Author Archives: Megan Stephenson

Ka Molokai Makahiki

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Heavy rains poured down on Molokai last Friday night as Lono announced his presence just in time for the island’s annual Makahiki Games. The games’ origins date back to ancient Hawaiian times, but have been growing more and more popular since they were brought back to Molokai a few decades ago. Over 200 athletes from every island except Kaho`olawe participated this year and the competition was as good as it’s ever been.

-->Hukihuki: Kelly Rawlins, Kalehua Sproat-Augustiro, Tita Calairo, Drig Pedro, Reesha Villa, Kamele Garces-Reyes / Relentless

WOMEN’S ADULT TEAM DIVISION CHAMPIONS:

1^st Place: Relentless – 90 pts.

2^nd Place: A’ole La’au – 88 pts.

3^rd Place: Na Hoaloha – 76 pts.

4^th Place: Coast Guard - 66 pts.

MEN’S ADULT TEAM DIVISION : 1^st Place Winner/Team Name

Ulumaika: Josh Pastrana/Officials
Moa Pahe`e: Eli Maioho/ Jared Sasadas
`O`oihe: Kekamalu Ulloa / Na Kipu`upu`u
Pohaku: Kaina Makua / Officials
Haka Moa: Eli Maioho / Jared Sasadas
Pa Uma: Kaina Makua / Officials
100 Yd.: Keli’i Kotubetey / Officials
Uma: Keahi Rawlins / Jared Sasadas
440 Yd.: Keli’i Kotubetey / Officials
Hukihuki: Fred Aki, Micah Buchanan, Keahi Rawlins, Bronson Borden, Kalani Crowell, Chucky Boy Buchanan / Jared Sasadas

MEN’S ADULT DIVISION CHAMPIONS

1^ST Place: Officials – 90 pts.

2^nd Place: Jared Sasadas – 82 pts.

3^rd Place: Na Kipu`upu`u – 58 pts.

4^th Place: USCG Kittiwake – 34 pts.

Posted in Culture & Art

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Spartan Showdown

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

With less than a minute left in Friday night’s game at The Barn, Seabuary Hall’s Reynald Sorayama nailed a three-pointer to cap off a 73-23 victory over the Molokai High boys’ basketball team. The Spartans couldn’t miss from beyond the three-point line and rode their hot shooting streak to a pair of wins over the previously undefeated Farmers last weekend.

“[Seabury] shot the ball really well all weekend,” Molokai coach Lee DeRouin said. “They are good shooters and they are good basketball players.”

,” she said.

Saturday afternoon started on a warmer note, as all six girls and Aalona prepared to race their final events of the season. Because only eight teams competed in the championships, all relays were raced on Saturday – giving the Molokai girls one more chance.

“They all swam great, all swam to their current potential,” Ford said.

The Molokai kane swimmers finished the season in sixth place, but didn’t place in the wahine division. Ford and the swimmers are already thinking about next season, and a potential club team by summertime.

“They’ve made so much progress in three months, now all they need to improve is more training and development of details,” Ford said.

Posted in Education, Sports

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Poetry Rocks

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Community Contributed

Posted in Education, Letters

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Building a Community

Monday, February 1st, 2010

The Molokai Habitat for Humanity raised thousands of dollars last week to continue to build affordable housing on the island. Habitat’s Lu`au by the Sea has become an annual event hosted by Hotel Molokai. This year, 174 people showed up to enjoy a night of good food, entertainment and a silent auction.

Guests had the opportunity to bid on items ranging from beautiful art and massages to floor tiling. There was also a raffle with a series of great prizes. Molokai’s Emily Mahiai won the grand prize, a free dinner and a night’s stay at Hotel Molokai.

“This year went very well. We sold a lot of raffle tickets and had even more guests than we expected,” said executive director Jean Han. “It’s very important because not only are we raising money, but it’s also about community awareness.”

Habitat depends on community volunteers to help with the many projects they do each year on Molokai. Han said the money raised last week will help fund more houses on Molokai and a program to rehabilitate old homes as well.

“It’s a very worthwhile,” said Cedric Alonzo, who moved into his new Habitat home in December. “This program gives us a chance to really afford being a homeowner. It’s very doable.”

Molokai also recently became a part of the Habitat Global Village program that connects volunteers from all over the world. The program brings volunteers to the island for two weeks to help with projects and get to know Molokai. Han said she hopes to bring in a new groups every two months.

Guests at the lu`au were entertained by several musicians and a special performance from the Hina I Ka Po La`ila`i hula halau. The young dancers taught the crowd their traditional protocol and preparation before performing a series of dances.

“We had all homegrown local cultural entertainment this time around and I think everyone really appreciated that,” Han said.

Posted in Announcements

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Island Air Cancels Mid-Week Flights

Monday, February 1st, 2010

Molokai travelers already have a very slim list of options when it comes to getting off-island, but as of this Monday that list grew even shorter.

Starting in February, Island Air is no longer offering flights from Molokai to Maui during the middle of the week. The Honolulu-based airline has indefinitely suspended all Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday flights between the two islands. The cutback causes problems for handicapped or elderly passengers who are incapable of riding smaller planes operated by Mokulele, Molokai’s only other airline with regular routes to Maui.

like a few months ago what is going to happen to people on dialysis if they can’t be flown to another hospital?”

Liddel collected hundreds of signatures to send to the airline in her first week. She said she plans to continue to send petitions to Island Air on a regular basis until the flights are reinstated.

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Making of a Nation

Monday, February 1st, 2010

Jade Leialoha Danner has cared for her hanai son since his birth – changing diapers and helping with his homework. But under U.S. law, she has to get written permission from his birth parents – her brother and sister-in-law – to prove she is capable of his guardianship, even when signing him up for baseball. Danner, vice president of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA), wants to change this complicated system and have a Native Hawaiian government, with laws focused on Native Hawaiian values.

After 10 years of standstills, vetoing and nay-saying, the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2009, informally known as the Akaka Bill, is continuing to move forward in its best version yet, Danner said.

What Can You Do?
If you want to express support or say mahalo for their work, call or write to Hawaii’s representatives in Congress and Governor Lingle and let them know who is behind them.
Rep. Neil Abercrombie (1st District): (808) 541-2570
Rep. Mazie Hirono (2nd District): (808) 541-1986
Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI): (808) 541-2542
Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI): (808) 522-8970
Gov. Linda Lingle: (808) 586-0221 or (808) 586-0222

Posted in Culture & Art, Political

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Molokai Schools Get Help

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

Sen. Kalani English is looking out for the little guy. He recently proposed an amendment to a bill that puts an inadvertent budgetary strain on small, remote schools.

The Reinventing Education Act of 2004 established a weighted student formula for schools to receive money – meaning the more students at a school, the more money would be needed and given. However, smaller schools received less funding since then – some were shut down.

Posted in Education, Political

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Prescription for Change

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

In the past few months, several hundred Molokai residents have had to wait two weeks to get their most important prescription medications. Under the Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund (EUTF) program, picking up medications at a local pharmacy is no longer an option. Molokai Drugs -- the Friendly Isle’s only local pharmacy -- says this is not acceptable. And Molokai’s Governor’s Council of Neighbor Island Advisors agreed.

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Field Trip

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Rick Tamanaha admits he didn’t know anything about growing organic papayas when he started his farm three years ago. He began with federal loans and a lot of help from Molokai farmers. He was also advised by Alton Arakaki, the Molokai agent from the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Arakaki and his colleague, James Leary, have now turned Tamanaha’s Kaleikoa Farm into a classroom for sustainable farming.

Last Thursday, Arakaki, Leary and Lynne Constantinides of Care Crop Hawaii presented a Sustainable Farming Practice Field Day for practitioners and gardeners on Molokai. Tamanaha’s farm served as an example of the importance of groundcover crops, and Conrad “Zuzu” Aquino’s farm showed how livestock can be used to clear fields.

He then uses portable electric fences, run on solar power, to keep the goats away from his various vegetable crops.

Aquino and Tamanaha now have new sustainable tools to more effectively and economically keep their farms running.

Tamanaha said he realizes the potential for his farm and wants to extend his 15 acres to the full 35 on his lot in Ho`olehua, providing more jobs to Molokai and stimulating growth.

“This can save this island,” he said. “We haven’t even scratched the surface of the industry.”

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Spelling Creates a Buzz

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Community Contributed

By Noa John Horner

Kualapu’u School held their annual School Spelling Bee on Jan. 7. Congratulations to Kamalei Davis who was our runner up this year and to Geisha Nunez who won first place. These two students will be representing our school in Maui on Feb. 11 at the Maui District Bee. If successful, they will be eligible to compete at our state level in March and hopefully continue on to national recognition in May.

Administered by the E.W. Scripps Company, the nation-wide spelling bee is the largest and longest-running educational promotion in the country. The purpose of the popular bee is to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts, and develop correct English usage that will help them all their lives.

This year we watched 16 students from Kualapu’u School compete for the two top seeds to advance to the district level. The bee went through 12 intense rounds before a winner could be chosen. It was ultimately decided when Geisha Nunez got the correct spelling of the word “opacity.” Congratulations to Geisha for a job well done.

Gift bags with various school supplies were presented to all 16 finalists. Our two top winners went home with gift bags, school packs, a dictionary, a Scrabble game and cash prizes. The Spelling Bee Committee would like to thank Alu Like, Queen Liliuokalani Trust, Kualapu’u School, and Kualapu’u PSO for their generous donations to our winners.

We would like to say a very special Mahalo to Andreana Reyes who coordinated the whole event. All the time planning and preparing really made this event a successful one. Thank you also goes out to Faith Horner, Minky Young, Christine McGuire, Ted Takamiya, Leila Elia, Brianne Naeole, Tarrah Horner and Lydia Trinidad. Thank you for your time and expertise. Thank you also to all the families who helped and supported their children in this year’s spelling bee.

Congratulations to all our students who participated. Study hard and we’ll see all of you next year. Finally, good luck to our two students, Geisha Nunez and Kamalei Davis, as they prepare for the upcoming bees.

Posted in Education

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Author Archives: Megan Stephenson

Ka Molokai Makahiki

Spartan Showdown

Poetry Rocks

Building a Community

Island Air Cancels Mid-Week Flights

Making of a Nation

Molokai Schools Get Help

Prescription for Change

Field Trip

Spelling Creates a Buzz

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Author Archives: Megan Stephenson

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