Ka'u News Briefs Nov. 12, 2011

Choir practice, led by Darci Baker at the Kahumoku workshop, was a daily routine this week in Pahala,
 with a performance on Veterans Day.  Photo by Tamryn Fyvie

VETERANS DAY IN KA`U was celebrated at three venues: Kilauea Military Camp, Pahala Plantation House and Na`alehu Park. Na`alehu Park hosted veterans from World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars. Pastor Troy Gacayan, of River of Life Assembly of God, opened the ceremony with a prayer. 

     Tokuichi Nakano, just back from receiving the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington, D.C., was honored for his service with the 442nd in World War II.
     Korean War veteran Raymond Fujikawa talked about hunger shown by children with whom he shared his K-rations during the Korean War. He said he felt so fortunate to be an American when he came home and saw the contrast – all the healthy Hawaiian children dancing hula at the Tripler military hospital on O`ahu.
     Vietnam War veterans Filipe Sales and Sonny Ramos talked about the environment of Vietnam, the villages and rice paddies and their various responsibilities during the war, stressing their brotherhood and service to the country. 

The Ka`u High School Ensemble sings and dances for Veterans Day.
Photo by Tamryn Fyvie

     The Rev. Kevin Brown, of Na`alehu Assembly of God, himself a veteran, introduced his church choir and talked about the importance of God and country. He asked veterans to stand as the anthems of each military service branch were played.
     County Council member Brittany Smart talked of her family’s service in the military, including that of her brother and her father.
     Veteran motorcycle groups rode to the park, and many bikers wiped their eyes throughout the ceremonies. Hula was performed by an Ocean View halau, and the Ka`u `Ohana Band played.

Rebecca Kailiawa
Photo by Julia Neal

AT PAHALA PLANTATION HOUSE, Veterans Day was a musical event and a fundraiser for the Ka`u High School Ensemble, which sold out its plate lunches and performed. Miss Ka`u Peaberry Rebecca Lynn Kailiawa-Escobar danced, and Miss Ka`u Coffee Brandy Shibuya made an appearance. Shibuya recently won Miss Aloha Hawai`i and will be headed for the Miss Hawai`i pageant on O`ahu. Performers yesterday included John and Hope Keawe; a choir led by Darci Baker, of Kamehameha Schools; many of the students on scholarship in the weeklong Kahumoku workshop; Moses, Keoki and George Kahumoku, Jr. `Ukulele master James Hill and cellist Anne Davison brought down the house. 

The Rev. Dennis Kamakahi says he will move to Ka`u.
Photo by Julia Neal

     The legendary composer and performer, the Rev. Dennis Kamakahi, announced that, within about a year, he will be moving to Ka`u, where his wife grew up. He said he longs for the peaceful lifestyle of Ka`u and plans to teach and set up a recording studio here. 

THE PROPOSED RESORT DEVELOPMENT AT KAHUKU VILLAGE has drawn more comments regarding its Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the land extending from Hwy 11 to the Pacific, between Ka Lae and Hawaiian Ocean View Ranchos. Volcano resident and scientist Rick Warshauer suggests that the proposed resort site may better serve the public as an addition to Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. He suggests that adding it to the park is consistent with the land’s present wilderness condition. He contends, “this land is the only logical and feasible place where the slopes of Mauna Loa volcano can be connected from the summit to the ocean (via its most active and hazardous location). The national park contains the summit of Kilauea volcano and its most direct slope to the ocean, and doing the same for Mauna Loa is certainly consistent with the park’s name and mission.” 

The red is Lava Zone 2, which covers Nani Kahuku
`Aina's proposed development site.

     Warshauer also writes about the geologic hazard and risk of placing a resort and residential community on the Nani Kahuku `Aina site. “The barren lava flows that dominate the project area underscore the main shortcoming of this proposed development, its similar predecessor (the Hawaiian Riviera) and any other potential development of the area.” He says the site lies “within one of the most volcanically hazardous areas in the United States. It is completely within Hazard Zone 2, and the barren flows reflect the recurrence and frequency of lava flow inundation in this part of Lava Flow Hazard Zone 2.”
     Warshauer gives the example of Puna areas in Lava Flow Hazard Zone 2, where over 2,000 lots have been covered or cut off by lava flows to date. He contends that the Draft EIS fails to address the seriousness the lava flow risk deserves, “despite acknowledging that one regional lava flow reached the ocean in three hours.” He writes that resort and residential developments in Hawai`i “are long-term commitments of the landscape, and all planning and governmental approvals need to consider this long-term aspect in such a geologically hazardous region. In doing so, one must consider that the probability of lava flows entering the subject area during its design life is nearly a certainty, not a remote possibility.” 

Lava flows since 1800, shown in orange, flowed into
Nani Kahuku `Aina's resort development site.

     Warshauer says the only response to lava flow threat is evacuation on the two-lane Hwy 11. The road connecting Kahuku with the rest of the island has been transected by lava flows in ten or more places since 1868 on both sides of the proposed resort site. “The prospect of successful evacuation is quite challenging now, and will grow enormously as build-out of the barely filled subdivisions (in Ocean View) progresses. To add more development area and 9,000 more people to such evacuation chaos, as proposed by this development, is simply unconscionable, and I hope that County and State officials recognize this and appropriately explain their decisions,” he writes.
     Concerning wilderness aspects of the resort development, Warshauer states that “South Kona and Ka`u have the largest remaining tracts of undeveloped coastal/lowland area remaining in Hawai`i, and the proposed project area lies in the middle of it. This wilderness aspect in itself is an intrinsic asset value that is overlooked in the Draft EIS, but deserves proper consideration. While the Draft EIS referred to a no action alternative and postponed development alternative, it did not acknowledge preserving this unique regional wilderness aspect as an alternative action,” states Warshauer.

A HIKE AT THE KAHUKU UNIT of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park tomorrow focuses on the area’s human history, from the earliest Hawaiians through today. The two-mile, three-hour, moderately difficult hike over rugged terrain begins at 9:30 a.m. The gate, between mile markers 70 and 71 on Hwy 11, opens at 9 a.m.