Ka'u News Briefs Jan. 26, 2012

Ocean View houses can be protected by Neighborhood Watch and simple security practices. Photo by Julia Neal

OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORP and Ka`u Chamber of Commerce hosted a crime prevention presentation by Neighborhood Watch, community policing officer Blaine Morishita and deputy prosecutor Mitch Roth last night. Morishita said people can protect their homes by following such practices as installing security lights, gating or putting a chain across driveways and other measures or simply locking doors, sheds and garages. Roth talked about looking at crimes from a fresh point of view. He said there is a crime triangle with three elements: a victim, an offender and a location. Too often, the community expects police to solve the problem by itself. “If your only tool is a hammer, all your problems are nails.” He said the most effective law agencies in the country are “people who care.” He commended the Ocean View Neighborhood Watch program and those that started it several years ago, saying that they have helped prevent many crimes. “Community is more than just eyes and ears; community is part of the problem-solving process,” Roth said. 

Deputy prosecutor Mitch Roth, Neighborhood Watch founder Bob Barry,
Neighborhood Watch volunteers Joe McDaniel and Ocean View
Community Development Corp. treasurer Robin Lamson.
Photo by Nalani Parlin

     Ten percent of the offenders commit 55 to 60 percent of crimes, Roth said. Ten percent of victims represent 42 percent of victimization. Ten percent of locations represent 60 percent of police calls for service. Police go to the same places over and over, helping the same victims and going after the same offenders. The three E's to solve the crime problems are education for the victim, enforcement of the offender and engineering for the location, Roth said. He also quoted Robert Peal, the father of modern day policing, for whom the London police called the Bobbies are named. Peal said that “police are the public, and the public are the police, with police being the only members of society who are paid to do what is incumbent upon every citizen.” Roth said, “We are all in this together.”
     Roth offered to come back to meet with the community and Morishita to work on coming up with solutions. Speaking of working together to problem-solve crimes, Roth said that they could "get a group together, go through what is going on and look at the situation. Where are these guys selling this stuff? What are the times crime is happening? What are the patterns?”

Community policing officer Blaine
Morishita. Photo by Nalani Parlin

     Morishita also urged the community to report crimes as much as possible. If more crimes are reported, the statistics could warrant getting more officers for Ka`u, he said.
     Bob Berry, one of the founders of Neighborhood Watch, reviewed the history of the organization. Mike Dubois, who organized the meeting, said that driving around the neighborhood is still a great way to solve problems but that residents need to move into a quicker response mode and higher-tech security. He said once a crime happens, the Neighborhood Watch network could be warned through phone calls and over the Internet, not only to find the culprits but to advise residents to take care. A website could keep people up to date on recent crimes, descriptions of culprits and gathering information.
     Neighborhood Watch has groups throughout Ka`u. To get involved, call Arlene Araki at 989-5141 in Ocean View, Jeff Purser at 929-9576 in Discovery Harbour, or Carla Andrade at 928-6268 in Pahala.

DRUG TESTING FOR PUBLIC HOUSING could become a requirement if the state House of Representatives proposal passes the state Legislature. With the exception of the elderly and anyone under 15 years of age, applicants could be subjected to the testing. The argument for the legislation says that drug dealers and users are living and going to public housing and should be removed. Sponsors of the bill also tie drugs to the inability or unwillingness to pay rent. The state is absorbing more than $800,000 in unpaid rent. 

Rep. Denny Coffman

HAWAIIAN ELECTRIC CO. could become a distributor and stop manufacturing electricity if Big Island Rep. Denny Coffman’s bill passes the state Legislature. Coffman is one of the policymakers studying high electric rates in Hawai`i who wants to create more competition in the business of making power. Hawai`i has some of the highest rates in the country, four times more expensive than some places on the mainland.
     According to a Stephens Media story by Erin Miller, the bill to be introduced by Coffman would require the state Public Utilities Commission to make developing geothermal to replace fossil fuel a top priority. It also tells the PUC to seek utility producers in order “to acquire the lowest cost, electrical grid-safe electricity generated from non-fossil fuel sources” ahead of buying any fossil fuel. The bill can be read at the newly revised Legislature website, where testimony can easily be given and anyone can search for subjects of their interest and see what their legislators propose. See www.capitol.hawaii.gov.

POWER WAS KNOCKED OUT to about 1,700 customers for about an hour yesterday when a tree fell across Hwy 11 near Manuka State Park near Ocean View. Hawaiian Electric Light Co. switched the lines to a different power source to restore electricity. One lane was able to keep traffic flowing until the tree could be cleared. 

Hawai`i Island is promoted as separate, with its own personality, with its
longtime slogan, "The Big Island." Image from gohawaii.com

THE NEW YORK TIMES carried a story yesterday concerning the new visitor industry campaign that seeks to brand each one of the Hawaiian Islands as a separate place to go with its own personality. It talks about the film The Descendants — with its five Oscar nominations bringing more attention to Hawai`i. The story says the new approach is used in all media from television to print, the gohawaii.co website and social media. The campaign is costing about $7 million and is organized by the Hawai`i Tourism & Convention Bureau. The most targeted market is the West Coast because it is more affordable to fly here from California. In the ads, this island is still called “the Big Island,” Kaua`i is “Hawai`i’s island of discovery,” Maui is “the magic isle” and O`ahu is “the heart of Hawai`i.” The commercials are airing on HGTV, Travel Channel and other cable outlets. Print ads are in Real Simple, Travel & Leisure and other- magazines. 

THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary is still looking for volunteers in Ka`u to help count the humpbacks on this Saturday, Jan. 28, Feb. 25 and March 31. The annual 2012 Sanctuary Ocean Count is from 8 a.m. to noon, when volunteers record the behavior of whales over a four-hour period. More than 60 sites along the shores of the Big Island, O`ahu and Kaua`i have been selected for the count. To learn more, see http://hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov. Register online or call 1-888-55-WHALE, ext. 253.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory offers images and movies of the eruption
at hvo.wr.usgs.gov

LAVA IS MORE ACTIVE in the two Kilauea Craters. Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports lava rising in Halema`uma`u Crater with spattering on the south side of the lava lake, 250 feet below the edge of the crater. Pu`u `O`o is experiencing lava filling a depression on the crater floor. About two miles southeast of the crater a surface flow is apparent, but nothing yet is going into the ocean. 

KA`U SCHOOL OF THE ARTS sponsors a Western Line Dance class tonight and every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Discovery Harbour Community Clubhouse. Call 929-7544 for more information. 

JASON SCOTT LEE’S documentary about preservation of Hawai`i’s watersheds airs on KHNL television tonight from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. and on Saturday from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. In The Rain Follows the Forest, Lee describes his simple lifestyle in Volcano where he farms kalo. Lee, who often fishes with friends along the Ka`u Coast, is famous for his acting roles on the London stage and in films such as the Bruce Lee Story, The Jungle Book and Rapanui. The Rain Follows the Forest is sponsored by the state Department of Land & Natural Resources.

KUMU LEILEHUA YUEN and Manu Josiah present 50-minute narrated demonstrations of the preparation, protocol and offering of traditional hula and chant at the hula platform in Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park this Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Hands-on cultural demonstrations are offered from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the porch at Volcano Art Center Gallery. Donations are welcome, and park entrance fees apply.