Dear editor:

In recent weeks many Lower Puna residents had been noticing something peculiar about the Pahoa Pool. Mostly, people are showing up only to find it closed due to “staff shortages.” A shortage in staff isn’t an entirely accurate explanation. In fact what has been going on is rather scandalous. The Pahoa Pool, although an invaluable community resource, is also riddled with drama galore. This being a small community and the fact that this issue is in the middle of litigation, it would be inappropriate to name names and give out all the juicy details (but trust me, there are plenty). What I can offer is that the pool management and the County’s aquatics division (which is supposed to oversee the pool) have severely failed this community in several ways. Much like corrupt politics with politicians scratching each other’s backs, so to has the pool and it’s management been systemically unethical. There have been issues of sexual harassment (both of employees & patrons), and the fudging of things like work hours. Once a month the pool is closed for routine maintenance, allowing the empty space to be available for projects when patrons aren’t around. Yet, basic things like the drywall coming apart in the women’s locker room, men’s locker room sink tiles not replaced, no fresh coats of paint, etc. are all curiously never taken care of. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo courtesy of Rob Tucker

I am happy to report that after some delay the new banners have been installed at the Pahoa Skate park.    While this is not a big thing in the scheme of life the banners do add color and a sense of joy to the concrete and chain link of the skate park.  This little project could not have happened without the help and kindness of Toby Hazel, Ginny Aste and donations from Healing Our Island, Pahoa Hardware, Hilo Steel and Fabric Warehouse.  Toby Hazel worked very hard to sew the banners.  So this is done and in time for the upcoming King of the Vert on August 28th.  A small touch that makes a nice visual impact.

Rob Tucker

George "Boogie" Kalama

(Editor’s note: A version of this story appeared in the July 7, 2010 edition of the Big Island Weekly.)

By Tiffany Edwards Hunt

To imagine what Uncle Boogie’s Pohoiki Bay Surfing Classic was like over July Fourth weekend is to envision what the surf-side village of Kalapana must have been like before the lava took it away in the early 1990s.

The massive lawn of the newly renovated Isaac Kepo’okalani Hale Beach Bark was filled with families camping out under tarps and in tents.  Nevermind the occasional rain and persistent wind.  The two-to-three-foot-average waves kept the surfers in the water, from morning to night.

“Aloha kekahi i kekahi,” George “Boogie” Kalama repeatedly told participants.  Whether it was Boogie’s constant reminders or the fact that participants truly embodied the true sense of the Hawaiian term for Love One Another, the love was flowing at Pohoiki.

Those who camped out at Pohoiki and participated in Uncle Boogie’s Surfing Classic embodied not only the true meaning of aloha, but also ohana.

Whether they were related or not, they treated each other like family.

Sure, they were gathered for a surf competition, but the competitiveness appeared to be a minimum outside of the water.

Participants shared meals and tasks, like preparing the maile leaf leis that were to be given to the first through fourth place winners of each division. Read the rest of this entry »

Image courtesy of Dr. Ed Gutteling

Attention soccer fans, and, yes, all you other proper wankers, too. Well, the USA finally exits the show. It was thrilling, but as happens in all things, it is now over. If you’ve been watching on TV along with another 1 Billion (that’s billion with a “B”) of your  brothers and sisters around the planet, then you know what I mean.

If you haven’t, well eggs-and-bakey, wakey-wakey, you missed an amazing world-wide spectacle and will now have to wait another 4 years to try again to cheer for your country (2014 in Brazil).

You must appreciate what its like to be an American, going to a foreign country, joining 20-30,000 other electrified American fans advancing on the stadium, with a similar number and kind for the opposing team, with 90%+ all decked out in their country’s colors and associated costumes. Our national anthem never sounded better, or was sung more fervently by so may of our countrymen. Nearly no one attends a game without flying their country’s colors, even if you are from a country not even playing that day.

The colors, noise, continuous cheering, and sheer excitement momentum is incredible, and it happens day after day after day until the cup is over. Read the rest of this entry »

Aadil Palkhivala founded Yoga Centers® in Bellevue, Washington, and The College of Purna Yoga, a 200-hour, 500-hour and Certificate-Level teacher training program licensed by the State of Washington and Yoga Alliance Certified. Image courtesy of Monthly Yoga DVD.

(Media release) — Big Island Yoga Center welcomes Aadil Palkhivala for his Summer Purna Yoga Intensive slated for July 16-19, 2010.

Aadil and his wife, Mirra, are the founders of Purna Yoga™, described on Aadil’s website as “a holistic synthesis of yogic traditions based on the work of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother.”  The couple also founded Yoga Centers® in Bellevue, Washington, and The College of Purna Yoga, a 200-hour, 500-hour and Certificate-Level teacher training program licensed by the State of Washington and Yoga Alliance Certified.

Watch Aadil invite you to this summer intensive at our website and for a complete list of classes, for a printable brochure, with a detailed schedule and more payment options, go to www.bigislandyoga.com.

The Full Purna Intensive, July 16-19, 2010, $545 after June 20. Read the rest of this entry »

BJ (L) and Jay Penn

(Media release) — The Penn Training and Fitness Center of Hilo is now offering Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) training at a satellite location in Pahoa. Classes will be held Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the Pahoa Neighborhood Facility (also known as the Pahoa Community Center).

Classes will be taught by Jay Penn, a BJJ black belt instructor at the Hilo academy. Penn’s younger brother, BJ, (the first non-Brazilian to win the BJJ black belt world championship in Rio de Janeiro) will help teach one class per month as his schedule permits. Classes are available to both children and adults.

“We know there are many people in Puna who want to train BJJ, but it’s tough for them to get into Hilo two or three times a week,” says Jay. Read the rest of this entry »

Gipper (L) and Tony Finau are Utah brothers featured in the Big Break Disney Golf who are expected to attend jr. golf clinic in Hilo Wednesday. Stuart Johnson photo. Image courtesy of Desert News

(Media release) — The County of Hawai‘i, Big Island Candies, Rodney Acia PGA, and Big Island Junior Golf Association are co-sponsoring the Second Annual Golf Clinic and Long Drive Demonstration by stars Tony and Gipper Finau of Golf Channel’s The Big Break Disney Golf on Wednesday, June 23, 2010, at the Hilo Municipal Golf Course.

The brothers from Utah have played in PGA events and are renowned for their long-hitting prowess. Tony Finau is said to be the longest hitting player among PGA tour players, having hit drives of more than 400 yards. Also appearing at the clinic will be the Finau brothers’ father, Gary Finau, who has guided his sons’ careers.

The Finau brothers, who recently were featured on Golf Channel’s The Big Break Disney Golf also invites the public to follow as they play the front 9 of our Hilo Municipal Golf Course.

“We are so pleased that the Finau family will be returning to Hilo”, said Jodie Kimura, president of the Big Island Junior Golf Association. Read the rest of this entry »

Greetings fellow soccer fans, and all you other provincial tossers, also.
Your US National Soccer team has now played 2 games in the initial group
play round, and ended Friday’s with a 2:2 draw with Slovenia. The US (and
most everyone else also) had expected a US victory, but not this time. Our
boys came out to a sluggish start. I think we did not fully respect the
intensity and skills Slovenia could muster, despite being the smallest
nation in the Cup and the very last to have qualified from Europe. Maybe
we shouldn’t have over-looked that they had knocked out the impressive
Russia to get here.

We showed a porous defensive effort, and Slovenia scored early after just
12 minutes with a 20 yard powerful bullet shot when space was given,
quieting the prior feverish US half of the 70,000 fans at Joburg’s Ellis
Park Stadium. The US responded with a more intensive offensive effort, but
were vulnerable to the counter=punch attack late in the first half
with a through pass and standard power shot after again failing to cover
tightly enough. Read the rest of this entry »

By Curtis Narimatsu

Manny Pacquiao (born Dec. 17, 1978) is remarkable among the current crop of boxers for retaining his speed/fast hands and power in his punches as he moved up in weight from 112 lbs. to 145 lbs. Of course, Manny’s feat is nothing new amid the backdrop of boxing’s ancient roots.

As recently as a century ago, France’s endearing Orchid Man, Georges Carpentier, fought in every weight class from flyweight to heavyweight, & socked a right cross to the head of the great Jack Dempsey of Colorado which rocked back on his heels the hitherto invincible Dempsey. How does today’s Manny the “Pacman” fare vs. the greatest in boxing history, pound for pound, punch for punch??

As good measure over the long stretch of time, let’s consider the Philippines, where Manny is from. Visaya somehow manifests gloriously, being backward/much harder scrabble than the northern provinces. The greatest P.I. boxer is Francisco Guilledo aka Pancho Villa a century ago, Visayan like Manny. The 2 differences between these speed burners are that Guilledo was blessed with a radar- sensitive defense [unlike Manny's porous defense, which is why you see Manny's face/body always black & blue/busted up] & Guilledo was blessed with “walk on water” feet [light on his feet][vs. Manny's plodder gait, understandable in that Manny gets Manny's power from Manny's bulbous legs, vs. Guilledo's lithe gait wherein Guilledo's power emanates from Guilledo's rhythm/timing/snap a la today's Thomas Hearns, the stick-thin exploding man]. Read the rest of this entry »

Directed by Jamie Tierney, Just Add Water was the winner for the best male performance in the 2008 Surfer Poll Awards. Palace Theater presents the surf film at 7 p.m., Friday, June 18, 2010.

Have you ever loved something to the point that it becomes what you live
for?

Meet Clay Marzo whose passion for surfing is so pure it defies description. Take a visually stunning and emotionally powerful journey through his life.  

Just Add Water, directed by Jamie Tierney, will show at the Palace Theater at 7 p.m., Friday, June 18, 2010.

See Clay literally come alive in the ocean as he destroys the waves of Tahiti, Fiji, Hawaii, France, Spain and Australia with his wildly creative surfing.   Read the rest of this entry »

(Media release) — A 50-year-old Kona man has been arrested and charged with various offenses in connection with illegal renting of kayaks in Kealakekua Bay.

On Thursday, June 3, 2010, officers from the Area II Community Policing Section conducted an operation at Kealakekua Bay which subsequently led to the charging of Lionel Gaspar of Captain Cook with Pedestrian Solicitation of Motorists, Community Use of County Streets, and Business Activity Without Permit at a State Harbor.

Gaspar was later released on his own recognizance and the cases are pending initial court appearance.

Motorists should use caution in the Waikoloa, Kawaihae, and Kohala area tomorrow, Saturday, June 5, 2010, during the ROHTO IRONMAN 70.3 Hawaii Triathlon.

The following road closures will be in effect: Mauna Lani Drive from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway, between Mauna Lani Drive and Kawaihae Road, from 7:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; Akoni Pule Highway, between Kawaihae Road and Hawi, from 8 a.m. to noon.

The ROHTO IRONMAN 70.3 Hawaii Triathlon is an official qualifier for both the Ford Ironman World Championship and the Foster Grant Ironman World Championship 70.3.  Participants swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles and run 13.1 miles.  The start and finish line is at the Fairmont Orchid.

Clayton Treska

Among the ROHTO IRONMAN 70.3 Hawaii Triathlon participants is expected to be Clayton Treska, who has been diagnosed with advanced stage-four testicular cancer and who has endured aggressive chemotherapy, in part, to achieve his dream of completing the Hawaii Ironman on Saturday. Read the rest of this entry »