Ka`u News Briefs Feb. 16, 2011

ML Macadamia husking plant between Hwy 11 and Maile Street in Pahala.

ML MACADAMIA ORCHARDS, LP saw stock values increase recently, following news that it re-negotiated its sales price to Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corp. Mauna Loa buys approximately 80 percent of all of ML’s nuts which are grown in orchards around Pahala and in Kea`au. The new deal requires Mauna Loa to purchase at least one third of ML’s production for 77 cents per wet-in-shell pound. The deal is for three contracts covering one, two and three years. Mauna Loa and ML also have separate agreements connected with the recent purchase of the IASCO lands makai of Pahala. Those agreements require all nuts to be sold to Mauna Loa over various lengths of contracts for up to 80 years. ML is one of Ka`u’s largest employers.

TAX BREAKS that could help draw investors to a planned biofuels refinery near Pahala passed an important committee in the state House of Representatives yesterday. For the 15 million gallon a year refinery, the state would give a $4.5 million a year tax break to investors for eight years based on the capacity of the factory rather than its output. In the bill, biofuel is defined as ethanol, biodiesel, diesel, jet fuel or any other liquid fuel produced from agricultural feedstock. The feedstock can be produced here or imported. According to the Hawai`i County planning department such biofuels refineries are allowed on agricuturally zoned land.

A MEETING ON BIOFUELS for Ka`u will be held next Monday, Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. at Pahala Community Center. The event is sponsored by the Ka`u Chamber of Commerce. Everyone is invited to the presentation by the biofuels developer `Aina Koa Pono engineer Alexander Causey.

A MEETING ON DEVELOPING FAIR IMPACT FEES for construction of houses and other buildings will be held tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Pahala Community Center. The talk story session, sponsored by County Council member Brittany Smart, will feature council member Pete Hoffman, who is attempting to update the impact fee formula charged by the county.

THE HAWAI`I DEMOCRATIC PARTY is looking for one man to represent the Big Island on its State Central Committee. Interested men can send a bio or resume by Friday, Feb. 25 to Hawai`i County chair Steven G. Pavao at pavaos002@hawaii.rr.com. Applicants must be male (as there is one male and one female sent to the committee from this island). The chair for District 5 is Pahala resident Sara Witt.

Nene, Hawai`i's state bird.

AN ADULT NENE was killed in the middle of Hwy 11 yesterday between Pahala and Volcano. A pair had been reported living with their gosling along the stretch of highway near the nene warning signs. Officials at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park urge motorists to beware of the nene. Biologists will be checking on the whereabouts of the gosling and parents to see if they were involved in the accident. The nene is a large goose and Hawai`i's state bird.

KATHLEEN KAM is the new artist-in-residence at Na`alehu Elementary School. Her residency began Monday, and she teaches through March 20. No stranger to Na`alehu, she facilitated Na`alehuʻs first mural, which is at Punalu`u Bake Shop. Eleven youth from Alu Like participated in a workshop, then executed the mural under Kathleen’s direction. 

Kathleen Kam, the new artist-in-residence at Na`alehu School.

     The title of the work is `Ohana `Aina O Ka`u. The mural includes faces of many longtime residents of Na`alehu. Kam is an Artistic Teacher Partner, a certified art teacher, with the Hawai`i Arts Alliance. Through art grants, she services Hawai`i’s schools from Kaua`i to the Big Island. Other Kathleen Kam murals are at Kilauea General Store in Volcano Village and Keauhou Bird Conservation Center at Keauhou Ranch near Volcano. Her largest is at Kamehameha School, and her most recent is on the newly renovated KTA store in downtown Hilo. Kam lives on the east side of the Big Island and is staying in Pahala during her artist-in-residency program.