Author Archives: Megan Stephenson

Show Your Face on Facebook

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

Molokai Dispatch News Release

The Molokai Dispatch is trying to strengthen the Molokai community through technology. Our goal is to get more news to more people using the networking website Facebook as a tool – especially our local Molokai readers. And we need your help to make these connections.

Getting connected to the Dispatch on Facebook and suggesting your friends do the same will allow us to better serve readers, through creating an instantaneous two-way conversation about news on Molokai. We will provide the latest news, and fans can keep us updated on their own events and suggestions on what we should cover.

Follow these simple steps to become a fan of the Molokai Dispatch.
1.    Go to www.facebook.com and sign in or sign up (if you’re not already a part of this network, it’s a great way to keep in touch with family and friends, and well as The Molokai Dispatch)
2.    Type “Molokai Dispatch” into the search field at the top. Molokai Dispatch page will probably be the first match. Click on it.
3.    At the top of the page, you’ll see a “Like” bottom. Click on it.
4.    Under the Dispatch profile picture, click “Suggest to Friends.” Select all or click on all those you think appropriate. 

Congratulations, now you’re a fan of our page and will receive daily updates in your newsfeed. We hope you interact with you more, so please leave your comments, make story suggestions, join in our Facebook Mana`o’s and discuss our stories with your friends. 

Aunty’s Corner

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

Aloha Aunty here.  Wow, Lono told me that Uncle Herb, Aunty Julia, DJ and his halau and others will be on the Travel Channel, Jan. 23, at 4 p.m.  The program is called “In The Wild.”  What a great honor for everyone involved and for Molokai! Aunty and Uncle have such a beautiful place on the fish pond.  I could stay there forever but I’m afraid Uncle might make me catch a fish and bite it like I saw him do once.  He did teach me how to make a fire in the imu which I thought was great fun.

I had to go to Honolulu for a doctor’s appointment.  It was during that horrible rain storm.  I wasn’t sure if I was going to get out but I must say that Mokulele pilots were really great.  They got us going and not really late.  I have to say a great mahalo to the young man that worked the check-in desk, as he helped me get on the plane when it looked like it might be too full.  He was terrific.  I arrived at my doctor’s appointment and who should be in the waiting room but everyone from Molokai.  We all laughed because none of us had met before. 

The students at Aka`ula School are going to Japan.  What a wonderful opportunity for them.  I tell them that when I was in school there was no such thing as students going on field trips to other states, let alone to a foreign country.  I wish I could go to school now.  Everything seems so much more interesting than when I went to school, especially our geography teacher who didn’t like kids and told us so every morning.  Speaking of school, I got all As from my classes.  I wish they were offering more classes like the ones I took.  Perhaps next fall.  Mahalo Todd and the Dispatch for that wonderful opportunity.

Stop in at Kalele Bookstore and ask to see the arbor.  Teri has trained her lilikoi vine to go over the frame.  It is a wonderful place to sit under and read a book, daydream or talk story.

They’ve started working on the St. Damien Church! It’s so exciting.  Father Clyde always said we’d have mass for Christmas.  Looks like he was right on.  I went over to give Sister Jessie’s and there was Father in bibbed overalls.  I almost didn’t know who he was because he’s never dressed like that.

Exciting to have the Cookhouse back open.  They make the best bacon burger ever! I recommend you share it with someone.  Take care, drive careful in the rain and come talk with me here at the Dispatch sometime.  God bless, Aunty Kapua

Affordable Homes for All

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

Seven families on Molokai are about to own their own houses for the first time.

Molokai Affordable Homes and Community Development, a nonprofit organization on-island, is helping families on Molokai by facilitating low interest mortgages and support in building houses. A grant from the Department of Agriculture Rural Development (USDA-RD) has launched the program, intended for self-help housing, for those in an income bracket too much to qualify for Habitat for Humanity, but struggle to qualify for a regular mortgage, according to organization founder David Finley.

Shirley Burrows inherited a homestead lot in Ho`olehua from her mother when she passed away in 2003, but hasn’t been able to afford a loan to begin building. Now she and her husband, Leonard, are watching their home take shape.

“It’s the middle class people that fall through the cracks,” she said at a recent group meeting, where all the participants saw their home’s plans for the first time. “It’s nice something captures us.”

She was encouraged by her sister, Suliana Aki, who is also in the program.

“This group makes a big difference in keeping [me] motivated,” Shirley said.

kids, something that’s theirs.”

Lani said she is excited for the physical part of this journey.

“I’m looking forward to the first pounding of the nail,” Lani said. “This is a good group.”

If you are interested in helping these families, or want more information on the affordable home program, call 553-8141.

Kalaupapa Pleads for Cheaper Flights

Tuesday, January 18th, 2011

Between cheaper flight rates and a new memorial project, Kalaupapa residents have a lot on their minds these days.

Pacific Wings, the only commercial airline that serves Kalaupapa, sent their rates skyrocketing a year ago. Residents, workers and visitors flying to the peninsula pay between $480 and $550 for a round-trip trip to Honolulu.

Pacific Wings recently applied for an Essential Air Service subsidy, which would lower rates to Kalaupapa to about $200, according to Greg Kalhstorf, CEO of Pacific Wings.

Mark Miller, Administrator for the Department of Health at Kalaupapa, said he wrote a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to support the federal subsidy. He asked the FAA for air rates to be subsidized by federal money and extra wheelchair accessibility on all airplanes.

“I want lower airfares. I don’t care how we get them,” Miller said. “I’m here to serve the patients and I’ll do whatever it takes to make life easier for them on Kalaupapa.”

The process for issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) can take 60 to 120 days. Pacific Wings put in their request on Dec. 16, 2010. 

Last week, Kahlstorf informed The Molokai Dispatch he withdrew the Request for Proposal, citing issues with the Kalaupapa administration over wheelchair access of the place used to service the peninsula.

“I want to make sure we’re all on the same page before Pacific Wings goes through with this,” Kahlstorf said.

However, the next day the FAA said the RFP hadn’t been withdrawn and was still in process.

Residents have until Jan. 18, 2011 to suggest any ideas to the FAA or to request any other airlines they feel would be suitable for Kalaupapa.

Go! Mokulele’s general manager, Chris Vandenheuvel, said he is reviewing the RFP documents and considering sending in an application to the FAA.

In the event that a new carrier is designated as with EAS subsidies, Pacific Wings can still serve Kalaupapa without the subsidy.

Kahlstorf said his business is doing fine without subsidies.

Memorial Project
The environmental assessment (EA) for the Kalaupapa Memorial Project has been completed, and is up for public review. Ka Ohana O Kalaupapa and the National Park Service (NPS) have been working on this memorial for several years, to honor the 8,000 Hansen’s disease patients that lived and died on the peninsula. The memorial will be located at the Old Baldwin Home site across the street from St. Philomena catholic church in Kalawao.

The EA is available for public review and comment at the NPS website, parkplanning.nps.gov/ as well as at the Molokai Public Library, Molokai Museum and Culture Center, and office of Historic Hawaii Foundation. You may also call Leslie Kanoa-Naeole at 567-6802 ex. 1101 for assistance. Comments may be submitted online or through the mail (Kalaupapa National Historical Park, P.O. 2222, Kalaupapa, HI 96742) until Feb. 10, 2011.
After that date, NPS will continue with a design.

“We hope to get this started as soon as possible,” Steve Prokop said, National Park Service Superintendent.