(Media release) — The mixed-use master plan for ‘O’oma Beachside Village, a proposed community on the Big Island’s North Kona coast, received the “2009 Outstanding Planning Award” Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009 from the Hawaii Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA) at the luncheon of the annual Hawaii Congress of Planning Officials (HCPO) conference in Waikiki.

The APA Hawaii Awards Jury recognized the work of PBR Hawaii & Associates for its use of traditional neighborhood design in the master plan for ‘O’oma Beachside Village, citing the plan as a “visionary process for sustainable communities.”

“While we certainly appreciate the recognition from our peers, the real planners on this project were the people of Kona who developed the vision for ‘O’oma,” PBR President Tom Witten stated in a media release. Read the rest of this entry »

Reeds Island Bridge, Hilo. Image courtesy of HomeAway

Department of Public Works announces the following about upcoming road and bridge maintenance and traffic calming through November:

Resurfacing the side streets and shoulders in Sea View Subdivision, North Kona, began today, Sept. 28.  Equipment and personnel will be working from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday to Friday.  Residents are asked not to park vehicles on the shoulders. Weather and availability of materials could affect the completion date of Oct. 9, 2009. For schedule changes, call the 24- hour hotline at (808) 334-9559.

Installation of nine speed humps began Sept. 21 in Hilo.  Five speed humps will be installed on Kikaha Street and four on Pukana Street. Speed studies show 15 percent of motorists exceeded 33.3 mph in the 25 mph zone in these areas.  Installation is scheduled for completion Oct. 2, 2009.

Reeds Island Bridge in Hilo, Lindsey Bridge in Waimea, and Waikā‘alulu Gulch and Hakalau Bridge in North Hilo will be inspected by Wiss, Janey, Elstner Associates, Inc., engineer consultants to the County of Hawai‘i, to determine the extent of work to rehabilitate these bridges if possible. Read the rest of this entry »

(Media release) — The community is invited to enjoy a day of creativity and fun for the entire family at the Donkey Mill Art Center, home of the Holualoa Foundation for Arts and Culture, on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009.

Partake in the many different artistic mediums including painting, drawing, printmaking, glazing/raku firing,silk screen printing, origami, and more… Create a work of art for yourself or prepare a homemade holiday gift for someone special.

This festival from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. will also feature door prizes, raffles, ukulele entertainment, food, and arts recycling education.  Admission is $5 per person for members, $6 for non-members, and children under 12 are free. Read the rest of this entry »

Image courtesy of Vicky Kometani, Current Events

The Hawaii Island Humane Society’s Annual Halloween Pet Walk is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009 in Historic Kailua Village, with registration beginning at 8 a.m.

The event encourages pet owners to walk from Hale Halewai to Kailua Pier and back and then enjoy contests and prizes. The three walkers who raise the most pledge money will receive prizes. There will also be prizes awarded for best costume, best pet trick, hot dog eating contest, best canine kisser and more.

The Annual HIHS Halloween Pet Walk is a great family event. Read the rest of this entry »

Image courtesy of China Daily

An earthquake with a magnitude of 8.2 struck in the Samoan Islands today, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009, generating three separate tsunami waves, the largest of which measures 5.1 feet from the se level height, a Pacific Tsunami Warning Center geophysicist told CNN.

A tsunami warning was in effect for at least 20 island nations, including American Samoa, Samoa, Cook Islands, Tonga and Fiji, among others in the South Pacific archipelago, CNN and Bloomberg report.

Homes in some villages on the southern coast of the Western Samoan island of Upolu were washed away, Radio New Zealand reported. Some people on that coast may have been swept to sea, Bloomberg reported, citing Television New Zealand and its Apia-based film crew.

 Just after the earthquake a tsunami watch was issued for Hawaii, Papua New Guinea, and other islands farther from the epicenter, according to Bloomberg and CNN. The tsunami watch issued for Hawaii was canceled just before 10:30 a.m. Read the rest of this entry »

By Kathy Plack

"Soap: EDM #101" Image courtesy of Jana Bouc

Here’s a story that illustrates our DOE’s ability to think outside the box, how a union can stand in the way of common sense, and how everyone in Hawaii’s health might be at risk because of it.  Sorry if it disgusts you.  I  hope  it does, so that you will join me in an effort to improve our children’s health and well-being.  I am leaving out most names to keep everyone from hating me.  It’s the issue, not the names, that needs to be detailed.  If it’s too long for you to read, here is the synopsis: There is no soap in most of our Hilo school bathrooms — Now, if you are interested, you can read on to see the government mess. Read the rest of this entry »

Image courtesy of Waialeale.org

Mayor Billy Kenoi today vetoed Bill 103, which would allow Puna residents to live in tents on their property while building a home.

In a veto message to the Hawai‘i County Council delivered to the County Clerk today, Mayor Kenoi said the main reason for the veto is that the bill applies only to the District of Puna.

“We are one island and we need to apply laws equally to all residents,” Mayor Kenoi said. “If a bill is good for one district, it should be good for all districts. This bill sets a poor precedent which could lead to a hodgepodge of laws on our island that would be difficult to manage and enforce.” Read the rest of this entry »

Brenda Ford

Councilwoman Brenda Ford will host a “talk story” community meeting at 6:30 p.m., tomorrow, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009 at the Kahakai Elementary School cafeteria.  At the meeting, Ford is expected to unveil to the public her proposed amendment to the bill amending the rezoning ordinance for Palamanui, the commercial and residential development that Charles Schwab and the Hunt Brothers are pursuing in North Kona.  Those with questions about tomorrow’s talk story or Ford’s proposed amendment are encouraged to call her at her office at (808) 326-5684.

By Mike Middlesworth

There are two stories in (yesterday’s) Advertiser that should give us all pause when it comes to Hawaii’s ability to feed its people.

There’s Sean Hao’s piece about the ending of the state’s subsidies for animal feed.  If you weren’t aware of it, the state has been giving money to those in the livestock industry since 2007 to try to help keep the industry alive. According to the story, The state subsidized up to 50 percent of feed costs for commercial beef, milk, egg and pork farmers in an effort to offset the rising cost of importing food for animals.

The program has ended because of the state’s budget shortfall.  From what some of those who have been receiving the subsidy say, it sounds like there will be fewer people raising animals before long. Read the rest of this entry »

Big Island Elvis at the Pahoa Springtime Jamm in May

Dan Nix, Big Island’s very own Elvis impersonator will host an Elvis Tribute Show at the Eagles in Kea’au on Friday, Oct. 23, 2009.  Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the show starts at 8p.m. Donations at the door are $8 and will go toward the Puna Community Medical Center (PCMC) clinic located in the Pahoa Marketplace.  For more information, email dannix54@aol.com or call (808) 965-2029.

 Puna Community Medical Center (PCMC), an acute care clinic that has been servicing Lower Puna since February, is seeking members for its newly formed Friends of PCMC group.

Join the Friends of PCMC to be a part of “We Care Health Care” model. Email  friends@punahealth.org or stop by the clinic to pick up a brochure with an application.  The clinic is open and accepting patients on a walk-in basis daily, except Tuesdays.  Clinic hours are as follows: Sundays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mondays and Wednesdays through Saturdays, and closed Tuesdays. Read the rest of this entry »

Image courtesy of Mother Earth News

(Media release) — Learn how to stretch your family’s food dollars while enjoying a morning working outdoors for a great cause with friends and neighbors.  This is the “heart” of an invitation to Waimea Middle School families and community friends to participate from 9 a.m. to noon this Sat., Oct. 3, 2009, in a Mala’ai school garden Work and Learn Day.

Not unlike the “Victory Gardens” of WWII, home gardens can supplement family food budgets, even with a very small plot of land, and a morning of gardening at Mala’ai may inspire participants to start or improve their own home food garden.

Mala’ai’s ¾-acre organic garden was started nearly five years ago and reflects the hard work of more than 1,000 students, their families and several hundred community volunteers. Read the rest of this entry »

Image Courtesy of ramdasstapes.org

Studio students have returned from Maui after a fabulous time with John Friend, the founder of Anusara Yoga. A highlight of our first workshop with John was spending time with Ram Dass.  In his book The Only Dance There Is, Ram Dass shares that the only thing we can offer anyone or any situation is our state of being.A great yogic text, the Shiva Sutras, reminds us that we move away from a receptive, open, expansive state of being, when duality arises (subject and object).  Then, as this duality arises, so arises a great matrix in which differentiation occurs.  This matrix is fabulous for working our old patterns and habits that no longer serve.  But know the matrix for what it is:  A tool in which to release those old patterns that prevent you from experiencing yourself within a much larger context.  Our job as students of the path is to move within the matrix skillfully… as well as move ever more deeply to our natural the state of being.  Through Anusara Yoga, we move toward our natural state of being, which is freedom.   And, we find freedom by coming into relationship with that which we are experiencing, where it be another person, the earth, animals, your community — rather than moving out of relationship and toward separateness, duality and differentiation (yes, that’s the matrix for the release of old patterns that no longer serve).

May each of us bring our presence, as a state of being, to our friends, our community and our world. Read the rest of this entry »

The Big Island Indigenous Film Festival is to be held Friday, Nov. 20, 2009 to Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009 at the Palace Theater in Hilo.  This three-day festival of films provides an entertaining window into indigenous cultures through the works of independent native Hawaiian, native American and First Nation filmmakers. For additional information, screening times and tickets call (808) 934-7010 or visit www.talkingcirclefilmfestival.com.

"What Will I Dress Up As For Halloween?" by Tiffany Edwards Hunt

To commemorate Pahoa’s centennial year, Mainstreet Pahoa Association and area businesses present “Trick Or Treat Through Old Pahoa Town,” a fun and safe event for keiki from 5 p.m. — 7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009. All ages are welcome. Candy and other treats provided to keiki only. Motorists should be on the lookout for keiki and proceed with caution down Pahoa Village Road at this time. Halloween parties are planned for the keiki at the Pahoa Neighborhood Facility and for all ages at the Akebono Theater on Halloween night.