Bringing you today’s stories on issues important to Native communities.  NewsClips is a complimentary service of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement.  Don’t forget to Save the Date for the 5th Annual Native Hawaiian Convention being held on September 25-29, 2006 at the Hawaii Convention Center!  For information and updates on our training workshops and events, please visit our Web site at: www.hawaiiancouncil.org.

 

 

March 29, 2006

 

 

Posted on: Friday, March 24, 2006

 

Maggie Inouye, 'an ideal woman'

 

By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Staff Writer

 

Several thousand mourners lined up under bright skies yesterday at Harris United Methodist Church to say goodbye to a woman eulogized as "an ideal woman" — and one who was the quiet strength behind her husband, Hawai'i's powerful senior U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye.

 

Margaret "Maggie" Awamura Inouye, 81, died of complications from colon cancer March 13 at Walter Reed Memorial Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Her ashes will be inurned in a private family service later at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

 

As her son, Daniel K. "Kenny" Inouye Jr., thanked the crowd for the outpouring of kindness to his family, he also sent everyone off with a homework assignment — something his mother would have done, he said.

 

"I ask all of you — spend an extra few minutes with those you love," he said. "Give them a few more hugs and talk story with them for a little while. And talk about things you maybe haven't talked about for a while. Because I can guarantee you, when they're not around, you're going to wish you had those extra few minutes."

 

The service brought together Hawai'i's Democrat establishment and the thousands who have been the bedrock of the Democratic Party in Hawai'i for decades, as well as many of the state's most influential leaders from every sector.

 

Sen. Inouye did not speak during the service but greeted all who came to offer condolences, thanking each individually for all they had done for his family. Four of Maggie's five sisters, three of whom live on the Mainland, stood with the senator and his son and daughter-in-law, Jessica Inouye, to greet the long line of mourners.

 

The church was overflowing with brilliantly colored floral tributes, including several that included pink anthuriums that had been named after Margaret Inouye by University of Hawai'i botanist Haruyuki Kamemoto, who had developed them.

 

A table at the front of the church — where Dan and Maggie as well as his parents were married and where Kenny had been blessed — was draped with sweet-smelling ginger and pua-kenikeni. Maile encircled a portrait of Margaret Inouye taken in the 1980s. It's the same photo the senator keeps on his desk in Washington, D.C., and at his home office in Honolulu.

 

In her eulogy, Sumi McCabe, one of Mrs. Inouye's best friends from their early days as speech teachers, spoke of the Maggie Inouye the public didn't always see — a woman who could always be counted on, but one who loved to laugh, kept the same hairdresser for 50 years, and could silence an unruly class with a look. McCabe recalled the time they were student-teaching together at Central Intermediate School.

 

"Maggie literally saved my life that semester," said McCabe, noting that as a small-town girl she knew nothing about the tough boys she would need to deal with and how she'd been brandishing a yardstick to maintain classroom discipline.

 

"But Maggie did no such thing," said McCabe, "and she got the same result. (It was) a simple shake of the head and, 'Tut-tut, that's not the way to do things.' I learned more about teaching that semester from Maggie than the supervisor."

 

Clara Katekaru, a friend from small-kid and college days, reminisced about the day she and Maggie left Hawai'i on the Lurline in 1946, both going off for master's degrees on the East Coast. Maggie was at Columbia, in New York, and Katekaru in Pittsburgh.

 

"That first Christmas she came all the way from New York and we spent the holiday together," remembered Katekaru. "She was concerned I was alone, and she came to spend her vacation time with me. That's the kind of person she was."

 

Along with Hawai'i friends, the service drew Senate colleagues including Sen. Daniel Akaka, Inouye's longtime friend U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska and his wife, Catherine, and U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut. Also in attendance were a delegation from the Alaska Federation of Natives, and representatives from each branch of the military.

 

Inouye aide Jennifer Sabas said one of the ways the senator is handling his grief is to keep busy. He planned to tour the Kaua'i flood devastation today in the Kilauea area of the island and talk to farmers to hear about the problems firsthand before returning to Washington.

 

Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

March 29, 2006

 

CNHA Expands to Event Coordination Services

 

HONOLULU, HI - The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA) expanded its services to provide special event coordination and planning for clients in Hawaii and Native areas around the country. 

 

“Event planning is an important aspect of community development,” said Sean Craig, CNHA Director of Event Services.  “We want to help other organizations execute conferences and other informational meetings that are important to their mission.”

 

An entire product area dedicated to event services was launched by CNHA in 2005, capable of assisting with program development, facility and event logistics, design and production of meeting materials and coordination of specialty speakers and presenters. 

 

Craig, a Kamehameha graduate, heads up the CNHA Events Services area and has over 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry including travel, hotel, entertainment and food and beverage, with an emphasis on special events coordination.   Teamed with CNHA’s Public Policy Center and Grants Training Institute, the Event Services product is able to provide a full compliment of talent in all areas of producing successful events and conferences.

 

“It’s important to us at CNHA to provide the best services possible and we are excited to start off the 2006 year with clients from our home in Hawaii as well as American Indian clients from the mainland,” remarked Craig.  “We really enjoy working with the community by helping to make relationship connections between different people and organizations.”

 

To add to its capacity, CNHA announced its Speakers & Practitioners Bureau, a service to connect clients holding events with Native experts and presenters on a myriad of topics.  Individuals interested in registering with the Bureau can contact CNHA at 808.521.5011.

 

CNHA is a national, member-based nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting community development in Native communities.  For more information about CNHA’s event planning services, contact CNHA via telephone at 808.521.5011 or toll-free at 800.709.2642, via e-mail at info@hawaiiancouncil.org or visit our website at www.hawaiiancouncil.org.

 

 

 

 

March 24, 2006

 

Akaka and Dodd Reaffirm their Fight for Parents and Children

 

Honolulu, HI - U.S. Senators Daniel K. Akaka and Christopher Dodd (D-CT) today said they will continue to fight for legislation aimed at Early Head Start/Head Start programs and health care programs. The Senators started their day visiting with parents and children at the Kuhio Park Terrace Resource Center.

 

"I am pleased that Senator Dodd could see first hand the programs that he initiated, such as Head Start. We are doing all we can to make sure these types of programs will be funded so it can continue to create a healthy learning environment for our keiki," said Senator Akaka.

 

Following their visit in Kalihi-Palama, Senators Akaka and Dodd met with staff, parents and children at the Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children. Senator Akaka noted that 43 percent of patient discharges from Kapiolani are Medicaid-Quest beneficiaries. Senator Akaka has introduced legislation that would repeal requirements that would disproportionately impact low-income, racial and ethnic minorities.

 

"I met with a mother today who said if it wasn't for Medicaid benefits her special-needs child would not be able to receive the kind of care he is getting now at Kapiolani. Parents who are dealing with the hardships of having a sick child should not have an additional burden worrying about whether they qualify for Medicaid benefits," Senator Akaka stated.

 

Senator Akaka has worked closely with Senator Dodd who is a senior member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the senior Democrat on its Education and Early Childhood Development Subcommittee. Both Senators are continuing the fight to correct the inequities and failures of the recently passed budget.

 

 

 

 

March 29, 2006

 

SBA Program Helps Create New Generation of Native Business Leaders

 

Albuquerque, New Mexico – The Intertribal Information Technology Company (IITC), certified in the Small Business Administration Tribal 8(a) program announced its 2005 4th quarter production results.  IITC is a tech firm specializing in data conversion of government documents and is owned by 13 Tribes and social enterprises from 8 states.  Productivity reports released today cover 14 production facilities operating in Alaska, Hawaii, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Montana.  For the last quarter in 2005, 243 full time positions in rural areas in all 8 states produced Delivery Orders under a contract with the Department of Defense.

 

“The Tribal 8(a) program at the SBA is working, and really creating a new generation of Native business leaders,” said IITC Chairwoman, Robin Danner (Hawaiian).  “We don’t have private investors or individual shareholders per se.  We have entire communities that our business firms must be responsive to – that takes a very different kind of business leader.  The CEO’s of these tribal firms are literally bringing the tech industry into some of the most remote and rural places in America responsible for 243 jobs.  The SBA Tribal 8(a) is very much a part of their ability to do that.”

 

The 4th quarter report indicates that a total of $4.5 million in data conversion work was processed by IITC, with 68% or $3.0 million processed in rural Indian reservations, Alaska villages or Hawaiian homelands at the 14 production sites.  32% or $1.5 million was processed by small business subcontractors located in New York, Washington and other states.

 

“We have small business and teaming partners that we contract with in producing the Delivery Orders,” Danner remarked.  “Our goals may differ in that our tribal firms are focused on bringing jobs and investing any profits back into community programs and job training, but our priorities are exactly the same as our small business partners – to deliver the best product possible.”

 

“What is truly remarkable, and challenging at the same time, is that we are creating jobs in areas in many ways that have been forgotten and even left behind by the national economy.  The idea of 14 facilities on Indian reservations in different states and remote Alaska villages, to deliver the data conversion needs of our military men and women is In-Sourcing of the best kind -- to our homelands, right here in the United States.”

 

IITC is an Information Technology firm headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  A certified Tribal 8(a), IITC provides government contracting services encouraged by the Small Business Administration.  It is the only Multi-Tribal, Multi-State 8(a) firm of its kind in the country and is an initiative of the Inter Tribal Economic Alliance (ITEA).  For more information about IITC visit www.iitc.us or contact Malcolm Bowekaty, IITC CEO.

 

 

 

 

March 22, 2006

 

PILI project looking for solution to obesity

 

http://www.kaleo.org

 

The National Institutes of Health has given a $1.4 million federal grant to the John A. Burns School of Medicine Department of Native Hawaiian Health for their research directed at reducing obesity among Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.

 

"A major mission of our medical school is to reduce and eventually eliminate health disparities suffered by Native Hawaiians and other Pacific people," said Dr. Sam Shomaker, interim dean of JABSOM.

 

The research is part of a three-year study called the PILI (Partnerships for Improving Lifestyle Interventions) 'Ohana Project. The project will use a community-based approach to research a solution to the obesity problem.

 

The program will require five community-based organizations to participate from the beginning and equally design and conduct the research activities, which will allow for solutions tied specifically to the community and takes into account the culture of the subjects. "The DNHH is honored," said Dr. Marjorie Mau, chair of the DNHH, in a press release, "to work with the five organizations in this co-learning environment that brings everyone's expertise to the table."

 

Between 70to 80 percent of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are reported to be obese or overweight, which is likely to result in heart problems, diabetes, hypertension and some cancers.

 

 

 

 

March 24, 2006

 

Native Hawaiian groups forming own credit union

 

Pacific Business News (Honolulu) -

by Harold Nedd

Pacific Business News

 

More than 50 Native Hawaiian groups are putting their might behind efforts to form their own credit union.

 

They have tapped a combined membership of about 4,500 for pledges to create the Prince Kuhio Federal Credit Union, which would be based in Kapolei.

 

The group said its immediate goal is to raise $3 million by this summer, then apply for a charter to operate from the National Credit Union Administration.

 

If successful, the initiative would create Hawaii's first new credit union in about five years, a time when credit unions are growing in reach and revenue.

 

"It requires a lot of work, but we have a lot of enthusiastic people behind the effort," said Charlie Rose, the point man in the effort and immediate past president of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, which comprises 51 groups representing indigenous people of Polynesian ancestry.

 

So far, the clubs have raised $1.1 million to form the credit union.

 

Of that, $683,000 has been pledged by 194 individuals, Rose said. The other $500,000 is coming from about five nonmember organizations, he said.

 

"The rules for a charter say we only need to have a field of membership of 3,000 people," said Rose, a retired captain from the Hawaii County Police Department. "We have about 4,500 people. And our goal is to raise $3 million. We want it to be financially sound."

 

To get there, the group is targeting 300 more individuals for the other $2 million in pledges, said Kekoa Beaupre, an interim director for the association and certified public accountant with the firm Nishihama & Kishida CPAs Inc. in Honolulu.

 

Beaupre, who is preparing the business plan for the proposed credit union, said the group has been rallying members through everything from word of mouth to e-mail alerts.

 

Federal law requires credit union members to have a common bond such as a church, employer or geographic community.

 

The planned credit union for Native Hawaiians would have a field of membership consisting of the 2,500 people from the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs and 2,000 others from the Hawaiian Home Lands trust.

 

The business plan calls for the credit union to offer an array of financial services. Among the services they would enjoy are auto loans, lines of credit up to $10,000 and personal loans up to $50,000, Beaupre said.

 

Prince Kuhio would be the first new credit union in Hawaii since 2001, when the Word of Life Federal Credit Union was formed, according to the Hawaii Credit Union League.

 

Today, Hawaii has 97 credit unions, five fewer than in 2000.

 

But their total membership and assets have risen steadily.

 

All together, the total membership has gone from 612,249 in 2000, to 750,866 in 2005. At the same time, total assets have jumped to $6.6 billion, from $4.1 billion in 2000.

 

The Native Hawaiian group has a 30-year lease on land in Kapolei from the Hawaiian Home Lands trust, near a proposed Hawaiian Home Lands development.

 

"This effort is about Hawaiians helping Hawaiians by pooling their resources to make financial resources available to those who need it," Rose said. "We want to serve the underserved."

 

hnedd@bizjournals.com I 955-8039

 

 

 

 

March 28, 2006

 

Panel gets say for UH chancellor

 

Students, faculty, staff alumni and community members will take part

 

Star-Bulletin staff
citydesk@starbulletin.com

 

A new advisory committee will suggest possible candidates for the next chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, according to UH officials.

 

Manoa Faculty Senate Chairman Robert Bley-Vroman will head the Search Advisory Committee, which will recommend a few candidates to UH President David McClain, along with an assessment of their strengths and weaknesses, according to a UH news release last week. The president will make a recommendation to the Board of Regents, which selects the chancellor.

 

The composition of the committee was created according to a search process developed last fall under the leadership of interim UH-Manoa Chancellor Denise Konan.

 

Konan has not indicated whether she will be a candidate, according to the release.

 

An executive search firm will be chosen in the coming weeks to help select candidates. The committee hopes to complete its work in the late fall of this year or in the early spring of 2007.

 

The undergraduate student representative on the committee is student government president Grant Teichman. The graduate student representative is Angelos Hannides.

 

Other faculty representatives are law school professor Denise Antolini; women's studies professor Ruth Dawson; Barry Raleigh, a researcher at the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute and former dean of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology; mathematics professor Tom Ramsey; Elizabeth Tam, professor and chairwoman of the Department of Medicine at the medical school; and Ricardo Trimillos, professor and chairman of Asian studies at the School of Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Studies.

 

Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa, a professor in the Center for Hawaiian Studies and former director of the center, is the Kuali'i Council representative.

 

Staff representatives are Leimomi Kawakami, a secretary in the UH-Manoa Honors Program, and Walt Niemczura, facilities manager for the nuclear magnetic resonator/mass spectrometer in the chemistry department of the College of Natural Sciences.

 

Rolf Kudritzki, director of the Institute for Astronomy, represents the organized research units. UH-Manoa deans are represented by Dick Dubanoski, dean of the College of Social Sciences, and Vance Roley, dean and First Hawaiian Bank Professor of Leadership and Management in the College of Business.

 

UH-Manoa alumni are represented by Janet Yoshida, president of the UH Alumni Association. Community members include Howard Karr, past chairman and a current trustee at the UH Foundation, and Nadine Nishioka, head of the Manoa Neighborhood Board.

 

 

 

 

March 23, 2006

Kua'ana scholarships available for Native Hawaiians

 

http://www.kaleo.org

 

Kua'ana Native Hawaiian Student Development Services is a service program for Native Hawaiian students. One such service is offering financial aid and scholarships. At http://www.hawaii.edu/kuaana/scholarship.html, students can find information on scholarships and tuition waivers available through Kua'ana.

 

The tuition waiver for the 2006-2007 school year must be post-marked or submitted by March 31, 2006. Applications can be picked up and turned in at the Kua'ana Student Service office, in the Queen Lili'uokalani Center for Student Services, room 207. All supporting documents must be turned in by the deadline as well.

 

The tuition waiver is available to undergraduate and graduate students attending UHM on a full-time basis.

 

 

 

 

Posted: March 24, 2006

 

Shirley urges formation of urban chapters

 

by: Brenda Norrell / Indian Country Today

 

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. urged urban Navajos to form their own chapters in Albuquerque, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Denver, Salt Lake City and Chicago, and attracted immediate praise from urban Indians in cities across America.

Speaking in Albuquerque, Shirley urged Navajos there to form their own chapter, which would enable them to get a fair share of resources, funding and services from the Navajo Nation.

''The Navajo Nation coffers is your money, too,'' Shirley told about 80 Navajos at the Albuquerque Indian Center, pointing out that it requires only 1,000 Navajo signatures to begin the chapter-formation process.

''It doesn't matter where you live. Geography doesn't come between us. You're part of a chapter. Parents live back there. Elderly, your medicine people live back there. It's your land, too. That's what connects us.

''It's your resources. Why shouldn't you have a part of it?'' Shirley asked.

Janeen Comenote, coordinator of the National Urban Indian Family Coalition in Seattle, said she was thrilled to see Shirley acknowledge and embrace the needs of Navajos living off the reservation.

''I think it sends a strong message to Navajo Nation tribal members and to Indian country as a whole that with some vision and creativity, our tribal governments can positively affect the lives of their urban tribal members.''

Comenote said resources are always an issue when providing services to Indian people, and the coalition is aware that it is logistically difficult to deliver services to tribal members in urban areas.

''However, what was heartening to see coming out of the Navajo Nation offices was the message that 'We care, we know you are out there.' This simple and eloquent message sometimes does more to heal our people than all the resources in the world.

''It's a start on the road to bridging the reservation/urban divide and I applaud President Shirley and the Navajo Nation for displaying remarkable vision - we hope to see urban chapters of the Navajo Nation in all of the cities he listed,'' Comenote said.

Shirley advocated for urban Navajos during the National Urban Indian Family Coalition annual meeting in 2005, encouraging a chapter in Phoenix. He has also advocated for urban chapters in Denver, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and other cities.

Shirley said he is aware of 15,000 registered Navajo voters in Albuquerque, but as many as 27,000 may live in that city. Phoenix has possibly 19,000, while the Chicago Indian Center reports as many as 35,000 Native people, including a large number of Navajos. Los Angeles and Denver each may have as many as 14,000 Navajos.

Shirley said the Navajo executive branch has allocated $70,000 to Albuquerque Navajos. Still, more funding, jobs and a voice on the Navajo Nation Council could be a reality if urban communities established chapters. ''Our legislature needs your input. They need to hear from you.''

Shirley reported that the Navajo Nation - comprised of 110 chapters in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah - takes in approximately $160 million a year from royalties, fees and taxes of Navajo-generated money. The balance of its $500 million annual budget is federal money but that's still not enough to meet the needs of its rapidly growing population.

Anselm Roanhorse, director of the Division of Health, told Navajos in Albuquerque that there is a serious concern over federal funding cuts for health centers around the country. The Bush administration has proposed cutting $33 million that is used to fund 34 urban Indian centers. One of those cuts may affect the Albuquerque IHS, he said.

Delivering an optimistic message, Shirley pointed out that urban Navajos are maintaining their culture. In Phoenix, a Navajo language and culture teacher has been hired and children are learning the tongue.

''That language is what makes us Navajo people,'' Shirley said. ''If we're going to continue to be Navajos 500 years, 1,000 years down the road, we need that language. We need our culture, our color, our sacred stories, our herbs.''

Leland Leonard, director of the Navajo Department of Education, reported that the Navajo Sovereignty in Education Act was passed on July 19, 2005. This law elevated the division to department status, established the first Navajo board of education which will create a Navajo-based curriculum.

''We're building it now,'' Leonard said. ''We're changing the face of education on the Navajo Nation.''

During the gathering in Albuquerque in March, Navajos expressed frustration, saying they are treated by their home chapters as if they are no longer members of the community. They say they face a prejudice because they don't live on the Navajo Nation, and consequently are expected to fend for themselves.

Shirley told them, ''I know you thirst for your culture and for your language, for the mutton stew and frybread. You thirst to talk to your medicine people, your elderly. You thirst to smell cedar being put on the coals. You thirst to be part of a ceremony.''

 

 

 

 

March 27, 2006

 

Birthplace of a Prince, grounds for celebration

 

By Dennis Fujimoto - The Garden Island

PO'IPU — Although black rain clouds toyed with the mountain range in the background, there was no rain at Prince Kuhio Park yesterday.

Instead, representatives of numerous Hawaiian organizations congregated on the manicured grounds to pay tribute to Prince Kuhio Kalanianaole Piikoi.

March 26 is observed as Kuhio Day in Hawai'i, an event marked by a holiday that was established in 1949.

Warren Perry, serving as "po'o" designated by kupuna Janet Kahalekomo, masterfully molded the formalities of the ceremony with contemporary wit to keep both visitors and dignitaries entertained throughout the program.

Perry said he's been doing this for over 20 years, and welcomed the crowd of visitors that overflowed the park's terrace, spilling into the terraced area that less than a week ago was filled with water from the park's pond that over-flowed due to the deluge.

The format of the program remains unchanged over the years that it has taken place at the park that was formed around the spot marking the birthplace of the Prince in 1871.

According to a biography that was included in the program produced by the Royal Order of Kamehameha I, Chapter 3, Kuhio was born at Hoai, Kualu in the Koloa District of Kaua'i. Perry indicated that the rocks off to the side of the area where the program was being held marked the spot where the birth hale, or house, stood.

A member of the Royal Order of Kamehameha, Perry said Prince Kuhio was responsible for restoring the Royal Order of Kamehameha after the organization ceased to exist in any formal sense following the over-throw of Queen Liliuokalani in 1893.

The Order was first established on Apr. 11, 1865 by Kamehameha V to commemorate his grandfather, Kamehameha the Great, and consisted of dignitaries from the Kingdom of Hawai'i and other nations.

Yesterday's program included ho'okupu, or gifts, being offered in tribute to Prince Kuhio, and valets from the Royal Order of Kamehameha serving as receivers for the ho'okupu.

Kaua'i Mayor Bryan Baptiste said that in light of the past several weeks, "being Hawaiian is more than the blood that flows through one's veins. It's how we live together, come together, and work together."

One visiting couple from Chicago, Frank and Patty of Pono Kai as they prefer to be known, agreed with the mayor, "We carry the 'Aloha' card, and we try to practice aloha until we come back, here."

The couple had made a special trip to Po'ipu to pick up a flier about Saturday's events to make sure they didn't miss the event.

Kumu Palala Harada of Kanuikapono Learning Center public charter school echoed the mayor's sentiments.

"I am proud to be here on behalf of my kupuna before me. I offer mahalo to the organizations for keeping the legacy alive, and I hope to move ahead together as one," Harada said during one of his group's many facets of participation in the program.

This made Aunty Janet Kahalekomo smile as the kupuna representing the Hawaiian Civic Clubs had been religiously attending the ceremonies each year, and had two of her grand-children with her as a means of teaching them the significance of the celebration.

Those two, one of whom she explained was not feeling well, were on hand Saturday as Kahalekomo explained that it was Prince Kuhio who started the Hawaiian Civic Clubs in an effort to perpetuate and rehabilitate the Hawaiian people and their culture.

The first club was organized in 1918, and today, has blossomed into 49 distinct organizations spread across Hawai'i and the United States. "We even have one in Alaska," Kahalekomo said.

Joining her two grandchildren, Brandee Carlos Kahalekomo and Chelise Carlos Kahalekomo, Janet Kahalekomo pointed out a new addition to her entourage: her great grand-child Leila Gray who she said was peeking from behind the chair while watching her present the ho'okupu.

Some of Prince Kuhio's major accomplishments included a $27 million appropriation for dredging and construction of Pearl Harbor, the establishment of the Makapuu Point Lighthouse, the territorial building, the Hilo wharf, the Hawaii Volcano National Park, the Kilauea National Park, building a hospital at Kalaupapa Settlement for lepers, and the creation of county governments with elected officials.

His greatest contribution to the Hawaiian people was the establishment of the Hawaiian Homes Commission.

Organizations that participated in the ceremonies included the Royal Order of Kamehameha I and Na Wahine Hui O Kamehameha, Aha Hui O Kaahumanu, Hale O Na Alii, the Hawaiian Civic Clubs, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Alu Like, Inc., Kaua'i Island Center, Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate, Hoola Lahui Hawaii, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Queen Liliuokalani Children's Center, Ka Pa Kui A Holo O Kaua'i, and Ka Lahui Hawai'i. Greg Shredder represented Bob Marsh, a neighbor of the park who helped maintain it while he was alive.

Victor Ascuena offered his ho'okupu on behalf of the Grand Hyatt Regency where a day-long celebration in tribute to Prince Kuhio was also taking place.

"It's all about the Prince, today," Stella Burgess, the Hyatt's Hawaiian activities coordinator said.

  Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) and dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com

 

 

 

 

March 21, 2006

 

Alaska native village suffering meltdown

 

As earth's temperature rises, villagers' island loses buffer zone of ice and snow

 

Smithsonian magazine

 

Shishmaref, a native village on an island off northwestern Alaska, is falling into the ocean.

 

Giant storm surges have so battered the place -- once well protected by sea ice -- that villagers voted in 2002 to leave their ancestral home for the mainland. They are being called some of the first refugees from global warming.

 

"We tend to describe climate change in terms that are abstract -- a 1-degree rise in temperature, an increase in greenhouse gases -- but when waves wash away a village, that's concrete and very emotional," Igor Krupnik, an anthropologist at the National Museum of Natural History and curator of a new exhibition about global warming's effects on Arctic peoples, tells Smithsonian magazine.

 

"When they lose a piece of their land, they aren't just losing a certain number of square miles. They are losing part of their history and their memory. They are losing childhood events and grandparents' tales."

 

Shishmaref sits on an island only a quarter of a mile across and two-and-a-half miles long, north of the Bering Strait off Alaska's Seward Peninsula.

 

Before temperatures began to rise there about 30 years ago, 20 to 30 miles of hard sea ice buffered Shishmaref from powerful fall storms. But natives and scientists alike say the ice doesn't freeze as solidly or as soon as it used to and now stretches only six or seven miles, leaving the community of 600 people more exposed. Storms have swept away houses and a playground.

 

The villagers' plan is to relocate to Tin Creek, a site on the Alaska mainland 12 miles away, and they have appealed to state and local authorities to pick up the estimated $180 million cost. Residents hope that in their new community they'll be able to maintain their close ties and continue hunting seals and walruses, and keep fishing, much as their ancestors have done for centuries.

 

"People are asking why (the government) should be spending so much money on so few people," said Shishmaref native Tony Weyiouanna. "But people here in Alaska are like everyone else. We want to keep our culture alive."

 

Residents have received $4.25 million for a road to Tin Creek, but Weyiouanna says he is not optimistic that the community will get all the funding it needs to rebuild.

 

NASA says the year 2005 was the hottest in a century, and though some experts disagree over how much carbon dioxide emissions contribute to global warming, they agree that the Arctic is feeling the burn more than anyplace else.

 

And the Arctic's problems are worsening. As rising temperatures melt ice and snow, newly exposed land and seawater absorb even more sunlight, increasing temperatures further, and so on.

 

NASA climatologist James Hansen, who has publicly accused Bush administration officials of trying to suppress evidence of global warming, says most of last year's record heat reflects increases in the Arctic, which was 3 degrees warmer than usual.

 

Anthropologist William Fitzhugh, director of the Smithsonian's Arctic Studies Center, says Shishmaref's plight is bad news, if only because Arctic ice and snow help air-condition the planet. "They are canaries in the coal mine," he says of the town's soon to be displaced residents.

 

For his part, Weyiouanna says, "The annihilation of our way of life due to global warming is something we would like to avoid. Nobody wants to be the canary."

 

 

 

 

March 21, 2006

 

Third Hawaiian tech center opens

 

Pacific Business News (Honolulu)

 

The nonprofit that opened technology centers in Anahola and Waimanalo has opened a third in Papakolea above Honolulu.

 

The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement and its wholly owned subsidiary Hawaiian Homestead Technology Inc. said they now have 29 people working at the three centers.

 

"It's been a terrific journey," said council President Robin Puanani Danner, "to bring business concepts to a social mission."

 

The concept began in 2003 on Kauai with the $26 million Project Faith to create jobs on Hawaiian Homestead lands in Anahola, a sleepy town just off the road to Hanalei on the northeastern corner of Kauai. The solution turned out to be a tech center to digitize paper text documents for its clients.

 

The second center, opened in 2004 in the Waimanalo Community Center on Oahu, was spurred by a $9.6 million contract to convert thousands of paper maps, charts, wiring diagrams and other graphics into digital files for the U.S. Marine Corps.

 

"We are proving," said Hawaiian Homestead Technology President Myron Thompson, "that rural areas of Hawaii are fertile ground not only to meet that mission, but establish viable tech industry businesses."

 

 

 

 

Posted: March 21, 2006

 

First conventional mortgage loan to be made on the Crow reservation

 

by: Staff Reports / Indian Country Today

 

HARDIN, Mont. - The first conventional (or non-government-backed) loan was closed in Montana on the Crow reservation thanks to a partnership between the Crow Tribe, Fannie Mae and First Interstate Bank. Closing on the loan was scheduled for March 3 at First Interstate Bank's Hardin branch.

Many American Indians in the United States find that access to mortgage credit is limited because they live on lands that were reserved for them by treaty or federal law. But through the Native American Conventional Lending Initiative, Fannie Mae, working with local lenders, has opened the door to conventional lending on tribal trust or restricted lands.

Mary Lou Affleck, Fannie Mae's Community Business Officer for Montana, said the NACLI is part of Fannie Mae's American Dream Commitment to tackle America's toughest housing problems. ''The purpose of this initiative is to increase homeownership rates nationwide among Native Americans, rural residents, minority borrowers, and others whose homeownership rates lag the general population. We are pleased that through our partnership with the Crow Tribe and First Interstate Bank, we are able to close our first conventional loan on tribal trust land in Montana on the Crow Reservation.''

First Interstate Bank's Community Development Officer, Maria Valandra, said First Interstate is equally pleased about this first conventional loan to be made on tribal trust land. ''First Interstate has a long-standing commitment to reinvesting in our communities. In cooperation with Fannie Mae, we hope to help many more residents on tribal trust land to reach their dream of homeownership.''

The NACLI offers a low down payment mortgage with additional credit flexibilities. This mortgage allows qualified borrowers who are members of the Crow Tribe to make a low down payment from the borrower's own funds. If the borrower fits the income limits, they may qualify for down payment assistance through the Apsaalooke Nation Housing Authority. This mortgage is available for the purchase of a new home or the purchase and rehabilitation of an existing home. The NACLI mortgage requires homebuyer education, which is provided by the Apsaalooke Nation Housing Authority. First Interstate Bank will originate the mortgage loans and Fannie Mae will purchase the eligible loans originated under this initiative.

 

 

 

 

March 25, 2006

 

Artifacts trafficker pleads guilty

 

As part of a plea deal, he admits to stealing native Hawaiian items from a Big Isle cave

 

By Sally Apgar and Mary Vorsino
sapgar@starbulletin.com,
mvorsino@starbulletin.com

 

A Big Island collectibles dealer pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to conspiracy to traffic native Hawaiian artifacts stolen from a burial cave, and could face state felony charges in the theft.

 

Daniel W. Taylor, 39, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of conspiracy to traffic in American Indian cultural items as part of a plea deal in which the government dropped another charge of selling Hawaiian artifacts in violation of the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990.

 

In a hearing before Magistrate Barry Kurren, Assistant U.S. Attorney Clare Connors also said the government would not seek additional charges against Taylor related to selling artifacts in the summer of 2004.

 

Under NAGPRA, the charges against Taylor as a first offender are a misdemeanor; a second offense is automatically a felony. Taylor faces a maximum jail sentence of one year, a maximum fine of $100,000 and a year of supervised release. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 6.

 

Taylor pleaded guilty a week after another defendant in the case, John Carta, who allegedly brought Taylor to Kanupa Cave in Kohala, was charged with a misdemeanor violation of NAGPRA for trying to make a profit selling the items.

 

Although traffickers, particularly in the southwestern United States, have been aggressively prosecuted under NAGPRA since 1994, this is the first case to be prosecuted in Hawaii.

 

NAGPRA was set up to prosecute people selling native Hawaiian, American Indian and Native Alaskan artifacts on the black market and also to establish a procedure to return human remains, sacred objects and burial items held in museums to native people.

 

Prosecutors say that on June 17, 2004, Taylor and Carta broke into the sealed cave and took the artifacts.

 

At least two of the items were sold: An ancient kapa went to a tourist for $150 on June 26, and a collector bought a fisherman's bowl for $2,083 on July 11.

 

Taylor also tried to sell a palaoa, a prized necklace, to a collector for $40,000 on June 17. Less than a month later, Taylor posted a kupee, or bracelet, on an Internet auction site. He priced the item at $5,600.

 

Both Taylor and Carta, 45, still face possible state charges, state Attorney General Mark Bennett said in a news conference with U.S. Attorney General Ed Kubo after yesterday's federal hearing.

 

Bennett said the theft is so expansive, with 157 artifacts taken, that felony charges might be warranted.

 

"At a time in the future, we are going to make a determination," Bennett said. "This was a series of very disgraceful acts, and I am very glad that the perpetrators of these disgraceful acts have now been brought to justice."

 

Kubo noted, "We need to make a statement that these types of burial sites are sacred.

 

"Anyone who dares to enter such a sacred burial site and takes anything is nothing more than a grave robber."

 

Kubo said that almost all of the items stolen from the cave have been recovered. "I can say we have the lion's share," he said, adding that investigators do have all the items that were sold.

 

Taylor's attorney Alexander Silvert, a public defender, said many of the items taken were retrieved by investigators with Taylor's help.

 

Silvert said Taylor "made some bad decisions" and did not understand the implications or cultural and spiritual offenses he committed when he helped Carta retrieve the artifacts and put them up for sale.

 

"My client wants to apologize to the Hawaiian community for his actions," Silvert said.

 

"It was Mr. Carta who knew where the cave was," said Silvert, adding, "Mr. Taylor has done everything he can to rectify what he did. He pleaded guilty because he recognizes that what he did was wrong, and he wanted to make it right."

 

Taylor, who has been cooperating with federal agents since 2004, will likely testify against Carta at trial, Silvert said.

 

Connors told Kurren that the two men entered Kanupa cave and carried out artifacts that were either wrapped in black cloth or placed in lau hala baskets.

 

Taylor tried to sell the artifacts via the Internet and by approaching private collectors, prosecutors said. At least one collector who recognized the items contacted federal authorities, triggering the investigation.

 

In July 2004 the Star-Bulletin began investigating the possible black-market sale of artifacts from Kanupa after speaking to collectors who described what Taylor tried to sell them.

 

Speaking on condition of anonymity, two collectors told the Star-Bulletin that Taylor showed them beautifully carved bowls, priced as high as $20,000, and other artifacts. But they were wary because some items still bore labels that identified them as belonging to the renowned J.S. Emerson Collection, which the Bishop Museum bought in the late 1880s. Some pieces might also be from the Peabody Museum in Salem, Mass.

 

The Star-Bulletin found that the Emerson collection items had been repatriated, or legally transferred, under NAGPRA from the Bishop Museum to Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawaii Nei in 1997. Hui Malama is a native Hawaiian organization founded in 1989 for the purpose of repatriating human remains and other artifacts from museums.

 

In accordance with its beliefs that the items must be returned to the original burial cave to honor ancestors, Hui Malama reburied the items in Kanupa cave.

 

Alan Murakami, an attorney for Hui Malama, said the group is still waiting to see if the state will conduct its own prosecution of the alleged traffickers under state cave preservation laws.

 

Critics of Hui Malama say the case proves that precious items are not safe when they are reburied in caves.

 

La'akea Suganuma, an outspoken opponent of Hui Malama, has repeatedly said that Hui Malama was responsible for protecting the items and failed in making the cave secure.

 

After it reburied the items, Hui Malama sealed the cave with large boulders. In August 2004 the Star-Bulletin ran a picture of the cave showing the boulders removed and the cave open.

 

Silvert described Carta as "a drifter" who made replicas of Hawaiian artifacts and had sold some to Taylor for sale in his store. Taylor and his wife operate a small store called Grandma's Attic at Captain Cook's Tiki Shack.

 

When the case is complete, Kubo said his office will give the items to four native Hawaiian groups: Hui Malama, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Big Island Burial Council and Kalahui Hawaii. The groups will decide how and where the artifacts will be repatriated, he said.

 

Kubo also indicated that more charges under NAGPRA could follow. Investigators on the Kanupa case have gotten several tips on similar artifacts trafficking operations, he said.

 

No new cases have been opened, but investigators are following up on several leads.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Monday, March 27, 2006

 

OHA may bid for Moanalua Valley

 

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Staff Writer

 

Several trustees with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs are mulling the idea of making a bid for Moanalua Valley and Moanalua Gardens, even as the current owner, the estate of Samuel Mills Damon, considers other proposals. One of those would give ownership of the valley to the state.

 

At issue are two properties at the edge of Honolulu with significant environmental and cultural interest.

 

The nonprofit Trust for Public Land has put together and submitted to the estate a $5.5 million purchase package for the 3,714-acre Moanalua Valley, also known as Kamananui Valley. The package includes commitments of up to $3 million from the state, $1.6 million from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and $900,000 from the Army.

 

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources would become the landowner under that plan. The Board of Land and Natural Resources approved the proposal last month.

 

But OHA trustee Dante Carpenter said he and several of his colleagues are considering a possible bid for both properties as part of an ongoing effort to acquire parcels of cultural significance that may one day be handed over to a sovereign Hawaiian government.

 

"Our interest is, ultimately, to hold title to those two properties," Carpenter said, noting that OHA is also looking at the environmental and cultural preservation of the two sites.

 

Where OHA members and the Trust for Public Land/BLNR group split is that he and his colleagues want OHA to gain ownership, Carpenter said. "The idea is to convey some land base" to any possible federally recognized Hawaiian entity.

 

Carpenter noted that the Trust for Public Land, the state land board and others have partnered with OHA in the past year to find the money to purchase both Waimea Valley on O'ahu's North Shore and 26,000 acres in the Big Island's Wao Kele o Puna rainforest.

 

In both cases, OHA or a successor Native Hawaiian government would be the ultimate landowner.

It's unclear how a possible late entry by OHA into the Moanalua ownership picture will be received by the estate and its trustees. Carpenter, who appears to have the support of colleagues Os Stender and Rowena Akana, has yet to take the matter to the full nine-member board.

 

Tim Johns, Damon's chief operating officer, said the trustees are currently evaluating the Trust for Public Land offer, and "trying to negotiate terms as well."

 

The valley has a rich history, according to the nonprofit Moanalua Gardens Foundation. In the 1600s, it was designated by then-O'ahu King Kakuhihewa as the center of hula and chant-ing. It is also believed that Kamehameha the Great, following the major battles of Nu'uanu and Kahauiki during his conquest of O'ahu, rested in Moanalua.

 

The property was later the home of Lot, who later became Kamehameha V, and was owned by Bernice Pauahi Bishop before she willed it to Damon, her husband's friend and business partner.

 

From an environmental standpoint, the valley is considered a sanctuary for several endangered and rare birds and plants, according to Joshua Stanbro, a local official for the Trust for Public Land.

 

"It's one of the most intact ecosystems on the island," Stanbro said, adding that the valley is considered among the main habitats for the endangered 'elepaio bird.

 

The 26-acre Moanalua Gardens, sandwiched between the Moanalua Freeway and the Moanalua Elementary and Intermediate schools and kept open to the public by the Damon Estate, is significant in its own right. It is home to the Prince Lot Hula Festival, the largest noncompetitive hula festival, which is named after the gardens' former owner.

 

It is also widely known for the so-called "Hitachi tree," one of two exceptional monkeypod trees on the property that are on the national historic register. Its nickname comes from repeated use in television commercials by Japan's Hitachi Corp., making it a popular photo stop for Japanese visitors here.

 

The property also features a taro patch and koi pond, as well as historically significant buildings put up by Lot and Damon.

 

The assessed value of the valley parcel is $5.5 million, and of the garden parcel $5 million.

 

Moanalua Valley's environmental qualities are a key reason the Trust for Public Land is teaming up with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, the U.S. Army Environmental Center and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Agency's Recovery Land Acquisition program for the proposal to purchase it.

 

The team did not submit a proposal for the gardens.

 

DLNR director Peter Young said he has had discussions with Carpenter and does not believe it is a problem that OHA also may be interested in the property.

 

"We share the same goal of wanting to protect the valley," Young said. "We share the same goal of wanting to make sure that the entities that have an interest in the valley have access to it — meaning Hawaiian cultural practitioners, scientists that want to study the birds and others who want to do evaluation."

 

Carpenter agreed. "I don't see us basically competing with each other," he said, noting that even if one group purchases the valley, he expects cooperation.

 

Carpenter said he also believes that the chances of OHA gaining possession of the gardens' parcel may be better if lumped together as part of an offer that also includes the valley.

 

"Whether or not they would go for a single buyer, versus selling it in bits and pieces, is ultimately up to them," he said. The worry, he said, is that a party outside of government interests might purchase either the valley or gardens.

 

Carpenter said he has been told outside parties have also expressed interest in purchasing both parcels.

 

Damon Estate representative Tim Johns confirmed that "some potential offers have come in from individuals" involving the two parcels, both as a package and separately.

 

If multiple offers are on the table at some point for the Damon trustees, Johns said, "the trustees will evaluate the offers and do the best thing for the beneficiaries as a whole."

 

Johns said there is no external deadline for sale of the properties although "the trustees would like to move expeditiously on it."

 

Stanbro, of the Trust for Public Land, said he does not want to comment on any acquisition plans by OHA members until he sees a formalized request.

 

However, Stanbro said: "We welcome the help of OHA in protecting any landscape of this importance, especially the gardens, which aren't currently contemplated in any sort of protective effort."

 

Young said initial discussions had DLNR bidding for the valley and OHA going after the gardens. "I thought that was a great combination," he said.

 

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

Posted: March 27, 2006, 02:16 PM

 

Choctaw Chief to give Congressional testimony this week on HHS budgets

Gregory E. Pyle, Chief of the Great Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, has been invited to present verbal testimony before Congress this week on several issues. Scheduled to appear Wednesday to the House Appropriations Subcommittee for Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and related agencies on the FY 2007 budget for the Department of Health and Human Services, Chief Pyle will speak on the budget needs from federal funding for programs and services. Citing statistics such as the 26% increase in American Indians/Alaskan Native populations compared to the general U.S. population increase of only 13%, Chief Pyle will point out to Congress that tribal people are a growing minority and that continued funding is necessary to meet the growing needs.

 

Funding to continue the tremendous diabetes prevention and treatment projects is at the top of the list of specific requests Chief Pyle will bring to the Congressional table. American Indians and Alaska Natives have the highest prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the world, not just the U.S. but also the entire world! The Tulsa World recently reported that 7% of the U.S. population, 20.8 million Americans, has diabetes, a 14% increase over two years ago. According to the American Diabetes Association, the average cost of diabetes care per patient per year is over $13,000. Pharmaceuticals are a large portion of that cost. The Indian Health Service reports that the diabetic per capita personal health care expenditure for American Indian and Alaska Native patients is $2,133. The agency estimates that it would cost approximately $425 million per year to care for those who are currently diagnosed with diabetes.

 

The University of Oklahoma is proposing to enter into a partnership with the State and the Tribes to build a Diabetes Center of Excellence that will be one of the top diabetes centers in the Country. Oklahoma ranks at the top of the states in the per capita number of citizens who suffer from diabetes. One in 10 people have diabetes in Oklahoma compared to 1 in 15 nationally. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), of the children born since 2000, 1 in 3 will develop diabetes before age 50 and it is 1 in 2 for Hispanic, African American and Native American populations. The Center will conduct research and provide treatment in a state that ranks at the top among states in per capita number of citizens who suffer from diabetes.

 

The second request to Congress will be a Tribal Set-Aside for a pandemic influenza plan. The Health and Human Services (HHS) received $3.3 billion from Congress and HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt has put everyone on notice that it is only a matter of time before the pathogenic H5N1 avian flu virus lands in America, taking into consideration the migration patterns of the viral carrier. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is concerned that there is not a Plan for Indian Country that will address the special circumstances and concerns of Tribes. Priority three request from the Choctaw Nation is that $20 million be restored to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

 

Since 2005 this line item has been decreased $80 million. The funding loss to the National Diabetes Education Program, where partners work together to improve the treatment and outcomes of diabetes in individuals, families, communities and health care systems, will have long reaching negative impacts. Since 2005 the budget for the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Disease (NIDDK) has been cut by $20 million. Within the NIDDK, there is a Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases and Diabetes Research Programs providing research, training and coordinates federally supported diabetes-related activities. Chief Pyle will ask that Congress restore the $11 million in the FY 2007 President’s budget.

 

Methamphetamine use, abuse and dependency statistics have soared since 2004 and yet the Administration has reduced funding the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Substance Abuse and Treatment Programs of Regional and National Significance by $24 million. Tribes are reporting staggering cases of crime, domestic violence and drug and alcohol abuse that are attributable to the sale and manufacturing of methamphetamine in their communities. Collaboration across the federal jurisdictional boundaries is needed to make a concerted effort to reclaim people and communities.

 

The Choctaw Nation will host a Town Hall meeting Oklahoma in June 2006 to convene representatives from Oklahoma Tribes, SAMHSA, Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Office of Violence Against Women (OVAW), Indian Health Service (IHS) and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The purpose of the meeting is to share efforts and develop strategies to address drug abuse, crime and domestic violence in our community. This meeting is of Regional and National significance and will serve as a pilot effort for other Tribes to conduct similar sessions.

 

 

 

 

Article published Mar 26, 2006

Chamorro month comes to close

Learning culture should continue after festivities

By Oyaol Ngirairikl

Pacific Daily News
ongirairikl@guampdn.com

 

As Chamorro month festivities draw to a close, Chamorro language educators remind us that cultural celebrations should not be relegated to one month.

 

March was proclaimed Chamorro month, with this year's theme being "Pås yan Guinaiya Gi Lina'lå'-ta," which means "Promote Peace and Love Within Our Lives."

 

The Guam Public School System's Chamorro Studies Division has sponsored various events, including culinary competitions and performances. The University of Guam sponsored the Chamorro language competitions, which included hundreds of middle and high school competitors from Guam and the Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands participating in chanting, dancing, singing and poetry recitations. The Department of Chamorro Affairs and the Guam Council on the Arts and Humanities Agency held cultural festivals and exhibits throughout the month.

 

Ronald Laguana, GPSS Chamorro Studies acting administrator, said the events, activities and lessons showcased this month could be adopted into the daily lives of household on Guam, to help perpetuate the culture and the language.

 

"Traditional practices that are seen today as cultural arts, those are all a part of daily traditional life of a Chamorro family. Cooking, fishing, weaving -- these are life skills that we're passing down that are a part of the culture," Laguana said. "For example, I don't teach my children Chamorro orthography. I communicate with them in Chamorro. The difference is living the language and the culture."

 

Laguana said Chamorro language and culture classes at the elementary schools are a resource parents can tap into if they don't know where to start.

 

For a look into the various aspects of the Chamorro culture, the University of Guam's Endowment Foundation will hold the First Chamorro Conference from March 29 to 31 at the Outrigger Guam Resort. There will be a series of workshops and discussions that will look at, among other things, ways to strengthen the Chamorro programs offered to students and adults.

 

And while children have Chamorro language and culture classes, adults can take Chamorro language classes at the University of Guam and the Guam Community College, said Rosa Salas Palomo, who works at UOG's Micronesian Language Institute.

 

The Department of Chamorro Affairs, which is the government agency with the task of creating programs that promote the Chamorro culture, is rebuilding a program to teach Chamorro language and different aspects of the culture.

 

Creators of the program are aiming to showcase the culture to the island's visitors and provide interested adults an avenue to learn the Chamorro language.

 

However, Laguana said, in order for the culture to survive, it will take more than just attending these programs.

 

"We as Chamorro parents need to take what we know and take what we learn from our elders, and even from these programs, and practice them and put them to use in our home. Only then can we have a true awakening of the Chamorro culture," Laguana said.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Thursday, March 23, 2006

 

Cultural gathering place to close

 

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Staff Writer

 

Hawai'i's first kava bar, a cozy enclave for Hawaiian language and culture, will shut its doors after the last bowl is scooped from a kanoa container sometime this week.

 

Hale Noa owner Jason Keoni Verity, 36, is hopeful that the bar can return in a different form — possibly as a nonprofit or attached to some other concept — with the intent of keeping "kava culture" alive.

 

Known interchangeably by its Hawaiian name 'awa, kava is the earthy Polynesian drink extracted from roots and root stumps of the Piper methysticum, or intoxicating pepper shrub. When imbibed, the bitter and tongue-numbing liquid is believed to relax the body while sharpening the mind.

 

At a private gathering held earlier this week, Hale Noa regulars lamented the closure of the 'awa bar, which had a six-year run on Kapahulu Avenue.

 

Hale Noa was a venue for a variety of local musicians, from veterans like Ernie Cruz Jr. and Barry Flanagan to the young women from Girlas, which is releasing its first album next month.

 

One of the Girlas, Candy Yasuda, said Hale Noa served as a home base for the group's members. Yasuda even met her husband there.

 

"Many of my songs were written within these walls," said Yasuda, 24, as she scanned the candle-lit interior.

 

Kalama Chock and Kaliko Palmeira, both 24, look like most guys who hit town's traditional bars.

 

Chock, a "part-time teacher and full-time student," sometimes goes to standard bars but at Hale Noa, he said, "you can actually have a good conversation." A Hawaiian language major, Chock said Hale Noa's passing will leave a void. "We found out we could talk Hawaiian in here," he said, shaking his head. "You can't just talk Hawaiian in any old place."

 

Palmeira, a producer and musician who attended the Hawaiian immersion school 'Anuenue, praised Verity's foresight.

 

"It's a great concept," Palmeira said. "To be able to sell 'awa and incorporate culture at the same time."

 

Laiana Wong, 49, an acting associate professor of Hawaiian language at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, said, "To be able to come here and run into people who can speak Hawaiian and have an opportunity to network with them, that's pretty invaluable."

 

Verity, a former Hawaiian language major at the UH-Manoa campus, said he has been taken to task by some who believe 'awa was used in olden Hawai'i only during ceremonies. But such criticism is baseless, he said, since literature refers to everyday use.

 

Verity said several issues are prompting Hale Noa's closure. Among them are glitches tied to a hoped-for kava supply from Vanuatu, a chain of islands in the southwest Pacific near Fiji where kava is believed to have originated.

 

Also, the cost of everything from electricity to insurance has gone up, Verity said. In plain English, gross revenues have increased but overhead has gone up even faster, he said.

 

In addition, questions about whether kava is healthful didn't help the business.

 

Hale Noa was forced to go out of state for kava in 2002 when published reports surfaced detailing potential health concerns tied to kava consumption, Verity said.

 

While there was no drop in Hale Noa's clientele, Verity said, local farmers immediately began taking their fields out of kava production.

 

Several European countries have barred kava, and the U.S. Federal Drug Administration issued a warning that there may be a link between herbal supplements containing kava and liver damage.

 

Dr. Landis Lum, an associate clinical professor of family medicine at UH-Manoa and a family practice doctor at Kaiser Kailua, said information about the attributes and possible dangers of kava continues to be mixed.

 

A 2005 study published by the Cochrane Database concluded kava extract can effectively treat anxiety and appears "relatively safe" for the short term, Lum said. But the study also suggested there needs to be further studies to clarify "existing uncertainties."

 

Verity said top concerns have to do with kava consumed in nontraditional ways, such as in concentrated tablets or mixed with other ingredients.

 

"We've been drinking kava in the Pacific for 3,000 years," he said.

 

Lum, however, pointed out that the Cochrane study noted one case in which a man who had brewed kava tea ended up in the hospital with vertigo.

 

Yasuda, the musician, noted that Verity made a point of educating new customers about the dos and don'ts of kava.

 

Verity also had kava rules. Among them: No 'awa drinking after alcohol consumption and no 'awa drinking for anyone under age 20.

 

With Hale Noa's departure, there is still at least one other place to get kava by the bowl over a counter — but the experience is different.

 

Three years ago, former Hale Noa customer Marcus Marcos opened the Diamond Head Cove Health Bar on Monsarrat Avenue, just a few blocks from Hale Noa. While he serves kava, Marcos' main business is in healthful local food products, such as smoothies and salads. One smoothie blends kava with apple bananas, coconut milk and maple syrup.

 

"Keoni doesn't believe in altering anything, which is great," Marcos said, adding that he's remained a fan of Hale Noa and is disappointed it is closing.

 

"It's filled a unique niche," he said.

 

Cruz, who has sipped kava and performed in the two venues, said he likes both establishments.

 

"This one is a Hawaiian 'awa bar — that's what makes this place different," Cruz said, as he got ready to perform at Hale Noa on a Sunday night. "The other place is a salad bar that serves 'awa."

 

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

March 21, 2006

 

Former lawmaker Binkley eyes return to office

 

JOEL DAVIDSON

Frontiersman reporter

Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman - http://www.frontiersman.com

 

MAT-SU - Dressed in blue jeans and a tan work shirt, 53-year-old Alaska gubernatorial candidate John Binkley stopped by the Frontiersman offices Friday to introduce himself and make a case that he's the man to lead Alaska in the post-Frank Murkowski era.

 

A third-generation riverboat captain from Western Alaska, Binkley, a Republican, carries a lean frame with a head of thick gray hair and a face that betrays countless hours along the river. He's now ready to trade time on the water for an office in Juneau.

 

If elected governor, it won't be the first time Binkley serves in the state's capital - just the first time in nearly a generation.

 

Sixteen years ago, Binkley retired after serving two years as a state representative and four years as a state senator for the Alaska Legislature. At the time of his departure he was 37 and said he wanted to spend more time with his wife and four young children.

 

“It took so much time away from home, and our first focus was on the family. So, reluctantly, I chose to step back and leave the Legislature,” he explained.

 

During his time away from public office, Binkley worked with his children in the family business, Riverboat Discovery, a riverboat tour that operates out of Fairbanks. With the kids grown, though, and the blessings of his wife Judy behind him, Binkley is ready to step away from the river and wade back into politics.

 

Of course, Binkley has more than family support behind his 2006 campaign. Since announcing his candidacy in December, he raised more than $350,000 in campaign funds from Republican allies and other supporters - something that indicates he has considerable support from the established power structure of the reigning Republican Party.

 

A lifelong Republican, Binkley still admits to being a little surprised that he could generate that kind of support in just a few weeks. He's quick to admit, however, that he didn't exactly drop off the radar screen for the past 15 years.

 

Working with dozens of statewide and community service organizations, Binkley continues to serve on the board of directors with the Alaska Railroad Corporation, Enstar Natural Gas, American Heart Association, and the Alaska/Siberia Research Center, as well as serving on the advisory boards for Alaska Airlines and American Seafoods.

 

“Through those [organizations] people have an opportunity to get to know you from around the state and get a sense of who you are,” he said. “A lot of people over the years have asked me to get back into politics.”

 

And it's not just party-line Republicans, he said.

 

Binkley's reputation for reaching across party lines, as a young state representative and senator, is not forgotten by several lifelong and influential Alaska Democrats.

 

When running for the state house in 1985, the young Binkley lived in Bethel, where Bush communities are predominantly Democrat-leaning.

 

As a non-Native, he quickly made a reputation for himself as a person who listened to issues and did his homework, said Rep. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel. Hoffman, a 20-year lawmaker, first worked with Binkley when he was a city council member for Bethel and Hoffman was the city manager.

 

According to Hoffman, Binkley, despite being an outsider, was able to understand and articulate Alaska Native concerns, especially as they related to alcohol abuse and commercial fishing.

 

“We had to work real close on many issues,” Hoffman said. “He works very hard to know and understand the issues. He will bend on some issues, but he won't give up on something he really believes in.”

 

As a legislator, Binkley focused much of his energy tackling alcohol problems in Alaska villages and dealing with ways to bolster the commercial fishing industry for the state.

 

“Over my six years in the Legislature, those are the issues that really define me,” Binkley said.

 

For the first time in his political career, Hoffman said he is supporting a Republican for governor because he believes Binkley will cross party lines to solve problems.

 

“I've seen 20 years of politicians, and for me to cross party lines is something new,” he said. “I think John is going to get a lot of support from both sides of the aisle and from rural Alaska.”

 

While strong bipartisan support for his candidacy remains to be seen, Binkley said the Republican base will be key to his election hopes.

 

“I typically align myself with the values and the platform of the Republican Party,” he said. “I'm a Republican, and I want the Republican base - it's a large base.”

 

At the same time, Binkley said he thinks the next governor needs to win back public confidence after a slew of ethics scandals rocked the Republican Party in recent years.

 

“Today, the economy is moving forward in Alaska, yet people don't feel good about their government,” he said. “I think the government works better when you have the confidence of the people behind you. I think those things are missing now.”

 

Bill Sheffield, the Democratic governor who led Alaska from 1982 to 1986, isn't letting on whom he supports for the 2006 election, but he did say Binkley was a workaholic, who is qualified for the job.

 

“You won't outwork John,” he said. “When he gets into an issue, he gets all the way into it. But he suffers from the same problems I do. He wants to know everything, and, in a sense, he wants to run everything.”

 

If Binkley is elected, Sheffield said he hopes he could rejuvenate Alaska politics.

 

“In the old days, there were Democrats and Republicans working on the merits of the issues,” he said. “We might have disagreed, but we'd still go out afterwards and have a cup of coffee that night as friends.”

 

Sheffield said he thinks Binkley has the personality to bring the parties together again.

 

“People won't hate John,” he said. “He's young, he's got ambition, and he'll outwork them all.”

 

Contact Joel Davidson at 352-2266 or joel.davidson@ frontiersman.com.

 

 

 

 

March 22, 2006


Hawaii Commemorative Quarter Advisory Commission Calls on Public to Submit Themes/Narratives


HONOLULU – The Hawai`i Commemorative Quarter Advisory Commission (HCQAC), established by Governor Linda Lingle through an executive order, is accepting themes and narrative submissions for Hawai`i’s Commemorative Quarter through the month of April.  Sunday, April 30, 2006, will be the last day to submit ideas.  

“We encourage the public to take an active role in contributing to the overall design and spirit of Hawai`i’s quarter by submitting their recommended themes and narratives,” said Commission Chair Jonathan Johnson.  “It is an opportunity to reflect on what makes our island home special.”

The public should submit their ideas in the form of a narrative, describing key symbols that they would like to see depicted on the quarter, along with an explanation of why these symbols are emblematic of Hawai`i.  The U.S. Mint will use recommended narratives submitted by the Commission and the Governor to graphically illustrate the design.

State designs will be displayed on the reverse (tails) of the quarters, while the obverse (heads) of the quarters will continue to display the familiar image of George Washington.  Designs should maintain a dignity befitting the Nation’s coinage, have a broad appeal to the citizens of Hawai`i, and be enduring representations of the state.  

Appropriate designs could include state landmarks (natural and manmade), landscapes, historically significant buildings, symbols of state resources or industries, official state flora and fauna, state icons, or outlines of the state.

Inappropriate designs include the state flag, state seal, head-and-shoulders portrait or bust of any person, living or dead, controversial subjects or symbols that are likely to offend, logos or depictions of specific commercial, private, educational, civic, religious, sports, or other organizations whose membership or ownership is not universal.

Members of the public can submit their ideas on-line at www.hawaii.gov/gov/commemorativequarter, or via fax at (808) 586-2370, or by mail to Hawai`i Commemorative Quarter Advisory Commission,
P.O. Box 2359, Honolulu, Hawai`i 96804.  All submissions are made without remuneration and will become the exclusive property of the State of Hawai`i.  

The Commission will review public submissions, rank them in order of priority, develop them into final narratives, and make their recommendations to Governor Lingle.  The Governor will then choose three to five final narratives to submit to the U.S. Mint, whom will then return designs approved by the Secretary of the Treasury.  The Commission will review the recommended coin designs and submit to the Governor a prioritized list of designs.  At that time, the Governor will select the final coin design.

The Commission includes leaders from around the state who represent the community, government, businesses, education, culture and the arts, ethnic communities, and the Numismatic Association (an organization dedicated to the study and collection of coins).

The United States Mint implemented the “50 States Commemorative Coin Program” in 1997 to establish a new series of quarters to commemorate each of the 50 states.  State quarters are issued in the order in which the states ratified the Constitution and joined the Union. Therefore, Hawai`i’s quarter is the last in the program to be minted.  It is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2008, and will be produced for 10 weeks.

For more information on Commission meetings (agenda, minutes) and Commission members, please visit the HCQAC’s Web site at www.hawaii.gov/gov/commemorativequarter.

 

 

 

 

Sunday, March 19, 2006

 

Rails, diamonds focus of talks

Mining trade show covered lots of ground

By STEFAN MILKOWSKI
Staff Writer

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

 

The Arctic International Mining Symposium, which included a trade show, talks and even a tour of the Pogo gold mine, wrapped up Friday. Here's a sampling of the subjects discussed.

 

Arctic iron horse

 

Steven Borell, P.E., executive director of the Alaska Miners Association, has been thinking about a 400-mile railroad through the arctic since before Bill Clinton became president.

 

The idea is to bring some of the massive coal and metal deposits of Northwest Alaska to the port in Nome. By some estimates, the area could contain about a quarter of all the coal in the U.S., Borell said, with underground seams 100 feet thick or better.

 

"It's a concept," he told the hardy few who came early Thursday morning for hard-boiled eggs, pancakes, sausage and a PowerPoint presentation. "There's a lot of problems with it."

 

Here's how it could work. A couple of coal mines, each producing 10 million tons per year for 30 years, ship their coal by rail to the port at Nome. A coal-fired power plant at one of the mines provides power to Teck Cominco Ltd.'s Red Dog Mine north of Kotzebue, which in turn can process its zinc on site rather than shipping out zinc concentrate because electricity from a coal-fired plant would be a lot cheaper than electricity from a liquid fuel-fired plant.

 

A rail spur could link up with the Ambler region southeast of Red Dog, which could contain about 3 billion pounds of copper, according to one of the companies exploring there.

 

Borell first explored the railroad in depth for a class at the University of Alaska Anchorage in 1992, when he received an assignment to come up with a systems approach to a project. Now he calls it "kind of an avocation."

 

The mineral resources of the area are so great even extreme measures of retrieving them become somewhat logical economically. One company considered using Boeing 747s to get copper out of the Ambler region, Borell said.

 

So what's so crazy about a 400-mile railroad from the Brooks Range to Nome?

 

Borell is the first to admit there's a few hurdles.

 

One is getting across or around protected federal lands. Permission to put a railroad through federal conservation land is hard-won at best.

 

There is a way to skirt the federal conservation land, involving a multi-mile crossing of Kotzebue Sound.

 

"He cheated," said Clarke Milne, P.E., who works for the state's Department of Transportation and Public Facilities and came to the talk. "He went across the water."

 

Borell swears the water's shallow enough to walk through. OK, maybe there's a few spots where it's 30 feet deep, but that's just a challenge for the engineers.

 

The Jones Act, which bars foreign-made ships from transporting goods between U.S. states, could also be a sticking point. Because American-made and licensed ships are rare and expensive, any minerals shipped out of Nome would probably have to go to foreign markets.

 

But the biggest hurdle might be winning over the Alaska Native residents of the area.

 

"The acceptance of the Native people is essential," Borell said. So far, the Arctic Slope Regional Corp. is not exactly on board, but he does have plans to meet with the corporation's new president.

 

If anything, he said, they're only interested in building one mine, which wouldn't make the project worth it.

 

"I don't know if five mines will do it," he said.

 

There's a lot Borell doesn't know, like what it would cost.

 

"Oh, who knows?" he said.

 

Estimates of other rail projects put the cost of a new railroad at between $2 million and $4 million per mile, so a conservative estimate could be $1.6 billion.

 

What might be road-blocks become speed bumps under Borell's enthusiasm.

Ocean crossing? No problem.

 

Mountains?

 

"I won't strictly call them mountains," he said of the terrain tracks would cross, "but you have some significant topography."

 

The Canadians have done amazing things getting trains past mountains, he said.

 

Diamonds in Alaska?

 

Are there really diamonds in Alaska?

 

Well, yes. There are at least three.

 

In the summers of 1982, 1984 and 1986, three diamonds were found around Crooked Creek in the Circle mining district. One was a dodecahedron, pale yellow, 1.4 carats.

 

Experts found markers that make them believe the diamonds aren't complete flukes, either, said David Szumigala, a geologist with the Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, an arm of the state's Department of Natural Resources.

 

Szumigala said at the start of his talk Thursday morning that he was hardly an expert on diamonds.

 

He wasn't alone. No one in the room raised a hand when he asked if anybody had explored for diamonds before. Alaska is hardly a big producer of the precious gems.

 

The impetus for the talk was more simple curiosity, he said. "Let's just take a look at something here."

 

Turns out, a few dozen others were curious, too.

 

The three diamonds found in the 1980s were the first documented occurrences in the state of full-size diamonds, he said, but micro-diamonds have been found, and the list of rumored or poorly verified discoveries is long.

 

Reports have trickled in from Jack Wade, California, Jarvis and Canyon Creeks, Goodnews Bay and the Koyukuk River.

 

The most promising site, at least the most explored, is around Shulin Lake near Talkeetna. "Micro- and macro-diamonds occur in interbedded volcaniclastic and tuffaceous rocks containing olivine and pyroxene," reads the DGGS's 2004 report on the mineral industry.

 

Golconda Resources Ltd. found three micro-diamonds in a drilled-core sample. They also found garnets of the type that occur in or around diamonds.

 

A good amount of money has been spent checking out the Shulin Lake property, Szumigala said.

 

In order for diamonds to form, rock needs to be deep—about 100 miles deep—and about a billion years old.

 

In order to get the diamonds up from the depths of the earth, there needs to be some geological formation to escort them towards the surface, such as a kimberlite pipe.

 

Alaska doesn't really have any of those, Szumigala said.

 

The eclogitic model, involving a descending ocean crust, could also result in sources of diamonds in hard rock near the surface, which would better explain what has been found already, he said.

 

Szumigala showed a map of the spots where diamonds have been reported, stopping short of declaring a diamond belt like the wide belt of gold deposits running across the state.

 

But "stepping outside the box" and taking a look might not be a bad idea, Szumigala said.

 

After all, he said, people doubted there would ever be a big gold deposit in the Fairbanks mining district, until Fort Knox became the biggest gold mine in the state.

 

Fort Knox heap leach

 

Fairbanks Gold Mining Inc., which operates the Fort Knox gold mine northeast of Fairbanks, is considering using a completely different technique for getting the tiny bits of gold out of its crushed rock.

 

The method being considered, called heap leaching, involves saturating a pile of crushed rock with a chemical solution containing cyanide and letting the chemicals dissolve the bits of gold into a solution that will leach out of the pile and be caught in receptacles, then processed to remove the gold.

 

Fort Knox currently uses a method called vat leaching, in which gold is retrieved from ore through chemical solutions contained in a series of tanks.

 

John Hollow of Fairbanks Gold Mining said mine operators have been talking about heap leaching since 1992, before the mine was even developed.

 

"It seems to make more sense right now," he said during a presentation Wednesday that also boasted of the mine's safety and environmental record and exemplary reclamation projects.

 

Nothing small happens at Fort Knox—the mine removed more than 300,000 ounces of gold from millions of tons of rock last year—and the heap leaching project would be no different.

 

It would disturb a total of 310 acres, Hollow said.

 

The company did a pre-feasibility study in 2005 and will work on planning and permitting in 2006. By 2007, they hope to begin operation, he said.

 

Last year, Fairbanks Gold Mining began reclaiming sections of the True North mine. The company mined True North, which is about a dozen miles northwest of Fort Knox, between 2001 and 2004. Community Affairs Director Lorna Shaw, who teamed up with Hollow for the talk, said the company won't mine there in 2006 and hasn't decided yet about 2007.

 

 

 

 

March 16, 2006

 

Firm plans 1,000 space jobs at KSC

ASRC work may lead to new craft to replace aging shuttle orbiters

BY BRIAN MONROE
FLORIDA TODAY

 

Note:  ASRC is one of more than 200 Alaska native corporations created by the Alaska native land claims settlement act (ANCSA) of 1971.

 

ASRC Aerospace Corp. plans to add as many as 1,000 jobs during the next several years at Kennedy Space Center, as the high-tech company works on projects aimed at helping the transition to a new space vehicle.

 

Experts say those jobs will boost the economy, as NASA shifts from launching space shuttles into orbit to developing the new Crew Exploration Vehicle that will send astronauts to the moon and Mars.

 

The jobs ASRC will add mainly are engineering positions paying in a range of $40,000 for entry level and up to $100,000 for more senior positions, consistent with other engineering jobs in the state, company officials said. ASRC now employs about 230 people in Cape Canaveral and 700 companywide.

 

There are two teams competing for the multibillion-dollar Crew Exploration Vehicle contract: Lockheed Martin Corp., the nation's largest defense contractor, is competing against a team of Northrop Grumman Corp. and The Boeing Co., also two of the nation's largest defense and aerospace companies.

 

For ASRC, it shouldn't matter which team wins because, in either case, the vehicle would launch from KSC.

 

Among the company's products are wires that can heal themselves, having a liquid flow over a damaged section so it can conduct again; cable testers that can tell users where they are damaged, saving hours of work; and sensors the size of a postage stamp that can detect leaking hydrogen on rockets.

 

The jobs ASRC is looking for would be a mix of savvy veterans and new graduates to "help build a new generation of designers," said Dick Lyon, vice president for Florida operations of ASRC. "This is not a one-time thing. The CEV program . . . will be going on for the next 35 or 40 years, so it's critical to retain the skills that keep Brevard the place for space."

 

The jobs the company is planning to add to the area, combined with the innovation of its technologies and research, helped ASRC win the Florida Space Authority's 2006 Florida Space Business Award, beating out 24 other firms. ASRC also was cited for developing innovations that help the space program, investing in space technologies and forging partnerships with area universities.

 

The award will be presented today in Tallahassee.

 

Jim Banke, vice president of Florida operations for the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Space Foundation, a nonprofit advocacy group, said it is a positive development that ASRC could be adding jobs during the transition to a new spacecraft to steady the economy against job losses in other areas.

 

Going back to the moon and Mars also will ignite the interests of tourists, who come "in the tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, to see a launch, which is always a boost to parks, hoteliers, restaurants and KSC Visitor Complex," Banke said.

 

The influx of jobs related to launch operations could "make a significant impact on our local economy and provide new job opportunities for our work force," said Lynda Weatherman, president and chief executive of the Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast.

 

ASRC, is based in Anchorage, Alaska, and was started by Inupiat Eskimos.

 

It began Brevard County operations in April 2002, opening an office in Cape Canaveral, in preparation to go after a major NASA program, called the University-Affiliated Spaceport Technology Development Contract. The contract had an initial value of $220 million, with the potential to reach $600 million over the next 10 years.

 

In February 2003, ASRC beat out a team led by Dynacs Engineering Corp., which previously held the contract.

 

The goal of the contract is to develop advanced spaceport systems through university research, technology outreach programs and by attracting businesses from across the nation, both commercial and government-related, to Kennedy Space Center's research-and-development facilities.

 

On that end, ASRC has invested in the Spaceport Research & Technology Institute, a University of Central Florida partnership bringing together 20 universities; and the Spaceport Research & Technology Fund, a multimillion-dollar investment pool. Both organizations promote technology development at the space center.

 

Contact Monroe at 242-3655 or bmonroe@flatoday.net

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Sunday, March 26, 2006

 

Tension fills Wai'anae waters

 

By Will Hoover
Advertiser Leeward O'ahu Writer

 

When William Aila was a boy growing up in Wai'anae, no commercial ocean tourism existed in the waters off the coast.

 

For many generations Hawaiian fishermen had the shoreline and an abundance of akule to themselves. All that began to change in the 1980s and '90s, as commercial scuba dive outfits and dolphin tour boats capitalized on a growing tourism industry.

 

Local fishermen complained that the increased activity disrupted their traditional fishing grounds. Conflicts arose. Eventually, local users and tour boat operators came to a "gentlemen's agreement" that was generally followed by both sides.

 

Since then, additional commercial users have entered the area with little knowledge of the agreement. At the same time, residents and environmental groups questioned how much commercial activity the waters off Wai'anae could accommodate.

 

This month, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources released a $25,000 report called the West O'ahu Ocean Operational Protocols, or WOOOP, with recommendations the DLNR believes will ease the tensions.

 

Today, Aila finds himself in a peculiar position. As the coast's harbor master for the state and a DLNR employee, Aila sees merit in the WOOOP report.

 

"It is a good study," he said. "And the attempts that were made to contact all of the users and identify all of the conflicts that are occurring resulted in good information."

 

However, as a lifelong resident and local fisherman, Aila understands and shares the community's apprehensions, too.

 

"When I wear that hat, I think the report falls very short of what the community wants from DLNR," Aila said.

 

What the community wants, he contends, is a comprehensive environmental study of the waters off the Wai'anae Coast. Those who see the WOOOP study as an alternative to conducting such a study are suspicious, he said.

 

State Rep. Maile Shimabukuro, D-45th (Wai'anae, Makaha) agreed with Aila that the community puts a high priority on making sure its coastal resources aren't depleted and that nothing is done to harm Wai'anae's fragile shores and surrounding waters.

 

That was the intent of legislation passed last year authorizing a baseline environmental study along the Wai'anae Coast and establishing a moratorium on any new commercial vessel permits in the area until the study is completed.

 

That measure was vetoed by Gov. Linda Lingle, but her veto was overridden and the measure passed into law.

 

A bill to appropriate $1 million to pay for the environmental study passed through the Senate this year, and a similar bill is moving through the House.

 

Shimabukuro doesn't think the report and last year's law mandating an environmental study are in conflict. Like the law, the report included input from the Wai'anae Coast community, she said.

 

"I would hope that the two can come together for a happy conclusion," she said.

 

Together, WOOOP and the law could relieve conflicts and misunderstandings between dive and tour boat operators, and Wai'anae Coast fishers, in her opinion.

 

But Peter Young, chairman of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, is not as enthusiastic about the environmental study law as is Shimabukuro.

 

"We do have a little difference of opinion on that," he said. "A lot of it comes from consultants or potential consultants about whether they could write a study based on the directives in the law."

 

The law stipulates that the study be conducted in a manner similar to an environmental impact statement. And that, Young said, presents a problem.

 

"One of the basic premises of an environmental impact statement is that you're evaluating the impact of a particular use, or development or activity," he said. "And in this case, there is no particular use, or development, or activity."

 

There's only a general concern about how a number of different commercial activities could affect the environment, he said.

 

However, Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), said Young needs to re-read the law.

"This is not an impact study," Hanabusa said. "This is a baseline environmental study that has 17 components that have to be addressed to satisfy the law."

 

Those components should cover any type of commercial activity that might be introduced along the coast, she said.

 

"That's exactly why he testified that such a study would cost a million dollars, and that's exactly the reason why this year we went in for appropriation for the million dollars."

 

According to Young, an environmental study is a long-term process that will take years. In contrast, he said the WOOOP report is a way to immediately address and prevent user conflicts along the Wai'anae Coast.

 

For now, Young expects to present the WOOOP recommendations to the various user groups to hear their thoughts on them.

 

"For the short term, and while any environmental study is being conducted, we need to implement something immediately, and that's why we moved forward with our plan.

"The community process is far from over."

 

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

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