Ka`u News Briefs May 25, 2011

This holua slide would be preserved by the South Kona Wilderness Area. Photo by Kaiali`i Kahele

SUPPORTERS OF THE SOUTH KONA WILDERNESS AREA, championed by Sen. Gil Kahele and Rep. Bob Herkes, are awaiting the signature of Gov. Neil Abercrombie. The measure passed both the House and Senate in the 2011 Legislature. The land includes the only holua slide going all the way to the ocean remaining in the state, as well as ancient homesites, a heiau and burial caves. 

The ancient Hawaiian trail, paved with stones, in the
South Kona Wilderness Area. Photo by Kaiali`i Kahele

     The area includes approximately 1,458 acres in Honomalino and Okoe that extend from the shoreline to 6,000 feet inland as well as land in Kaulanamauna and Manuka that extends from the shoreline to the Manuka Natural Area Reserve boundary.

THE COUNTY COUNCIL is looking for office space in Ka`u, where it could install video conferencing so the public could more easily give testimony and witness County Council meetings. The office was a campaign promise of Brittany Smart, who ran on a platform of more transparency and a better flow of information and ideas between the county council member and the public. Having an office in Ka`u would also give her more time with the public, since she spends a lot of time each workday driving to her council office and council chambers in Hilo or to Kona for some council meetings. 

Na`alehu Civic Center

     Offices that have been considered include one in Ocean View that was scrapped after improvements were estimated to be too costly. The annex of the Na`alehu Community Center was also considered, but there was concern that it would preclude community activities from taking place there. Currently under consideration is the state-owned courtroom facility in the Na`alehu Civic Center near the post office on the makai side of Hwy 11. The courtroom is vacant, as all court proceedings have been moved to Hilo and Kona.
     Other suggestions have included offices in Pahala to make the County Council proceedings and the council member more available to nearby high school teachers, students, the regional hospital, and such employment hubs as the macadamia and coffee farms.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie promotes energy and food security.
Photo by Julia Neal

RENEWABLE ENERGY is at the forefront of Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s priorities, he said at the Democratic Convention in Kona last weekend. “This is a matter of our survivability. This is a matter of keeping us from being inundated by international global forces that are going to be working against us when carbon and energy is concerned. We’ve got to do this. We are not going to have sustainable agriculture; we are not going to have food security unless we get the energy question underway, and the Big Island is a key to that,” he proclaimed. The governor said, “We’re running out of time. I want to get past arguments about biofuels vs. geothermal, versus solar, versus wind. We’re going to have to do everything we can, just to survive,” he said. On his desk is legislation that would help win approval of a contract between Hawaiian Electric Industries and `Aina Koa Pono, the company planning an alternative energy refinery and biofuels farm near Pahala. 

THE STATE ENERGY CONSERVATION and efficiency program today ends its $1,000 solar water heating incentive for systems purchased with cash, as funds are exhausted. Hawai`i Energy increased the solar water heating incentive to $1,500 in March with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. Within a month, funds were depleted, and program officials reallocated additional ARRA funds to continue the incentive at $1,000 per system.
     “The use of solar water heaters is one of the most effective ways of reducing the residential electricity consumption,” said Estrella Seese, Energy Program Administrator.
     After today’s deadline, residents wishing to finance their solar water heating systems may sign up for the Hot Water, Cool Rates (solar loan interest buy down) offering. For more information, visit hawaiienergy.com/94/hot-water-cool-rates. Hawai`i Energy will also make a waitlist for its next program-year beginning July 1 upon approval of program funding by the Hawai`i Public Utilities Commission. State and federal tax credits are still available.
     Typical single-family households installing solar water heating systems will save between $587 to $849 per year in electricity costs, and the equivalent to 150 gallons of fossil fuel per year. The savings with solar water heating systems will continue to rise as oil prices increase, said a statement from Hawai`i Energy.

Maria Zamudio

First in the Student Dessert I category
was Black Bottoms by Maria Zamudio.
Photos by Geneveve Fyvie

MARIA ZAMUDIO, OF OCEAN VIEW, won first in the Student Division Dessert category for cakes, cookies and pies at the Ka`u Coffee Festival Recipe Contest with her Black Bottoms recipe. Zamudio just graduated from Ka`u High and will be attending Hawai`i Community College in Kona this coming fall. She said she learned a lot through Culinary I and gained a lot of cooking confidence from the course. Her advice to those entering the contest in the future is, “Just give it a try, even if you don’t feel confident. It can’t hurt.” Contact Zamudio at mariazamudio_kau@yahoo.com. 

HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK Ranger Jason Zimmerman demonstrates how to make poi this morning from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on the lanai at Kilauea Visitor Center. Zimmerman's grandfather taught him to make poi more than 10 years ago.

HAWAI`I COUNTY TRANSIT DIRECTOR Tom Brown discusses the Hele-On bus system and other mass transit issues at Yano Hall in Captain Cook tonight at 6:30 p.m. The meeting is one of County Council member Brittany Smart’s District 6 Matters meetings.