PUC Hearing Flooded with Protestors
- Failure notice from provider:
Connection Error:http_request_failed Submission Deadlines
Advertising
Content
To print on:
-
Author Archives: Dan Murphy
Add your commentWrapping up the Flames
Community comes together to fight fire.
By Dan Murphy
Thanks to the hard work of hundreds of community members and professionals from county, state and federal agencies, Molokai pulled through what could have been a disastrous fire.
The brushfire, first reported Saturday, Aug. 29, was called officially contained last Thursday evening. The Makakupa‘ia Section of the forest is the only part of the island that remains closed and the majority of the agencies that came to Molokai to help fight the fire left Sunday morning, according to Maui Civil Defense Administrator Gen Iinuma.
“From our standpoint, we just want to say mahalo to everyone that supported the effort – community folks that came by all week with home cooked meals and thank you notes and the donations from various businesses and people around town,” Iinuma said. “It just shows how all the residents were very appreciative of the people there.”
Removing the Beast
Over 10,000 pounds of gorilla ogo algae pulled from Kaunakakai Wharf
By Dan Murphy
The Division of Aquatic Resources made a visit to Kaunakakai last week as part of an ongoing effort to eradicate invasive algae from Molokai’s reefs. The Alien Invasive Species Unit (AIS), led by Cecile Walsh, removed over 10,000 pounds of gorilla ogo from the wharf area during the week-long project.
Gorilla ogo is an invasive alien species that was first brought to Molokai in the early 1990s. The limu was hidden amongst native species that were brought to the island by a group of non-profit organizations looking to promote aquaculture. The groups distributed the algae to locals and said they would buy back the algae that grew.
“The native species didn’t grow, but the gorilla definitely did,” Walsh said.
The gorilla ogo has continued to spread throughout fish ponds and other rocky surfaces on the west side of the island. Walsh believes the wharf is furthest point west on Molokai that the algae have reached so far. It spreads quickly, and completely covers the shoreline reefs. Walsh said some reefs on Oahu are covered by patches of ogo up to three feet thick.
“The limu is overtaking and smothering the reefs, and it pretty much kills off everything else,” said Pohaku Stone, a Molokai resident who volunteered during the clean-up. Stone said he came down to lend a helping hand to the eight-man crew because it was a good cause.
“It’s better to do something about it than nothing at all,” he said.
Lending a Hand
Walsh said she hoped more local people would help with the clean-up effort in the future. She specifically chose to work at the wharf because of how many people would pass by and ask what they were doing.
Val Bloy was one of many Molokai residents who did stop to learn more about the algae.
“It looks like a huge project, but if it will clean up the wharf it’ll be great,” she said.
Walsh was confident the strong work ethic of Molokai residents would be enough to complete the difficult job.
“I think that the people on Molokai are really dependent on their resources and I think that they will actually do the hard work out there,” she said. “I’ve seen all of the hard work that they have put into restoring some of those fish ponds. If they can do that, they can definitely do this.”
After removing nearly 200 bags of the ogo last week, Walsh and her crew will move west on their next visit. The group, which is made up of seven experts from Maui, Oahu and the Big Island, will return once a month to help clean a different spot. In September they will be at Kaloku’ele and then Oalapu’a in October.
Walsh received a grant last year from The National Fish and Wildlife to pay for the project. She received enough money to pay for an employee on Molokai to keep an eye on things when the AIS team is not around. Walsh said she is narrowing her choice among a couple of groups that have expressed interest. Whoever takes over will also be in charge of operating the “Manini” algae removal machine.
The Manini is a miniature version of two barges on Oahu that are used to suck algae off of the rocks. It was built to stay here on Molokai and to be used in the fish ponds, according to Eric Burgess, one of the Manini operators.
Gorilla Gardens
The limu is not going to waste. The AIS team distributed what they pulled out of the ocean to local farmers, who have been using gorilla ogo as fertilizer many years.
“It’s really rich in nutrients so when you grow something and all the nutrients are gone, you can replace them with the limu,” said Stone, who will be using the fertilizer in his own garden.
The College of Tropical Agriculture and Resources also received a large batch of the limu to use for experiments. They will be experimenting with how it responds to liquefying and dehydration and then sharing the results with local farmers.
Burned area tops 8,000 acres
Brushfire Update -- Wednesday 9 a.m.
The isolated columns of smoke dotting the mountains behind Kaunakakai are becoming less and less visible.
Today the National Guard sent to Chinook helicopters to the island to help stamp out any remaining hot spots that have been flaring up. The Chinooks refuel on Oahu and are monitoring the area near Kawela Three.
Fire fighters say that the blaze in now firmly under control and almost pau. Their main job now is to mop up hot spots and embers that have the potential to start again.
At last report - late Tuesday night - roughly 8,000 acres of land have been scarred by the fire. Hawaii's Lieutenant Governor Duke Aiona and Major General Robert Lee got a first hand look at the scorched terrain when they toured the island on helicopter Tuesday afternoon.
All schools opened once again Tuesday morning and the fire continues to move further away from any houses.
Below is a video of one the chinooks, operated by the National Guard, that were on Molokai helping to fight the fire on Wednesday.
Hundreds Stand for Water
Residents protest Ranch’s proposed rates increases
By Dan Murphy and Catherine Cluett
It was tough to travel anywhere on the island last Saturday morning without driving past enthusiastic groups of protesters in light blue T-shirts. From Kilohana to Maunaloa, rate-payers and supporters held signs and cheered at passing vehicles to raise awareness of Molokai Ranch’s skyrocketing water rate increases. A public hearing will be held on Molokai on Thursday, Sept. 3 at the Mitchell Pauole Center at 5 p.m.
“We are already paying the highest rates in the nation and they want to increase it four to fives times – it’s insulting,” said Molokai Planning Commission Chairman Joseph Kalipi and Maunaloa resident. “The quality is so poor we can’t even drink the water. We would like to see county water rates.”
At the end of May last year, Molokai Ranch threatened to shut down their water utilities Molokai Public Utilities (MPU) and Wai`ola O Molokai (Wai`ola), citing financial hardship. In an unprecedented move, the PUC approved temporary rate increases that have been described as outrageous.
Sproat is No Ka Oi
Molokai Boys represent Island well in MMA fights
By Dan Murphy
Molokai has a new champion.
Sale Sproat claimed the Amateur Middleweight MMA Belt after defeating Oahu’s John Ferrel on Aug. 22 on Maui. It took less than a minute and a half to end the fight with a vicious uppercut to Ferrel’s jaw. Sproat’s big punch sent his opponent to the canvas and the referee stopped the fight.
“He came in, tried to take me down and I just caught him with the uppercut,” Sproat said. The Molokai native, who weighed in at 185 pounds, is now 6-0 in his MMA career.
The new champion was one of three Molokai fighters who stepped into the ring in front of a packed house at Maui’s War Memorial Gymnasium. Keoni Farm and Jake Noble also represented the Friendly Island well.
Schools closed today
Brushfire Update – Monday Morning 8:00All Molokai schools with the exception of Kilohana Elementary and Maunaloa Elementary are closed today. The Fire Department has decided to keep sections of Kamehemeha V Highway closed to through traffic because of the risk of the fire jumping across the road. Schools were forced to close because buses and other students would not be able to get through the roads and arrive at school.
“Still not out of the woods”
.jpg)
Brushfire Update - Sunday Night 9:00
By Dan Murphy
After a long day of battling flames many homes and neighborhoods have been spared, but the fight is far from over. Molokai Fire Chief Val Martin estimated that the fire has already covered over 6,000 acres - or almost 10 square miles - and is still spreading.
"We're still not out of the woods yet," Martin said. "This fire is not under control or contained a this point."
The most dangerous arm of the conflagration is on its western edge at this point. The highway is closed off to all traffic at Coconut Grove for the night. The Fire Department decided to keep the road closed in case the fire gets close enough to cross the road. The flames are currently about a mile west of Coconut Grove near the Plumeria Farm.
Mitchell Pauole Center and Molokai High School have been opened as shelters for those who cannot return to their homes tonight.
Crews have been focusing on this area since it started, but are still keeping an eye on the other side of the fire near Kawela and Kamehameha V Highway towards the east.
The 70-man team has been working around the clock and has successfully extinguished all flames near Kawela and the highway.However, the ground near those areas is still covered in hot spots that could spark at any moment. Martin said that 35 personnel will remain to work through the night.
The five helicopters that spent the day circling the island and dropping water are down for the night. The choppers can not fly in the dark and will resume their dawn-to-dusk schedule tomorrow morning.
Molokai's Fire Department received helped from a wide variety of groups throughout the day including Dept. of Public Works, Goodfellows, State Highway, Dept. of Forestry and many others. There have been no further reports of structural damage since an outdoor garage burned at the Visario residence early Sunday morning.
Check back with the Dispatch tomorrow morning for continuous updates.
.JPG)
State Layoffs Hit Molokai Hard
By Dan Murphy
The understaffed Molokai Welfare Office is already struggling to keep up with the demand from newly unemployed citizens, but their job is about to get a lot harder.
Earlier this month, the state of Hawaii notified 1,194 employees that they would be laid off in November. Workers on Molokai will be hit hard by the reduction in force.
After trimming $2 billion, Governor Linda Lingle and her office are still $786 million away from balancing the state’s budget. Lingle chose to reduce labor costs, which currently make up 70 percent of the budget, to make up for that gap. The governor said the layoffs were a final resort.
“Outer islands, especially places like Molokai and Lanai, are going to suffer the most on this. We can’t afford the cuts. We don’t have the resources,” Molokai Welfare Office Supervisor Donna Mursberg said.
Mursberg said her office currently has more work to process than they have ever had during her 22 year career. According to the Hawaii Business Research Library, Molokai’s unemployment rate reached 16.3 percent in July, nearly 10 points higher than the state average of seven percent.
All contents copyright © 2003-2024. Molokai Dispatch, Inc. All rights reserved. 
