Hawaiian Community Television News. Ku`e!

DLNR chair clarifies its regulations

2008-07-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

Beach wedding permits, fishing bounds, other rules hashed out

By HARRY EAGAR, Staff Writer
POSTED: July 17, 2008

‘If you’re standing in sand, it’s probably state land and you need a permit.’

— Laura Thielen, state Board of Land and Natural Resources chairwoman

WAILUKU - The Department of Land and Natural Resources is sticking to its position that weddings - just like any other commercial operations - need a right-of-entry permit if they are going to use unencumbered state land.

Although beach weddings are a hot-button issue, ...

Read More...

Most of the Ahihi-Kinau reserve will close Aug. 1

2008-07-17T23:59:00.001-07:00

Pristine resources need the protection from overcrowding

POSTED: July 16, 2008
The Maui News

Public access to portions of the Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve will be closed for two years beginning Aug. 1, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources has announced.

Officials will close off access to the majority of the 2,000-acre reserve between Ahihi and La Perouse bays. Prohibited areas will include unofficial trails to Kalua o Lapa, Kalaeloa, popularly known as "the Aquarium," and Mokuha, also known as "the Fishbowl."

Access to northern portions of the reserve most used by the public will remain open during visiting hours from 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. daily. Some of these open areas are Waiala Cove and the coastal area along Ahihi Bay and the "Dumps" surf break.

Pat Borge, a member of a citizens advisory committee for the reserve, said ...

Read More...

Molokai residents air complaints to PUC

2008-07-17T23:57:00.000-07:00

Hearing draws about 150, fewer than 10 testify — county official

By CHRIS HAMILTON, Staff Writer
POSTED: July 16, 2008
The Maui News

Molokai residents took their complaints Tuesday about possible rate increases for water and sewer service to the state body that proposed the hikes as an emergency measure, the Public Utilities Commission.

About 150 people went to the 2-hour public hearing at Maunaloa Elementary School. However, fewer than 10 people testified, said county spokeswoman Mahina Martin.

The commission will likely have a decision about the rates on or about Aug. 14, said Stacey Djou, the panel's chief legal counsel.

The commission has said it needs to ...

Read More...

Maui Democrat Media Chair Lawyer Lance Collins Sues State for Violating Election Rules and His Fee

2008-07-17T23:47:00.000-07:00

Filed Under: It Takes One to Know One
POSTED: July 16, 2008
The Maui News

WAILUKU - Five Maui residents have sued state Chief Elections Officer Kevin Cronin, alleging that proper rule-making procedures were not followed to permit electronic-voting machines or the use of Internet and phone lines to transmit vote results.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in 2nd Circuit Court by Wailuku attorney Lance Collins on behalf of residents Robert Babson Jr., Ann Babson, Joy Brann, Paula Brock and Daniel Grantham.

Cronin did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

The Hawaii Administrative Procedure Act requires a notice, public hearing and comment period before an agency may adopt rules applicable to members of the public, Collins said.

Administrative procedures were not followed to allow the Office of Elections to use electronic-voting machines or to use the Internet and/or telephone lines to transmit vote counts, he said.

Collins also maintains that current state law does not permit the Internet or phone lines to be used...

Read More...

No choice: Close faucet

2008-07-17T23:11:00.000-07:00

POSTED: July 15, 2008
The Maui News

During World War II there wasn't enough water to slake the thirst of all the military personnel on tiny Midway Island. The solution was a water barge. The barge was regularly towed between Oahu and Midway with its liquid cargo. The barge was later wrecked and now sits on the bottom of a channel through the reef at Midway.

The barge story popped into memory after seeing the latest reports from the Maui County Department of Water Supply. Director Jeff Eng - and surely Mayor Charmaine Tavares - is considering placing the county under water use restrictions.

Eng thanked those who are cutting down on the use of water - largely for irrigation since it is difficult to make drastic cuts in household use - but there are still too many individuals trying to turn desert locations into rain forests.

As usual, ...

Read More...

Makena park privately owned

2008-07-17T23:09:00.000-07:00

POSTED: July 14, 2008
The Maui News
Makena Landing has a long and colorful history.

The S.S. Kilauea, the first regularly scheduled interisland steamer, dropped anchor in the bay on its maiden trip so King Kalakaua could visit Rose Ranch, the predecessor to Ulupalakua Ranch. Rose Ranch owner James Makee arranged to have the king met by 150 horseman and a torch-light procession for the the five-mile trip up to the ranch.

Keawala'i Congregational Church was founded in 1832 and built of coral blocks from nearby reefs in 1855. The church was named for the cove fronting the church.

Until 1923, an interisland steamer - usually the Mikihala and sometimes the Likelike - dropped anchor in the bay each Wednesday and Saturday. Before World War II, residents of the area would spread a net for a hukilau on Saturdays. There was a one-room schoolhouse on the mauka side of the road. Until the 1930s, cowboys would swim cattle out into the bay, where they would be hoisted aboard ships.

Until World War II when the military improved a rough coast road to La Perouse, Makena was largely isolated, connected to the outside by the ocean, the King's Trail to Kihei and a dirt road up to Ulupalakua. The ranch road was closed to the public in the 1980s due to a maintenance dispute between the ranch and the county.

It comes as a shock to learn that the Makena Landing Park, with its boat ramp, showers, toilets and parking, is privately owned and maintained. A greater shock is that the county could have assumed ownership but didn't. No matter how ...

Read More...

Towers plan open for review

2008-07-17T23:06:00.000-07:00

Collected data to be used to assess sites for wind power

POSTED: July 14, 2008
The Maui News

One of seven meteorological towers stands on Lanai, with guy wire supports. The towers will remain in place for as much as two years to gather wind-pattern data to determine a site for a wind power generation facility. Landowner Castle & Cooke is seeking state and federal permits for the towers, which could harm endangered and threatened birds.

Photo by BILL STANDLEY, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

LANAI CITY - A draft habitat conservation plan and environmental assessment are available for public review as part of an application by Castle & Cooke Resorts for the construction and operation of seven meteorological towers on Lanai.

The towers will be used for as much as two years to collect data on wind patterns to assess whether sites could sustain a wind power generation facility.

The conservation plan and environmental assessment are part of Castle & Cooke's application for an "incidental take" permit, which is required when ...

Read More...

Branching out; firmly rooted

2008-07-17T23:04:00.000-07:00

POSTED: July 14, 2008
The Maui News
Hoalani Arriaga, 11, of Hana.

The Maui News / AMANDA COWAN photo

Hoalani Arriaga, 11, of Hana finds a seat in the branches of a windswept tree at Baldwin Beach Park while enjoying a sunny day Friday.

Hoalani was among 50 local kids who were at the beach to ...

Read More...

Attorney slated to fill 2nd Circuit vacancy

2008-07-17T23:03:00.000-07:00

POSTED: July 15, 2008
The Maui News

HONOLULU - Attorney Kelsey Kawano has been appointed by Chief Justice Ronald Moon to serve as a District Court judge in the 2nd Circuit.

Kawano fills a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Douglas Ige. The appointment is subject to confirmation by the state Senate.

Kawano has been in private practice since 1984 and a ...

Read More...

Countywide water cutbacks possible

2008-07-17T22:47:00.000-07:00

Ditches alarmingly low and prospects for rainfall bleak

By BRIAN PERRY and ILIMA LOOMIS Staff Writers
POSTED: July 13, 2008 Save | Print | Email | Read comments | Post a comment
WAILUKU - Mandatory countywide water use restrictions are being considered by the Department of Water Supply as ditches that capture stream water drop to alarmingly low levels and the prospects for more rainfall are bleak.

"Although (the community) has been conserving and doing a great job, the situation I believe needs more, and that's what we're looking at," Water Director Jeff Eng said Saturday.

Water use is down, indicating the public has been trying to conserve. But, Eng said, the department is "extremely concerned about...

Read More...

Enforcement essential to making laws work

2008-07-17T22:46:00.000-07:00

The Maui News

Three Oahu men are accused of stealing river rocks from Iao Stream. The theft was reported by an off-duty officer in the Department of Land and Natural Resources Enforcement and Conservation Division. The rocks were found in pickup trucks ready to take the Superferry back to Honolulu.

The incident proved one of the ferry-opposition contentions - city folk would come to Maui to take what they could no longer find on Oahu. The contention was further underlined by ...

Read More...

Luxury housing project started

2008-07-17T22:44:00.000-07:00

Buildings boast environmentally friendly features

By CHRIS HAMILTON Staff Writer
POSTED: July 13, 2008
The Maui News

MAKENA - A $220 million luxury housing project led by Maui developer Everett Dowling is now under way in South Maui.

Maluaka - formerly known to the public as Keaka - is a 69-unit development just south of the Maui Prince Hotel and mauka of the South Makena Golf Course's oceanfront 16th hole.

Grading work has been going on for several months. Dowling said actual construction should begin in early August on the project's 14 "green" buildings, which he pledged will be state of the art in environmental and energy conservation. The development should be finished by ...

Read More...

Residents want Hana house used for dialysis

2008-07-17T22:41:00.000-07:00

Building upgrades, change in legal status needed

By MELISSA TANJI Staff Writer
POSTED: July 13, 2008
The Maui News

A county-managed house in Hana is being eyed as an ideal place to administer dialysis, but the location comes with some challenges.

The house in Wakiu, near the entrance to the Hana Sanitary Landfill, is already occupied by a physician at Hana Health. Also, its legal status needs some bureaucratic tinkering and infrastructure upgrades need to be performed before it can be a home for group dialysis.

But Hana dialysis supporters are not discouraged and say it can be done.

There has been an outcry for dialysis services in rural East Maui for a decade or more. Hana resident Lehua Cosma founded Hui Laulima O Hana in 2004, with a goal of bringing dialysis treatment to Hana. She had seen her mother, Cecelia "Cece" Park, endure the long drive to Central Maui three days a week for treatments. Hana patients and their caregivers say ...

Read More...

Molokai Ranch Barring Access to Records

2008-07-17T22:26:00.000-07:00

Monday 7-14-08 BY: MOLOKAI DISPATCH STAFF

The Molokai Dispatch
MPL wants to raise water rates 178%.

It is reported that MPL employees were ordered to burn massive amounts of company files from Maunaloa offices shortly after the ranch announced its plans to shutdown operations. Policy makers have recently complained about impeded access to MPL’s water records.

Figuring out how to continue water service to central and west Molokai users has remained difficult and frustrating for State and County policy makers who have not been provided access to necessary information.

A June 24 Maui County letter to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) claims that only “sparse information” was provided by Molokai Properties Limited (MPL), also known as Molokai Ranch. It also reads that ...

Read More...

Coral reefs need our help

2008-07-17T22:24:00.000-07:00

July 12, 200
The Maui News

A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report on the world's coral reefs - including Hawaii's - is the first detailed study to go beyond anecdotal evidence and patchy science to provide conclusive data. The conclusion is alarming. The reefs are dying.

Dave Allison of the advocacy group Oceanana said the entire world's coral reefs "border on disaster" due to short-term and long-term human impacts - overfishing, shoreline development, beach erosion, runoff and rising amounts of CO2 being absorbed. The carbon dioxide makes the ocean water more acidic and ...

Read More...

2nd Circuit Judge Joel August Makes Landfill Ruling

2008-07-17T22:22:00.000-07:00

Right to sue affirmed in fill dispute
Residents can’t seek money for county’s ignoring of rules

By HARRY EAGAR, Staff Writer
POSTED: July 11, 2008
The Maui News

WAILUKU - In the Palama Drive legal dispute over construction fill, 2nd Circuit Judge Joel August ruled Thursday that residents have standing to ask the courts to tell the county to abide by its own ordinances.

At least, that would apply in land use disputes and if they have some immediate connection to the project. However, he also ruled that they cannot seek money damages from the county for past failures to follow the rules.

There are two Palama Drive-Maui Lani suits. One seeks a ...

Read More...

Molokai held hostage

2008-07-17T22:19:00.000-07:00

July 11, 2008
The Maui News

Absentee landlords can be a major problem for the neighborhood and the county. That's an issue in the transient vacation rental controversy and it is the No. 1 issue on Molokai, where a foreign conglomerate apparently has decided hardball is the game to be played.

Molokai Properties Ltd., owned by Singapore-based conglomerate GuocoLeisure Ltd., has shut down the ranch, closed the golf course and is now threatening to turn off the water needed by 1,200 ...

Read More...

MPL won’t let county examine facilities

2008-07-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

Tavares asks Lingle to issue formal emergency declaration

By CHRIS HAMILTON
The Maui News
POSTED: July 10, 2008
WAILUKU - Molokai Properties Ltd. wants Maui County to take over its money-losing utilities on the Friendly Isle, but it won't let county public works or water inspectors examine the aging facilities.

County Council Member Danny Mateo, who holds the Molokai residency seat, and Mayor Charmaine Tavares spoke with more than 200 Molokai residents Tuesday evening at the Mitchell Pauole Center in Kaunakakai to address community fears that as of Sept. 1, west side utility customers won't be able to turn on their taps or flush their toilets.

"It's just been hard going," Mateo said of the contentious showdown between the county and Molokai Properties, the owners of the island's former largest employer, Molokai Ranch. "We don't even know how much it would cost, except millions."

The company has called on the county to ...

Read More...

Funds to boost STEM programs

2008-07-17T22:16:00.000-07:00

POSTED: July 10, 2008
The Maui News

Gov. Linda Lingle released $300,000 Wednesday to the Maui Economic Development Board for the development of a new center aimed at encouraging careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

The money, first appropriated in May 2007, will be used to complete the construction of the Ke Alahele Science and Technology Center at the MEDB office building in the Maui Research & Technology Park in Kihei. The funds will also be used to extend the program outreach to rural communities including Lanai, Molokai and Hana.

Maui Economic Development Board has been operating Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education and training programs since 1999 for high school girls and minorities as well as education-to-work- force projects for potential employees in the designated fields.

The STEM programs have received millions of dollars in federal appropriations sponsored by U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, including a $1 million grant in fiscal 2008 to pay for ...

Read More...

Independence Day Marlin Tips the Scales

2008-07-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

Sunday 7-13-08
BY: BY MOLOKAI DISPATCH STAFF

Captain Clay Ching, a local charter fisherman, is known to get lucky when it comes to fish. This past Fourth of July he got 533 lbs. of lucky when his crew landed a beautiful Pacific Blue Marlin.

Ching, aided by his son Josiah, hosted a ...

Read More...

Molokai Girls Volleyball Finishes on Top

2008-07-17T22:02:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 7-9-08 BY: BY KIMBERLY HELM
The Molokai Dispatch

The girls of Kime Ka La outplayed 16 teams to capture the gold medal at the Aloha State Games Women’s B division on June 29.

June turned out to be a winning month for the Molokai Girls Volleyball Club. Playing on Oahu, which hosts the largest club region in the state, Kime Ka La came out on top in two of the three largest, most competitive and highly respected tournaments in the state.

On June 7 to 9, the club played in ...

Read More...

LOLDCATS! Maui Democrats Party Media Chair Lance D. Collins Can Has Hitler Cartoonz

2008-07-16T13:48:00.000-07:00

Hawaii Reporter

Inanity From a U.H. Activist and the Honolulu Weekly
By Stuart K. Hayashi, 9/16/2003
...

Ka Leo O Hawaii accusing U.H. students of censorship and attacking the first amendment, when they complained about Ka Leo Opinions editor Lance Collins wasting their student dues by using that money to print cartoons saying "Hitler Wasn't Such a Bad Guy."

Collins "explained" that the cartoons weren't bigoted, because they did not actually endorse racism; they were only meant to insinuate that all non-leftists are racists who admire Hitler. Oh, thanks Lance, how unbigoted. Yes, he actually did expect students to swallow this.

Collins didn't pull it off, but hardly anyone questioned Professor Hartwell's assumption that it's free speech to take the student's money to run a student newspaper that is supposed to be the student's property, and then completely ignore them when they complain about their money being wasted so abominably.

That would indicate that the U.H. student newspaper was not in the possession of the students at the time, but was commandeered by the Opinions editor with tacit approval from academic advisor Jay Hartwell. (Much to the relief of the U.H. students who tired of the vulgarity of the U.H. newspaper's Opinions section in spring 2003, the paper got rid of Collins and hired a new Opinions editor.)

...

It is not free speech to successfully lobby a government to expropriate money .... and public-fund-wasters like Lance Collins remain publicly unrepentant. ...

Read More...

State Court Raises Bar! Lying Lawyer Loses License for Life.

2008-07-09T18:42:00.000-07:00

State Court Raises Bar! Lying Lawyer Loses License for Life.

GamePolitics
July 9, 2008

...Bar has recommended disbarment for a period of ten (10) years. This Court respectfully declines to follow the Bar’s recommendation... This case involves factual findings of cumulative misconduct, a repeated pattern of behavior relentlessly forced upon numerous unconnected individuals, a total lack of remorse or even slight acknowledgement of inappropriate conduct...

Additionally, the Court is taking into consideration a review of the Respondent’s conduct not only as proven by the evidence, but by what this Court has witnessed of the Respondent’s behavior throughout the eighteen (18) months of litigation. The undersigned finds no evidence whatsoever to indicate that the Respondent is amenable to rehabilitation, or even remotely appreciates the basis upon which a need or purpose for such rehabilitation is warranted...

Over a very extended period of time involving a number of totally unrelated cases and individuals, the Respondent has demonstrated a pattern of conduct to strike out harshly, extensively, repeatedly and willfully to simply try to bring as much difficulty, distraction and anguish to those he considers in opposition to his causes. He does not proceed within the guidelines of appropriate professional behavior, but rather uses other means available to intimidate, harass, or bring public disrepute to those whom he perceives oppose him.

Thus, after careful consideration of the underlying facts in the instant cases, together with the Florida Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, the applicable aggravating and mitigating factors and the precedent case law, this Court makes the following recommendations for John Bruce Thompson:

A. Permanent disbarment, with no leave to reapply for admission.
B. Disciplinary costs currently totaling $43,675.35.

Read More...

Molokai Video Game Developer Releases First Free Hawaiian Video Game

2008-07-09T14:51:00.000-07:00

July 8, 2008
Rocket Science
The Maui Media Lab Newsletter

"WATERBALL," the first free Hawaiian Video Game has just been released by Maui Media Lab's Moloka`i Video Game Development Center. Hemo Wai, WATERBALL features an Hawaiian Ahupua`a, a happy penguin, a bunch of pogs and a ball made of water in a whimsical adaptation of your favorite pinball machines and video games using Maui Media Lab LLC's locally developed, free software platform. WATERBALL gives you the responsibility to manage the water from the top of the mountain, through orchards, fields and loi, to the reef, and beyond...! Play for free, but DON`T LET THE WATER RUN!

Play WATERBALL at http://mauimedialab.com/pinball/ for free on your PC, Macintosh, or now even on your iPhone or iPod!

Maui Media Lab LLC is a locally owned and operated Qualified High Technology Business (QHTB) certified by the State of Hawai`i.

Moloka`i Mo' Bettah!

Local expertise needed for sea

2008-07-09T13:37:00.000-07:00

The Maui News
July 8, 2008

Mess with Mother Nature - particularly nearshore waters - and you're sure to run into one of Newton's laws - for every action there is an equal reaction. Since so little is known about how the ocean floor is affected by storms and work on the shoreline, messing with Mother Nature can also result in unintended consequences.

Those who know say the only sure way to maintain beaches is to move all building away from the shoreline since the formation of inland dunes helps hold shoreline sand during periods when there is natural erosion and replenishment. Of course, humans being humans, they want to build as close to the water as possible, and when property starts disappearing they want to hold the line with seawalls, groins and other armoring.

Those who know say armoring coastlines just results in less beach - if not on the spot, then down the coast a bit. The jury is still out on various methods of replacing sand that has disappeared.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources has approved an experimental beach...

Read More...

No rain leaves us less water

2008-07-09T13:35:00.000-07:00

The Maui News
July 7, 2008

As long as there is water in the tap, a good flow from the shower and the toilet flushes, it's easy to forget just how critical the water situation is on Maui.

The island is edging from dry to parched. The summer and early fall months are traditionally the driest of the year, and 2008 is shaping up to be a drought year.

Being careful with the use of water should be second nature for everyone on Maui. Consumption can be cut by measures as simple as not letting the water run if not absolutely necessary, but the big use of domestic water is landscape irrigation. Spot watering and using drip rather than just hosing everything down can keep plants alive, if not thriving.

The dry conditions raise another problem that requires a watchful eye - fire. Brushy areas can go up in flames from the tiniest spark. Winds can drive those flames across hundreds of acres in less time than it takes to marshal the firefighters. Sugar cane fields are also vulnerable. It is a grass, after all, and the leaves in many fields are bone-dry.

Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. is...

Read More...

Free speech is free software

2008-07-07T15:26:00.000-07:00

July 01, 2008
The Haleakala Times
by Sam Epstein

Declare your own Independence

There is lots of talk going around Maui these days about free speech. What it is, who is making it, who is abridging it, and about how much should free speech actually cost. Free speech refers to speech being free as in freedom, not free as in lunch, and anyone that practices it typically understands the high cost to ones’ self and ones’ family typically incurred while exercising your “right” to free speech. The very concept of “free” speech can only exist in a culture where there are people who feel the need to abridge the rights of other people, in order to prevent the expression of ideas and arguments that they find threatening.

Freedom of the press extends this concept to the recording and distribution of ideas and arguments throughout a society. However, the very finite resources of a set number of printed pages requires an editorial process that by its very nature will leave out a good percentage of content that otherwise would be suitable for coverage. And as any letter writer (or even mythically Ben Franklin) will tell you, the only way to truly have access to a free press, is to own the press, yourself. These days, the free press is...

Read More...

Voyage to show that all ‘is possible’

2008-07-07T15:24:00.000-07:00

Group of paddlers to undertake 480-mile, four-day nonstop trip

By KEKOA CATHERINE ENOMOTO, Staff Writer
The Maui News
July 6, 2008

Kimokeo Kapahulehua and George Rixey gathered Thursday at Kihei Canoe Club to review a shopping list for their trek through the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The list included 625 eggs, lots of other protein and all kinds of carbohydrates, including “pastas, casseroles, rice, chili, bagels, oatmeal, oranges, orange juice, preserved fruits and yogurt,” Woodburn said.
The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

Fact Box
Transarchipelago voyage - the final leg

Timeline

Monday Depart Hanalei Bay, Kauai, for 1,250-mile commute aboard the Lady Alice to waters off Laysan Island.

July 12-15 - Nonstop 480-mile paddle from Laysan to Kure Atoll, with crew members paddling in one-hour shifts, with rests in the escort vessel.

July 16-21 or 22 -

1,750-mile return commute aboard Lady Alice to Hanalei.

Information at Web site: hocvs.org

Send donations made to the nonprofit Hawaiian

Outrigger Canoe Voyaging Society to 33 Wahelani St.; Kula 96790.

As a 1,670-mile transarchipelago voyage in a six-person outrigger canoe culminates this month, challenges persist - not the least of which is construction of bunks for 16 paddlers on the deck of the escort vessel.

"We've had to essentially build our accommodations on the Lady Alice because it's a fishing boat set up and designed to catch fish, not paddlers," said Jamie Woodburn of Kula, logistics guru of the Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Voyaging Society, speaking by phone Wednesday from Oahu.

"Right now we're working to...

Read More...

Drought to cut cane planting

2008-07-07T15:22:00.000-07:00

By EDWIN TANJI City Editor
The Maui News
July 6, 2008

Cane fields looked parched along Hana Highway near the intersection with Hansen Road on Saturday. Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. has said it will suspend planting through July because of inadequate surface water supplies. The Wailoa Ditch, East Maui Irrigation’s largest irrigation ditch, was running at just 8 percent of capacity last week. The county’s Upcountry reservoirs were also low.

Fact Box
AVERAGE DAILY WATER USE

DistrictJune 26-July 2June 19-25June 2007

Central Maui25.96 mgd25.85 mgd28.38 mgd

Upcountry8.61 mgd8.11 mgd10.25 mgd

Lahaina6.44 mgd6.68 mgd6.47 mgd

Hana0.36 mgd0.37 mgd0.34 mgd

Molokai1.41 mgd1.4 mgd1.51 mgd

Total42.78 mgd42.41 mgd46.95 mgd

WAILUKU - Water use around Maui County remained stable at the start of July, but the continuing drought conditions sharply cut into water flows out of the East Maui watershed.

The Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. said it had suspended replanting through July 14 with a hope that weather conditions will improve but said it may only be able to plant fields that can be supplied with well water.

"All planting and field preparation operations are affected," said Garret Hew, manager of water resources for the sugar plantation. "We're hoping the ditch flows will be restored. But if not, we're hoping we will have fields available for planting that can be irrigated with pump water."...

Read More...

Flows in the Wailoa Ditch, which has a capacity of nearly 200 million gallons a day, were running between

$60,000 given to scholars, teachers

2008-07-07T15:20:00.000-07:00

The Maui News
July 6, 2008
Lahaina Restoration Foundation funds go to west siders

LAHAINA - The Lahaina Restoration Foundation gave out $60,000 in scholarships, ranging from $10,000 to $2,000, to Lahainaluna High School graduating seniors and alumni and teachers from west side schools.

The awards were presented at the Lahainaluna High School Scholarship Program, held at The Royal Lahaina Resort in May. Scholarships and grants were presented in four categories: Lahainaluna graduating seniors applying to four-year colleges and universities; Lahainaluna graduating seniors to two-year postsecondary schools, Lahainaluna alumni currently enrolled in school or planning to continue their education; and West Maui teachers who wish to continue their education.

In keeping with the mission of the foundation, each applicant was required to write an essay relating to the importance of preserving the history and culture of West Maui.

Mariah Gill, a graduating senior, received the top award, ...

Read More...

Maui AJA Veterans distribute $10,000 for higher education

2008-07-07T15:19:00.000-07:00

The Maui News
July 6, 2008

SPRECKELSVILLE - The Maui AJA Veterans Inc. awarded 10 $1,000 scholarships to Class of 2008 members of local high schools.

Among recipients of the annual scholarship was Courtney Miyamoto, who was the Chrysanthemum Ball Queen in 2006. The scholarships are funded in part by proceeds from the annual event, whose name was changed to the Chrysanthemum Festival last year. The contestant who gathers the most donations for the veterans group earns the crown.

Miyamoto graduated in May from Baldwin High School and plans to study biology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Her parents are Michael and Joyce Miyamoto.

The other 2008 Maui AJA Veterans Scholars, along with their school, educational plans, and parents or guardians, are:...

Read More...

Maui divers fear effects of beach restoration

2008-07-07T15:17:00.000-07:00

Advocates say replenishment needed to slow pace of erosion

By HARRY EAGAR, Staff Writer
POSTED: July 5, 2008

The Maui News

With dive gear ready, Darrell Tanaka of Haiku surveys the beach at the west end of Kanaha Beach near the Kahului Wastewater Treatment Facility on Wednesday morning, expressing a need to discuss plans to restore a beach at Spreckelsville by dredging sand from offshore. That can affect crabbing and fishing grounds, he said.

SPRECKELSVILLE - Donald Okuda has been diving off Maui's north shore since he was 13 years old - 64 years ago. Sand replenishment on beaches worries him.

Even if the sand is clean, "when you dredge over it, it buries the life underneath the sand. You get a chain reaction."

Norm Ham, also a diver, says the disturbance of the crustaceans that are food for fish affects the fish. That affects the octopus that make their homes in the shallow reefs off Kahului.

"It damages the reef; it's not a natural thing," says Ham, who has been diving since the '60s.

The Board of Land and Natural Resources has approved a ...

Read More...

Students Get Glimpse of High Tech Future

2008-07-07T15:13:00.000-07:00

Monday 7-7-08 BY: HOWARD SELNICK
The Molokai Dispatch

Super computers and top secret observatories visited.

Students use 3D glasses to watch satellites circle the Earth in real time at the High Performance Computing Center in the Maui High Tech Park.

By Howard Selnick

You would not believe the amount of doors that were unlocked for our Molokai middle school team to participate in a three-day technical career program held on Maui for students throughout...

Read More...

Dowling Grant prepares science mobile

2008-07-07T15:10:00.000-07:00

7/4/2008
The Molokai Times

$25,000 allows youth to watch, make films

Kids on Molokai will be able to watch movies — and even make their own — after the closure of Molokai Ranch shuts down the only theater on the island.

Thanks to a $25,000 grant from Dowling Community Improvement Foundation, Maui Media Lab Foundation (MMLF) will be able to complete the transformation of an old school bus to a “science-mobile,” packed with equipment like satellite television, wireless Internet, and a full high definition-quality audio visual studio for recording and engineering.

The bus, donated to MMLF by Maui Economic Opportunity, was refurbished by high school students on Maui. Hāna, Baldwin, and Kekaulike High School students contributed basic clean-up, welding, power installation and other work to improve the bus and ready it for its new birth as a powerful teaching tool. The bus was shipped to Molokai at the end of May, where it was repainted by Molokai High School students and found a new home at the Hawaiian Learning Center.

The bus will travel to various schools and events on Molokai where students will learn to film their own sports events, encode the video with software and put it up on their own digital television channel.

Sam Epstein, executive director of the MMLF, said, ...

Read More...

The Great Skate

2008-07-07T15:08:00.000-07:00

Sunday 6-29-08 BY: JENNIFER SMITH
The Molokai Dispatch

Local skateboarders jam it out in contest.

Photo Patrick Mason

People of all ages showed up to enjoy the first Maui Skate Tour Series at the Molokai skate park on Saturday. The event is the product of collaboration between the Maui County Parks Molokai district, Hi-Tech Skateboards, Aloha Skateboards, and the community.

“It is a great family oriented event allowing families to come together and enjoy the wonderful facilities we have here,” said Molokai Park District supervisor Billy Amoral, with a smile on his face. “It is always a success when

Ranch Won’t Budge on Water

2008-07-07T15:07:00.000-07:00

Sunday 6-29-08 BY: JENNIFER SMITH
The Molokai Dispatch

Details of MPL’s utility pullout continue to trickle in.

By Dispatch Staff

Proposed rate increases for west and central Molokai residents, will not ensure continued water and sewer services from Molokai Properties Limited (MPL).

In an attempt to buy time until another service provider could be located, the Public Utility Commission (PUC) took the unprecedented move of suggesting that MPL hike its rates for utility users. However, MPL CEO Peter Nicholas said in a June 23 letter to the PUC, that the proposed 121% increase and 41% increase for two of its three utilities, “will not...

Read More...

Seabury Hall founder, 84, dies

2008-07-07T15:03:00.000-07:00

By MELISSA TANJI Staff Writer
July 3, 2008
The Maui News

“Having learned that new ventures do not require a thorough knowledge of the expertise needed . . . I decided to ‘go for the gold’ and move to Makawao and open the school.”
– Rodger Madden Melrose, in his autobiography

Roger Madden Melrose, the Episcopal minister who founded Seabury Hall, is being remembered as a "builder" and an "innovative educator."

Melrose, 84, of Kealakekua, Hawaii, died June 26, 2008, at his residence. An obituary was published Wednesday.

"Reverend Melrose was certainly the right person at the right time for the founding of Seabury Hall. He had a passion for young people and was an innovative educator. The many graduates of Seabury Hall are in debt to him for his vision and his passion for the school," said Seabury Headmaster Joe Schmidt.

Melrose's wife, Charlotte, called her husband a...

Read More...

Residents Held Hostage

2008-07-07T14:58:00.000-07:00

July 2, 2008
The Maui News

It may take a legion of lawyers, a battalion of bureaucrats and an army of accountants to unravel the increasingly tangled affairs of Molokai Properties Ltd., which has shut down Molokai Ranch and is threatening to shut down two water companies and a sewage treatment system.

It seems when the conglomerate GuocoLeisure Ltd. bought the ranch in 1987, its investment strategy failed to consider how its plans would be met by the people of Molokai. Although the comparison is admittedly far-fetched, it sounds like GuocoLeisure made the same mistakes the U.S. made when it invaded Iraq - not enough attention paid to possible, or probable, consequences.

Some 1,200 residents of Molokai are now pawns in a three-way struggle between the state, county and Molokai Properties Ltd., which says it cannot afford to keep losing money on the two water systems.

Molokai Properties wants a subsidy in addition to higher rates. There is a strong implication the land company is ready to abandon the systems. Maui County's legal position is that the utilities should be forced to remain in operation. The county contends it is not able nor legally required to provide the utility services, and that Molokai Properties should face monetary and criminal penalties if it doesn't follow PUC orders. There are some who say it is the state that should be responsible for continuing services if Molokai Properties doesn't.

The situation poses some interesting questions:...

Read More...

Grant helps ready Moloka‘i Science Mobile

2008-07-07T14:56:00.001-07:00

Grant helps ready Moloka‘i Science Mobile
1 July, 2008
Maui Weekly

Even after the closure of Moloka‘i Ranch shut down the only movie theater on the island, Moloka‘i keiki will be able to watch movies—and even make their own. A $25,000 grant from Dowling Community Improvement Foundation is giving Maui Media Lab Foundation (MMLF) the ability to complete the transformation of an old school bus into a “science-mobile,” equipped with satellite TV, wireless internet, and a full HD quality audio visual studio for recording and engineering. The bus, donated to MMLF by MEO, was refurbished by students from Hana, Baldwin and Kekaulike high schools who supplied clean-up, welding, power installation and other work. After re-painting by Moloka‘i High School students, the bus will be housed at the Hawaiian Learning Center and will travel to various schools and events on Moloka‘i where students will learn to film their own sports events, encode the video with software and put it up on their own digital television channel.

Read More...

MPL letter reaffirms position on utilities

2008-07-07T14:50:00.000-07:00

MPL letter reaffirms position on utilities
By HARRY EAGAR, Staff Writer
July 1, 2008
The Maui News

In a letter to the Public Utilities Commission, Molokai Ranch has repeated its position that without outside money it will have to shut down its Molokai utilities Aug. 31.

The June 23 letter presents balance sheets showing actual and anticipated losses at the two water companies and the sewage treatment system. It says Molokai Properties Ltd., owner of the ranch, has had to inject almost $1.2 million in cash into the utilities over the past two years to cover losses and capital expenses.

The letter was a response to a PUC demand on June 13 for information about the utilities' application for a temporary rate increase.

In its own letter to the PUC, attorneys for Maui County argued that the utilities should be forced to remain in operation, and rejected the proposal that the county acquire the aging sewer and water systems. The county repeated its contention that it is not able to and not legally required to provide utility services.

The county response also noted that despite claiming to be insolvent, the utilities have not filed for bankruptcy.

"Should MPL continue to fail to comply with the PUC's orders, monetary and criminal penalties should be assessed," argued the county in its response,...

Read More...

Agency Alleges August Authorized Illegal Asset Transfers. Akaku's April Agrees.

2008-07-02T14:19:00.000-07:00

Agency Alleges August Authorized Illegal Asset Transfers. Akaku's April Agrees.

The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs have requested another exemption from the law requiring public procurement of public access television services, citing His Honor Joel August's requirement that the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs perform proper rule making when combined with the fact that the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs declined to actually perform the proper rule making, that they committed to record in Judge August's courtroom, as the basis for the continued illegal procurement, read just giving money to someone with no basis in law, nor any enforcement of accountability.

Maybe Maui's honorable second circuit court might considering sharing their opinion on how they would expect any child in the State of Hawaii to ever take seriously again the jurisdiction of this court or any other in the face of such open corruption and conspiracy to evade the law by agents of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, officers of the State Procurement Office and local political party chairs.

Is this really the intent of your decision your honor?

Read More

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

2008-06-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More..

Molokai Wavecrest Human Waste Wells Up in Drinking Water

2008-06-29T20:15:00.000-07:00

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.

Read More...

Showdown on Molokai

2008-06-29T15:37:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

Shipping rate could go up, again

2008-06-29T15:36:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

Visitor accommodations on Molokai dwindle to 234

2008-06-29T15:35:00.001-07:00

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 ...

Read More...

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

2008-06-29T15:33:00.000-07:00

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, ...

Read More...

Internet-based projects offer business solutions

2008-06-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

County considers future of vacation rentals

2008-06-29T15:31:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

What is Monsanto really doing on Molokai?

2008-06-29T15:30:00.001-07:00

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...

Read More...

By Order of Kamehameha

2008-06-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

The Future of the Northwest Hawaiian Islands

2008-06-29T15:22:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

Meeting set for Molokai utilities

2008-06-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

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,...

Read More...

Fight over; we will heal — resident of Molokai

2008-06-29T15:20:00.000-07:00

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.
..

Read More...

Meet the Molokai Dispatch Again for the First Time

2008-06-29T15:18:00.001-07:00

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...

Read More...

Local schools win education grants

2008-06-29T15:16:00.000-07:00

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 ...

Read More...

Proposed rate hike will affect west side of island

2008-06-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

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....

Read More...

Middle School names students of the quarter

2008-06-29T15:13:00.000-07:00

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:...

Read More...

Panel trims TVR options

2008-06-29T15:11:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

Utilities body proposes Molokai water rate hike

2008-06-29T15:09:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

Mauians shine on Na Hoku night

2008-06-29T15:07:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

Molokai Planning Commission is in need of improvements

2008-06-29T15:06:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

Commitments: Who is responsible for West End utilities?

2008-06-29T15:03:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

DOA Put on Spot

2008-06-29T15:01:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

Catch You Later

2008-06-29T14:58:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

State may let Molokai utilities raise rates

2008-06-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

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

Print Article Email Article Reprints RSS Feeds Add to Del.icio.us Digg This
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...

Read More...

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

2008-06-29T14:54:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

MIS starts implementing audit recommendations

2008-06-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

Mayor Tavares hits ‘em where it hurts

2008-06-29T14:48:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

Alternative energies may hold the key

2008-06-29T14:47:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

Molokai Water Wars part two

2008-06-18T13:47:00.000-07:00

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....

Read More... or Watch It!

Changing the channel to digital TV part II

2008-06-17T13:32:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

Know where your food comes from

2008-06-17T13:30:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

Future Solutions: Maui Timber Bamboo

2008-06-17T13:29:00.001-07:00

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...

Read More...

Need help getting that garden started?

2008-06-17T13:27:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

Molokai Ranch resists PUC order to keep utilities

2008-06-17T12:51:00.000-07:00

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 ...

Read More...

Water director: Look for ways to conserve

2008-06-17T12:49:00.000-07:00

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 ...

Read More...

Tough talk on utilities intensifies for Molokai

2008-06-17T12:47:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

Solutions now, for future

2008-06-17T12:44:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

Honua‘ula developer in process of new EIS

2008-06-17T12:42:00.000-07:00

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....

Read More...

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

2008-06-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

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.

Read More...

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

2008-06-14T12:30:00.000-07:00

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?...

Read More...

Monsanto Committed: Genetically Engineered Pigs WILL Fly!

2008-06-14T12:25:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

A Call to Molokai to Shape Our Future

2008-06-13T21:29:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

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

2008-06-13T21:27:00.000-07:00

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 ...

Read More...

The screen is green

2008-06-13T21:25:00.000-07:00

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 ...

Read More...

Molokai sees highest gas prices in country

2008-06-13T21:24:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

State DLNR proposing ‘Civil Resources Violation System’

2008-06-13T21:22:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

Native Hawaiians can qualify for free laptops

2008-06-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

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:...

Read More...

Youth center reaches out

2008-06-13T21:18:00.000-07:00

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, ...

Read More...

Maui Film Fest gets rolling tonight

2008-06-13T21:12:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

The Valley of Sufficient Life

2008-06-13T21:10:00.000-07:00

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....
Read More...

The Binding of Past and Present

2008-06-13T21:05:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

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

2008-06-13T21:02:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

Getting the basics: Humane Society to get water and electricity

2008-06-13T21:00:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-13T20:56:00.000-07:00

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....

Read More...

Keiki Host Poetry Night

2008-06-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

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....

Read More...

Judge to lift Superferry traffic order

2008-06-13T20:51:00.000-07:00

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...

Read More...

PUC bars plan to shut down utilities

2008-06-13T20:46:00.000-07:00

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 ...

Read More...

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

2008-06-06T16:46:00.000-07:00

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!

Read More...