Author Archives: Eileen Chao

New Athletic Trainer on Molokai

Wednesday, November 21st, 2012

For nearly the past two years, Molokai High School (MHS) athletes have been competing at a disadvantage –they’ve been without an athletic trainer. However, the Farmers got a new athletic trainer this month who will tend to their injuries and ensure they are able to play at their physical best.

Deborah Thompson, a California native, moved to Molokai and officially began work as MHS’ athletic trainer on Nov. 1. She brings 30 years of experience as an athletic trainer, working at both the high school and college level. She has also worked as an orthopedic technician and assistant surgeon in California for 12 years.…

New Address System Helps Emergency Response

Sunday, November 11th, 2012

In the small community of Molokai, where driving directions are usually given in relation to trees, landmarks and neighboring family names, identifying numerical street addresses can sometimes seem unnecessary. However, inconsistencies between Highway Contract Route (HCR) delivery addresses used by the U.S. Postal Service and the physical address assigned by the County of Maui have caused some confusion, as well as delays for emergency response personnel like police and firefighters. Thus, by June of 2014, the HCR delivery service, denoted by “HC01” box addresses, that starts in Kaunakakai and extends east must be changed to county-assigned street addresses. The change will affect 235 residences on Molokai.…

Shopping for Healthcare

Sunday, November 11th, 2012

Online web portal ‘one-stop shop’ for health insurance

Health insurance can be complicated, confusing and often, costly. Statistics show that many Native Hawaiians lack any kind of healthcare maintenance or prevention plan, which may cause damage both physically and financially, as those who file taxes must pay a penalty for not having health insurance. Enter Hawaii Health Connector (HHC), the local version of an initiative in each state established in 2011 as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act –better known as ObamaCare. The goal is to provide an outlet for easy, accessible and affordable healthcare for everyone in Hawaii.…

Sen. Inouye Makes Kalaupapa Visit

Wednesday, November 7th, 2012

Sen. Inouye Makes Kalaupapa Visit

NPS News Release 

Kalaupapa National Historical Park residents and staff were honored to host Hawaii Sen. Daniel K. Inouye for the rededication of Paschoal Hall on Oct. 29. Held in the community of Kalaupapa, Mr. and Mrs. Inouye traveled from Oahu to re-open Paschoal Hall and spend the day talking story with patient residents and kokua.

Sen. Inouye has long been a champion for the Kalaupapa settlement. In 1998, he was successful in obtaining funding for the first phase of the massive, four phase project to stabilize and refurbish Paschoal Hall. The hall was built in 1916 in response to the residents’ desire for more extensive social activities.…

Opinion: Haste Makes Waste for Big Wind

Wednesday, November 7th, 2012

Community Contributed

Opinion by Kanohowailuku Helm, President of I Aloha Molokai

To Gov. Neil Abercrombie, Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz, State Energy Administrator Mark Glick and staff, members of the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) , and Carl Freedman, IRP facilitator:

Today, three processes regarding our energy future are running on parallel tracks: (1) the Integrated Resource Planning (IRP), which involves 68 officials, experts and interested parties, (2) the Hawaii Clean Energy Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS), conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy, and (3) HECO’s request for proposals (RFP) to build an undersea cable. Together, these efforts could result in a smart, affordable state energy plan with public support — but only if they are carefully synchronized.…

NOAA Seeks Community Monk Seal Feedback

Wednesday, November 7th, 2012

With only a little more than 1,000 left in the world, the Hawaiian monk seal is one of the rarest marine mammals. Studies have shown that there are approximately 200 seals living on or around the Main Hawaiian Islands, with about 40 on Molokai. Even though their numbers are dwindling, their presence has caused conflict with divers and fishermen near shore, some of whom believe the seals are competing with them for fish. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries aims to not only protect endangered species like the Hawaiian monk seal, but also to conduct research in hopes of furthering understanding in communities in which they live.…

A Halloween Treat

Wednesday, November 7th, 2012

A Halloween Treat

Annual costume contest draws zombies, pirates and princesses

Spiderman, Dorothy and Michael Jackson all turned up at the library last Wednesday as part of the Halloween Costume Contest. Keiki and adults had the chance to parade their outfits, and prizes were given out to the most original, scary and cutest in each age category.

There was a mix of both store-bought and home-made costumes, ranging from cowboys to Indians, princesses to pirates, and scary monsters to cuddly critters. Some of the most creative costumes included Maximus Sakamoto, who dressed up as a tornado and Kamahina Kanuha, who was painted almost entirely blue become a character from Avatar.…

Exchanging Cultures

Monday, November 5th, 2012

Exchanging Cultures

Students from Tahiti visit Molokai

Molokai High School (MHS) students were happy to learn how to dance like Tahitians when students from Ra`apoto High School in Tahiti performed traditional song and dance in an assembly held at the Barn on Thursday. A group of 38 students performed three different types of dances –the otea, with rapid hip-shaking motions, the aparima, a more lyrical dance which tells a story using hand movements, and the haka, or warrior dance. During their performance, Molokai students were invited to come to the front and share in Tahitian dance, song and culture.

Ra`apoto students have visited Molokai four times as part of a cultural exchange program that began in 2006.…

Living Local

Monday, November 5th, 2012

Living Local

10th Annual Business and Food Expo highlights Molokai vendors

Molokai is often known as “`aina momona,” or the fat land, because residents have always had the capacity to grow their own food, catch their own fish and hunt their own meat. The annual Business and Food Expo, hosted by Molokai Chamber of Commerce, is an opportunity to highlight vendors who use the bounties of the land to produce award-winning food and products that offer visitors and locals a taste of Molokai. Last Saturday marked the 10th expo, aptly named “A Taste of Molokai,” which featured local food and business vendors, celebrity chef demonstrations, gourmet food samples, prizes, music and entertainment.…

Creating Creators

Wednesday, October 31st, 2012

Creating Creators

Students and teachers learn hands-on computer programming

When it comes to computer programming, JAVA and HTML are terms that seldom spark much excitement, especially in younger learners. However, Teaching Kids Programming (TKP), a program that was started four years ago in California, has designed courseware and curricula for schools around the world that makes learning with computers not only educational “but also joyful,” according to TKP co-founder Llewellyn Falco. Last week, he and two other TKP trainers volunteered their time to visit Molokai for 10 days and got young students at Kilohana School and Molokai Middle School (MMS) engaged in these programs.…