Ekolu Kalamas Wins Molokai Channel Race – UPDATED
This after winning the standup paddling world cup in Germany just two weeks prior (see photo). Congrats from the Dispatch gang!
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Author Archives: Todd Yamashita
This after winning the standup paddling world cup in Germany just two weeks prior (see photo). Congrats from the Dispatch gang!
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Add your commentEkolu Kalama Wins Major Stand-Up Paddle Race in Germany
Ekolu Kalama wins the both the sprint and distance division races at the Stand-Up Paddle Racing World Cup in Germany amidst 27,000 spectators last weekend. (skip to 1:35 in the video below)
By Todd Yamashita
Molokai boy, Ekolu Kalama made some major waves in the otherwise placid waters of Hamburg, Germany last weekend. Kalama won both the 200 meter sprint and the 10,000 meter (roughly four miles) distance race in the first ever Standup Paddling World Cup.
With over 27,000 fans and 143 competitors, Kalama represented Molokai and Hawaii well in one of the fastest growing sports world wide. “It was really good and rewarding – but also tiring. There was stiff competition,” said Kalama in a televised interview.
Molokai Pharmacy At Risk
Quality of health care is also at stake as community rallies to convince state agency not to restrict union members from doing business with the island’s only drug store.By Molokai Dispatch Staff
A state-wide plan could require Molokai union members to order prescriptions through the mail. Unless Molokai is granted an exemption from the plan, the island’s only pharmacy, Molokai Drugs, could teeter on the brink of closure, according to the establishment’s owners.
A few weeks ago, the greater Molokai community became aware that the Hawaii Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund (EUTF) had entered into a contract with InformedRx, Inc, a mainland-based company. The move will prevent members of United Public Workers (UPW) and Hawaii Government Employees Association (HGEA) from filling their maintenance drug prescriptions at Molokai Drugs.
The Halawa School
A personal connection to a historic place By Catherine Aki
More recently, I read through a 1936 Star Bulletin article about the 50th year Halawa School Anniversary. The school had originally been built with three rooms, in 1886, by a man named Henry Van Gieson. The school was so popular that students came from as far away as Kaunakakai through Kamalo, Kaluaaha, Waialua, Honouli, and Wailau even though those communities had schools of their own. After ten years Van Gieson left.
The succession of teachers after that were Mr. Wilson, Mr. Wagner, Peter Pascal, Simeon Kalua, Miss Emma Kane, Mathew Kane and David Kalaau who taught for more that 24 years. At the time of the anniversary, Edwin Kaupu was the principal. The invocation of the ceremony was given by Rev. Issac D. Iaea. In attendance were various school delegates and about 100 alumni. Mr. Van Gieson had already passed on and his wife was too sick to represent him, so two of his children and a granddaughter came instead. The granddaughter’s name was Inez Hawkins who, coincidentally, was my grandmother’s first cousin.
It was such a surprise to realize that my family had a connection not only to Hawaii and Molokai, but actually to Halawa. Although it is just a single thread, it is still a multi-generational link - something that many of the non-native land owners do not have. I had the story in my possession for years without realizing there was any relevancy, but it has been a “treat” to find it after all this time.
On Molokai, I am sure people are chuckling about how weak my thread is, and that is to be expected. But that is because this is an island where people still live where their ancestor’s bones have rested for at least 1000 years.
Yet, I hear stories about people coming from the outside expecting Molokai to change without realizing how connected indigenous people are to place. On a single parcel of land the same family may have lived for 75 to 100 generations. It has not been bought and sold but instead lived on forever in Hawaiian time. For most westerners, we cannot fathom this because land is such a commodity.
A while back I spent a lot of time in Halawa and I used to feel different things in the valley. I used to wonder what kind of learning environment could again be created which would utilize a more “traditional” family type teaching. Maybe it was just daydreaming or maybe it was a realization of Halawa’s long educational legacy. The school, built in 1886, lasted until about 1956 or so.
And it continues to make me smile that the first teacher in Halawa had a granddaughter who was my grandmother’s first cousin.
Hyper-Local News, Moloka`i Style
Akaku Press Release
Akaku: Maui Community Television Hosts Todd Yamashita, Owner/Editor of The Moloka`i Dispatch Discusses News for the Friendly Isle on
Friday, June 26 at 6pm
Kahului, June 8- Akaku: Maui Community Television (Akaku) will host Todd Yamashita, owner and editor of The Molokai Dispatch on Friday, June 26 from 6-8pm at its digital lounge at 333 Dairy Road, Kahului. Independent community producers and attendees will be able to ask questions and “talk-story” with Yamashita after a brief presentation on the theme: “News for the People of Molokai.” The event is open to the public and a suggested donation of $5 to cover food and beverage costs is welcomed. Interested individuals should R.S.V.P to reserve a seat, as space will be limited.
Branded as “News for the people of Molokai,” the Molokai Dispatch advocates Hawaiian culture, family values, education, community dialogue, accountability in leadership, and sustainable practices.
Fiery Faith
New Kaunakakai fire station breaks ground.By Melissa Kelsey
Time for an Upgrade
There are several reasons community members want a new fire station, according to firefighter Greg Jenkins, the County of Maui coordinator for the project.
The Kaunakakai fire station is currently located next to Mitchell Pauole Center in an area that frequently floods, and Jenkins said water in the building can impede efficient operations.
“We have waded to our trucks in a foot of water,” he said.
More importantly, the current station is so central in town that first responders have to immediately drive past baseball fields, Kaunakakai Elementary School and other congested community centers. Firefighters point out that on occasion, this creates delays and safety issues for pedestrians.
In addition, firefighters and their equipment have outgrown the station, and there is not enough storage space.
Molokai Classroom
The new station will have the most advanced fire fighting training facilities in the County of Maui, and will rank among the top in the state. The building will include a large classroom for public safety training. Towers in the new station design will be used for rope rescue training, confined space training and ladder training. A smaller tower will be used to simulate second story building rescues. Jenkins said the training space may attract educational programs throughout the state and nationally, possibly being significant enough to boost local economy.
“People could come to Molokai for training and stay at Hotel Molokai,” said Jenkins.
A Long Road
The Maui-based construction company Maui Master Builders won the contract to build the new station from the County of Maui for $11.8 million, according to Jenkins. Construction is expected to take 18 months. Even after seven years, however, the company cannot begin building until they secure two final permits, according to Duane Ting at Maui Master Builders. Ting said they are still waiting on a building permit from the County of Maui and a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit from the Clean Water Branch of the State of Hawaii Board of Health. The NPDES permitting process checks building projects to ensure that they will not pollute local water sources.
Jenkins said planning personnel put a great deal of thought into making the new fire station environmentally friendly. As a result of the architectural design, fire fighters will be able to turn off air conditioning and utilities in individual rooms that are not being used. Due to financial constraints, the fire station will not be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified. The building design, however, does allow for green additions in the future if grant money becomes available. Fire personnel hope to eventually add a solar water heating system and a photovoltaic lighting system, according to Jenkins.
Word of Mouth Employment
The new fire station will not immediately create jobs for the County of Maui Fire Department because the fire fighters who work at the current station will simply be transferred to the new station, Jenkins said. Maui Master Builders will bring some of their own workers and subcontractors for the building construction, but a limited number of construction jobs may become available for Molokai residents, according to Ting. However, Ting said that Maui Master Builders does not have a system for advertising job opportunities and instead relies on word of mouth for hiring. Interested workers should contact Maui Master Builders, where the company is keeping an inventory of people who call inquiring about jobs. In addition, the company is surveying its own employees, many of whom are from Molokai, to ask whether or not they want to work on Molokai.
“Some of the workers for the project will be returning home to Molokai,” said Ting.
Jenkins pointed out that the construction project will likely include increased business for Molokai trucking, cement and other building materials suppliers.
Who turned the lights out!?
TheMolokaiDispatch.com is Back
As many of you may have noticed, the Molokai Dispatch website has been down for the past several days. It seems that our host provider decided our website caused a bit too much “action” on their shared server. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, consider yourself lucky.
Experiencing this kind of “technical difficulty” is certainly not something we hope to repeat and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience the outage may have caused you. For those who had wondered about the health of the newspaper industry on Molokai, fear not, we’re doing quite alright and have no plans of doing anything else but bringing you weekly news from the Friendly Isle.
My Sustainable Molokai Youth Contest
Aloha, welcome to the My Sustainable Molokai Youth Contest. Use this resource page to download contest forms and to research sustainability concepts and technologies. Then express your own creative vision for a sustainable Molokai through art, poetry and/or essay.
Free Eye-Care Coming to Molokai
Lions Club helps bring free vision screening to Molokai keikiThe Molokai Lions Club has arranged food, lodging, and transportation for their 3 day/2 night stay. All 4 elementary schools, the middle school and Aka'ula agreed to the proposed screening. The doctors sent their permission form for the schools to use and this has been sent out by the individual schools to all families. If your child has not brought a form home please contact your school...... this form is necessary in order to have the screening. Several Lions Club volunteers will work along side the doctors and crew to accomplish this mission in just two days! The schools have been extremely cooperative in their acceptance of the screening schedule and providing lunches!! If you have any questions please contact Lion Jackie Cushman, Vision Chairperson for Molokai Lions Club @ 553-5006. A short summary of the doctors background and mission statement is as follows:
UC Berkeley classmates Drs. Karsten Lee and Michael Leong have a philosophy in their practice that emphasizes strong community service. The Lion's club shares in their vision that clear vision should not be a privilege but a human right. Also, they understand that it is critical to screen children, who sometimes cannot articulate that there is a vision problem, which could result to vision loss as an adult. Amblyopia is the number one reason for vision loss in children, and the tragic thing is that it is completely avoidable with screenings. Additionally, working with a team of stellar staff allows them to do more in the community. It frees up time to work on projects and allows them to help in an area where they are lucky to have some expertise.
The local Lion's Clubs are always a huge support, especially on their off island screenings. Whether it's setting up the screenings, picking them up at the airport or even housing them, the Lions have been a wonderful partner in vision screenings.
The goal at Drs. Lee and Leong is to screen as many schools as they can. Coordinating school schedules with their clinic schedules can pose challenges, but their staff and partners at the Wal-Mart Vision Center have been flexible. They just finished a successful screening on the island of Lanai, and have their sights set on making Lanai and Molokai annual stops on their screening circuit. Both islands have limited to no eye care. While vision screenings without doctor support are successful, having a doctor on staff provides an added layer of medical expertise. This is a welcome relief on these islands with limited access to eye and health care. The support doctor can make the proper diagnosis, treatment, and/or referral which saves time, which in turn can dramatically affect outcome, especially in these rural settings.
Drs. Lee and Leong have gone on over 13 international eye missions and realized a few years ago that there is a huge need right here where we live as well. They try to balance providing screenings at home with eye care to places like Chile, Nicaragua, Thailand, Honduras, and Mexico. They recently setup a monthly eye clinic at the Hana Health Center to provide care to a community that was without care for over 2 years. These doctors are always looking for ways to better serve the community they live in, and to ensure the eye care needs of community members are taken care of.
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