Bringing you today’s stories on issues important to Native communities.  NewsClips is a complimentary service of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement.  For information and updates on our training workshops and events, please visit our Web site at: www.hawaiiancouncil.org.

 

CNHA is a national association of Native Hawaiian organizations. Operating an active Public Policy Center, Grants Training Institute, Community Development Consulting Services, and the Hawaiian Way Fund, we unify our members around solutions that embrace the strength of Native culture and knowledge in meeting community challenges. CNHA coordinates the Annual Native Hawaiian Convention in Honolulu every year to bring practitioners, community and policy makers together around issues important to Hawaiians.

 

 

 

 

July 26, 2006

 

 

 

Convention Week Schedule of Events at a Glance

Hawaii Convention Center – September 25th – 29th, 2006

 

Monday, September 25, 2006

 

 

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

 

 

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

 

 

Thursday, September 28, 2006

 

 

Friday, September 29, 2006

 

 

Registration Forms & Scholarships availabe at www.hawaiiancouncil.org or contact CNHA Event Services at 808.521.5011 or via email at events@hawaiiancouncil.org.

 

CNHA’s 5th Annual Native Hawaiian Convention Sponsored by:

 

 

 

 

 

Call For Nominations – 2006 Native Hawaiian Business Award

 

Honolulu, HI – Since 2004, American Savings Bank (ASB) and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA) have been recognizing Native Hawaiian entrepreneurs who play vital roles in building our communities and our economy.  We are excited to announce the nomination period has opened for the 2006 Native Hawaiian Business Award.  The recipient of this award will be recognized during CNHA’s 5th Annual Native Hawaiian Convention, September 25 – 29, 2006, at the Hawai‘i Convention Center.

 

The 2006 Native Hawaiian Business Award will recognize a business that is Native Hawaiian owned and/or serves the Native Hawaiian community.  Judges will consider community involvement, promotion of Native Hawaiian values, innovation, business growth in the past three years, and the need or demand for venture.  Past award recipients include: Manu Manuheali‘i, Inc. in 2004 and Native Books/Na Mea Hawai‘i in 2005.

 

Click here to download the ASB Native Hawaiian Business Award Nomination Form.  Please return the completed forms to Blaine Cacho, ASB Community Development Specialist, via e-mail at bcacho@asbhawaii.com or fax at 808.539.7239 by Friday, August 4, 2006.  If you have any questions or if you need any additional information, please contact Blaine at 808.539.7131.

 

 

 

 

CNHA Announces Its First “Meet the Candidates” Event in 2006

 

The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement’s Policy Center and 2006 Native Votes Count Campaign announced the first in a series of “Meet the Candidates” events that it will host in partnership with various community associations and organizations, including the State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations.

 

This first event will take place on Tuesday, August 8, 2006, in the Plumeria Room of the Best Western’s The Plaza Hotel, located on Nimitz Highway near the airport.  These “coffee hour”-styled sessions will feature four candidates for the U.S House of Representatives from Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District.  The candidates are scheduled to participate as follows:

 

4:00 pm - 5:00 pm - Matt Matsunaga

5:00 pm - 6:00 pm - Clayton Hee

6:00 pm - 6:30 pm - break

6:30 pm - 7:30 pm - Colleen Hanabusa

7:30 pm - 8:30 pm - Hanalei Aipoalani

 

Reserve your seat today as space is limited.  Call Rosalee Puaoi or Lisa C. Oshiro at the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement at 808.521.5011 or toll-free at 800.709.2642, or e-mail nativevotes@hawaiiancouncil.org.

 

The Native Votes Count Campaign will also have Deputy Voter Registrars on-site to register people to vote and will distribute Absentee Applications along with voter education materials.

 

 

 

 

July 22, 2006

 

Counseling project offers financial tools for Hawaiians

 

By Allison Schaefers
aschaefers@starbulletin.com

 

A few months ago, Yolanda Tanielu and her family were in danger of losing their car and the house that they had built through the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands self-help program.

 

Though Yolanda has a job and her family has no credit-card debt, they had gotten behind financially after her husband lost his job in 2005 and were having trouble catching up.

 

The couple, who were the first in their family to own a home, were only another late payment or two from foreclosure when a new partnership between the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Hawaii and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands gave them a second chance and a new lease on life.

 

"We feel very blessed that we get to keep our home," said Tanielu, who has two special-needs children. "We were trying to make all the payments, but we didn't have enough money after our income changed. They could have thrown us out."

 

Tanielu is one of 50 DHHL homeowners who are participating in a pilot program with Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Hawaii to help turn the department's loan-default ratio. In recent years the lack of balance between Hawaii's high cost of living and wages has resulted in a high loan-default ratio for DHHL. While most lenders hit the panic button when 4 percent of their loans fall behind, DHHL was battling default rates about 10 times higher.

 

During the last few years, DHHL cut its 40 percent loan-default ratio in half, dropping the number of lessees who are in arrears to about 1,600, said Kamana'o Mills, DHHL special assistant.

 

But while DHHL's statistics have been steadily improving, the number of homeowners in arrears was still too large, especially given the department's aggressive strategic plan that seeks to place 6,000 more people in homes by 2008, Mills said.

 

"When we looked at the numbers, it was clear that we needed more education and family support," Mills said. "We looked at some of the social issues facing our lessees and discovered that most of those who were in default had credit problems."

 

Last year, DHHL started the Home Ownership Assistance Program (HOAP) to bring financial resources to the communities. The goal of the program, which has gotten an assist from the Hawaii HomeOwnership Center, is to increase homeownership in native Hawaiian communities by providing prospective applicants with financial literacy training.

 

Since HOAP began, about 1,500 prospective homeowners have used it to help them repair credit and reduce debt so that they can qualify for a home loan, said Sam Moku, director of HOAP for DHHL.

 

Hopefully, an improved level of consumer education will keep the new batch of applicants from defaulting, Moku said.

 

"We want to put them in homes and keep them in homes," he said.

 

While HOAP addresses potential challenges among DHHL applicants, the program stopped short of clearing the slate for current leaseholders, Mills said. Three months ago, DHHL contracted with the nonprofit Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Hawaii to help clean up debt for clients like Tanielu, who were most in danger of losing their homes, he said.

 

The partnership has given loan holders who are in jeopardy of losing their homes another chance to make their dreams work, said Wendy Burkholder, executive director of Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Hawaii.

 

"If a person is delinquent in their mortgage, it's obvious that their entire financial life is in chaos," Burkholder said. "If you put pressure on them, you'll probably get them to make a payment, but you won't get consistent results if they are getting hammered by other creditors."

 

Getting a more savvy financial education helps those going through the program stay current, as has DHHL's flexibility, she said. In some seemingly hopeless cases, DHHL has rewritten or extended loan terms so that homeowners can bring their mortgages out of default, Burkholder said.

 

"DHHL has been much more flexible than most lenders," she said. "It's really clear to me that their goal is to educate the next generation of buyers so that they can hold on to their land."

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Wednesday, July 26, 2006

 

Six high-profile candidates seek at-large OHA positions

 

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Staff Writer

 

Hawaiian activist Dennis "Bumpy" Kanahele is among a group of high-profile candidates lining up to challenge the three incumbent "at-large" trustees on the board of the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

 

Others jumping into the fray: former state Sen. Whitney Anderson; former state Rep. Danielle Ululani Beirne; former OHA trustee Roy Benham; cultural expert and musician Manu Boyd; and Robin Danner, executive director of the Council on Native Hawaiian Advancement.

 

They will face off against trustees Rowena Akana, Oswald Stender and John Waihe'e IV, all of whom are seeking re-election to four-year posts.

 

Kanahele, 52, is the head of state for the Nation of Hawai'i and managing member of Malama First LLC. An advocate for an independent Hawaiian nation, Kanahele said current OHA trustees should not be seeking federal recognition for Native Hawaiians to stave off legal challenges to grants and entitlements that give preference to Hawaiians. Kanahele said he wants OHA to start a Native Hawaiian bank, which he said would "build a whole different credit assistance and economic foundation for the Hawaiian people."

 

Boyd, who first was employed by OHA 14 years ago as a cultural specialist and is now the state agency's public information director, is running for the first time. Also a kumu hula and leader of the musical group Ho'okena, Boyd said he believes he brings expertise in Hawaiian culture and language, as well as communications and administrative skills to the table. "It's time for more options," Boyd said.

 

Danner has headed the nonprofit Council on Native Hawaiian Advancement since its inception in 2001. The group is dedicated to advocacy of Native Hawaiian programs. Danner said her background would bring a unique perspective to the OHA board. "OHA's resources are the people's resources, and I'd like to try to include communities and community development practitioners in a larger way," she said.

 

Anderson, who served in both the House and the Senate for a number of years, said he wants OHA to work more closely with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands in providing homes and other resources to Hawaiians. A former president of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, Anderson said he also wants to work with non-Hawaiians "to ease their doubts about Hawaiian programs."

 

Akana said the at-large race typically draws an interesting crowd of applicants "because there are three seats (and) people think it's easier than running against someone." It's not, she said, particularly because at-large candidates are expected to represent people statewide.

 

Waihe'e said he's encouraged by the entry of known candidates into the at-large race, even if it means he will have to work harder to try to retain his seat. "We should get the best people running for it," he said. "Whenever people run unopposed, to me, that doesn't represent the people well."

 

Others who had filed for the at-large seats were Newton Harbottle of Kane'ohe; Frank Kawelo and Arvid Youngquist, both of Honolulu; and William Meyers of Papaikou.

 

In all, five of the nine OHA seats are up for grabs this fall. Terms for the other four trustees end in 2008.

 

In addition to the at-large posts, candidates are vying for two of six district seats. In the race for OHA's O'ahu district seat, incumbent Dante Carpenter is being challenged by, among others, retired judge and former elected official Walter Heen.

 

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

 

 

 

 

July 26, 2006

 

Crowded fields set stage for intriguing races

 

By ILIMA LOOMIS, Staff Writer

 

WAILUKU – County races saw a few last-minute surprises as candidates faced their filing deadline Tuesday – most notably by those who didn’t file.

 

Running unopposed this year will be County Council Member Michelle Anderson, who is completing her first term in the council’s South Maui seat. Veteran Council Chairman Riki Hokama of Lanai and Council Member Danny Mateo of Molokai also were unopposed. And despite much speculation in county halls that he would make a comeback, former Council Member Wayne Nishiki, who left office two years ago due to term limits, didn’t step forward to run. Photo courtesy of the Maui News: Matthew Thayer

 

Anderson said she couldn’t speculate on why no candidate had challenged her, but she was happy with the outcome.

 

“It feels great not to have to focus my energies on an aggressive re-election campaign,” she said.

 

Community groups turned their attention to competitive county races, especially the crowded mayor’s race, the four-way County Council race in East Maui, and the three-way heat in Wailuku.

 

“The mayor and council – I don’t think there’s ever been such excitement,” said Maui Chamber of Commerce board Chairman Myles Kawakami. “So many people in so many different things.”

 

County races with two or fewer candidates will skip the primary and be decided by voters at the general election.

 

The race for mayor includes incumbent Alan Arakawa challenged by three experienced politicians: former Mayor James “Kimo” Apana, and Council Members Dain Kane and Charmaine Tavares, who is also a former director of the parks department. Other candidates include Lehuanani Aquino, John Blumer-Buell, William Stroud, and Harold “Hap” Miller and Nelson Waikiki, who both made their candidacies official by filing Tuesday.

At least three seats on the Maui County Council will be up for grabs this year. East Maui, left vacant by the retirement of Council Member Robert Carroll, will be a contest between Lucienne De Naie, Samuel Kalalau III, Bill Medeiros and Nick Nikhilananda. In Wailuku, Kane’s old seat, Rogelio Cabebe, Blitz Harry and Mike Victorino will face off.

 

Finally, the Upcountry seat being vacated by Tavares will be a head-to-head race between former Maui Economic Opportunity head Gladys Baisa and county planner Paul Fasi.

 

Sean Lester of the Ohana Coalition said his group was keeping a close eye on the council this year.

 

“Yes, we could see a major change,” he said.

 

The group that emphasizes affordable housing, the environment and no corporate donations in its endorsements believes the new council could be allied closer with its values than ever before. Lester believed public concern over development, infrastructure, affordable housing and other pressures was coming to a head in this year’s elections.

 

“I think this is a make-or-break year,” he said. “I think this is one of the most important election cycles we’ve had in decades.”

 

Ron Sturtz, president of Maui Tomorrow, another green-hued organization, agreed that candidates were reaching out to environmentalists more than in past elections. Sturtz said he’d been hearing from candidates eager to meet with his group and discuss issues, even though Maui Tomorrow won’t make endorsements or take a political position.

 

“We can’t officially support them, but we are being courted by several of the candidates because they know we have the ability to bring out the vote,” he said.

 

Charlie Jencks, a developer and member of the Chamber of Commerce, said it was still unclear what this year’s trends would be.

 

“It’s too early to make any kind of prognostication on who’s courting who,” he said.

 

Jencks agreed that the races for mayor, East Maui and Wailuku would be in the spotlight.

 

“Depending on how these races are won or lost, it’s going to make a difference in how $80 million (in capital improvement funds) are given out to the community,” he said.

He said he was surprised and disappointed that no candidate had risen to challenge Anderson.

 

“Michelle is a good strong candidate, but I like to see a lot of people run,” he said. “If you only have one candidate you don’t get the point-counterpoint discussion.”

 

Lester wasn’t surprised, saying Anderson’s victory two years ago over Ron Vaught, a candidate with the strong support of business and development, showed that voters wanted to embrace someone without corporate ties.

 

“She gave him a resounding defeat,” he said. “It wasn’t a weak race, and it wasn’t a close call.”

 

Ilima Loomis can be reached at iloomis@mauinews.com.

 

 

 

 

July 21, 2006

 

Abercrombie sponsors Native Hawaiian housing bill

 

WASHINGTON DC--Congressman Neil Abercrombie announced today that he is sponsoring legislation to bring more federal funding and greater flexibility to Hawaiian homesteaders and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

 

Abercrombie yesterday joined Rep. Robert Ney (R-OH), Chair of the House Subcommittee on Housing and Community Development, in introducing the Hawaiian Home Ownership Opportunity Act of 2006 (H.R. 5851).

 

The measure reauthorizes existing Native Hawaiian housing programs for five years, until 2011, and expands their scope.

 

In 2000 Congress passed legislation authorizing the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Department to provide block grants for affordable housing for Native Hawaiians through the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

 

The 2000 measure also authorized HUD home loan guarantees for Native Hawaiians whose incomes are equal to or less than 80 percent of the median income.  Eligible borrowers include Native Hawaiian families, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and private nonprofit organizations experienced in planning and developing affordable housing for Native Hawaiians.

 

The Hawaiian Home Ownership Opportunity Act of 2006 reauthorizes these programs and adds new provisions authorizing loan guarantees for home mortgage refinancing and permitting the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to issue bonds.

 

"This legislation acknowledges the housing needs of Native Hawaiians and establishes a mechanism to address those needs.  It is one component in our larger effort to secure justice for the native people of our land. I appreciate Representative Ney's support of this legislation, which plays such an important role for the Hawaiian community."

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Tuesday, July 25, 2006

 

'Ewa rentals to aid families

 

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

 

'EWA — Tesha Malama hopes a low-income rental housing project called "Ewa Villages — Area H" will offer some families a chance to stay within the community and save money to apply toward future home ownership. Graphic courtesy of the Honolulu Advertiser

 

"This is truly a blessing," Malama said at yesterday's announcement that Ecumenical Association for Housing and Hui Kauhale Inc. — a nonprofit corporation the association formed in Hawai'i in 1996 — will develop and manage a 192-unit, low-income rental apartment project on 23.4 acres off Renton Road.

 

Hui Kauhale purchased the property in December 2001 with $5.5 million in city funds from community development block grants. Mayor Mufi Hannemann yesterday presented Alvin Bonnett, the association's senior vice president for real estate, with a check for $2.1 million in federal funds given to the city through the HOME Investment Partnership Act.

 

The development will serve families with annual incomes up to $42,780, about 50 percent to 60 percent less than the median income in Honolulu.

 

"There are people out there definitely working who cannot afford rent of $1,200 a month, not including utilities," said Malama, manager of the 'Ewa Homeowners Association. "This needed to be developed two or three years ago to head off the need of people who are on the beaches now.

 

"We were getting complaints that people couldn't afford the half-million-dollar homes that were being built by the developers in this area, and that we needed someplace where people could afford to stay in the community," Malama said. "The whole cost of living just outpaced what many people made. People can't even afford to buy gas, food, and so something like this will help them to stay off the beach."

 

Hannemann added, "If we don't help folks ... who need affordable rentals, the next step is homelessness. It's absolutely critical to engage in private-public partnerships to get it done."

 

Bonnett said the task of raising money for the project delayed its start, Bonnett said. "No one allocation was big enough to support the development. Then we had to get tax credits. Selling off a portion of this property finalized this deal," he said.

 

In addition to the 192 units, Bonnett said, 50 single-family fee-simple homes will be developed near the 'Ewa Villages golf course at about the same time as Phase I.

 

 

"The profit from the sale of those homes will be shared with (the low-rent apartment) development," Bonnett said. "It's our way of getting additional money into the affordable housing so that we can develop it."

 

Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

July 24, 2006

 

Community canvassing for "Native Votes Count"

 

The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement's (CNHA) Policy Center, announces the third in a series of statewide community canvassing initiatives at Kalamaula, Molokai. The Native Votes Count campaign, launched in March 2006, was created to coordinate voter education and awareness, targeting the Native Hawaiian community to both register and more importantly vote.

 

Be a part of the 2006 Native Votes Count campaign!

 

Join Molokai Homesteaders, members of Molokai Hui Kakoo Aina Hoopulapula, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and other organizations in canvassing Kalamaula and neighboring communities on Wednesday, August 9 at 5pm. Volunteers will meet at Kulana Oiwi Conference Room at 600 Maunaloa Highway in Kalamaula and distribute voting information and registration packets. Look for future community canvassing events throughout the State.

 

For more information about Native Votes Count call us at (808) 521-5011 or visit our website at http://www.hawaiiancouncil.org.

 

 

 

 

July 21, 2006

 

UH-West Oahu plan gets OK

 

Development would include the campus and nearby housing

 

By Craig Gima
cgima@starbulletin.com

 

The Board of Regents approved yesterday an updated long-range plan for a new University of Hawaii-West Oahu campus as a centerpiece for new residential and commercial developments in East Kapolei that could ultimately serve 7,600 students.

 

Construction of the new campus would be financed in part by a private-public partnership and the development of about 4,040 residences around the campus, including 760 units for student housing.

 

"It (UH-West Oahu) will become the center of Kapolei," said UH-West Oahu Chancellor Gene Awakuni.

 

Micah Kane, chairman of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, told regents that the project is crucial to the department's plans to provide 1,800 home sites in East Kapolei.

 

Hawaiian Homes is looking to UH to participate in building infrastructure like roads, sewer, water and electricity and to provide jobs, educational opportunities and a community identity.

 

The first phase of the project includes four buildings that would support a campus of about 1,520 students and the development of 616 residential units to be completed in 2009. Full development of a 500-acre parcel of state land next to the Kapolei Golf Course would be completed by 2015.

 

Currently, UH-West Oahu occupies about 29 portables on 30,000 square feet of space next to Leeward Community College and serves about 858 students.

 

The new campus would eventually occupy about 214 acres of land, and 287 acres would be developed for residential and commercial use.

 

Maeda Timson, chairwoman of the Makakilo/Kapolei/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board, said she remembers lobbying for the UH-West Oahu campus when her children were growing up 20 years ago.

 

Now, she said, her children have children and there is still no campus.

 

"I know a higher-education element is vital to the success of our healthy new community," she said.

 

But the UH faculty union sounded a note of caution about too much expansion at the university.

 

J.N. Musto, University of Hawaii Professional Assembly executive director, noted the board was being asked to approve spending $1.7 million for the new pharmacy school at UH-Hilo, and the Legislature and the board will be asked to fund $1.4 million in more faculty positions next year. The medical school and UH-West Oahu will also incur new ongoing costs, Musto noted.

 

If the economy turns, Musto wondered if the board and the university might have to make tough choices in the future on whether to cut programs.

 

UH-West Oahu will require about $30 million in construction bonds to build water, sewer, electricity and other infrastructure. The school also will have to go to the Legislature for more money eventually for new faculty and administrative positions.

 

Awakuni said rents from some of the commercial development next to the campus and increased tuition revenues will help pay for some campus maintenance and operation. He acknowledged additional state money will be required.

 

"The need on the west side of Oahu (for higher education) is huge," Awakuni said. "If we are providing access and increasing the ability of students to get a college education, why should we not get some state support?"

 

 

 

 

July 21, 2006

 

Senator Clinton Welcomes Restoration of Community Development Block Grant Program Funding

 

Key Senate Panel Rejects President's Budget Cuts to Critical Economic Development Program for New York State

 

Move will restore $70-$80 million in funding for New York Towns and Cities

 

Nearly 50 towns and cities throughout New York are direct beneficiaries of the CDBG program

 

Washington, DC – Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton welcomed approval by the Senate Appropriations Committee late yesterday of the Fiscal Year 2007 Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill, which included $3.887 billion for the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG), one of the most important economic and community development programs in the nation.  This funding level basically rejects the President's cuts, and ensures that New York won't see a cut in its CDBG funding.

 

The President's FY '07 Budget had initially proposed cutting the CDBG program by over 20%, which would have resulted in a loss of over $70 million to New York.  Given that New York receives about 10% of the funding for the entire CDBG program, it would have been one of the most deeply hit states by the cuts. 

 

“The CDBG program has been supporting affordable housing for working families, cleaning up streets and neighborhoods, and creating new jobs and business opportunities in New York for over 30 years.  I am pleased that the Senate Appropriations Committee has rejected the President's shortsighted cuts to this critical program for our State, and I will continue to work to ensure that this funding level is maintained as we move forward on FY 2007 funding matters.  This is an important win for New York. Restoring these cuts was the right thing to do for all the local communities that use these funds and rely on them to make critical investments for the future,” Senator Clinton said.

 

Senator Clinton joined an effort earlier this year to restore the CDBG funds for New York. Since the President's budget containing these cuts was released earlier this year, Senator Clinton has cosponsored and supported several amendments to the FY '07 budget to restore this funding and has lobbied her colleagues on the Appropriations Committee to oppose the President's cuts.

 

The CDBG program, begun in 1974, is designed to allow communities to develop affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization activities and economic opportunity, principally aimed at low and moderate income persons.  In New York CDBG empowers cities and towns to provide affordable housing, social services, neighborhood revitalization and job development programs.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Tuesday, July 18, 2006

 

Maui's first wind farm goes into service

 

By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Neighbor Island Editor

 

MA'ALAEA, Maui — Just weeks after 20 giant turbines began spinning on the slopes of the West Maui Mountains above McGregor Point, Maui's first wind farm is producing its full 30 megawatts of power, or enough for 11,000 households.

 

The Kaheawa wind-energy project is expected to produce 9 percent of Maui Electric Co. needs, eliminating the need for 244,000 barrels of imported oil annually. Photo courtesy of the Honolulu Advertiser: Christie Wilson

 

It is the first of two large-scale wind farms to be developed on Maui. MECO will get an additional 40 megawatts from a Shell Oil Co. project proposed for a remote corner of 'Ulupalakua Ranch on Haleakala. The $200 million Auwahi wind farm is expected to provide enough power for 15,000 homes.

 

At full capacity, both wind farms will provide more than 20 percent of MECO's electricity. The utility already is receiving 6 percent of its power from bagasse burning by the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. mill in Pu'unene.

 

The $70 million Kaheawa project is jointly owned by Maui-based Makani Nui Associates, whose partners are Kent Smith and Hilton Unemori, and Boston-based UPC Wind.

 

The renewable-energy firm sells electricity to MECO at half what it would cost the utility to produce the same amount of electricity using imported oil, but consumers are not likely to see a difference in their power bills anytime soon, according to MECO President Ed Reinhardt.

 

The utility is still figuring out what impact the new energy producer will have on its power-generating operations, Reinhardt said.

 

"So far it has met its projected output, but we're still working through some of the bugs," he said.

 

Reinhardt also noted that when there's no wind, the turbines won't be contributing any electricity to the power grid. Kaheawa officials are confident that will be a rare occurrence, since winds at the site consistently blow an average of 24 mph. Graphic courtesy of the Honolulu Advertiser

 

Mike Gresham, president of Makani Nui, said at first glance the project looked like a risky proposition because it was proposed for a steep ridge running from the 2,000- to 3,200-foot elevation with no access except by a rough trail, the parts and equipment had to be shipped in from around the globe, and there was no crane large enough on the island to erect the 180-foot-tall towers and 117-foot-long rotors.

 

Construction of a four-mile dirt and gravel road on a mountainside with an average 15-degree grade proved the most daunting challenge of the project, costing $6 million and resulting in $11,100 in state penalties when the road was cut wider than allowed and excavated dirt and boulders ended up in a gulch.

 

 

State and federal approval also was needed since the project sits on state conservation land and there was a risk to four protected species known to frequent the area.

 

Officials said the Kaheawa wind farm is the first in the country to be built with a state and federally approved habitat conversation plan. The 20-year plan established actions to minimize the potential for collisions with wildlife during construction and operation of the facility, in particular the Hawaiian hoary bat, or 'ope'ape'a; the Hawaiian goose, or nene; the Hawaiian petrel, or 'ua'u; and the Newell's shearwater, or 'a'o.

 

The company has hired a full-time wildlife biologist and will provide at least $384,000 for conservation efforts.

 

Kaheawa began phasing in its wind turbines in early June, and by the end of the month it had produced 6 million kilowatt-hours of power and saved MECO 10,000 barrels of oil.

 

A formal commissioning ceremony was held Friday.

 

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

July 19, 2006

 

Senate Approves Akaka Provisions to Improve Dam Safety

 

Washington, D.C. - The United States Senate today approved the Water Resources Development Act, cosponsored by Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI). The legislation includes provisions from the Dam Safety Act of 2006, which Senator Akaka introduced following the Ka Loko Dam breach on Kauai that killed seven people last March.

 

Senator Akaka said, "This tragic event serves as an important reminder of the responsibility held by the state and local governments and the leadership role of the federal government in supplementing state resources and developing national guidelines for dam safety."

 

During the past two years, there have been at least 29 dam failures in the U.S. causing more than $200 million in property damage.

 

"This legislation will advance dam safety in the United States and prevent loss of life and property damage from dam failures at both the federal and state programmatic levels. Specifically, the reauthorization of the National Dam Safety Program Act will provide much needed assistance to state dam safety programs that regulate 95 percent of the 80,000 dams in the U.S.," stated Senator Akaka.

 

The Water Resources Development Act of 2006 authorizes $25 million for small dam removals and dam rehabilitation projects. It also authorizes $12.7 million for the National Dam Safety Program for FY 2007-2011 allocated as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

July 20, 2006

 

Whole Foods in a PR pickle

 

The idealistic retailer must decide what to do about bones at its site

 

By Stewart Yerton
syerton@starbulletin.com

 

Whole Foods Market Inc. has built a $5 billion annual business selling organic groceries, gourmet cheeses and healthful prepared foods -- while at the same time being guided by a "vision of a sustainable future (in which) our children and grandchildren will be living in a world that values human creativity, diversity, and individual choice."

 

But now the Texas-based retailer known for its lofty ideals faces a thorny question as it tries to establish its first store in Honolulu: whether to locate the store atop several native Hawaiian burial sites.

 

"This is not something we've ever had to deal with before, and we're just trying to figure out what the right thing to do is," said Marci Frumkin, regional marketing director for Whole Foods' Southern Pacific region. "We're basically waiting to hear back from the developer."

 

General Growth Properties Inc. of Chicago is developing the site, located at Auahi and Kamakee streets, and plans to anchor the development with Whole Foods' 67,000-square-foot store.

 

The project would culminate a five-year effort by Whole Foods to establish itself in Hawaii and give General Growth's Ward Village Shops a unique retailer attractive to many of the well-heeled condominium owners who are flocking to Kakaako's new luxury high-rises.

 

But the project has encountered a roadblock.

 

Having discovered 11 sets of human remains on the construction site, General Growth has sought permission from state regulators to move the bones to a landscaped vault to be located near the new center.

 

The Oahu Island Burial Council, the state agency charged with deciding what to do with the bones, is considering the plan and must make a decision before the end of next month, said Jace McQuivey, chairman of the board that governs the burial council.

 

In the meantime, native Hawaiian families have come forward to oppose moving the bones, which are known as "iwi." McQuivey said the bones were buried in a way that suggests they pre-date Western contact and are placed in three to five separate locations on the site.

 

Experts on Hawaiian culture say that iwi carry enormous spiritual importance.

 

McQuivey said that the burial council is trying to determine the best solution, and General Growth exe- cutives have declined to comment, citing a desire to respect the council.

 

"We are not trying to stop development," said McQuivey. "We are just trying to do the right thing."

 

In the meantime, Whole Foods faces a public relations challenge particularly touchy for a company so sensitive to doing the right thing that it once built tiny "condos" in its live lobster tanks so the lobsters, which thrive on solitude in the wild, could have privacy. Whole Foods eventually quit selling the live crustaceans altogether, saying it was "not yet sufficiently satisfied that the process of selling live lobsters is in line with our commitment to humane treatment and quality of life for animals."

 

Whole Foods also is sensitive to people. It consistently ranks among Fortune magazine's Top 100 places to work, placing No. 15 in 2006. And the company has demonstrated a commitment to partnering with local producers to sell locally grown fruits, vegetables and other goods.

 

All of this raises the question: Assuming the burial council grants its approvals, would Whole Foods go forward with the project over the objections of native Hawaiians?

 

"Whole Foods will go out of its way to be politically correct, more so than most companies would," said Jack Plunkett, chief executive of Plunkett Research, publisher of Plunkett's Retail Industry Almanac.

 

At the same time, Plunkett said, Whole Foods will not simply shrink from the slightest controversy. In fact, Plunkett said, Whole Foods has forged ahead when facing more run-of-the-mill anti-development controversies while developing big stores in other markets.

 

"They'll be attentive. They'll be concerned," Plunkett said. "But I would suspect that they're a long way from walking away from it."

 

Dave Stewart, a professor of marketing at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business, agrees that Whole Foods doesn't have to abandon the store altogether in order to protect its brand and image.

 

"If it's managed properly, they need not walk away from it," he said.

 

For Whole Foods to protect its hard-earned image, Stewart said, the company needs to "be seen as paying appropriate respect to native Hawaiians."

 

And the company should be proactive in getting out its message, he said.

 

Finally, Stewart said, it's important that Whole Foods not allow the debate to be framed in a way that moving the bones is necessarily an act of disrespect.

 

The company, he said, would "want to avoid getting in that box."

 

But that box might be hard to avoid.

 

Ty Tengan, an assistant professor of anthropology and ethnic studies at the University of Hawaii, said the primary issue concerning iwi is to keep them undisturbed.

 

In traditional Hawaiian culture, iwi are considered the repository of a person's spiritual power, or mana. And the word used to describe a human burial is kanu, the same word that is used to describe planting something.

 

In addition, iwi often connotes kinship. Thus Hawaiians sometimes refer to themselves as "kanaka oiwi," or people of the bone, Tengan said, and one's homeland is referred to as "kulaiwi."

 

To desecrate iwi is an affront not just to the dead, but also to the deceased person's descendants, Tengan said.

 

"The highest form of sacrilege is to disturb the iwi," he said.

 

All of this makes dealing with the iwi at the Whole Foods site especially touchy given that at least one "cultural descendant" of the iwi has objected to the plan to move them.

 

Because of the gravity of the situation, McQuivey said, the burial council is taking as much time as possible to weigh its options.

 

Although some have protested the plan to move the iwi to a memorial, McQuivey said the bones could face a far less desirable fate. For instance, he said, it is possible that the developer could simply build on top of the iwi.

 

"The families need to realize that it's possible there could be a concrete slab poured over the site," including the iwi, he said.

 

But, McQuivey said, that would probably leave everyone unhappy.

 

So while the burial council must try to forge a plan, the descendants must decide what, for them, is the best solution.

 

"What may be respectful in some peoples' eyes would not be respectful in another's," Tengan said. "That's when it comes down to the families and what they want."

 

 

 

 

July 25, 2006

 

LavaNet reinvents portal

 

Pacific Business News (Honolulu)

 

Approaching its 12th anniversary, LavaNet is relaunching its Web site to add content and make the portal attractive to visitors as well as residents.

 

"Our portal makeover is user-friendly and there's something for everyone," said LavaNet President Pali Kaaihue. "This is the first key step for us in our plans to offer services and features that place LavaNet on the same playing field as some of the larger national internet providers."

 

New features:

 

 

LavaNet was established in 1994. In recent months CEO Yuka Nagashima handed the reins to Kaaihue, and he bought the company after realizing that it was the only way to keep LavaNet a truly local operation.

 

Clients include the Native Hawaiian Health Network, Papa Ola Lokahi Foundation, Prospect Asset Management, Hawaii International Film Festival, NetSurf Inc., Honolulu Marathon, Buena Vista Pictures and Ivy K Real Estate.

 

 

 

 

July 19, 2006

 

We are proud to congratulate LGB & Associates, a CNHA and NHEA board member, on their recommendation for ISO 9000:2001certification. It is one of the most respected standards for quality management or assurance. ISO 9000 is in the family of the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standards for quality management systems. Although the standards originated in manufacturing, they are now employed across a wide range of other types of organizations. ISO 9000 does not guarantee the quality of end products and services; rather, it certifies that consistent business processes are being applied. Congratulations to Li Garcia Ballard and her entire staff.

 

LGB & Associates, Inc. Recommended for ISO 9000:2001 Certification; CEO Cites Use of CENTRE Application for Achievement Reached in Record Time

 

FALLS CHURCH, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 19, 2006--LGB & Associates, Inc., a Hub-Zone, Native-Hawaiian and Woman-Owned information technology firm, has been recommended for ISO 9000:2001 certification.

 

"We are delighted to achieve this milestone," said Li Garcia Ballard, CEO of the woman-owned, native Hawaiian firm. She attributes the implementation of Integration Technology Group's CENTRE (Common ENTerprise REsource) for this success.

 

"Using CENTRE enabled us to complete the certification process from start to finish in four months," Ballard said. "The long-term benefit of having the CENTRE tool is only surpassed by the support provided by the ITG consulting staff."

 

CENTRE is a comprehensive Web-based application that helps IT Services firms integrate and automate the essential operations of their businesses. The use of CENTRE will enhance LGB's ability to track contract assets, administer customer projects, and manage employee communications between its offices in Hawaii and Virginia.

 

The proprietary system was developed by ITG, an ISO 9001:2000, CMMI III (Capability Maturity Model Integration) and ADA 508/504 (American Disabilities Act) company. ITG is scheduled for an ISO 20000 registration audit and a CMMI IV appraisal in the fourth quarter of this year. When completed, ITG will become one of only a handful of IT firms worldwide to achieve these quality milestones.

 

Warren Jackowitz, LGB ISO project manager added that ITG provided a "symbiotic relationship" throughout the company's ISO certification process.

 

"It is gratifying and a credit to our development and consulting staff that such a record ISO recommendation could be achieved," said Michael Angelakis, CEO of ITG. "We are looking forward to selecting and leading other quality-minded companies toward best practices accreditation."

 

For more information about CENTRE and Best Practices, contact Jeremy Nurse at (703) 698-8282 or jeremy.nurse@itgonline.com.

 

About ITG and LGB

 

ITG is a best practices technical services, software development and systems integration firm established in 1984. ITG has designed, tested, implemented and deployed information technology systems valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. ITG supports more than 100,000 devices in more than 1,230 locations around the world. ITG engineers, staff consultants and subcontractors have provided expertise, tools and hands-on assistance to information technology users across five continents.

 

LGB has been recognized as the US Department of Transportation's 2005 "Prime Contractor of the Year", as well as the U.S. Department of Treasury 2004 "Small Business Partner of the Year". The firm provides professional services to government and commercial customers, with particular expertise in strategic information technology planning, system and data security, business process definition and reengineering, application development, Internet/intranet-based systems development, network support services, telecommunications services and hardware maintenance. LGB is a HUBZone firm with offices in Honolulu, Hawaii and Fairfax, Virginia.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Sunday, July 23, 2006

 

Museum's anthropology department busy

 

By Bob Krauss
Advertiser Staff Writer

 

Bill Brown, president and chief executive officer of Bishop Museum, said that the project on the origin of Polynesian ancestors in China is one of a number of initiatives under way in the anthropology department at the museum.

 

Brown said decades of work in the South Pacific by Dr. Yosihiko Sinoto, senior archaeologist in the department of anthropology, has made possible an agreement between the museum and the government of French Polynesia to cooperate in research, education and the preservation of artifacts.

 

Oscar Temaru, president of French Polynesia, and Brown signed the agreement in March at a formal ceremony in Papeete. Sinoto said the museum invited government officials to list areas where they are looking for help. The ministers of education, environment and culture provided the following list, which is under consideration at the museum:

 

 

Brown had high praise for his chairman of anthropology, Tianlong Jiao, for spearheading cooperation between scientists of Taiwan and Mainland China as well as between Hawai'i and China. "Tianlong is doing important work," Brown said. "We consider him a gem."

 

The department chairman is in charge of a joint venture between the Shanghai Museum and Bishop Museum to exhibit artifacts found in excavations on the south coast of China that document the ancestral origin of Polynesians. The artifacts include adzes that are almost identical with those found in Polynesia. The Bishop Museum exhibit will open to the public next year.

 

At the same time, Brown said a renovation of Hawai'i Hall, the original building at the museum, is under way. All of the exhibits except the whale, the heiau and the grass house will be changed.

 

Reach Bob Krauss at bkrauss@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

July 20, 2006

 

Keaau grads prime proof

 

Hawaiian language immersion schools play a vital role

 

Washington, D.C. -- Hawaii Sen. Daniel Akaka stressed the importance of native languages and praised the success of Hawaiian immersion schools during an address last week at the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) Native Languages Legislative Summit.

 

In speaking to the summit's attendees on Capitol Hill, Akaka recognized language instructors and two graduates of Nawahiokalaniopuu Hawaiian immersion school in Keaau.

 

"In my home state of Hawaii, Native Hawaiian immersion schools are achieving great success. Many students who have graduated from these schools have gone on to succeed in higher education and are leaders in our communities," said Akaka.

 

"Two fine examples are here -- Ku'uwehi Hiraishi, who recently graduated from Seattle University, and Holo Ho'opai, who is a senior at Stanford University."

 

"These students are steeped in not only the language, traditions, and knowledge of their ancestors, but are also empowered and equipped with the tools to combat contemporary challenges that confront our communities," said Akaka.

 

Akaka was introduced by Anuenue School Vice Principal and NIEA President-elect Verlie Ann Malina-Wright of Honolulu.

 

"It is because of the support of leaders like Senator Akaka, an advocate of native languages, that we are able to get the kind of funding that is necessary to keep language schools alive," said Malina-Wright.

 

In April Akaka introduced S. 2674, the Native American Languages Act Amendments Act of 2006, to provide for the support of Native American Language Nests and Survival Schools.

 

The bill has been referred to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.

 

Hiraishi and Ho'opai joined University of Hawaii at Hilo College of Hawaiian Language Prof. Pila Williams and Director Kalena Silva in the nation's capital to provide information in support of the legislation to Akaka's fellow members of the U.S. Senate.

 

Silva said, "Language is the fiber that binds us to our cultural identity and the legislation that Senator Akaka has introduced is vital for the survival of native languages. We are here to stress the importance of this bill to Congress and get support."

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Thursday, July 20, 2006

 

Anuenue joins OIA football

 

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

 

For only the second time in 32 years, a new varsity football team will join the O'ahu Interscholastic Association.

 

And probably for the first time in Hawai'i, a varsity team's signals will be called entirely in Hawaiian. Photo courtesy of the Honolulu Advertiser

 

Kula Kaiapuni O' Anuenue — or Anuenue, for short — becomes the OIA's 23rd varsity football team when the regular season opens next month. Based in Palolo Valley, it also is the state's first Hawaiian language immersion school to compete in a varsity league.

 

The team's nickname is Na Koa, or "Warriors," and its jerseys will be royal blue and black.

 

"Our school color actually is teal, but they don't make teal jerseys anymore," said head coach Tim "Kealoha" Wengler. "So the closest color we could find was royal blue."

 

Choosing a uniform color probably will be a minor obstacle facing Anuenue in its inaugural season. The school has only 82 students in grades 9 through 12, about half of which are girls.

 

The football team has 28 players and only one senior. Almost all played on the junior varsity last season, but only five had any prior football experience.

 

"It's a young team, and we'll probably get beaten up a bit this season," said Wengler, who works as a counselor at Anuenue. "But this season is important for next year, to give everybody the experience they need."

 

People at the school — from principal Charles "Kale" Naumu, to Wengler, to the players — seem to believe the growing pains will be worth it.

 

Junior running back/defensive end 'Olu'olu Naone was allowed to play for Roosevelt's JV team two years ago because there was no football program at Anuenue. But he wanted his school to have its own team, and he encouraged his classmates and friends to help make it happen.

 

"It's exciting," Naone said of the upcoming season. "It's nerve-wracking, plenty butterflies. But I've wanted a team here since seventh grade. I just told (friends) how much fun it is."

 

The fun has spread around campus, where a cheerleading team was assembled and pep rallies are scheduled.

 

"It's contributed to the school spirit," said Wengler, who played for and graduated from Kalani. "It's not the same when you don't have football."

 

It's also not the same when all the calls are in Hawaiian. Wengler consulted language experts at the University of Hawai'i to come up with translations for football terms like "stunt" or "blitz."

 

"It's all about preserving the Hawaiian language," Wengler said.

 

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

July 19, 2006

 

Arapaho elders learn to teach

 

By The Associated Press

 

RIVERTON, Wyo. - Seventeen Northern Arapaho elders have received teaching certificates as part of an effort to teach the tribe's vanishing language to children.

 

The elders earned their qualifications during an eight-week course at Wind River Tribal College in Ethete. A graduation ceremony took place June 27 at Ethete's Blue Sky Hall.

 

Eugene Ridgely Jr., bilingual education director for Wind River Tribal College and an Arapaho tribal member, said many elders are eager to take part in the language revitalization.

 

Without the language, he said, Arapaho culture itself is in peril.

 

According to Ridgely, only around 240 members of the roughly 8,000 Northern Arapaho on the Wind River Indian Reservation speak the language fluently.

 

"We need this language in our ceremonies," he said. "We've had elders say without this language we don't have a culture - we'll just be like everybody else, but just with different-colored skin. In a sense, you lose your identity."

 

Ridgely said that because most of the elders are already knowledgeable about the language, the program focuses mainly on teaching skills.

 

"There was a lot of hands-on classroom activity," he said. "We educated them about the different learning styles of children, and how to work with large groups and individuals.

 

"They were fluent-speaking elders, but they needed tools," he said. "We tried to give them tools to work with."

 

He said instruction in elementary and high schools on the reservation is a step in the right direction when it comes to preserving the language, but it's not nearly enough.

 

He said he envisioned a "Master Apprentice Program" in which nearly all Arapaho children would get one-on-one instruction with a tribal elder for several hours a week. The college is currently working on the program.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Monday, July 24, 2006

 

Big Isle teacher 'drained' after ordeal

 

By Brittany Yap
Advertiser Staff Writer

 

Jamil and Phyllis Ahmadia can finally get a good night's rest. Photo courtesy of the Honolulu Advertiser: Tim Wright

 

Their daughter, Sarah Ahmadia, made it home last night after a week-and-a-half of trying to flee Lebanon and get back to Hawai'i.

 

Family, friends and colleagues greeted the Big Island Kamehameha Schools biology teacher with hugs and lei at Hilo International Airport when she arrived around 10 p.m. on ATA.

 

Sarah came off the plane and went around hugging everyone, saying she was relieved to be back.

 

"Physically, she's just really drained," Phyllis Ahmadia said yesterday afternoon in a phone interview.

 

Yesterday, she spent the day preparing for her daughter's return. "I'm washing the dogs, putting a new comforter (on the bed) in the spare room," she said.

 

Although Sarah has her own place, she will be staying at her parents' house for the next several days. Her mother said Sarah woke up with nightmares Saturday night. "Sarah never in her life expected to see the things she saw," she said.

 

Over the next couple days, Phyllis said, her daughter will be "catching up with her rest, and putting her feet up."

 

While the Ahmadias are grateful for all the support they've received, Phyllis Ahmadia said her daughter "didn't want to consider it a party" because she was thinking of all of those who weren't lucky enough to flee Lebanon. "One moment she's all happy that she's home, and the next she's worried about the family back in Lebanon," said Jamil Ahmadia.

 

Sarah, 27, will report back to work Aug. 1, her mother said. Her parents joked that it would be interesting to see if any of her students could come up with a more interesting essay on how they spent summer vacation.

 

She started her return home from Lebanon last week and flew from Cyprus to Rome to Philadelphia. Her brother, Aron, flew from Chicago to Philadelphia to meet her. From there, she flew to San Francisco where she and her relatives there were met with lots of attention from family, friends and the media.

 

Sarah was on a three-week vacation in Lebanon visiting her father's family for the first time when Israeli military started bombing the country on July 12. At the time of Israel's first strikes on Lebanon, she was at a beach south of Beirut when she saw a fighter jet overhead, followed by a thundering in the distance.

 

Ahmadia said her scariest encounter came July 14, when Israeli warplanes bombed and destroyed a road some 500 yards from the house she was in.

 

Sarah is scheduled to have an MSNBC interview today.

 

"All of the media has been so considerate with us," Phyllis Ahmadia said.

 

Reach Brittany Yap at byap@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

July 20, 2006

 

OHA buys Wao Kele forest land on Big Island

 

By Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.com

 

HILO » The Office of Hawaii Affairs has completed the purchase of 25,856 acres of forested land known as Wao Kele O Puna south of Hilo, the agency announced yesterday.

 

"OHA is acquiring the area to protect the natural and cultural resources on the land, to guarantee that native Hawaiians can continue to exercise traditional and customary activities on the land, and to ensure that OHA can pass it on to a sovereign governing entity," an OHA statement said.

 

OHA Chairwoman Haunani Apoliona called the purchase a "gifted moment" in increasing the assets of native Hawaiian people.

 

The Hawaiian culture-based Pele Defense Fund asked the Trust for Public Lands to buy the land in February 2005. With $3.35 million of the $3.65 million purchase price supplied by the U.S. Forest Service, the sale to the trust and then to OHA was concluded Friday, OHA announced.

 

The term "wao kele" refers to the wet, lush middle elevations between the coast and the dry mountain uplands. Although few people lived there in ancient times, coastal dwellers often went upland to collect resources there.

 

Starting two miles downhill from the present Puu Oo eruption site and stretching another nine miles, Wao Kele O Puna was a site of controversy in the 1980s when a large geothermal energy development was planned in the native ohia forest by True/ Mid-Pacific Geothermal Venture.

 

Environmentalists and Hawaiians opposed the project, sometimes in demonstrations that resulted in arrests. The Pele Defense Fund sued to halt drilling.

 

Opponents credited demonstrations and the lawsuit with stopping the project. True/Mid-Pacific said it could not find a usable geothermal resource.

 

Meanwhile, land ownership shifted. The initially state-owned Wao Kele O Puna lands were traded in 1986 to Campbell Estate. In turn, the state received Campbell's Kahaualea lands immediately uphill.

 

Advocates of the exchange said it was fair because Kahaualea had better native forest, with fewer invasive non-native plants.

 

In 1983, eruptions began that covered much of Kahaualea with lava. Preservation of Wao Kele O Puna provides a source of plant and animal life to restore the new lava lands, OHA said.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Saturday, July 22, 2006

 

OHA's offer for gardens rejected

 

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Staff Writer

 

An offer by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to purchase Moanalua Gardens has been rejected by its landowner, the Estate of Samuel Mills Damon.

 

Timothy Johns, the estate's chief operating officer, said the trust rejected OHA's offer this week and is pursuing discussions with another party.

 

Johns would not disclose the name of the potential purchaser but said the offer was "more favorable in terms of price and conditions."

 

OHA Trustee Os Stender, one of those who pushed for OHA to make the purchase, said that the potential buyer is one of the beneficiaries of the Damon estate. "He outbid us, we had conditions, and he had no conditions," Stender said.

 

In May, OHA trustees agreed to pursue purchase of the 26-acre parcel "for the purpose of economic development opportunities and/or to continue to preserve and enhance the cultural and historical aspects of the property."

 

They had instructed its staff to offer as much as $5 million for the parcel.

 

OHA trustees are not disappointed by the development, Stender said, noting that the potential buyer may preserve the gardens, which are known for their cultural and historical value as a botanical garden.

 

"If his intention is to keep it the way it is, that's fine because that's one of our objectives," Stender said.

 

The potential buyer has 60 days to complete due diligence on the transaction.

 

OHA Administrator Clyde Namu'o said the estate asked that the agency put together a back-up offer. The board has not yet decided whether to do so, he said.

 

Moanalua Gardens was once owned by King Kamehameha V and is home to several historically significant buildings. It has an assessed value of $5.5 million.

 

Separately, the Trust for Public Lands and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources has agreed to purchase the back of Moanalua Valley from the estate.

 

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

 

 

 

 

July 20, 2006

 

Akaka Joins Colleagues in Pushing For Solutions to Combat Global Warming

 

Washington, D.C. - Senator Daniel K. Akaka proudly joined his colleagues in introducing legislation that will for the first time set the United States on a path to decreasing greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.  The Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act of 2006, S. 3698, is sponsored by Senators Jim Jeffords (I-VT) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA); and cosponsored by Senators Akaka, Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Chris Dodd (D-CT), Paul Sarbanes (D-MD), and Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), and Robert Menendez (D-NJ).

 

“The global warming debate began in Hawaii over 30 years ago when the Mauna Loa Climate Observatory first documented evidence of increased carbon dioxide levels in the Earth's atmosphere.  The international scientific community now concurs that human activities are altering the climate system,” stated Senator Akaka.  “The U.S emits the most greenhouse gases in the world.  We must be accountable as a world leader in reducing emissions and combating the threats resulting from global warming.”

 

This legislation provides for standards and grants for sequestration of greenhouse gases, which includes requiring that power plants, automobiles and carbon intensive businesses reduce their global warming pollution.  The bill would also place the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in charge of national programs to help stabilize global atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases.

 

“Encouraging renewable energy technologies will play a crucial role in successfully meeting the objectives of this legislation.  Under the guidance provided by this bill, I firmly believe the State of Hawaii along with the rest of the United States will be poised to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Senator Akaka said.

 

The Hawaii Natural Energy Institute and the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism provided technical assistance in reviewing the impact of legislation in Hawaii.  Senator Akaka, a senior member on the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, praised their participation and stressed a commitment to continue working with them and other local stakeholders whose interests lie in the improvement of the well-being of our planet.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Friday, July 21, 2006

 

Ethanol hui will boost Island industry

 

By Dan Nakaso and Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writers

 

Efforts by the state to build an ethanol industry in Hawai'i got a boost yesterday with the announcement that three major Island landowners will jointly develop technology to turn green waste into the alternative fuel.

 

Grove Farm Co., Maui Land & Pineapple Co. and Kamehameha Schools will combine with other partners to form Hawai'i BioEnergy LLC, said David Cole, chairman, president and CEO of Maui Land & Pineapple.

 

With oil prices reaching $78 a barrel this month, Hawai'i is looking for ways to break its dependence on imported energy. Ethanol, a grain-based fuel, appears to offer some hope.

 

"Let's connect the fact that we have a lot of abundance on the land side with the fact that we have scarcity on the affordable-energy side," Cole said. "As the most isolated place on Earth, it would be foolhardy not to start plotting a solution of our own."

 

Hawai'i BioEnergy will research the best type of crops to use, processing systems, costs and timetable to bring biofuels to consumers in Hawai'i, Cole said. He declined to say how much the partners have invested in the venture.

 

Six companies have announced plans to produce ethanol in Hawai'i, but none is currently manufacturing the fuel locally. The state offers the most generous ethanol tax incentives in the country, including a 100 percent tax credit for plant construction.

 

Since April, most gasoline sold in Hawai'i has contained 10 percent ethanol under a state mandate. Although the law was intended to help reduce the state's dependence on outside oil, all ethanol is currently being imported.

 

Ethanol companies say they haven't built their local plants yet because they continue to wrestle with permitting requirements and critical questions such as whether to use locally grown sugar cane or import other ethanol "feed stocks," such as molasses or corn.

 

ALTERNATE PRODUCTION

 

Most of the ethanol companies in Hawai'i plan to build plants that use liquid extracts from sugar cane or corn to produce the fuel.

 

Hawai'i BioEnergy will join another company — 'Aiea-based ClearFuels Technology Inc. — in exploring a different way to make ethanol, using plant material or cellulose.

 

The use of cellulose to make ethanol promises to be more efficient than current techniques and will not require the diversion of food products such as molasses to the production of ethanol.

 

So far there is no large-scale production of ethanol from green waste, though the technology seems promising, said Maria Tome, an alternativeenergy engineer with the state.

 

Interest in exploring the technology by Kamehameha Schools and the other members of Hawai'i BioEnergy is good news, Tome said.

 

"It definitely is an encouraging development," Tome said. "They seem to be a very serious group, so it will be very interesting."

 

Bob Shleser, chief technical officer for ClearFuels, said the Hawai'i BioEnergy entry into the market is good for the state.

 

"I think anybody who can get into this thing and produce ethanol and reduce our dependence on imported oil is doing the right thing," Shleser said.

 

ClearFuels hopes to begin producing ethanol from bagasse on Kaua'i by mid-2007.

 

LINGLE LAUDS EFFORTS

 

Gov. Linda Lingle yesterday praised the efforts of biofuel companies, saying they could both ease Hawai'i's dependence on imported fuel and keep more money in the Islands.

 

"Instead of paying an oil field worker somewhere on the Louisiana Coast, we'll pay someone who's working in the ethanol business right here in our own state," Lingle said. It will also "give us an opportunity to keep the open space that everyone loves so much."

 

Lingle's administration has organized a biofuels summit for Aug. 22. Ted Liu, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, said he has received six to eight proposals from out-of-state interests in the last three months about producing biofuels in Hawai'i.

 

"These are very reputable companies that have track records and are well capitalized," Liu said. "They're not asking for anything from government."

 

Each of the proposals, he said, involve "growing the crops locally, processing the crops locally, converting the crops into ethanol or biofuels locally. That's what drives our interest. If someone said, 'We only want to do imports,' we wouldn't be interested."

 

Cole of Maui Land & Pine said a key to developing the industry is having the major landowners involved.

 

"Whatever solution we settle on to begin to drive toward energy independence in Hawai'i will require major landowners to cooperate, just as happened with the Hawai'i Sugar Planters Association in the 19th century and just as we did here in Hawai'i with the Pineapple Research Institute in the 20th century," Cole said. "So this is your 21st-century collaborative effort by major landowners."

 

BRAZIL CONNECTION

 

Cole said other landowners have been invited to participate in Hawai'i BioEnergy.

 

In addition to the three landowners, Hawai'i BioEnergy includes Vinod Khosia, co-founder of Sun Microsystems and a renewable-energy venture capitalist; Brasil Bioenergia, formed by Brazilian industrialist Ricardo Semler; and Tarpon Investments, which deals with Brazil's energy sector.

 

Cole said Hawai'i's biofuel efforts can benefit from the experience of Brazil, a world leader in ethanol production, which is on track to become energy independent this year.

 

While the greatest demand for ethanol now is to fuel cars, it also could be used to generate electricity. Hawaiian Electric Co. recently announced that it wants to use ethanol in a planned power plant at Campbell Industrial Park, which would generate local demand for another 7 million gallons of ethanol annually starting in 2009.

 

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com and Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

July 20, 2006

 

Rates fall, but Native infant deaths still high

 

MORTALITY: Alaska health care providers have battled the problem for decades.

 

By ALEX deMARBAN

Anchorage Daily News

 

Despite decades' worth of efforts, Alaska Natives continue to have some of the highest rates of infant death in the nation, according to a 10-year review recently released by the state Division of Public Health.

 

The rates have steadily fallen over the years, but for every 1,000 Alaska Natives born between 1992 and 2001, 11.4 died before their first birthday, said review co-author Brad Gessner.

 

That's almost double the rate of non-Native infant deaths in Alaska -- about six for every 1,000 live births during that period, he said.

 

Alaska health care providers have battled high infant-mortality rates for decades, especially in the Bush. The review, conducted by a panel made up mostly of doctors and health officials, attempts to analyze every infant death in Alaska as part of that effort, Gessner said.

 

The panel, created in 1991 with Gessner's help, analyzed 755 of 759 known infant deaths during the 10 years, he said.

 

Efforts have lowered Alaska's total infant mortality to almost the national average, to 7.3 deaths per 1,000 during the review period. The U.S. infant mortality rate was 6.8 in 2001, the review reported.

 

Despite that improvement, Alaska consistently ranks among the worst 10 states for mortality of infants in the post-neonatal period, between 4 weeks and 1 year old, he said.

 

A key cause is Alaska's high rates of sudden infant death syndrome, usually caused by accidental suffocation, which have been the highest in the nation in the last 10 years, he said.

 

SIDS is especially prevalent in the Native population, more than double the non-Native population's rate.

 

No one knows exactly why infant mortality is high among Alaska Natives, Gessner said. The review panel will conduct a detailed study of infant mortality in the Native population in the next six months, he said.

 

The lack of medical services in the Bush -- most villagers visit health aides and must fly to hospitals in larger cities to see a pediatrician or other specialists -- doesn't seem to be as large a factor as people think, he said.

 

That's because rural and urban Natives have equally high infant-death rates. Also, the disparity between Natives and non-Natives is the same in urban or rural Alaska. It can be argued, he said, that Natives, who receive free medical care, have greater access to medical services.

 

"It's not a rural issue and it's not an access-to-care issue," he said. "There are other things going on."

 

There are some important clues, he said.

 

Every year, the state, working with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, asks 20 percent of new mothers in Alaska to fill out a questionnaire, he said.

 

The latest available responses, collected in 2001 and broken down by racial categories, showed:

 

• Native mothers are more than twice as likely as white mothers to report smoking during pregnancy. Smoking during and after pregnancy is linked to SIDS for unknown reasons.

 

• Native infants are more than twice likely as white infants to suffer physical abuse, such as shaken baby syndrome, which causes bleeding in the brain that results in death or brain damage.

 

• Mothers who chew tobacco, which may cause infections leading to such illnesses as pneumonia or meningitis, are almost exclusively Natives living in Western Alaska.

 

Also, Native mothers are generally less educated, which may decrease their willingness and ability to seek out and interpret parenting information, Gessner said.

 

But all the clues don't add up, he said. Alaska Natives report drinking half as much alcohol -- linked to higher rates of infant mortality -- as whites during pregnancy, Gessner said.

 

Native mothers, 70 percent, are also just as likely to put infants to sleep on their backs instead of their stomachs, he said. Doing so has helped cut SIDS cases in half nationally, he said.

 

Despite the mystery, the good news is that infant mortality among Alaska Natives has fallen significantly since 1974, said Jim Berner, a pediatrician and senior director for community health services with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium in Anchorage.

 

That was the year he got involved with Alaska Native health care. About 24 of every 1,000 Alaska Natives died before their first birthday then, he said. And incidents of SIDS among Natives were at least three times as high.

 

Progress continues, he said. The state Bureau of Vital Statistics, which tallies infant deaths but doesn't review them, recently reported that from 2001 through 2003, total infant mortality for Alaska Natives fell to 10.5 per every 1,000 births.

 

A big factor, he said, has been widespread efforts to advise parents on how their infant should sleep as part of the national Back to Sleep campaign. Health care providers around the state have also instructed families to smoke outdoors if they're going to smoke, even in winter, he said.

 

The lack of access to a hospital in rural Alaska is also a significant factor, he said, because a mother experiencing pre-term births may not be able to quickly fly to a hospital.

 

One reason the review shows an equal number of rural and urban Native infant mortalities may be that many rural mothers with one premature birth temporarily move to Anchorage for their second birth to be near a hospital.

 

"The biggest risk for a pre-term delivery is having had a prior pre-term delivery," he said.

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Friday, July 21, 2006

 

Blind kids conqueror Haleakala

 

By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Neighbor Island Editor

 

HALEAKALA NATIONAL PARK, Maui — With its ankle-turning trails, boot-eating 'a'a lava fields and high-elevation moonscapes, hiking through Haleakala Crater can be a challenge even for the physically fit.

 

Imagine doing it blindfolded. Photo courtesy of the Honolulu Advertiser: Christie Wilson

 

That is virtually what five blind Hawai'i teenagers accomplished this week during an unprecedented four-day trek organized by Haleakala National Park and Ho'opono Services for the Blind, part of the state Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. Using their canes, hiking poles and assistance from seven adults, three of whom are also blind, the exhausted and dirty group emerged yesterday afternoon from the Halemau'u Trailhead at the 8,000-foot elevation.

 

"I miss my rice, I miss my shower, I miss civilization," said a cranky Shannon Cantan of the Big Island, who wasn't too thrilled about the whole adventure. "It was tiring and long."

 

But after a brief rest and some refreshments, the 16-year-old Ka'u High School student, who has very limited sight, was more reflective about the experience. "I saw probably the most beautiful things I ever saw, and the coolest sounds and even silverswords. I'm going to look back at the pictures and have a lot of good memories."

 

Jolene Mariano-Hardy, 16, of Waimea, Kaua'i, was elated to reach the end of the trail after the day's 4-mile hike, most of it up the near-vertical "Switchbacks."

 

"When I go home I can brag to my mom. She could never do what we just did," Mariano-Hardy said.

 

Ho'opono administrator Dave Eveland, who accompanied the group, is an avid hiker who has been in the crater many times over the past 31 years. He said he'd long thought it would be neat to bring some of the program's blind teenagers with him. So last August he called Ron Nagata, chief of resource management at Haleakala, to see if that could happen.

 

The two men are hiking buddies who met while participating in O'ahu Sierra Club events during the 1970s.

 

"Initially I said, 'Hmm, I don't know,' but he convinced me these people can do it," Nagata said, "and they don't want to be told they cannot do it."

 

Nagata said it was the first time the national park had sponsored a group of blind hikers, and Ho'opono officials said nothing similar has been attempted anywhere else in the country.

 

The teenagers underwent a year of preparation that included honing their camping skills at Camp Erdman on O'ahu's North Shore and undertaking five practice hikes with backpacks, the longest only 2 1/2 miles. Donations helped buy hiking boots, backpacks, sleeping bags and other gear for the students, and food and supplies were flown into Haleakala's cabins to await them.

 

Entering the crater Monday, they traveled 6 miles from the aptly named Sliding Sands Trailhead to Kapalaoa Cabin, where they spent two nights and performed a six-hour service project digging up weeds. On Wednesday, they hiked 4 miles across the crater floor to Holua Cabin, where they stayed their final night before heading up the Switchbacks yesterday morning.

 

Before leaving, they made a detour to explore a cavernous lava tube, reached by climbing down a long ladder.

 

Eveland said he thought the hikers would be able to cover a mile in two hours, but they made much better time, sometimes traveling at double that pace.

 

The hikers said the first day's leg was the toughest, because of the steep descent on the cinder and sand trail with uncertain footing. "You have to balance yourself a certain way," Cantan said.

 

Leilani Kekahuna, 16, of Nanakuli, said navigating the rugged terrain was no walk in the park. "Ho, it was very hard. I was tripping and falling everywhere, but we did it," she said.

 

Volunteer Virgil Stinnett, who is blind, said he used a hiking pole to help maintain his balance while "swishing" his cane around to locate rocks and boulders — and the cliff's edge. "Coming up the Switchbacks I was, 'Ho, I want to stick to the wall.' "

 

He said he could sense turns in the trail by shifts in the wind.

 

Despite being blind, the hikers didn't lack for ways to describe their experiences among the crater's natural wonders.

 

"I was surprised at how big it was," said Michael Paul Resh, 14, of Schofield Barracks. "I thought it would be all rainforest but it's actually just dust and plant life. I got dust in my ears and dust in my nose.

 

"It was fun, tiring and painful," said Resh, who also complained of being kept up at night by some of his companions' snoring.

 

Keao Wright, 17, of Kane'ohe, had her own impressions: "It was really dusty and really cold and kind of silent."

 

Stinnett said he visualized "an open desert."

 

"We would feel the air and the different sounds at night when we went out of the cabin, all the indigenous birds. It's nothing we had experienced before," he said. "This was new and empowering. It's teaching them you really can do it."

 

Stinnett's wife, Katie Keim, also made the trek. She works for the Ho'opono program and, like her husband, is blind. Keim and Brook Sexton, another blind Ho'opono employee, were the last members of the expedition to reach the end of the trail, assisted by co-worker Jon Koki.

 

"It was pretty amazing to bring the kids up here and watch them succeed. That was really powerful for me," Sexton said.

 

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

July 22, 2006

 

Descendants of Hawaiian royalty join to discuss protocols

 

By Pat Gee
pgee@starbulletin.com

 

Fourth- and fifth-generation descendants of Hawaii's monarchs are meeting for the first time to discuss a future governed by Hawaiian leaders.

 

"We will be finding common ground, educating ourselves about each other, which has never been done before," and discussing their relevance to today's issues, said Bill Souza, chief protocol officer of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I and its Na Wahine Hui O Kamehameha I, one of the four royal societies.

 

About 200 members of the four benevolent royal societies gathered for the three-day 2006 'Aha hipu'u Conference at Ala Moana Hotel which started yesterday.

 

The other groups include the 'Ahahui Ka'ahumanu; the Hale O Na Ali'i of Hawaii; and the Daughters and Sons of Hawaiian Warriors -- Mamakakaua.

 

Souza said he hopes the societies can unite and share their separate and secret protocols as "keepers of our culture." The societies had to remain low key because of the political climate following the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893, Souza said.

 

Haunani Apoliona, chairwoman of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, a co-sponsor of the event, urged members to ensure a future in which the benefits given to native Hawaiians would not be taken away in federal court or by Congress.

 

She referred to a federal appeals court case over Kamehameha Schools' admission preference for Hawaiians, and the Akaka Bill, which proposes federal recognition for native Hawaiians but failed to reach a vote in the U.S. Senate this year.

 

According to Souza, also an event organizer, Apoliona only presented OHA's draft proposal for a Native Hawaiian Governing Entity. She did not represent the societies' official position on sovereignty, which will be among the issues discussed at the convention.

 

Apoliona said the key factor toward preserving benefits for Hawaiians is the registration of some 150,000 native Hawaiians in the United States, to vote at a convention planned for 2007. The convention delegates would "define and shape" a governing body that would protect Hawaiian benefits and hopefully be recognized by the federal government, she said.

 

Mililani Kaina, a member of 'Ahahui Ka'ahumanu, said there is a "fear factor" with the word "sovereignty," based on lack of understanding or misinformation.

 

She said many older Hawaiians "are living comfortably on Social Security" and enjoying the rights of U.S. citizenship. They are wondering if "sovereignty" would mean secession from the United States and giving up these rights. Kaina said there is a need for more, simplified information, and another speaker concurred that a "more comfortable" word should be used.

 

OHA Administrator Clyde Namu'o acknowledged that people do feel threatened by the word "sovereignty," as well as "Hawaiian nation," so OHA has begun using the term "governing entity."

 

 

 

 

Posted on: Tuesday, July 25, 2006

 

Transforming jungle into a gem

 

By Mary Vorsino
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

 

The rain starts and stops, starts and stops, as cool winds shuffle clouds over the thick, green slopes of Kalihi Valley. On the back porch of a small wooden house, within earshot of Likelike Highway and just 10 minutes from downtown Honolulu, Solomon Enos gently pushes a ti leaf stalk into a plastic pot half-filled with dirt. Once the stalk is steady, Enos sets the pot on the ground, slaps dirt from his hands and picks up a fresh sapling.

 

It is with this measured pace, Enos says, that a 100-acre parcel at the base of the valley will be transformed over the coming decades from an illegal dumping ground overgrown with invasive bamboo and albizia trees into a jewel of urban greenery. Photo courtesy of the Honolulu Advertiser: Joaquin Siopack

 

Since December 2004, when Kokua Kalihi Valley got a 20-year lease for the land, hundreds of volunteers and staff members have cleared paths for future hiking trails, rooted out alien plants to make way for acres of community gardens, formed the beginnings of a hula mound and hauled away tons of trash, from tires to furniture to construction supplies.

 

They hope their one-of-a-kind experiment in the Islands, kick-started with $200,000 in seed money from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, becomes a model for how to cure urban blight in Hawai'i and the Mainland with community togetherness and outdoor activity.

 

GARDENS APLANTING

 

By the end of the year, Kokua Kalihi Valley wants to open a portion of the nature park to hiking, camping and educational programs. Clearing work is still being done to make the hiking trails more accessible for families, and the site still doesn't have a parking lot.

 

But a handful of women who live in Kalihi already have started planting sweet potatoes, dry-land taro and cassava in the property's first fledgling garden.

 

Other groups have reserved plots.

 

"This shouldn't be the exception for how we use the land," said Enos, as he planted saplings in pots outside the park's newly renovated, 1930s-era caretaker's house, which was crumbling from age, neglect and termites just a few months ago.

 

Now, the home and its attached small meeting hall are clean, shiny with a fresh coat of paint and sporting a new roof, walls, door frames and public restroom. A nearby mold-covered cottage also was renovated to house an art studio and children's playroom.

 

Enos lives at the nature park, acting as everything from a hiking guide to a gardener.

 

On a recent afternoon, he wears clothes splattered with the taupe paint he used on the home. He talks over the din of cars whizzing on Likelike Highway, hidden from sight above the valley by large trees.

 

Gary Gill, Kokua Kalihi Valley's active-living coordinator, stands nearby, soaked with sweat and rain after helping volunteers clear out a new garden plot.

Graphic courtesy of the Honolulu Advertiser

"This," Gill said, spreading his arms wide toward the hilly park, "is not going to be done if people don't want to do it. And people are dying to do it."

 

In a big-picture sense, organizers say, the nature center — at the tail end of Kalihi Street over a small wooden bridge — is about creating a healthier Ho-nolulu, especially for those who have little access to public greenery and suffer from health problems often associated with the ills of urban life, including obesity, diabetes and hypertension.

 

It is also about getting urban dwellers, many of whom live in apartments and are shut up in offices during the day, to reconnect with the land in a place just a short drive from downtown. Several public housing complexes are minutes away.

 

"We need to see that the determinants of health are far broader than whether a patient can come in and see a doctor," said David Derauf, executive director of Kokua Kalihi Valley, which provides healthcare to hundreds of low-income people in Kalihi.

 

"My role in the whole thing was simply to recognize that doing a project like this was not inappropriate for our mission," Derauf added. "We're a community organization. It's really important for us to broaden all of our ideas of what it means to be healthy."

 

A LONG TIME COMING

 

In many ways, the small Kalihi nonprofit and its loyal group of supporters have been able to do in months what city and state officials tried — and failed — to see to fruition over the course of 30 years. As far back as 1976, Kalihi Valley residents were promised that the swath of land at the end of Kalihi Street would be converted into some sort of recreation area, aimed at serving one of the O'ahu's poorest and most densely populated communities.

 

But big dreams produced little action, and the valley was threatened with development.

 

In the 1980s, Kalihi residents were able to persuade state officials to zone the property conservation land to save it. Around the same time, city officials handed the 100-acre lot over to the state in exchange for Magic Island. With little money for improvements and no interest from nonprofits, the state abandoned hopes for a park and leased the land out.

 

As a child, Maryrose McClelland, who served as chairwoman of the Kalihi Valley Neighborhood Board for 26 years, romped around the property, climbing among ancient Hawaiian agricultural terraces and handmade rock walls hiding in the forest above the street.

 

When she got onto the board of Kokua Kalihi Valley, McClelland seized a new opportunity to try to share the wonders of the acreage with all of urban Honolulu. She approached Derauf, who immediately saw how the nature park could benefit his patients. Eventually, those who get healthcare from the center will have their own garden at the park.

 

Since starting work on the park, Kokua Kalihi Valley has secured about $500,000 in grants and has been bombarded with in-kind donations, from fresh mulch to the use of equipment. Earlier this year, masons teamed up with students at Honolulu Community College to renovate the caretaker's house, meeting hall and studio.

 

The nature park was one of 25 sites nationwide to secure seed money from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as part of its "active living by design" project, which promotes green-minded redevelopment as a means to better health and wellness in communities. Elsewhere, the grants have gone to improving pedestrian and biking safety.

 

In Norwich, Vt., the money helped raise awareness for a program in which doctors write prescriptions for walking. In Pennsylvania, community groups are working to develop a network of trails to connect 21 small towns in Wyoming Valley.

 

Gill, of Kokua Kalihi Valley, said plans for the nature center have been met with an enthusiasm rarely seen in response to a project of this scope. Kalihi residents have applauded the effort, and people keep on calling to offer help or support.

 

"This whole endeavor would not have been possible without hundreds of volunteers," Gill said. "It's 100 acres and a generation of work that will be required to polish this jewel. What I've witnessed is an outpouring of support, and I think that support is there at least in part because so many people have been waiting for this for so long."

 

VALLEY HOLDS SECRETS

 

In 1977, when he was a student at the University of Hawai'i, Joe Kennedy trekked to the back of Kalihi Valley at the behest of his former roommate and fellow archaeologist, Dennis Callan. Kennedy was shocked when Callan showed him what was there: A well-preserved system of ancient Hawaiian agricultural terraces, probably for taro or sweet potato.

 

Nearly three decades later, Gill asked Kennedy to return to Kalihi Valley in hopes of dating the terraces and an intricate series of spillage ways constructed with rock, which snake throughout the forest and start just above Kokua Kalihi Valley's recently cleared plots for gardens. At places in the valley, the stream beds are lined with rocks as high as 6 feet.

 

Kennedy, of Archaeological Consultants of the Pacific, said the terraces are "almost certainly pre-contact."

 

It's still unclear how old the spillage ways are, and whether they were built by native Hawaiians. Kennedy said he has seen nothing similar in Hawai'i, and added there is a possibility they were built by Chinese immigrants in the late 19th century.

 

"They are dry masonry construction, which is consistent with Hawaiian building," Kennedy said. "But we know Chinese farmers were back there. I wouldn't be surprised if somehow those spillage ways may have been their handiwork."

 

He added that no matter who built the structures, they are "significant historical sites." Kennedy has taken pollen and carbon samples, which are being analyzed, in hopes of dating the man-made streams. He also said that when he visited the site as a young man, he remembers seeing a heiau and other ancient Hawaiian artifacts.

 

He has not found the sites in his latest visit, and suspects they are either on neighboring land or were destroyed over the years. The state Department of Land and Natural Resources also is surveying part of the nature park for archaeological sites.

 

A final report is expected as early as next month.

 

Farther into the mountain, volunteers clearing the way for a hiking trail found still more surprises hidden in the trees: A dilapidated teahouse and bunkhouse built by the neighboring Daihonzan Chozen-ji Temple, which formerly leased part of the property. The teahouse and bunkhouse are near three large warehouses, apparently built by two nurseries once operated in the valley.

 

Derauf said the nurseries were in the valley in the 1970s and '80s. The warehouses are full of old equipment and shrouded by tall trees. Derauf said the bunkhouse and teahouse have not been used for years. They are both covered with mold and slowly deteriorating.

 

Enos hopes the the bunkhouse can be renovated to use for classes or large camping groups. The warehouses will be used for canoe-carving.

 

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Public Comment Period Extension:  Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) – July 28, 2006

 

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) has extended until July 28, 2006, the public comment period on the draft “Policy Statement Regarding Treatment of Burial Sites, Human Remains and Funerary Objects.”

 

That draft was published for public comment in the Federal Register on March 14, 2006 (71 FR 13066-13070). That notice is available on the ACHP website at www.achp.gov.

 

The ACHP’s Task Force on Archeology will use the public input it receives to finalize the draft policy before presenting it to the full ACHP membership for consideration and possible adoption.

 

Please address all comments to the Archeology Task Force, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Suite 809, Washington. DC 20004.  Fax (202) 606-8672. Comments may also be submitted by electronic mail to:archeology@achp.gov. Please note that all responses become part of the public record once they are submitted.

 

 

 

 

2006 Elections Present 101 Seats for Voters to Decide

 

WHAT:  Activating Voter Registration in 2006 to weigh in on 101 seats at the federal, state and county levels is on the minds of many in Hawaii today.  The seats that will come before the electorate in the fall of 2006 include the following:

 

 

 

 

For more information and a complete list of 2006 Contests and Incumbents, visit the Hawaii State Office of Elections Website at:  http://www.hawaii.gov/elections/

 

To register to vote:  http://www.hawaii.gov/elections/voters/registration.htm

 

 

 

In an effort to increase the usefulness of this service to our subscribers, CNHA is now including a section for Quiet Title Notices at the end of each NewsClips.

 

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRD CIRCUIT STATE OF HAWAII SUMMONS TO DEFENDANTS GEORGE A. TURNER; his heirs or assigns; and ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that Plaintiffs Mellon Bank N.A., as Trustee, Stephen B. Ratner and Audrey Ratner, have filed a complaint in the Third Circuit Court, State of Hawaii, Civil No. 06-1-0178, to quiet title to Land Patent Grant 4195, issued to GEORGE A. TURNER, situate at Olaa, Puna, Hawaii, within TMK Nos. (3) 1-8-010-031 & (3) 1-8-011-015. YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to appear in the courtroom of the Honorable GREG K. NAKAMURA, Judge of the Third Circuit Court, at 75 Aupuni Street, Courtroom 1, Hilo, Hawaii, on August 24, 2006 at 8:00 A.M., or to file an answer or other pleading and serve it before said day upon Plaintiffs' attorney, Philip J. Leas, whose address is Cades Schutte LLP, 1000 Bishop St., Suite 1200, Honolulu, HI 96813. If you fail to do so, judgment by default will be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint. DATED: Hilo, Hawaii, June 13, 2006. E. YAMABE CLERK, THIRD CIRCUIT COURT (Hon. Adv.: July 12, 19, 26; Aug. 2, 2006) (489600) Posted on 7/12/2006

 

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