Open letter to District Court Judge Harry Freitas,

Recall that I was in your courtroom on Jan. 13, 2011 and that I admitted to my excessive speeding citation.  I agreed to pay $57 and do community service work in lieu of the remaining fine of $85.  You asked that I register with the Hawaii Intake Service Center to do my community service work, and then to report back to you on April 28.

Immediately after court, I walked downstairs and paid the $57.  Then I headed over to the Hawaii Intake Service Center.  You can read about my ordeal on my blog (www.bigislandchronicle.com/2011/01/14/commentary-my-day-in-court-for-excessive-speeding/).

Suffice it to say, I have an appointment with Hawaii Intake Service Center on March 29, 2011. Never mind that that is the day my daughter is set to turn three. That was the only date that was available. Read the rest of this entry »

By RJ Kaleohano Mendoza

Before relocating to the State of Hawaii, I lived in the same house for twenty something years. Upon arriving here, I have lived in no less than 10 places — four different locations on O’ahu and six places on the Big Island.

Not kidding. I must be subconsciously compensating for the lack of moves in my childhood, teen years, and earlier (operative word: earlier) twenties…

Now, for reasons I won’t bore you with, I am finally in the district with the most pizazz, curiosity, variety, and obvious mana. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am a proud Punatic!

If you didn’t catch Tiffany’s post “Only in Puna” I suggest you do, especially if you are…alive. The variety of characters, sights, sounds, smells, and styles in this district are enough to feed your memory for months.

My obsession with Puna stems from a curiousity and fascination with catchment water systems. For those who are not familiar, the Department of Water Supply does not service the entire island, and the majority of residents in the Puna district harvest rainwater through a series of pipes, gutters, and a huge tank that is not unlike an above-ground swimming pool. And it’s quite apropos, due to the penchant for rain on this side of the island. Read the rest of this entry »

Aina Koa Pono developers will make a presentation on their proposed biofuel plant to the Ka'u Chamber of Commerce at 6 p.m., Monday, Feb. 21, 2011, at the Pahala Community Center.

Tiffany,

In case you haven’t seen…this was in today’s paper — a report from Hilo reporter Peter Sur that the Aina Koa Pono, in response to community opposition, will look to acquire land near the Pahala Transfer Station, rather than pursue building the biofuel plant in town in an old maintenance garage for the former sugar cane plantation.

Sure hope the moving of the refinery out of Pahala is the truth!!  If so… it is MOST welcome news. It needs to be a distance from people.

I did think the  comment  They don’t want this plant right next to the town, even though it wouldn’t be much of a deal,” (Chief engineer Alexander “Sandy”) Causey said…..was insensitive to say the least. It is “much of a deal”…… if a refinery is producing 16 million gallons of synthetic biodiesel in your backyard!

Anyway…in case you hadn’t seen the article.

Mahalo.

Lynn Hamilton

Pahala

lynnbybay@aol.com

Photo and text by Tiffany Edwards Hunt. All rights reserved. Use with permission only.

Residents on the Big Island continue to suffer the consequences of an Oahu Chevron Refinery shutdown dating back to December.

Today, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011,  Pahoa Battery and Propane had posted a sign reading, “Out of propane.” A worker there said their store in Pahoa Marketplace had been out of propane for two days and isn’t expected to be restocked until Monday, Jan. 31, 2011. He blamed the Oahu Chevron Refinery shutdown in late December.

Chevron Hawaii Refinery Planner Tad Palmer assured that the Chevron Hawaii Refinery is producing propane and is distributing to wholesale customers at normal levels.  ”What they do with it is beyond our control,” he said.  He did note that the refinery had an “unplanned” shutdown for a couple of weeks, related to a “mechanical issue,” which could explain why the neighbor islands are presently suffering from a shortage.

“I don’t know what is the delivery schedule,” Palmer said. “We supply to Gasco and the Oahu Gas Service, which distributes to the retailers.  We’ve been producing propane for the last week and a half or so.  We’re at normal production levels, so I don’t know how long it’s going to take for the wholesalers to filter it through to the retail levels.”

In the meantime, residents in the rural areas of the Big Island who rely on propane for their utilities are having to wait it out. Staff at Pahoa Battery and Propane expect long lines come Monday.

The mayor's State of the County address will air on KPUA 670 AM at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011. (June Malone art.)

(Media release) — County of Hawaii Mayor Billy Kenoi will present a State of the County address at two locations on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011.

The mayor will deliver the address in the pavilion of the new West Hawaii Civic Center in Kona at 10 a.m.

Kenoi will also deliver the address again at 5:30 p.m. at the Aupuni Center Conference Room in Hilo.

The Hilo address will broadcast live on radio station KPUA 670 AM.  The public is invited. Seating is limited.

(Submitted by Desiree Cruz.)

Aloha Tiffany,

I just started reading your blog.  Well done!

We have one of the country’s best news sites right here in Hawaii,
whatreallyhappened.com.  It provides more in-depth coverage than the
corporate press and has a huge, national and international readership.  
I’d love to see links to some of the news stories listed on
whatreallyhappened.com on the BI Chronicle, and I think it would be an asset to your very good local site.

Mahalo and Best Regards,
Lee Eisenstein
Pahoa, Hawaii

Aloha, I am sending this in hope’s that maybe you will publish it for local younger generation Hawaii residents to read because I think they need to step back and take a look at themselves. I have been coming to Hawaii for 30 years and have property here and enjoy the beautiful people and land. But I have been noticing more and more that many ( not all ) of the younger generation like 40 years old and younger have bad vibes toward tourists and visitors as well as residents like myself. They preach and have stickers that read  “SLOW DOWN - THIS AIN’T THE MAINLAND” and “RELAX THIS AIN’T THE MAINLAND” yet they are the biggest offenders of driving too fast on ones tail to the point of pushing people off the road. This even goes for Maui- the road to Hana , or driving around Kahului . I have observed this for the last 10 years and it is getting worse and worse. Where is the Aloha Spirit? Why don’t they practice what they seem so righteous to preach and proud to display as bumper stickers on their vehicles and T-shirts.
Mahalo, JG

Rajiv Kaul art

Aloha Tiffany,

I just wanted to let you know that it was me that you saw in the courtroom with my 7 1/2 month old twins. I cried because I know that it is impossible for me to get my license and how in the world do they expect me to get around if I have no one but my babies.  Yeah we have the Hele on bus but its not as advanced as Oahu’s transit system.  Could you really see me walking down Ainaloa Blvd with my twins every week just to go food shopping? My reason for not wanting to get a public defender is because the most that could come out of this is just a smaller fine which I doubt it, because that wasn’t my first time being caught without a license. I rather just take the fine, pay slowly instead of going back to court and back again and again and again, The first time I went to court, I went throughout my whole pregnancy all the way until the babies were 5 months old. Then I got caught again, and yes that is when you seen me. Really, honestly filling out the form for the public defender would have been a waste of my time.  You see, my last name begins with Q, and usually I wouldn’t get called into the court room till about 11am, but when I go in with my twins, I always try and ask the bailiff if they could call me early because I have my babies and they usually do, I fear that soon there will come a time where they will actually make me wait until my name is suppose to be called and that is what I don’t want. Those 2 can barely stay still for very long, they were crawling all over outside of the courtroom that morning. Read the rest of this entry »

Alina Bradford art

Gov. Neil Abercrombie, in his State of the State address today, amongst other things has proposed raising taxes on alcohol soda with high sugar content. What are your thoughts about this?

My name is Dorothy Silva Kalua and I was born and raised in Pahala, Hawaii. I lived in the Portuguese plantation camp with my brothers, parents, and grandparents. Our camp was located just below the proposed refinery location.
I understand the bionic conversion technology is to transform natural resources into synthetic fuel. My concern is…”Do we have enough natural resources (grass and trees)?”  Ka’u has just emerged from a drought where our farmers and ranchers suffered greatly. If there is an extended drought, what would happen to our farmers and ranchers?  My fear is if the natural resources (grass & trees) were scarce… municipal waste may be the next choice!
I am not against the refinery, although I don’t think we know enough about the process to place a biofuel plant in Pahala. I remember as a child growing up in Ka’u, my Dad’s proud claim — “You can place the island of Oahu in Ka’u!”  Find another location! We are so large there must be somewhere else to build  a refinery.
The proposed location for the refinery was the plantation garage during my youth. Truck and equipment were repaired there.  How can the old garage of  my youth be a valid, safe location to build a biofuel refinery today?!
Thank you for your attention.

Dorothy Silva Kalua
Pahala, Hawaii
Email: dkalua@hotmail.com

Tiffany Edwards (Hunt),

Less than three weeks ago, the residents of our rural town of Pahala first learned by reading the newspaper or listening to Honolulu TV that a 16M gallon experimental fuel refinery was being proposed in our town — just a few hundred yards from more than 100+ homes and a preschool…and about 3 football fields away from Ka’u High School and Pahala Elementary School.

We were stunned that no one had come to talk to us face-to-face with specific plans and alternatives.

Yes, there was a small last minute meeting held last week with less than 2-days notice and no formal public announcement.  Those who came heard about it via the community’s coconut wireless.  Despite short notice, about 50 residents attended.  But, to this day, a community meeting has not been scheduled to discuss the entire proposal including specific plans, impacts, proposed mitigations, timeline, permits required, and whether an EIS will be done, much less what specific benefits there will be for this town and our district.

A gentleman from the project just called me at home.  He said residents would get jobs – welding jobs, carpentry jobs, heavy equipment jobs and trucking jobs.  He also said the reason they (Aina Koa Pono…I assume) didn’t come to talk to us before the announcement was made in Honolulu was because of proprietary information. Read the rest of this entry »

(Media release) — Feb. 1, 2011 will mark the 2nd anniversary of the Puna Community Medical Center at the Pāhoa Marketplace.  PCMC is Puna makai’s only walk-in urgent care clinic and, since opening, has managed more than 8,700 visits from more than 5,000 clients.

Most of these are residents from our Puna makai area, but clients from 35 states and 15 different countries have also been seen.

To celebrate PCMC’s accomplishments, there will be a tent party in front of the clinic from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011.  Everyone is invited. The event will include music, lemonade, pupu, health screenings and information.  Mayor Billy Kenoi will give the congratulatory speech. County Council duties permitting,  District 5 Councilman Fred Blas will also try to attend.

The Mayor’s Office, the County Council’s Human Services and Economic Development Committee, Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA), the Weinberg Foundation, as well as numerous private donors, have helped PCMC get built, equipped, supplied, and staffed.   Read the rest of this entry »

(Media release) — At 10 a.m., tomorrow, Monday, Jan. 24, 2011, Gov. Neil Abercrombie will make his first State of the State Address from the House Chambers.  The speech will be streamed live at the Governor’s website, http://hawaii.gov/gov.
(Submitted by Donalyn Dela Cruz.)