration to come to the United States.
      “President Obama has taken an important action for Filipino WWII veterans who have been waiting patiently for decades to be reunited with their families. Filipino World War II veterans and their spouses, who are in their eighties or nineties, will finally be able to apply to bring their adult children to the United States,” Hirono said. “I have heard from so many of these veterans in Hawai`i and across the country who simply want family reunification. We will now have a concrete path for making that a reality. I will continue working with Filipino organizations and advocacy groups in Hawai`i to ensure eligible veterans receive the necessary information and assistance with their applications so they can be with their spouses and children.”

      “We celebrate this long awaited and historic day for our World War II Filipino-American veterans and their families,” said Mee Moua, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice. “We thank Sen. Hirono for her leadership on this victory. We stand ready to assist in the implementation of this program, and we rededicate ourselves to the hard work ahead to achieve permanent and comprehensive solutions to our broken immigration system.”

Miss Holly K returns as DJ during Ka`u Coffee
Recipe Contest.

      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

KA`U COFFEE COOKS have this week to enter the Ka`u Coffee Festival Recipe Contest. Today was the original deadline, but Ka`u Coffee Mill extended it to Friday. The contest rewards creative cooks for their original recipes containing Ka`u Coffee. Three main categories in Adult and Student divisions are Pupu (appetizers), Entrees and Desserts. Miss Holly K, of Native-FM, will DJ and assist 2015 Miss Ka`u Coffee Queen Maria Miranda award winners.

      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

KA`U ROPING & RIDING ASSOCIATION is preparing for its annual Fourth of July Rodeo. The nonprofit is raising funds so that it can be a Buckle Rodeo. About 24 buckles would be awarded to winners of each event. Each buckle costs between $100 and $150. Donors will be recognized and can have banners hung at the rodeo if they wish.

Jaycee Amaral, here with Ralph Kaapana,
holds the buckle she won last year.
Photo by Julia Neal

      Donations are due by May 31 to allow time to order and receive buckles by July. Make checks payable to Ka`u Roping & Riding Association, and send to Tammy Kaapana, KRRA Donation Chair, PO Box 423, Na`alehu HI 96772.

      “Your generosity is greatly appreciated, and anything would help make this rodeo a successful and memorable one,” Kaapana said.

      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

AUTHOR TOM PEEK PRESENTS the story behind the story of his award-winning novel Daughters of Fire tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. $2 donations support After Dark in the Park programs; park entrance fees apply.

CREATE A LEI HAKU, Wednesday between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. at Kīlauea Visitor Center in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Learn how to make the traditional haku-style of lei, which involves braiding material into a base of leaves to create a full adornment. Free; 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/TheDirectory2016.html
and kaucalendar.com/TheDirectory2016.pdf.

See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_May2016.pdf.

Ka`u Calendar News Briefs Sunday, May 8, 2016

Ka`u Coffee Festival's inaugural Lobsterpalooza is a week from today on the lawn at Punalu`u Beach House. See more below. Photo from Jim Dahlberg

GOV. DAVID IGE VETOED a bill relating to access to treatment for terminally ill patients. The House of Representatives and the Senate each passed SB2181 unanimously.

      The purpose of the bill was to enable terminally ill patients in Hawai`i to obtain from manufacturers investigational drugs and biological products that have not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for general use. The bill also would have shielded practitioners who recommend investigational drugs to their patients from liability and the heirs of patients who receive investigational drugs from claims of responsibility for the costs of those drugs in the event of the patient’s death.

Gov. David Ige

      “This bill is objectionable because the FDA’s existing ‘expanded access program’ (also known as the ‘compassionate use program’), which this measure seeks to circumvent, already serves to increase access to investigational drugs for patients under the care of a physician while preserving the approval process, treatment data reporting and other patient-centered safeguards,” Ige said in his veto message. “The regulations associated with this program were amended in 2009 and should be allowed a chance to be fully implemented and further publicized. While admirably seeking to increase access to potentially life-saving drugs, this measure unreasonably compromises the consumer protections provided by the FDA’s expanded access program. The federal system of regulations that govern the sale and distribution of new and investigational drugs is also instrumental in the development of beneficial drug products. Interference with that system will likely have the unintended consequence of delaying development of those potentially life-saving drugs. Additionally, this measure unreasonably intrudes upon a system of federal law in violation of the Supremacy Clause. Since the sale and distribution of new and investigational drugs will remain federally regulated whether or not this measure becomes law, it is also unclear what actual benefits would accrue to patients in Hawai`i.”

      “Sadly, the governor chose to ignore the key point of this legislation which about 30 other states have passed – that point being that people want hope,” Ka`u’s state Sen. Josh Green said. “This bill would have allowed people with terminal illness and no other options to pursue medicine that is undergoing the process of approval by the (seriously flawed) FDA.

      “It’s time we saw a little more heart from the administration.”
      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

Women between ages 20 and 34 have more children than those
in younger or older age groups. Graph from U.S. Census

TODAY IS MOTHER’S DAY. Anna Jarvis organized the first Mother’s Day observances in Grafton, West Virginia and Philadelphia on May 10, 1908. As the annual celebration became popular around the country, Jarvis became the driving force behind Mother’s Day and asked members of Congress to set aside a day to honor mothers. She succeeded in 1914, when Congress designated the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.
      According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 43.5 million women between the ages of 15 and 50 have children, and these mothers gave birth to 95.8 million children.
      For more facts about mothers, see census.gov.

KILAUEA’S EXPLOSIVE NATURE is the topic of Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s current issue of Volcano Watch.

      “You enter Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park and drive past Kilauea Visitor Center, perhaps first stopping for guidance on where to see lava – the reason most people visit the volcano,” the article states. “Eventually, you cross Steaming Flat, drive by Kilauea Military Camp and arrive at the Jaggar Museum parking lot. You park and walk to the viewing platform, hoping that lava is visible in the distant Halema`uma`u Crater.
      “As an observant visitor, though, you may have noted something a bit strange. You saw lava flows – cold and solidified, of course – only in cuts where the road drops down to, and then climbs out of, Steaming Flat. Everywhere else, you were traveling on a surface of gravelly or sandy material (hidden by vegetation in many places). Volcanologists call this material tephra, a product of explosive eruptions. The tephra sits on, and mostly hides, the lava flows of Kilauea.
      “Before 2008, the year when Crater Rim Drive was closed at Jaggar Museum, your drive into and across the caldera would have been similar. Tephra is everywhere at the ground surface, except where lava flows that were erupted in the late 20th century cross the road. Large blocks and pockets of ash exploded from Halema`uma`u in 1924 litter the surface surrounding the crater.
      “Today, you can observe tephra by walking along the section of Crater Rim Drive between the Devastation Trail parking area and Keanakako`i Crater. Thick deposits of pumice and scoria from the 1959 Kilauea Iki lava fountains line much of the hiking route. Near Keanakako`i, layered older explosive deposits are evident, particularly visible in the cut (closed to visitors) just beyond the gate at Keanakako`i.

Layers of explosive deposits erupted from Kilauea Volcano in the 17th
and 18th centuries are visible in a road cut at Keanakako`i Crater.
Photo from USGS/HVO

      “By now you’ve found some of the evidence for past explosive eruptions that geologists a century ago recognized. They correctly surmised that many explosions, not just one, had occurred, because they found evidence of erosion between some layers within the deposits. They knew that at least one eruption took place in 1790 but had no way of knowing when the others occurred. 

      “In the late 1960s, observations of erupting Taal Volcano, Philippines, led to the recognition of base surges, which carry hot volcanic debris across the surface at hurricane velocity. Volcanologists soon discovered that surges can erode the ground surface, scouring channels much like those eroded by water and wind.

      “Base-surge deposits were identified at Kilauea in the early 1970s – an important step in understanding its past explosive history. But there was a detour along the way. Surges were the ‘in’ thing then, and they were used to account for all the erosional features found in the explosive deposits. With this thinking, one no longer needed to postulate many explosions, separated by periods of wind and water erosion. Instead, repeated scouring by multiple surges during only one eruption in 1790 became the favored model.
      “In the 1990s, a new technique for radiocarbon dating – accelerator mass spectrometry – made it possible to measure the age of only a few milligrams of charcoal resulting from fires set by lava flows and explosive eruptions. That remarkable technological advancement, coupled with a means to adjust the AMS ages to calendar years, opened the door to understanding much of Kilauea’s past few thousand years.
      “Application of AMS dating to the explosive deposits found that multiple eruptions of different ages had indeed taken place, and that water and wind erosion was responsible for some of the channels and irregular surfaces found in the deposits. To be sure, surges did some of the erosion, but not all.
      “This discovery freed our thinking; no longer was it necessary to cram all the explosive activity into one year. The new ‘relaxed-fit’ approach fits the data better, indicating about 300 years of repeated explosive eruptions at Kilauea’s summit. Detailed field work found more evidence supporting the new interpretation. The story now is internally consistent.
      “Your drive from the Park entrance station to Jaggar Museum, and your walk at Keanakako`i Crater, are on deposits of the 1790 eruption, which overlie older deposits going back to about 1500. Other research has found evidence for older periods of explosive activity lasting as long as 1200 years. 

      “The bottom line: Kilauea is an explosive volcano that will, almost certainly, explode again.”

      To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.

SENIOR IDs ARE AVAILABLE tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Pahala Housing Center and 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Na`alehu Community Center. For ages 60 and over. Call 928-3100 for more information.

Tom Peek discusses and signs his book
at After Dark in the Park.

INSPIRED BY THE ISLAND OF FIRE is the topic at After Dark in the Park Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Hawai`i Island author Tom Peek, a former eruption ranger at the park, presents the story behind the story of his award-winning novel, Daughters of Fire. $2 donations support park programs; park entrance fees apply.

LOBSTERPALOOZA IS A WEEK from today.
      A new event for 2016, Ka`u Coffee Festival Lobsterpalooza is a picnic on the lawn of the beach house at Punalu`u Black Sand Beach. Presented in partnership with Hana Hou Restaurant and `O Ka`u Kakou, the event features a choice of surf or turf menu and live entertainment by Larry Dupio Band and special guest Full Tilt Band.
      Lobsterpalooza is next Sunday, May 15 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets are $75 in advance and are available at brownpapertickets.com, Hana Hou restaurant in Na`alehu and from Lorie Obra in Pahala at 937-3412.
      See kaucoffeefest.com for full menu.
      For more information, call Chris Manfredi at 929-9550.

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

See kaucalendar.com/KauCalendar_May2016.pdf.

See kaucalendar.com/TheDirectory2016.html
and kaucalendar.com/TheDirectory2016.pdf.