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Environmentally Charged

Friday, May 7th, 2010

Ready. Set. Energize.

Molokai saw its first-ever Energy Efficient and Renewables Show last weekend at the Country Fair, with an avant-garde display of electric vehicles catching the eyes of passerby, along with hydrogen demonstrations, green workshops and light bulb exchange.

The show hosted multiple educational presentations on light-emitting diode (LED) and inductive lighting; the benefits of electric vehicles and charging stations; wind generation; solar hot water and photovoltaic systems; and energy-saving window tinting.

products.”

Blue Planet Foundation also made an appearance alongside students from the robotics team – continuing with their island-wide campaign to go 100 percent compact fluorescent bulb (CFL) efficient.

“Our next step is to go door-to-door,” said Heidi Jenkins, Kaunakakai Elementary School teacher. “We just did that at Ranch Camp and exchanged 1,600 bulbs.”

Go Electric, Save Money
Of the various companies to set up shop outside Lanikeha Community Center on Saturday was Hawaii Electric Vehicle (HiEV), who brought some of the latest technology to hit the ‘green’ scene.

Featured were three electric vehicles – two cars and a motorcycle – a developing mode of transportation that HiEV hopes to bring to Molokai.

HiEV representative Michael Leone said the company’s goal is to gather a group of local businesses interested in being hosts for the electrical vehicle charger, and will provide them with the solar and power. Leone said by being a host, businesses could receive substantial tax credits.

The initiative will also include training Molokai youth – preferably high school students – in how to assemble and maintain the electric vehicles, which will provide them with jobs and help stimulate the economy.

“The goal is long-term sustainability,” Leone said. “We’re in the recruiting process right now. This trip is to find the right people – any interested businesses.”

Leone said on Molokai it costs 22 cents per mile to drive a gas-operated vehicle. The cost for electric is only two cents a mile.

“This could be huge for Molokai,” Leone said. “Especially with bringing in youth – we want to pass along the torch.”

Posted in Community, Energy

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Molokai Goes Country

Friday, May 7th, 2010

“Ag Unity in Our Community” was the theme of Saturday’s country fair at Lanikeha Community Center – and it fell nothing short of congruity.

Over a thousand community members weaved in and out of the first-ever agricultural fair, checking out vendors, participating in activities like the greased pig and corn-eating contests, listening to live music and devouring ono food.

“So many people came out to support the Ag,” said Lynn Decoite, one of the fair’s organizers. “It was just fabulous.”

The fair featured a strong lineup of vendors including Kumu Farms, Island Air, Community Health Center, Blue Planet Foundation, Health and Wellness Center, Young Brothers, Coffees of Hawaii, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Molokai Livestock Cooperative, and Seed Savers among many more.

The idea to host a fair arose when Decoite, owner of L&R Farms and president of Molokai Homestead Farmers Alliance, and other farmers began talking about bringing together all aspects of agriculture while getting the community involved. Decoite said it took about six months of planning, but the outcome was well worth it.

“The feedback was very positive and the community seemed very excited” to bring the fair back next year, Decoite added.

The fair was sponsored by the Department of Hawaiian Homelands, County of Maui, Office of Economic Development, USDA Farm Service Agency, Island Air, Young Brothers, and Molokai Homestead Farmers Alliance.

Don't forget to check out the Dispatch's coverage of all things Country:

Best In Show - Molokai's first dog show.
Environmentally Charged - Electric cars highlight the energy exhibition.
GMO No-Go for Some - Some residents are against Monsanto's GMO practices.
Birds Got Game - Molokai celebrates the peaceful side to game fowl.

Posted in Agriculture, Community

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Wrestling Smack Down

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

A mass of vivacious fans packed The Barn last Saturday – some streaming in to see their tough keiki, others from off-island – as they cheered on about 230 competitors who faced off in Molokai’s wrestling invitational.

The Molokai Wrestling Club dominated its own tournament, beating out nine other Maui clubs with a total of 143 points – more than double the score of runner-up Central Maui Style with 67 points. It was the Friendly Isle’s first win of the Maui Style Wrestling season.

Molokai was the largest team represented with about 75 youth – ages 5 to 17 – competing. Sixteen of those youth went home champions, while another 22 were runner-ups.

Among the other clubs to contend were Upcountry Wrestling Club, Central Maui Style, Lahaina Roughnecks, Napili Surfriders, Kihei Maulers and Central Razorbacks, Punahou Pumas, Lanai Ka’ulula’au and Maui Makali’i.

has become bigger than Molokai,” he added. “It’s great to see our wrestlers be able to compete in front of their home crowd.”

The club has two final matches, one this weekend at Wailuku – where the team will bring over about 20 of its 80-something wrestlers – and the state tournament on May 15 at the Civic Center on Maui.

Posted in Island Youth, Sports

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Aunty’s Corner

Friday, April 30th, 2010

. Much Aloha and Malama Pono, Aunty Kapua

Posted in Community

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Advancing Farmers

Friday, April 30th, 2010

With Larriley Rawlins’ contributing homers in each of last weekend’s games, Molokai High School managed to sweep St. Anthony and snag a spot in the upcoming state tournament.

The Lady Farmers rolled out another mercy rule win – which they accomplished last week against Seabury – on Friday night, defeating the Trojans 13-1, in the first of three games.

Molokai had a close repeat the following morning, outscoring St. Anthony 14-1 in only four innings, and won the second, 11-0, in five.

was crazy,” Coach Stacey Horner said. “I must have had four or five heart attacks.”

Another winner was Kaipoi Kondo, defeating Maui Prep’s Ray Vo 4-6, 7-6, 7-5 on Thursday in the first round of boys’ singles.

“We went in ranked fifth,” Horner said. “So I was very impressed with how they played.”

Montizor and Horner will be attending the State Championships May 5-6.

Volleyball
It was a split weekend for Molokai High School’s boys’ volleyball team, defeating Hana 3-2 on Friday, but then falling short, 3-2, on Saturday at The Barn.

On Friday, Molokai gained a five-set win, defeating the Dragons 25-22, 15-25, 25-20, 23-25, 15-13.

Kawaiola Kalipi recorded a total of 53 assists and two blocks for the Farmers, while Haaheo Falealii had 22 kills, followed by David Gomes and each adding nine kills.

Hana then rebounded the following day, winning 22-25, 23-25, 32-30, 25-19, 15-12.
Molokai’s Haaheeo Falealii had 17 kills and two blocks, while Claude Kapuni had 12 kills and four blocks and David Gomes and Julien Bumatay each added 10 kills.

Posted in Island Youth, Sports

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Kalaupapa Trail Repair Lingering

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

A footbridge damaged by a mudslide on the Kalaupapa pali trail two weeks ago could take up to three months to be permanently fixed – causing further disruption to the settlement’s tourism industry.

While switchback bridge No. 3 has been temporarily repaired to provide emergency access for residents and employees, it will remain closed to visitors, hikers and mule rides until a permanent bridge is erected, said National Park Service (NPS) Superintendent Steve Prokop.

“We’re working really quickly on getting the permanent bridge installed,” Prokop said. “[It will take] about three months, hopefully less.”

NPS closed the trail April 13 after the partially-collapsed bridge was discovered by hikers and rangers.

Posted in Community, Transportation

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All Lit Up

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

When it comes to ambitious goals, the dynamic force of the Molokai community and Blue Planet Foundation outshine the rest – literally.

Since launching the “Go Green and Carbon Clean” project three weeks ago, over 4,500 bulbs have been exchanged through schools, businesses and organizations on Molokai.

Island-wide, residents have brought in garbage bags full of their old, incandescent bulbs for new, energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) purchased by Blue Planet Foundation.

Kim Svetin, president of Molokai Drugs, said her business has distributed over 1,780 bulbs through Kamoi Snack-N-Go thus far, and is still going strong.

“The first week we had someone bring 44 bulbs [to exchange],” she said. “And just a couple days ago we had someone bring in 51 bulbs.”

each market day was set up to be purely an informational table with eight to 10 kids,” Svetin said. But, to no surprise, the booths have attracted a plethora of bulb exchangers, as well. On average, the kids have been exchanging roughly 225 bulbs each market day – totaling over 600 bulbs in the last three Saturdays.

Of the 44,000 bulbs shipped to Kaunakakai Wharf on March 25, 14,000 reside at various distribution points while the rest are being stored for future exchange.

Francois Rogers, Special Projects Director at Blue Planet, said he is pleased with the initial dispersal numbers and hopes to see it grow to 100 percent over the next few months.

The team’s next goal is to develop a plan to visit neighborhoods – possibly door-to-door – in higher, less-accessible areas for bulb exchange. Some church groups and other organizations are gathering volunteers to mobilize the process.

Phased Out
Molokai’s newly-established campaign for energy efficiency came at an opportune time. Incandescent bulbs will slowly be weeded out of the U.S. market under a 2007 energy law approved by Congress.

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 aims to phase out the use of incandescent bulbs within 10 years – meaning such bulbs will no longer be available for purchase beginning in 2012.

Besides altering the way Americans light their homes, the legislation will also change the cars they drive, fuel they burn and the price they pay for food.

The measure is intended to set higher fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks; require the production of 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2022; and establish new efficiency requirements for household appliances and government buildings.

For more information on the measure visit www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-6.

Don’t Be a Dinosaur
Aka`ula School supports compact florescent lightbulbs, or CFLs. On Friday, April 16, students Kori-Lee Derouin, Kala Helm, Luke Kikukawa, and Tanner Mosher were found at Home Pumehana for the 2010 Senior Fair, promoting the energy-efficient light bulbs.

By ‘going green,’ the innovative students used their creative talents and built “Savasaur the Dinosaur” by recycling old light bulbs that were turned in by families in the community.

Posted in Island Youth, Sustainability

1 Comments

Katchafire Heats It Up

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

When the Molokai Dispatch got wind that the guys from Katchafire were coming to spread their musical flavor on the Friendly Isle, we couldn’t help but jump on the bandwagon.

Deeply rooted from New Zealand, the band took to the stage their exceptional vocals, talented writing and sensual depth last Thursday at Paddlers Inn. Katchafire’s extreme energy was matched by the intensity of the massive crowd, who discovered that where there is smoke, there is definitely fire.

put in Slow Burning, the name of our second album. Our original lead singer was Gerry and so the first one we pulled out was Gerry and the Pacemakers or something silly like that, and we just laughed that off. Another was Black Fern but that didn’t make the cut and Katchafire was third.

MD: Where do you see yourselves in five years?
Katchafire: Still together, still jamming out. Hopefully bigger and better, but not too big that we don’t come back to Molokai. We could never be too big for that.

Posted in Community, Music

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Kalaupapa Trail Closed

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

Access by foot and hoof to Kalaupapa has been temporarily cut off, after a mudslide caused extensive damage to a bridge on the pali trail leading to the settlement.

On April 13, the National Park Service (NPS) closed the trail to all visitors and mule rides until repairs are made – which could take up to several weeks. In the meantime, Kalaupapa remains accessible by plane or boat.

“The highest priority of the NPS is the design of a new bridge and to get it constructed as soon as possible,” said Stephen Prokop, NPS superintendent. Structural engineers were brought in to assess the situation last week, while workers scrambled to make temporary repairs for an emergency access route.

Park officials attributed the wiped-out section – switchback bridge No. 3 – of the trail to a week of heavy rains. Prokop said the bridge itself, only a few hundred yards from the top of the steep, narrow trail, was in sound condition. The loose soils that support it, however, are highly susceptible to slippage, and severed access to the Hansen’s Disease settlement.

got to eat, I got to pay rent and insurance. That money comes from our profit.”

Despite the inconvenience, Horner is still booking charter air flights for visitors four days a week, and continues to work closely with Gloria Marks, owner of Damien Tours, to keep the guided bus tours up and running.

Currently, round-trip charter flights, provided by Pacific Wings, from topside Molokai to Kalaupapa are around $500, a considerable increase from the previous $100 rates.

Marks added it’s “really tough” on everyone, especially with unaffordable airfare.

“It makes things kind of rough,” she said. “If there are no more tourists, then the workers won’t get paid.”

Amid unfavorable circumstances, Prokop is optimistic the tours will wade through the next few weeks and keep the demand going.

Posted in Community

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Kualapu`u Center Expands

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

Upcountry Fast Stop, a new convenience store, opened its doors Friday at Kualapu`u Center, offering the community an array of goods and services.

As its name implies, the store is for patrons who need to make a quick pit-stop to grab a few grocery items, snacks or utilize their various services.

Services include Internet with printer, fax, copy machine, scanner, and an ATM. Upcountry plans on charging customers eight cents a minute for the Internet, 18 cents for copies and scanning, and $1.50 for the first page of a fax and 50 cents thereafter.

Goods offered are various microwavable and frozen foods, snacks, household items and baby supplies.

The Upcountry Fast Stop group says it’s a positive addition to the community, which didn’t have a business center or ATM until now. Prior to its opening, Kualapu`u residents had to utilize the schools for Internet and other computer needs.

Also coming soon will be a neighboring laundry mat managed by the Upcountry staff, and is currently in its permitting phase. Upcountry is anticipating another two months before the laundry mat opens, while its infrastructure is modified for water use.

Upcountry Fast Stop will be open seven days a week; Mon. thru Fri. from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Sat. from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; and Sun. from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hours are subject to change.

Posted in Business, Community

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Environmentally Charged

Molokai Goes Country

Wrestling Smack Down

Aunty’s Corner

Advancing Farmers

Kalaupapa Trail Repair Lingering

All Lit Up

Katchafire Heats It Up

Kalaupapa Trail Closed

Kualapu`u Center Expands

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