LC Watch: At Risk Adolescents Acquire Alcohol Again at Akaku's Hang Loose Lounge 333 Dairy Rd, Kahului, Hawaii

LC Watch: At Risk Adolescents Acquire Alcohol Again at Akaku's Hang Loose Lounge 333 Dairy Rd, Kahului, Hawaii

Fact Check: Akaku CEO and President, Jay April and Lance D. Collins, ex-Liquor Commissioner and current Counsel to the Board of Directors of Akaku:Maui Community Television and Akaku Holdings LLC, Property Owner

Maui Cops Catch Adults Serving Kids Alcoholic Drinks at the building owned by Akaku: Maui Community Television at 333 Dairy Rd. in Kahului on Maui. Again. Do you know what your kids are doing this summer?

MauiTime Weekly
History Repeats Itself, Repeats Itself
by Greg Mebel

June 19, 2008
Hang Loose Lounge on Dairy Road in Kahului received a 10-day liquor license suspension for a second offense of serving a minor. Again, a minor decoy. With a third offense pending hearing, last call could be on the horizon. Hang Loose is owned by Sean...

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Molokai Wavecrest Human Waste Wells Up in Drinking Water

Visitors to the Hawaiian Island of Molokai need to choose their accommodations carefully. Recent poolside arrivals at Molokai Ranch's Kaluakoi, found the pool filled with warm... sand, and the once regal palm trees that graced the Golf Course, cut down for barricades, blocking all entry to the resorts now abandoned grounds. Water and waste utilities have been scheduled for complete and final shutdown on August 2, 2008 for all residents and businesses on Molokai's west end, including services to all resorts, condos, private and public property. Make sure you bring your own water, and have plans for what to do when you are done with it!

Meanwhile, back at the Wavecrest Condos on Molokai's east end, injection wells used to pump human waste into the ground have been pumping untreated human feces and urine due to the Wavecrest's unreliable, and often, unworking waste processing system. Water tests of the drinking water at the Wavecrest have shown that it is off the charts contaminated with nitrogen - human feces and urine in the Wavecrest drinking water, detectable in the taste, color and odor. While the high nitrogen levels seem to provide excellent fertilizer for Wavecrest's beautiful, lush landscaping and offshore limu production, it doesn't seem to be helping with the obnoxiously loud Eurotrash tourists that have replaced the obnoxiously loud American variety, the rotting stairwells and lanai railings, or the increasing number of vacancies and foreclosures that are now plaguing the troubled Condo.

So remember folks, when staying at Wavecrest, bring your own earplugs and shades, don't drink the water, and stay off the grass. Its gross.

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Showdown on Molokai

by Sallie Brady | Published July 2008 | Condé Nast

The corral at Molokai Ranch

The island's best-known property closes its doors after locals say no to major development

In March, Molokai Properties Ltd., the owner of the island's two largest and most popular hotels, shuttered them following fierce local opposition to a real estate development that the company wanted to build along the southwestern coast.

The closure of the 65,000-acre Molokai Ranch, including the 22-room Molokai Lodge and the 40 furnished seaside tents at the Beach Village at Molokai Ranch, is the latest in a series of starts and stops for Molokai tourism, which began in 1977 with the opening of the 198-room Kaluakoi Resort and condo complex on the West End. Virtually abandoned since the early 1980s, the resort was purchased by Molokai Properties, a subsidiary of Hong Kong–based Guoco Group Ltd., in 2001. At the time, local officials and many residents hoped that the company, which had opened the Beach Village in 1996 and the Lodge in 1999, would resuscitate Kaluakoi, attracting tourists and adding jobs. But apart from a $500,000 golf course renovation, Molokai Properties left the resort an untouched eyesore. In 2006, the company announced that it would renovate the hotel as part of a master development plan that included the sale of 200 homesites (at $600,000 each) along La'au Point—the picturesque southwestern tip, accessible only by boat or a strenuous hike. Local reaction was negative, forceful, and immediate. The most visible display of residents' opposition to the plan was the hand-painted signs reading SAVE LA'AU that were tacked to trees and lanais all along the hilly ribbon of road that traverses the 38-mile-long island.

Locals say...

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Shipping rate could go up, again

By Sneh Duggal
6/27/2008
Molokai News : Business News

Young Brothers, Ltd. is proposing a 5.5 percent rate increase. Maria Watanabe, owner of Imports Gift Shop, said she thinks the increase is too much.
Young Brothers proposes 5.5 percent increase

The price of shipping cargo throughout the Hawaiian Islands could increase by 5.5 percent after Young Brothers, Ltd. filed an application with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for a proposed increase.

The commission has 45 days to respond to the request, said Lisa Y. Kikuta, chief researcher with the PUC.
If approved, the increase could go into affect Aug. 1 of this year, according to Young Brothers.

This comes about three weeks after the company’s fuel price adjustment increased from 2.78 percent to 4.22 percent as a result of high fuel costs.

Young Brothers can seek a maximum overall rate increase of 5.5 per cent through the zone of reasonableness practice that allows the company to adjust its rates within a reasonable zone set by the Commission, said Kikuta.
The company cited increased labor costs and...

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Visitor accommodations on Molokai dwindle to 234

By Corinne Impey
6/25/2008
Molokai News

Photo By: Corinne Impey
Hotel Molokai is the only hotel on Molokai. It has 56 available units for visitors the rent.
Island continues to attract ‘quality visitors’

As the County of Maui reviews the ordinances for transient vacation rentals and bed and breakfasts, one local resident took it upon herself to determine the number of accommodations available for visitors to Molokai.
Zhantell Dudoit is the Ke Aupuni Lokahi Visitor Coordinator. She has been working in the tourism field for 20 years and says she did the phone survey in order to have an accurate sense of what is available for tourists.
At the Molokai Action Team meeting on June 16, Dudoit presented her findings and explained that ...

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Crisis: Community entreats group to evaluate, provide for needs of belabored West End

By Kate Gardiner
6/25/2008, Molokai News

Twelve hundred accounts, servicing 3,300 people, could be without water by the end of August, West End residents told the Molokai Action Team June 16.
All customers living west of Molokai’s Seventh Day Adventist Church, including the towns of Kualapu’u, Maunaloa and the developments at Kala’e, Kaluakoi and the Papohaku Ranchlands may be affected by a cessation of service if Molokai Properties Limited is allowed to stop funding its three public water and sewer utilities.
In an attempt to postpone the cessation, ...

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Internet-based projects offer business solutions

By Corinne Impey
6/24/2008, Molokai News

Web marketing allows island to reach untapped resources

As Molokai faces tough economic times with the closure of Molokai Ranch and soaring gas prices, it appears that many residents are turning to the Internet for solutions.
Some projects and businesses are already well underway, tapping into a market on and beyond Molokai. Others are just getting started...

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County considers future of vacation rentals

By Corinne Impey
6/24/2008 5:47:06 PM
Molokai News

Full day meeting on topic set for July 1

The Maui County Council Planning Committee met June 17 in Maui to review a set of ordinances regarding the use of transient vacation rentals and bed and breakfasts.

According to David Raatz, a legislative attorney with Maui County, the committee began deliberations on one of three bills.

Although no decisions were made at Tuesday’s meeting, the group did commit to a daylong meeting scheduled for July 1.

Currently, TVRs and B&Bs are allowed in Maui County under certain conditions, says Raatz. The package that is currently being reviewed by the committee would...

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What is Monsanto really doing on Molokai?

By Kevin “KB” Brown
6/24/2008 8:07:05 PM

In response to the propaganda piece, “Molokai Monsanto takes part in three-point commitment” (June 11) something needs to be said about the real life activities of Monsanto. Hopefully you will go to some of the many Web sites, which document the facts.
Monsanto developed and produced chemicals such as Agent Orange, PCBs, DDT, recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone, Saccharin and Aspartame. These are all poisons, which have made huge profits for Monsanto, and each has caused countless deaths and crippling sickness around the world. Many of us here on Molokai have relatives who died or suffered the painful effects of these substances. Poison.
Nowadays, Monsanto focuses on developing genetically engineered seeds. Some of these seeds are very special in that they grow crops, which cannot self-reproduce. That is, you gotta buy new seeds from Monsanto. Imagine that — you grow a crop of beans, then, as farmers have done for eons, you save some seeds for planting in the next season and lo and behold, your seeds won’t grow beans.
As of this moment Monsanto has...

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By Order of Kamehameha

Monday 6-23-08 BY: JENNIFER SMITH
Kalaniana`ole Hall restoration breaks ground.

Thanks to the help of Staff Sergeant Lester Delos Reyes, 11 members of the National Guard helped with construction the first week of the project.

By Jennifer Smith

In 1937 by order of Kamehameha, the first gathering place for Native Hawaiians in the Territory of Hawaii opened its doors on Molokai. Kalaniana`ole Hall served as a place for Hawaiian families to care for the sick and provide the dead with a fitting burial.

The hall would go on to be listed on the State Register of Historic Places and serve as a clubhouse to support social gatherings. From community meetings and hula lessons, to martial arts practices and movie screenings, several generations of Molokai community residents have memories in the hall.

Unfortunately, over 70 years of hard weather and frequent use have deteriorated the building into almost disrepair. Luckily thanks to the continued support of community members and several organizations, the restoration of Kalaniana`ole Hall will soon bring the building back to its original beauty.

A blessing held last week Monday marked...

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The Future of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands

Tuesday 6-24-08 BY: JENNIFER SMITH
Setting the standard for the care of the marine managed area.

Midway is best known as the location of the Battle of Midway, fought in World War II. Today it is the only place within the Monument open for recreation.

By Jennifer Smith

Once the training ground for celestial navigation, and the site for generations of Native Hawaiian practices of cultural and spiritual rights, the Northwest Hawaiian Islands make up nearly three-fourths of the Hawaiian Archipelago. Realizing the significance of the islands and the increasing threats to native habitats from invasive species and increasing outside interest in the area, the islands were recognized as Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in June 2006.

Two years later, the three managing agencies have returned to the Main Hawaiian Islands seeking input from local communities on a 1200 page Draft Monument Management Plan. The document provides a...

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Meeting set for Molokai utilities

POSTED: June 22, 2008

Mayor Charmaine Tavares and County Council Member Danny Mateo will co-host a community meeting July 8 to discuss Molokai Properties Ltd.’s contested plans to get out of the public utilities business.

The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Mitchell Pauole Center in Kaunakakai. Tavares and Mateo have resisted the company’s insistence that either the county or the state take over operations of the aging facilities reportedly in need of serious repairs.

Molokai Properties has said it will cease water and sewer services to the island’s west side at the end of August and has said it cannot find a private buyer.

However, the state Public Utilities Commission has told the company that it cannot shut down utility services until a suitable long-term solution has been found, most likely one involving the county.

In the meantime,...

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Fight over; we will heal — resident of Molokai

By CHRIS HAMILTON Staff Writer
POSTED: June 22, 2008

KAUNAKAKAI — Officially, Mildred “Millie” Hirose’s last day on the job as a Molokai Lodge housekeeper was May 22, six weeks after the 60,000-acre ranch ceased all operations after losing a bitter public fight with residents over an ambitious luxury residential development project.

After 11 years at the Molokai Ranch resort, Hirose, 58, was among 120 residents on this island of 7,500 suddenly out of work.

“It’s been hard just staying home, being bored and keeping away from the stores,” Hirose said last week while sitting outside the Manila camp home she shares with her retired husband, Harry, and 21-year-old daughter, Jennifer.

“I wish I were working,” she said. “I need to because of the medical insurance and the money. . . . In my sleep, I just worry about how I’m going to pay for everything.”

Despite the ranch’s unexpected closure, overall unemployment rates on Molokai actually went down from 7 percent in January to.
..

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Meet the Molokai Dispatch Again for the First Time

Tuesday 6-24-08 BY: TODD YAMASHITA

Kids, Politics and Hawaiian Culture – the foundation of this island newspaper.

By Todd Yamashita

The first time I had my picture printed in a newspaper I was 15 years old and crazy about skateboarding. George Peabody of the Molokai Advertiser News snapped a shot as I was doing tricks off a launch ramp in Kualapu`u. I’ll never forget how proud I felt featured in print for all of Molokai to see.

Almost two decades later, I don’t really launch off of anything anymore, but I am still excited about newspapers and the positive changes they can make within our community. This is precisely why you’ll find news in the Molokai Dispatch that focuses on youth, culture, history, leadership and community voice – the foundation of a healthy community.

Keiki
A few months ago I was visited by Leslie Florea whose mother, the late Myrle Florea, started the Molokai Dispatch in 1985. She said that when her mother had first created the paper, its focus was on the keiki.

“It would be nice to see the kids come back, to see the children write stories again,” was Leslie’s friendly advice to me.

We’ve always done our best to include youth news, but the inclusion of the Keiki Dispatch page added several weeks ago, has helped us come full circle.

The Keiki Dispatch is a...

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Local schools win education grants

By Corinne Impey
6/20/2008, Molokai News

Three local schools have won a total of over $16,000 in education grants from the Ka Alahele Education Fund for science, technology, engineering and math.

Grant recipients were recognized at an awards ceremony Monday at Kaunakakai Elementary School.

The Molokai grant recipients for the 2007-08 year are Howard Selnick, Jennifer Ainoa and Kelly Richardson from Molokai Middle School, Janice Espiritu and Heidi Jenkins from Kaunakakai Elementary School and Shona Pineda from Kilohana Elementary School.

The award program began in 2006 as a way to strengthen science, technology, engineering and math in local schools. Grants that are awarded through the fund support these areas through educational activities.

At Molokai Middle School three programs were awarded.

“Measures for Life” is a program for students to design their dream home. It was ...

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Proposed rate hike will affect west side of island

By Kate Gardiner
6/19/2008 3:50:46 PM, Molokai News
Photo By: Kate Gardiner

PUC moves to force temporary solvency

The state Public Utilities Commission filed a temporary rate increase on behalf of Molokai Ranch Monday in an effort to stave off the closure of three utilities on Molokai's West End.

The water and sewage companies, together with three other private companies, control public water access for 3,300 individuals and clients on half of the island.

According to the petition, rates will likely climb after a state PUC hearing on Molokai July 15, at Maunaloa Elementary (10 a.m.), provided all three PUC members agree with the proposal.

The move is precedent-setting for the PUC, which has never before filed a rate increase on behalf of the consumer; usual procedure requires utilities to apply to the commission, which then evaluates whether or not the rate change is justified.

Rates for the three affected companies will go up between 121 and 41 percent for a period of six months until some other solution to the operating problem is found.

Molokai Properties Limited, which operates the six companies, closed its Molokai operation April 5 and laid-off the last of its workers May 22....

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Middle School names students of the quarter

6/19/2008, Molokai News

Molokai Middle School students of the fourth quarter for the 2007-08 school year were honored at two separate luncheons at the school.

On May 28, students of the quarter from the eighth grade were recognized. They are: Ashleigh Dudoit-Polido, Jenu Gommard, Kahea Gomes, Theresa Gruber, Hina Hanapi-Hirata, Shawna Kahookano, Maverick Kaulia Dela Cruz, Sammilyn Pule-Kaahanui,

Jessica Sanchez, Kauiki Sandobal.

The seventh graders had a luncheon May 29 to honor the top students. They are:...

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Panel trims TVR options

Planning talks focus on what councilors don’t want to see

By HARRY EAGAR, Staff Writer
POSTED: June 18, 2008

The Maui News

WAILUKU — To surface appearances, Tuesday’s meeting of the County Council Planning Committee was about refining the bed-and-breakfast ordinance. To advocates of TVR reform, it was more like the tolling on the final days of their best hope.

“We are disappointed that the council didn’t see fit to expand the B&B ordinance to provide a large-scale solution to the TVR issue,” said Thomas Croly, a board member of the Maui Vacation Rental Association, after the meeting adjourned.

Planning Chairwoman Gla-dys Baisa said she hopes to complete reviewing the three transient accommodations bills at an all-day session July 1.

The committee did not take votes Tuesday but sought to establish what Baisa called “comfort levels” about how to deal with the hot-button transient-rental issues: use of ohanas, corporate ownership, nonproprietor management...

It came down against all three...

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Utilities body proposes Molokai water rate hike

Posted: Thursday, June 19th, 2008 4:27 AM HST

KPUA via By Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — Water bills for many Molokai residents and businesses may more than double for six months under a Public Utilities Commission proposal.

The commission says it's acting to ensure 1,200 customers of Molokai Properties' utility subsidiaries continue to receive service.

Molokai Properties recently said it would halt its money-losing water services because it could no longer afford to keep them afloat.

The company is also shutting down most of its other operations and laying off 120 employees.

The commission says...

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Mauians shine on Na Hoku night

By LEHIA APANA, Staff Writer
POSTED: June 19, 2008

Napua Greig won the Na Hoku Hanohano Award for female vocalist of the year.


Maui’s recording stars shined bright Tuesday night, bringing home top honors in four categories at the 31st annual Na Hoku Hanohano Awards.

The Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts presented its version of the Grammy Awards before a sold-out crowd of 1,040 at the Hawai‘i Convention Center on Oahu.

Capturing the coveted female vocalist of the year award was Napua Greig for her debut album, “Pihana.” Greig is currently on a two-week music tour in Japan, so her mother, recording artist Hulu Lindsey, accepted the Hoku on her behalf.

“I’m happy not only for myself, but for my family and everyone who worked on the project with me,” Greig said via cell phone from Nagano.

Despite Greig’s absence, a group of friends and family attended the award show, including her mother, daughters Kala‘iakea, 8, and Ka‘ilihiwa, 9, and sister Kahulu Maluo-Huber.

“Of course we were all so excited. We were hoping that she would win, but she was up against some really tough ladies — the most beautiful singers in Hawaii — so we could only hope,” Lindsey said of her daughter’s win.

Also vying for female vocalist of the year were...

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Molokai Planning Commission is in need of improvements

By Corinne Impey
6/18/2008

The Molokai Planning Commission is “plagued with chronic quorum issues” said Chairperson Steve Chaikin.

During his report to the group at the Molokai Planning Commission meeting last Thursday at the Mitchell Pau‘ole Center, Chaikin voiced his concerns about the group not having enough commissioners present to start meetings on time, or make decisions.

Out of the last three meetings, the group has only started on time once. On both May 14 and May 28, meetings started about one hour late because the panel was waiting to reach quorum. Quorum means having five out of nine commissioners present.

“If each of us could make a little more commitment, we could collectively make a difference,” said Chaikin, explaining that he was raising the issue not to harp on the negative, but to find a solution.

He says...

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Commitments: Who is responsible for West End utilities?

By State Sen. J. Kalani English
6/17/2008 5:16:02 PM

One key aspect of maintaining relationships is the regular and responsible observation of commitments. If I say I will be at a certain place at a given time, I should expect that others will rely on my promise. If you promise that you will do something for me, you can assume that I will base some of my decisions on your assertion. That is the way reasonable adults behave.

We all know that.

Matters get more complicated when the commitments are unspoken, and made not by individuals, but organizations. How much can we reasonably expect when a corporation or government entity has control over a key aspect of our lives, even though they have made no express promises about it? I think we should be able to expect a lot, especially if we are talking about something as fundamental as access to water.

On May 30, Molokai Properties, Ltd. announced that since they have ceased operations on the island, they will no longer provide water and wastewater services to Kaluakoi and Maunaloa beginning in August. The company knows that their decision could result in a termination of those services to Molokai residents.

In essence, Molokai Properties has taken the position that they can simply stop providing services that are essential to residents' health and welfare, despite the fact that they once operated in and relied upon that community for support.

Whatever they might say about their right to conduct business as they see fit and make decisions that affect their bottom line, as a part of the Molokai community, they need to recognize that they bear a responsibility to avoid actions that could have a devastating effect on people's lives.

The Public Utilities Commission agrees. In a recent letter responding to Molokai Properties' "notice" that it terminate water and wastewater services, the commission informed the company that...

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DOA Put on Spot

Wednesday 6-18-08 BY: JENNIFER SMITH
Governor’s Advisory Council invites community to voice MIS concerns.

By Jennifer Smith

Community members continue to take issue with the management of the Molokai Irrigation System (MIS). Despite several strides made by the Department of Agriculture (DOA) to address recommendations from a state audit report released last February, the broken water system continues to operate with an unknown future.

In the midst of questions and contention the DOA has been able to cross off several items from its extensive to do list including taking an inventory of the MIS, and addressing employee safety issues. By the end of this month policies, procedures, and a state readiness/emergency plan is also scheduled for completion.

“We are pleased with the progress we are making” in terms of communication, said Duane Okamoto, deputy chairperson for the Board of Agriculture, during last Tuesday’s Governor’s Molokai Community Advisory Council (GMCAC) meeting. Okamoto and DOA Asset Manager Randy Teruya were invited to the meeting to...

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Catch You Later

Monday 6-16-08 BY: JENNIFER SMITH

New lunar calendar tells Hawaiians when not to fish.

Mac Poepoe, a conservationist on Molokai, helped publish a calendar telling people when not to fish.

By Christopher Pala
Conservation Magazine April-June 2008

Everyone knows how a fishing calendar works: it tells you when you have the best chance of catching the most fish. This year, though, Mac Poepoe, a conservationist on Hawaii’s Molokai Island, helped publish an unusual variation on this formula. Poepoe and his colleagues decided to print a calendar telling people when not to fish.

Poepoe is a member of Ho’olehua Hawaiian Homestead, a community of 1,000 on Molokai’s remote northeast coast. Many of the homestead’s residents still follow a subsistence lifestyle, gathering roughly one-third of their food by fishing in nearby...

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State may let Molokai utilities raise rates

Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Pacific Business News (Honolulu)

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The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission is considering allowing two water utilities owned by Molokai Ranch to temporarily raise rates for six months to continue water and sewage service to the island's west end.

The PUC said it was "forced" to open the proceeding on the rate increases Monday because the three regulated companies -- water utilities Molokai Public Utilities, Inc., and Waiola o Molokai, and sewer utility, Mosco, Inc., said they would have to shut down in August because they cannot afford to keep operating.

"Molokai Ranch has informed the PUC that it could no longer afford to continue operations of these utilities due to substantial losses experiences by MPU and Waiola in 2007, and that the services would be discontinued...

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Well 17 issue critical: Neighborhoods of Maunaloa, Kaluakoi and Kualapuu affected

By Steve Morgan/ Ahupua’a Kaluako’i
6/17/2008 5:08:06 PM

For some time now I have been discussing the well 17 issue with people who I respect and are knowledgeable, including Glenn Teves, a respected authority in regard to water issues on our island. While other solutions have and are being considered, the general consensus remains that the county is ultimately the entity best suited in taking responsibility of the West End water system.

Molokai Ranch needs to face up to its responsibility in bringing the system up to par but the county and state need to face up to their contributions to this problem as well. The county allowed for the initial development of both Kaluakoi and Maunaloa without any long-term guarantee of water supply and the state allowed for a foreign entity to assume the monopolized operations of these water utilities without any assurance on the part of the parent company.

I am happy to see that the PUC has taken a strong position...

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MIS starts implementing audit recommendations

By Corinne Impey, 6/18/2008
Molokai News : Water Rights

After receiving a tough audit report from the state, the Molokai Irrigation System is beginning to implement some of the recommendations, says Duane Okamoto, Deputy to the Chairperson on the state Board of Agriculture.

Okamoto presented MIS updates to the Governor’s Molokai Community Advisory Council meeting June 10 at Kulana ‘Oiwi.

One of the completed audit recommendations was the creation of a full MIS inventory list. The audit also requested assessing MIS materials, supplies and equipment. According to Okamoto, this is well underway.

He also discussed the status of two recommendations that the audit suggested should be considered: first, the addition of more homesteader seats to the MIS board, and second, the development of a more aggressive collection policy.
Okamoto said discussions will take place over the next few months to address...

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Mayor Tavares hits ‘em where it hurts

By Kate Gardiner
6/17/2008 9:11:18 PM, Molokai News

County files complaints with state about West End water

In a move that may rectify the West End water saga and significantly impact the business operations of Molokai Properties Limited, Maui County Mayor Charmaine Tavares filed a complaint with the state Department of Health and the state Public Utilities Commission.

Brian Moto and Jane Lovell, corporation counsel for Maui County, alleged in the complaint filed with the PUC that should Molokai utility corporations Wailoa o Molokai, Molokai Public Utilities and Mosco, Inc., cease operations per its May 30 threat, customers, including the county “will suffer immediate and irreparable harm.” The pair alleged, “Cessation of these services would cause an unprecedented public health catastrophe as well as irreparable harm to the Molokai economy.”

The three corporations are owned by Molokai Properties Limited, a subsidiary of international conglomerate Guoco Leisure, Ltd.

State Sen. J. Kalani English said Sunday that he will back Tavares all the way. He says his office is...

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Alternative energies may hold the key

By Sneh Duggal
6/17/2008, Molokai News

Molokai has capacity to be self-sufficient, expert says

The people of Molokai could put themselves off the main electric grid by turning to alternative energy sources, according to Henry Curtis, director of Life of the Land, a non-profit organization that aims to protect life and land in Hawaii.

No matter how high the price of electricity goes you still need to use it, said Curtis. But, people are really starting to...

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Molokai Water Wars part two

The Molokai Dispatch
6-15-08 BY: HEMOWAI BROTHERS

A dried out Kawela Stream below existing water catchment dam, negatively impacting the Kawela drinking water wells.

By The Hemowai Brothers

In the last issue we talked about how water problems brought down Molokai Ranch, and the problems Maui County now faces with their salty wells. We ended with the water problems Monsanto faces with the limited water supply for Ag use in the Molokai Irrigation System (MIS), which was built to satisfy the needs of Molokai Homesteaders.

It appears Monsanto is ready to buy the surface water system from Molokai Ranch. This system includes water catchment dams, pipes, reservoirs and water tanks. This system takes water from seven of our mountain streams, from Kalamaula to Kawela. The water goes from central Molokai to west Molokai using some twenty miles of pipes, on an island only thirty-seven miles long....

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Changing the channel to digital TV part II

Haleakala Times
Sam Epstein, June 17, 2008

Part One of this two-part article discussed how the scheduled upcoming nation-wide switch from analog to digital broadcast television will affect the average viewer. We conclude with some of the local community benefits that the switch to Digital Television brings.

Most people that grew up with television in the previous century remember it being completely different than the television our kids experience today. We recall a choice of three or maybe four “real” channels – if you included the Public Broadcasting System, PBS.

We were bewitched the day television transformed from black and white to color before our eyes. If you were REALLY lucky, you might have been able to tune in a cartoon on a snowy UHF channel, reached with a gear-grinding spin of a mechanical channel knob up into the thirties, or even more amazingly, up into the high sixties. Amazing, because there were still only six or seven channels, and we wondered what to do with all the empty ones.

Even though you could change the channel, they all had one thing in common...

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Know where your food comes from

June 17, 2008, The Haleakala Times

This week’s Food and Drug Administration warning to avoid certain tomato varieties which may carry salmonella, is a reminder, as tomato season begins in many parts of the country, that eating from sources close to home that you know and trust is one way to avoid exposure to widespread foodborne illnesses.

“With the growing number of salmonella cases linked to huge farms and packing plants, now more than ever it is important to know who is growing your food and the conditions under which it’s grown,” says...

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Future Solutions: Maui Timber Bamboo

Haleakala Times, June 17, 2008
Jericho Samuel Stringer

Bamboo is becoming known as the fastest growing, strongest, most sustainable timber producer on the face of this planet. Almost all of the bamboo used here on Maui for building construction has been imported from other countries, yet Maui has one of the most ideal climates on earth for growing plants like bamboo. Growing timber bamboo on plantations right here on Maui makes sense on many levels, starting with the fact that the product wouldn’t need to be imported.

Are the people of Hawaii ready for such an industry? At Yellow Seed Bamboo we say yes! As fuel prices continue to rise and the dollar weakens, it makes more and more sense to produce locally. Hawaii is the best state in the entire U.S. to grow bamboo for timber.

By applying up-to-date technologies in soil science, using mineralization techniques, we can ensure the production of fiber-dense, fully hardened bamboo for construction. A pioneer project like this, of course, has many hurdles to cross, one of them being...

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Need help getting that garden started?

Haleakala Times,
Jan Welda, June 17, 2008

I was walking my dog down Haiku Road near Toma’s Garage a few weeks ago and noticed some unusual activity in a neighbor’s front yard. The big, old sprawling tree that had dominated the fenced yard was being cut down, limb by limb, and cleared out. A week or so later, raised garden beds – long low rectangular wooden structures filled with soil and well-watered plants – had appeared there, seemingly overnight. My neighbors were putting a lot of time and energy into creating a garden. And they’re not alone – many people on Maui and across the mainland are beginning to plant their own personal food gardens on portions of land that might otherwise be left unused. Those who live in condos or apartments with no land available for gardening are coming up with other ways to...

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Molokai Ranch resists PUC order to keep utilities

Molokai Ranch resists PUC order to keep utilities

15 June, 2008

By Associated Press via KPUA

HONOLULU (AP) — Molokai Ranch is objecting to the state Public Utilities Commission's order that it continue providing water and sewage service until it finds someone to take over. The company wrote the commission last week saying its utility operations are financially insolvent. It says Maui County should take over the utilities.

The commission responded two days later, saying Molokai Ranch has failed to ...

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Water director: Look for ways to conserve

The Maui News: June 16, 2008

Dry conditions persisted in Maui County even as heavy showers were being reported in some parts of the state over the past week, prompting Maui County Water Director Jeff Eng to urge customers to use less.

“We need to think about the long term impact of our water usage habits on our aquifers,” he said in his weekly water use report. “All consumers, new and old, should be looking for ways to use less water.”

The weekly report showed demand on Molokai, West Maui, Central Maui and Upcountry systems creeping up during the period of June 5-11.

The Central Maui and Upcountry increases generated the greatest concern, where consumption on the Central Maui system — which provides for the region from Makena to Paia to Wailuku — spiked by more than 1 million gallons a day, from 25.12 mgd during the previous week to 26.15 mgd in the last week.

Eng said Central Maui consumers should be reminded ...

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Tough talk on utilities intensifies for Molokai

By CHRIS HAMILTON, Staff Writer
The Maui News: June 15, 2008

WAILUKU — The rhetoric among Maui County, Molokai Properties Ltd. and the state Public Utilities Commission last week rose to the level of probable litigation — and is moving on to scorn.

At issue is who is going to take over the utilities that serve 1,200 Molokai west side households and businesses, including Molokai Properties’ own, with fresh water and sewers. The county, state and Molokai Properties have been saying since April that they don’t want the decrepit and (mostly) money-losing systems, which would take a so-far undetermined amount of cash to whip back into shape.

In the meantime, commissioners warned the county that substantial but temporary rate increases are on the way for Molokai residents to keep the utilities afloat until a solution can be found.

In order just to continue to deliver water from its source on the other side of the island, Molokai Properties faces...

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Solutions now, for future

The Maui News: June 17, 2008

Among the many distinctions enjoyed by Maui County is the fact it is made up of four islands — Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Kahoolawe. The politically awkward situation was created in 1905 when the Territorial Legislature set up counties as the second level of government in the islands.

The awkwardness comes from having a government seated in Wailuku responsible for relatively few voters reachable only by air and ferry on islands dominated by one corporate owner. For decades, the infrastructure affairs of Lanai and Molokai were left largely in the hands of those two separate owners.

The recent shutdown of Molokai Ranch has highlighted several flaws in the county’s long-standing practice of requiring or allowing developers to provide basic necessities supplied by the county elsewhere. The main flaw is the question of who supplies such things as water when the developer decides it will not or cannot continue to supply them.

The question has come up nearly every time a developer on Maui wants to...

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Honua‘ula developer in process of new EIS

By HARRY EAGAR, Staff Writer
The Maui News: June 17, 2008

WAILUKU — For its proposed 1,400-unit South Maui project, Honua‘ula Properties LLC has begun a new environmental impact statement, to be pursued simultaneously with its Phase II project district application.

Opponents of the project had contended during lengthy zoning hearings earlier this year that the original EIS, done in the 1980s when the project first was proposed as Wailea 670, was out of date and needed updating.

Developer Charlie Jencks said Monday that nothing in the zoning application triggered a requirement for a new study.

However, he said, several conditions imposed by the County Council in approving project district zoning did trigger Act 343, the state statute requiring environmental review.

“Improvements to Piilani Highway, our own wastewater treatment plant and improvements to other county roads” all require an EIS, he said....

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April con Collins Con August to the Tune of $140,000.00/YEAR!

HOLY $%!@ING MAUI DEMOCRATIC PARTY CAMPAIGN FINANCE SCANDAL, BATMAN!

A recent Freedom of Information Request processed by the State of Hawaii reveals that the Maui County Democratic Party Media Chair, Lance Collins, aka Lance D. Collins, aka Lance "Kavika" Collins has taken more than $140,000.00 dollars from the State of Hawaii's, non-profit, Public Access Television Provider, Akaku: Maui Community Television.

Single handedly, Lance Collins appears to have outclassed his mentor and Jedi Master, Attorney Isaac Hall. As previous holder of Maui's Most Shameless Lawyer Award, Mr. Hall attained his status after levering $70,000.00 dollars of public tax dollars from the State of Hawaii Treasury, after not actually saving any whales, without actually saving any aina, and not actually even stopping any SuperFerries. What makes Mr. Hall's accomplishment most notable is that he did all of this, (or didn't do any of it as the case may be,) whilst gunning as paid litigator for Molokai Ranch, represented the stated interests of Tri San Quek Leng Chan's, GUOCO Group, to rape La`au Point, turn off Molokai's water utilities and screw not just Hawaiians, but even the predominately wealthy, (and predominately white) West End Condo and Resort Owners that they actually convinced to "buy" land here last time the Molokai Ranch passed GO>.

Congratulations Lance Collins! You truly now represent Maui's most greedy and corrupt lawyer, having managed to extract twice as many tax dollars from the public trust, in half the amount of time as the awards previous holder. Akaku CEO Jay April has given you more than 10% of Akaku's entire yearly budget, to just pose, in Judge August's Courtroom! And, to manage this exclusively while attempting to exempt yourself from State Law, well...

Lance D. Collins, You are Truly Maui's Most Shameless Lawyer.

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Manoa Alma Mater Alum Admonished Collins, "Lance Try Glance Beyond Your Pants."

Ka Leo O Hawaii
Kristen Sohn

5/8/02

(In response to "Alma mater portrays Hawai'i as a 'whore'" by Lance Collins, May 6.)

Read the alma mater again. When I was reciting the alma mater at my graduation, I got a beautiful picture of the fertile Manoa valley drenched in its usual drizzle. And you got a what — a picture of a woman in heat? With your two degrees from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, don't you have the discernment to know by now when to read between the lines and when not to?

The etymology of alma mater is fostering mother (score one for Mr. Collins). Alma mater is better known here in America as a school a person has attended or graduated from, and a song or a hymn of the school. It doesn't pertain to that of a caring mother. Why? Because an etymology is just that — it is the root of the word. Is UHM a fostering mother to me? Hell no, but it is my school, and I sang its song on my graduation day.

You say our alma mater "reframes our university as not only the training ground as colonial dominators, but also as the site of our first test-rape." Why — because of her "wide-flung doors?" Is it possible that Hawai'i is well known for her hospitality and friendliness to those who visit her islands?...

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Monsanto Committed: Genetically Engineered Pigs WILL Fly!

Molokai Monsanto takes part in three-point commitment
By Kate Gardiner
6/14/2008
The Molokai Times

Corn company will double yield in three major crops

Monsanto, Inc., the island’s biggest employer, will be furthering its genetic research on the island of Molokai, as part of its new ‘Three-Point Commitment’ program. The program is designed to help global problems, including food shortages, drought, land conservation and fossil fuel dependence.

As part of the program, Monsanto will conduct research worldwide to develop new strains of corn that provides higher crop yield while requiring less water and less physical area to grow.

In a press release June 4, the company renewed its commitment to genetically engineered products, including corn. Monsanto manager for scientific and community affairs Paul Koehler said, “The answers are not going to be found in one seed, or one research project or one farm site.”

He continued, “It will take years, numerous research phases, multiple crops, and multiple research tools, not to mention a lot of innovation and deep thinking. One research vein might be looking at ways to...

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A Call to Molokai to Shape Our Future

Tuesday 6-10-08 BY: MOLOKAI DISPATCH STAFF
The Molokai Dispatch

Aloha to the people of Molokai: This is a time of great reflection and of great potential for change. On a global level, the world is looking at how we can preserve our planet and our population through sustainable practices. On a national level we face rising unemployment rates and rising gas and food prices, and the entire country must determine what future we want and how we will cast our votes in the presidential election. And on a local level, all of us here on Molokai, in the wake of Molokai Ranch's shutdown, are thinking about how we will shape the future of this island.

The document Molokai: Future of a Hawaiian Island proposes a starting point for a balanced movement toward...

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Molokai Ranch & West End Water: Ranch ordered to provide utilities

By Kate Gardiner
6/10/2008 2:29:20 PM
Public Utilities Commission gives 7 days to prove financial inability to maintain status quo

The state Public Utilities Commission has ordered Molokai Properties Limited to continue operation of its utility services for Molokai’s West End.

The PUC has also asked MPL to provide proof that it can no longer support its three monitored water and sewage utilities by June 12.

In a letter dated June 5, PUC chairman Carlito Caliboso informed company chief executive officer Peter Nicholas his commission would not allow MPL to abandon its three companies until a suitable alternative provider has been secured.

“The utilities must continue to operate to ensure the health and safety of their customers,” wrote ...

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The screen is green

The Maui News
With a nod to being environmentally friendly, Maui Film Festival adds solar to its star power

By RICK CHATENEVER, Entertainment Editor
POSTED: June 12, 2008 S

WAILEA — Noting that all of the outdoor screening venues are solar powered this year, Maui Film Festival Director Barry Rivers injected his own jolt of energy as he kicked off the ninth annual Maui Film Festival at Wailea on Wednesday night at a gala twilight reception at the Fairmont Kea Lani Maui.

“It’s time for all of us to stop thinking like dead dinosaurs, whose energy we’re riding around on,” he said in opening remarks accompanied by his wife, festival co-director Stella Rivers.

“We needed them then, but not now.”

There’s growing green consciousness running through this year’s festival, which continues ...

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Molokai sees highest gas prices in country

By Corinne Impey
6/10/2008 3:07:26 PM
The Molokai Times

Young Brothers announces increased fuel price adjustment

As gas prices around Hawaii continue to increase, Molokai consumers keep filling their tanks.

According to AAA, the highest gas price in the United States as of last Friday morning was $4.49 in Wailuku. The lowest was reported in Oklahoma at $3.80.

Despite these recorded prices, gas on Molokai is costing consumers $4.59 as of Sunday.

Molokai gas stations are not participating in the AAA program that records gas prices in the U.S. However, by comparing the numbers, it is clear that Molokai has one of the highest, if not the highest gas price in the United States.

Despite this high cost for gas, managers at Rawlins Chevron and Hayaku Gas and Go say sales are about average.

Lloyd Inouye, the co-owner of Hayaku Gas and Go, says he’s disappointed in the gas prices.

“I don’t think it’s necessary for them [oil companies] to raise prices so much,” says Imouye. Many of his customers are also disappointed, he says.

Solomon Kawai gets his gas at Hayaku, filling his tank about twice a week. He says...

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State DLNR proposing ‘Civil Resources Violation System’

The Maui News
June 12, 2008

HONOLULU — Seeking to simplify and clarify the legal processes for enforcing state laws protecting natural resources, the Department of Land and Natural Resources is proposing a “Civil Resources Violation System” as a revision of its administrative rules.

In a report to the Board of Land and Natural Resources meeting on Friday, the department will ask for authority to conduct statewide public hearings on the revisions to administrative rule 13-1.

The report notes that the department now has only two options when it cites an individual for a violation: filing a criminal charge or conducting an administrative law proceeding that takes the violation to the land board for adjudication.

When a violation is handled as an administrative or civil case, the land board serves as...

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Native Hawaiians can qualify for free laptops

Native Hawaiians can qualify for free laptops
Press release
6/12/2008
The Molokai Dispatch

The Maui Community College Molokai Education Center is offering Native Hawaiian residents of Molokai the opportunity to qualify for a free laptop.

This effort is the result of a USDA Rural Utilities Service Distance Learning and Telemedicine (RUS DS&T) grant. The grant entitled, Project Ohana (Online Health and Academic Network Access), has allowed Maui Community College to upgrade the distance-learning infrastructure at its distance sites. In order to qualify for this opportunity, students must meet the following set of criteria:...

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Youth center reaches out

The Molokai Times
By Sneh Duggal
6/12/2008

Children have safe place to play, learn say staff

The Molokai Youth Center (MYC) has become part of the daily routine for La’iku Kaneakua, 7, and Kawai Naki, 9.

Every day after school, the two cousins join other children at the center for a couple of hours.

“I love it,” said Naki who added that he likes to play games at the center. He said he enjoys the company of the staff as well.

“They are really good and make me laugh and learn.”
Kaneakua said the center offers many activities and facilities for the children, including hip hop classes, ping pong, swimming and rollerblading, which are among her favorites.

The center, which opened April 15, 1994, was established by the Molokai Community Service Council, a non-profit organization that develops various projects on Molokai.

Since then, ...

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Maui Film Fest gets rolling tonight

By RICK CHATENEVER, Entertainment Editor
The Maui News: June 11, 2008

Maui Film Festival crew members preview the Celestial Cinema site earlier this week in preparation for the ninth annual festival, which opens tonight. The festival issued another reminder that an earlier policy was reversed and low-back folding beach chairs will be allowed at the venue on the Wailea golf course.

DAVID HESSEMER photo

WAILEA — Crews put the finishing touches on the upgrade of the Dolby Digital sound system Monday and then settled into their beach chairs for a a preview of the Maui Film Festival’s ninth season, which gets rolling tonight with a gala reception at the Fairmont Kea Lani Resort and film screenings on both sides of the island.

“Feel what’s reel” is the theme of this year’s celebration of all things cinematic, which expects attendance of more than 10,000.

This year’s festival “is about exploring themes of bedrock interest to 21st-century culture,” said Barry Rivers, festival founder and co-director with his wife, Stella. “And also about having a great time.”

Close to 100 films, if you include shorts, are on the schedule, continuing through...

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The Valley of Sufficient Life

The Molokai Dispatch
Tuesday 6-10-08 BY: BRANDON ROBERTS

By Brandon Roberts

An entire valley of lo`i stretches before him, kalo thriving in the fertile soil. The April sun crests over the eastern cliffs, shedding its life giving light across the valley floor – shining through the kalo leaves, illuminating the surface beneath a vibrant green....
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The Binding of Past and Present

Tuesday 6-10-08 BY: BRANDON ROBERTS
The Molokai Dispatch

Aunty Vanda Hanakahi believes the ahupua`a of Pala`au will be the first on Molokai to re-implement the ancient management system of `aha kiole.

Molokai’s ancient resource management system is reborn.

By Brandon Roberts

Molokai’s historic bounty is sleeping, awaiting its awakening. Once the fertile land, (Molokai he `aina momona no), groves were planted to hold the soil and summon the rains and vegetation was not forced to survive where it was not happy. Each ahupua`a (traditional land division) had its own resources that inhabitants took responsibility of. Thus the `Aha Kiole, a people’s council founded on resource management, was born in the Eighth Century by...

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Lanai gas tops $5; resident says ‘it hurts’

By EDWIN TANJI, City Editor
POSTED: June 10, 2008 S

As was predicted two weeks earlier, the price of a gallon of regular gas on Lanai topped $5 over the weekend — hitting drivers’ pocketbooks at $5.119.

But there is little Lanai residents can do beyond accept the inevitable.

“It hurts,” said Lanai High & Elementary School Principal Pierce Myers. “Everything hurts. It’s not just for gas. Electricity is going up. Everything that comes on the barge is going up.”

Myers may be hurting even more since the state Department of Education instituted a program this year that penalizes schools whose electricity bills rise beyond a three-year average.

He didn’t expect the DOE program to consider the effects of soaring fuel bills in a small, isolated community.

Unlike Myers, who doesn’t have anyone to pass on the costs to...

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Getting the basics: Humane Society to get water and electricity

Getting the basics: Humane Society to get water and electricity
By Sneh Duggal
6/12/2008
Molokai Times

After about five months of waiting, the Molokai Humane Society property will finally be equipped with running water and electricity, according to Jeanette Kahalehoe, a volunteer of the organization.
Ray Tensfeldt, a landscape contractor, will be working with the organization to have these utilities installed within the next 30 days, said Kahalehoe.
“Water and electricity are critical when working in a health environment,” she said. “It’s been a long difficult trek to work without basic water and electricity.”
She said it was frustrating at times when they were doing work at the location, but did not have the infrastructure to make it a comfortable, healthy and safe place.
Currently on the land, owned by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) and situated along the Maunaloa Highway, is a portable container that the organization uses as a clinic.
The society works in partnership with visiting vets who care for and perform surgeries on the animals.
The vets who come are wonderful, especially considering the fact that they receive minimal fees for work done on Molokai, said Kahalehoe.
Ardis Kremer, president of the society’s board, said the community has been a great help.
“It’s through their generosity that we’re able to provide all of this.”
Also to be added to the grounds during the upgrading process are

Tide Turning for Molokai Water

Tuesday 6-10-08 BY: JENNIFER SMITH
The Molokai Dispatch
GUOCO Group's Molokai Properties Limited fails in attempt to abandon water responsibilities.

By Jennifer Smith

State and county lawmakers are frantically trying to pick up the pieces after Molokai Properties Limited (MPL) announced it would abandon company-wide water and sewer operations by the end of August. The news has left 1,200 west Molokai customers worried about the possibility of losing water.

“The immediate worry is that it’s hard to get by without water. If they cutoff water, the (government) would have to declare a state of emergency,” said west end resident Gerry Anderson. “It would be an absolute disaster.”

But the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) released a statement on Thursday ordering MPL not to abandon its water utility services on Molokai....

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Keiki Host Poetry Night

Sunday 6-8-08 BY: MAEVA CUMMINGS, PENI TILINI, JOHN-MICHAEL MOKIAO-DUVAUCHELLE
The Molokai Dispatch
Kualapu`u School Poetry Club showcases skills.

Maeva Cummings, Kilikea Hanchett, Peni Tilini, Naalii Lindsey-Argel, and John-Michael Mokiao-Duvauchelle read Shel Silverstein's Eight Balloons at Poetry Night.

By Maeva Cummings, Peni Tilini, John-Michael Mokiao-Duvauchelle, Naalii Lindsey-Argel, and Kilikea Hanchett (3rd grade students at Kualapu`u)

On Tuesday, May 27, 2008, at 5 p.m. Mrs. Labrador’s Poetry Club from Kualapu`u School read a variety of poems for their Poetry Night that took place in Mrs. Labrador’s classroom. The Poetry Club students were Maeva Cummings, Peni Tilini, Naalii Lindsey-Argel, John-Michael Mokiao-Duvauchelle, and Kilikea Hanchett-Lopez....

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Judge to lift Superferry traffic order

Court review of vehicle impacts set to continue until July 25

By MELISSA TANJI Staff Writer
POSTED: June 7, 2008 S

WAILUKU — Second Circuit Judge Joel August will temporarily lift an order that requires traffic control officers to assist with Hawaii Superferry traffic as it mixes with local traffic near Kahului Harbor.

August made the decision Friday during a status conference hearing in his chambers, and directed Deputy Corporation Counsel Jane Lovell to prepare the order. Lovell later told The Maui News it will take several days to prepare the draft order for the judge.

In a series of hearings last year, August ruled that a traffic study for the Kahului Harbor was inadequate and ordered a number of steps to deal with traffic issues. One was for...

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PUC bars plan to shut down utilities

West Molokai could have lost services in August

By EDWIN TANJI City Editor
7 July 2008, The Maui News

WAILUKU — The state Public Utilities Commission has advised GUOCO Group's Molokai Properties Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Peter Nicholas that the company cannot shut down its utility companies providing water and wastewater services in west Molokai.

The notice came in letters from the PUC and from state Consumer Advocate Catherine Awakuni responding to a May 30 letter from Nicholas saying the three utilities operated by the Molokai Ranch owner would be terminated in August.

A letter dated Thursday from the PUC advised Nicholas that “utilities have a duty to provide service to their customers; and as such, they are required to provide service unless and until the commission approves a transfer or surrender of their certificates of public convenience and necessity (CPCNs).

“While the commission is cognizant of the utilities’ present financial conditions, it cannot and will not approve a surrender or transfer of the CPCNs unless and until another public or private entity can be found to operate the water and wastewater systems.”

Nicholas had written to the commission May 30, as a director of Wai‘ola O Molokai, Molokai Public Utilities Inc. and Mosco Inc., advising that the companies intended to terminate services at the end of August ...

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Boat Day 17 June 2008! Maui Media Lab Mobile Sails to Molokai

6 June, 2008 Rocket Science

Join us as we welcome the Maui Media Lab Mobile Production Facility, "The ScienceMobile" on June 18th at the entrance to Kaunakakai Harbor, Molokai. Maui Media Lab's ScienceMobile has been prepared specifically for the Molokai Community by Maui Media Lab's Upcountry Media Arts and Science Students and Hana School's Industrial Arts class over the last FOUR YEARS!

Maui Media Lab's thirty foot long ScienceMobile served well in its first life as a passenger bus for MEO INC. With a rebuilt engine, upgraded suspension, 12 volt and 120 volt power systems, GPS, Satellite Downlink, and a Microwave wireless digital broadband network uplink, multiple digital video cameras, a digital microscope, post production and voice over studio, installed by Maui Media Lab's East Maui and Upcountry Middle and High School Students for the Middle and High School Students of Molokai, the ScienceMobile provide Maui's only complete, self-powered, field community television production facility, digital theater, multi-track recording studio, planetarium, emergency communications and tele-medicine facility and most importantly a low altitude, in situ, environmental and biological earth monitoring platform.

Aloha Maui, Aloha Molokai.

Nobody getting left behind here. Next stop Lanai!

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Claims of overuse plague Honomanu Bay

Divided over dispute
Claims of overuse plague Honomanu Bay

By CHRIS HAMILTON, Staff Writer
The Maui News: June 6, 2008

Stacks of rock line a gravel bank at Honomanu Bay, a normally quiet natural area roughly halfway between Kahului and Hana, just below Kaumahina State Wayside Park. The bay has become a site for increasing conflicts involving area residents claiming the bay as their personal fishing grounds. The dispute is dividing the Keanae community, and state and county officials at a public meeting Wednesday pledged to study the situation and come back soon with potential solutions.

KEANAE — Honomanu Bay is overtaxed, some East Maui residents say.

Campers stay for a week at a time and strew the secluded black sand beach with garbage. They use the bushes as toilets. It’s hosted all-night dance parties.

When the north shore waves are up in the winter months, dozens of surfers come in and scare away the fish, subsistence fishermen told a panel of....

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Conservation experts from China see Maui’s methods

Conservation experts from China see Maui’s methods
By EDWIN TANJI, City Editor
THe Maui News: June 6, 2008

Nature Conservancy botanist Pat Bily (in cap) discusses with nature reserve managers conservation measures taken to protect native species in the Waikamoi Preserve. The managers are participants in the China Protected Areas Leadership Alliance Project, a program involving the Chinese government and The Nature Conservancy to assist in advancing preservation programs in China.

The deputy director for a Chinese Wildlife Conservation Department said a tour of national parks and reserves in the United States provided insights on managing visitors and methods for protecting natural areas — starting at the airports.

“On Maui, one of the things I was most impressed with was the management of invasive species,” said Hongyan Guo, a Chinese State Forestry Administration executive who was with 30 nature reserve managers and conservation officials on the Maui leg of the...

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Food crisis could hit Pacific hard

TVNZ One News, New Zealand

Jun 6, 2008 11:52 AM
Across the Pacific, where so many already depend on aid to survive, governments are nervously planning how to best fight the looming threat of hunger.

They are grappling with the issue facing so many developing countries - food security, at a time when food prices are at 30-year highs.

In the past year alone, the cost of staples including rice and wheat has doubled.

As oil prices hover near record levels, and with production curtailed by drought and the trend towards biofuel crops, experts are predicting the situation will only get worse....

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Akaku's Lance Collins Offer to Drop Honua Ula Case in Exchange for His Legal Fees Rejected by Maui County Council

Akaku's Lance Collins Offer to Drop Honua Ula (Wailea 670) Case in Exchange for His Legal Fees Rejected by Maui County Council

Committee rejects offer to settle suit
Honua‘ula foe’s attorney: Let’s resolve this, move on

By CHRIS HAMILTON, Staff Writer
The Maui News: June 5, 2008
WAILUKU — A Maui County Council committee voted Tuesday to reject an offer by opponents of the Honua‘ula development to settle a lawsuit over alleged state Sunshine Law violations.

The council’s Policy Committee, made up of all nine council members, voted 8-0 against a resolution to accept a proposed settlement by Wailuku attorney Lance Collins, said Deputy Corporation Counsel Mary “Mimi” Blaine Johnston. Council Member Jo Anne Johnson was excused.

In a 2nd Circuit Court lawsuit, Collins ...

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Molokai utilities set for shutdown

Company, state, county spar over who must provide basic services

By EDWIN TANJI, City Editor
June 5, 2008

‘I knew we couldn’t take over the system. Just to get the personnel in place would be an immense cost, and we don’t know what it would take to bring the systems up to standards. We have to protect the county’s taxpayers, so they don’t get stuck with the cost of bringing a system up to standards.’ - Mayor Charmaine Tavares

WAILUKU — Mayor Charmaine Tavares protested what she said are misstatements by a governor’s representative and insisted that Maui County is not in a position to take over utility systems that Molokai Properties Ltd. says it will cease to operate in August....

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Molokai Ranch dumping water utilities

By Kate Gardiner
6/4/2008 4:33:50 PM
Molokai News : West End Molokai

Twelve hundred clients could be without water as of August if Molokai Ranch has its way. The company, officially called

Molokai Properties Limited, will stop funding for its six water and sewage utility companies on the island at the end of August.

MPL chief executive officer Peter Nicholas said in a letter to the state Public Utilities Commission his company no longer needed the services of its utilities, and was thus severing ties with the companies.

Additionally, Nicholas cited ...

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GUOCO's Quek Leng Chan Loses Face. 1,200 Molokai Customers Face Losing Water, Sewer Service.

GUACO's Quek Leng Chan Loses Face. 1,200 Molokai Customers Face Losing Water, Sewer Service.

Moloka`i Ranch Warns Officials About August Deadline

POSTED: 4:01 pm HST June 4, 2008
UPDATED: 11:11 am HST June 5, 2008

Molokai Ranch, AKA Molokai Properties Limited is owned by GUOCO Group.

HONOLULU -- Moloka`i Ranch, which closed its resort and other commercial operations this spring, said it plans to terminate water and sewer service for more than 1,200 customers at the end of August.
The ranch said the state or Maui County should take over operations on Moloka`i and Maui's mayor is calling on the state to step in and help.
Mayor Charmaine Tavares said to expect Maui County taxpayers to take over the costs and liabilities of antiquated sewer and water systems is "irresponsible."
A spokesman for Gov. Linda Lingle said ...

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Molokai Water and Sewer Shutdown Possible

Written by Brooks Baehr - bbaehr@kgmb9.com

June 04, 2008 06:41 PM

The shut down at Molokai Ranch continues to have a profound impact on the island. In late March about 120 employees lost their jobs when the ranch shut its doors. Now many of those people face the prospect of losing water and sewer service.

Molokai Properties Limited, which owns Molokai Ranch, provides water and sewer service for about 1,200 customers, but the company says now that the ranch is closed it can no longer afford to ...

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Pa`ina in Paradise

Molokai celebrates class of 2008 graduates.

4 June, 2008, The Moloka Dispatch

By Brandon Roberts

Graduation is known as a commencement ceremony because it is a new beginning rather than an end. Melodious laughter echoed throughout the ceremonies, and graduates adorned gowns and grins.

Molokai High School (MHIS) and Ho`omana Hou held their graduations the last week of May in the company of friends and `ohana. Mother’s wept with joy and fathers, with pride in their eyes, were unable to contain their emotions.

It is a ...

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Rising Oil is Sinking Transportation

Fuel prices hit Molokai wallets.

3 June, 2008, The Molokai Dispatch

By Dispatch Staff

With oil prices jumping up on a regular, almost astronomical basis, the consumer is beginning to feel the crunch while oil corporations watch ...

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Plans a Plenty

The Molokai Dispatch, 3 June, 2008

Molokai readies for new guidelines.
By Brandon Roberts

Governing guidance is gearing up on Molokai and in Maui County. The next generation of plans which will incorporate water, development, sustainability, and conservation are on the drawing board.

Several strategic committees, filled with community and county figures, have formed to further discussions on how to preserve Molokai from mauka to ...

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Collins Sneers UH Alma Mater Rapist and Hawaii Whore

Alma mater portrays Hawai'i as a 'whore'

An Editorial by Lance D. Collins

Ka Leo, Issue date: 5/6/02

I have received two degrees from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa so far. With that, I have had two opportunities to hear our alma mater sung with full orchestra background. While the steel guitar was noticeably missing, the music has reminded me of something out of the territory while the instrument selection reminds me of the military.

What is very troubling about our alma mater is the words. "Alma mater" comes from Latin which means "fostering mother" or "motherly soul." It's usage in English refers to the school or university from which one graduates or to the song of such a school or university.

What is most offensive about our alma mater is the erotic and mysogynistic language used to refer to the...

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D.J. Disses Deit. Principal Protests, "Kids Flunked Tests!"

Radio host spreading false rumors about St. Anthony

The Maui News, 4 June, 2008
Jim Orsini. Principal
St. Anthony Junior Senior High School

While driving to work, I was very disappointed to hear Fred Guzman discussing the future of St. Anthony Junior Senior High School. The conversation went along the lines of how difficult a time Charlie Pico was going have due to the “mass exodus” of students from the institution as a result of rising tuition and the school neglecting to honor financial assistance previously awarded to families.

Too bad Guzman did not bother to call the school to check out his story. It is really a shame that station’s management gave him the opportunity to spread false rumors without ever calling him to account to verify his so-called facts.

Based on preregistration and course requests, there is no...
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Flying High at the Library

Youth theatre presents Maui’s Kite.

Over 50 keiki attended the performance of “Maui’s Kite.”

June 3, 2008, The Molokai Dispatch
By Jennifer Smith

Keiki were invited to go on a journey with Maui and his kite last week Tuesday. The adventure took place at the Molokai Public Library during the Honolulu Theatre for Youth’s (HTY) performance of “Maui’s Kite.”

“Winds, winds, come out and play,” HTY actor Junior Tesoro said, as he used rhymes to engage the young audience. Having created “a sting ray that flies in the sky,” Tesoro, or Maui as he is called in the play, searches for the perfect amount of wind to send his kite flying.

Tesoro began his performance by introducing hula movements and Hawaiian words that the keiki could use to

Molokai Water Wars

The Molokai Dispatch: 6-2-08 BY: HEMOWAI BROTHERS

Molokai Ranch, ran by Molokai Properties Limited (MPL), had to shut down because of many water issues such as the State Supreme Court ruling that they had no permit for drinking water from Well 17, which supplies all of West Molokai. The courts also ruled against the Ranch in their bid to get a permit for their new Waiola Well. The State Attorney General said MPL had to get off the Homesteader’s Molokai Irrigation System (MIS) because they had no Environmental Impact Statement. The county passed a new ordinance requiring a developer to prove water availability before being permitted to develop.

Maui County has to find other water sources east of Kaunakakai because its wells are going salty, like that of Kawela and the Ualapue Well. How far east do they have to ...

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`Aha Kiole Community Meeting

The Molokai Dispatch, 5-29-08 BY: PRESS RELEASE

`Aha Kiole Community Meeting
Conducted by Vanda Hanakahi
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
6:30pm - 8:30pm

Queen Lil`uokalani CHildrens Center, Molokai - Ulu Haimalamalama Room (activity Room)

Kupuna methodology to malam ocean, land and cultural resources.

Maui Weather Today #1 Digital Maui Community Television Program

2, June 2008, Maui Media Lab, Rocket Science

Maui Weather Today with Glenn James is the most watched digital Maui community television show for the month of May, 2008. With more than 2000 viewers, Glenn narrowly beats out the Hemo Wai Bros., WWW.HEMOWAI.TV, with more than 1800 viewers last month watching Molokai's Digital Duo on Maui Media Lab's Pulelehua.TV digital community television network.

The Iron Chef salutes you.

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p.s. Hey Glenn, Congratulations on your online TV show. Now, what can you do about the weather...

32,000+ Viewers in May, Maui Media Lab Pulelehua.TV Most Watched Public Access Community Television in Hawaii.

32,000+ Viewers in May, Maui Media Lab's Pulelehua.TV is Still The Most Watched Public Access Community Television Station in Hawaii.

1 June, 2008, Maui Media Lab, Rocket Science

No public dollars, a budget of less than $100,000 per year and more public access television shows available in more places and on more Islands throughout Hawaii Nei, and more viewers every month now than all of Hawaii's PEG Access Providers (Akaku, Olelo, Hoike and Ka Leo,) combined, which costs cable subscribers approximately $8 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR in UNAUDITED PEG PUBLIC ACCESS CABLE TELEVISION FEES.

Now that is something all of Hawaii's keiki can be proud of, publicly.

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Meeting to focus on Molokai water

1 June, 2008, The Maui News

WAILUKU — A top state Department of Agriculture official will be on Molokai on June 10 to discuss planned repairs for the aging Molokai irrigation system.

Earlier this year, the state auditor issued a report that heavily criticized the department for allegedly mismanaging the system while allowing it to deteriorate over the past several decades.

Department of Agriculture Deputy Chairman Duane Okamoto will give a presentation on the state’s multimillion-dollar repair project to Gov. Linda Lingle’s Molokai Community Advisory Committee at 3 p.m. at the Kulana Oiwi, 600 Maunaloa Highway, in Kaunakakai. The public is invited to attend.

Completed in 1967, the irrigation system is a crucial part of the island’s agriculture-based economy, but it draws less than 10 percent of its projected capacity.

Representatives from the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations Workforce Development Division will also provide...

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