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Community

General news which affects the Molokai community in one way or another.

Calling Community Reporters

Friday, October 2nd, 2015

Are you a Molokai resident who enjoys writing, has a passion for your community and wants to become a part of The Molokai Dispatch team? We’d love to have you join us.

For the last decade, The Molokai Dispatch has fostered a thriving internship program that allows young journalists from around the country the opportunity to bring their talent to Molokai, work hands-on in a small island community, and in turn, provide the island with high quality reporting. As we prepare to celebrate our 30th anniversary, The Molokai Dispatch is also preparing to shift our model from interns to home-grown community reporters.…

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Park Program Connects Kids to Kalaupapa

Friday, October 2nd, 2015

KNHP News Release

Kalaupapa National Historical Park (KNHP) will be offering interested fourth grade teachers on Molokai the opportunity to have a Kalaupapa Interpretive Park Ranger visit their class throughout the school year. They will bring Kalaupapa to each Molokai school through fun and interactive lessons. This is part of the White House’s new Every Kid in a Park program.

The long term goal of this initiative is to educate and inspire the next generation of environmental ambassadors and stewards,” said KNHP Superintendent Erika Espaniola. “I’m excited for the NPS to bring programs into Molokai classrooms and share the importance of this very special place.”…

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How is Your Healthcare?

Friday, October 2nd, 2015

Gov. Ige News Release

As part of a statewide effort to share health care innovation plans and get community feedback, the Governor’s office will provide public briefings on Lanai and Molokai. Two health care initiatives meant to improve insurance coverage, health care access and coordination of care will be addressed in the following proposals:

The state’s proposed waiver from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), developed with input from the Affordable Care Act Waiver Taskforce, which seeks to preserve Hawaii’s Prepaid Health Care Act while also complying with the federal health care law.

A plan to improve behavioral health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and excessive alcohol consumption by incorporating screening and treatment for behavioral health needs with innovations in workforce, telehealth, training, and incentives. …

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Veterans Corner: Busy next month for vets

Friday, October 2nd, 2015

Community Contributed

By Jesse Church

Aloha all my fellow veterans and residents of Molokai, old Jesse here with all the veterans news and upcoming events. The Molokai Veterans Caring for Veterans (MVCV) board of directors had their monthly meeting on Sept. 16. Watch commanders are will needed for Tuesdays and Wednesdays if someone would like to give four hours of his of her time it would be much appreciated. Duties are from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and involve answering phone and questions and being a good will ambassador for Molokai veterans.

Ted Johns asked it if was legal to drink alcohol at private parties at the Vet Center, saying he thinks we are losing potential customers if we cannot rent the hall to somebody who wants to serve alcohol.…

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Kulaia: One Community, One Wa`a

Wednesday, September 30th, 2015

Kulaia: One Community, One Wa`a

Last Friday on the closed main street of Kaunakakai town, children spoke Hawaiian fluidly. Community members pounded poi while shop owners told ancestral stories through their handmade crafts. Hawaiian culture was alive and well at Molokai’s second annual Kulaia, a celebration whose purpose was reconnecting with traditions of the past.

“I like the idea that it’s a historical event that we’re trying to revive in our own Molokai way,” said resident Pulama Lima. “… I think it brings our community together in a way that people look at us as this model of aloha and this model of why we still continue this life of subsistence.”…

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Molokai Joins Opposition to NextEra Merger

Wednesday, September 30th, 2015

Molokai residents voiced largely opposition two weeks ago to a proposed merger between Hawaiian Electric and NextEra, a Florida-based energy company. The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is gathering public feedback on the proposed $4.3 million merger and will make a decision within the next six months. Molokai’s feedback, said Commission Chair Randall Iwase, has been in keeping with what they’ve heard so far around the state.

“The commission is not required to hold these sessions, but it was opinion of all three commissioners that it was important and appropriate to hear from the public,” said Iwase.

A majority of Molokai attendees testified that they opposed the merger.…

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Weather Cancels Women’s Channel Race

Sunday, September 27th, 2015

Weather Cancels Women’s Channel Race

For the first time in 35 years, the annual Na Wahine O Ke Kai women’s channel race between Molokai and Oahu was cancelled the evening before the race due to weather concerns. With a small craft advisory calling for swells up to 12 feet and a wind advisory predicting 35 mph winds with gusts up to 50 mph on Sunday, race officials made a difficult decision to call off the 41-mile crossing of the unpredictable Ka`iwi Channel. It will not be rescheduled this year.

“It is with heavy hearts that the Na Wahine O Ke Kai Committee announced the cancellation of the 2015 race,” announced the race’s Facebook page.  …

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Sen. Hirono to Talk Story with Vets

Friday, September 25th, 2015

MVCV News Release

One of Hawaii’s two senators is coming to Molokai. Sen. Mazie Hirono is going to hold a town hall meeting at the Veterans Center on Tues. Oct. 13 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. She is a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs and she is very interested to find out the problems or concerns of our veterans and how she can help. She would also like to hear any ideas you may have.

So please write down the date and time, along with what you’d like to discuss with her. Remember, this is your chance to talk to a person who can make your thoughts heard in Washington.…

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Veterans Corner: Vietnam era challenges

Friday, September 25th, 2015

Community Contributed

By Jesse Church

Aloha all my fellow veterans and residents of Molokai, old Jesse here with all the veterans news and upcoming events. In the 1960s with the war in Vietnam raging and the Civil Rights movement in full swing, political activism in the U.S. among many young Americans on college campuses was at its highest. Groups like Students for a Democratic Society appeared and activities like burning of draft cards became common place. With the huge opposition to the war, draft-age males fled to Canada and other countries by the thousands in an effort to avoid their obligation to the U.S.…

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Tutu’s Memories: Halcyon days at the Sheraton Kaluakoi

Friday, September 25th, 2015

Community Contributed

By Marie Yamashita

“You people here are so lucky,” said my good friend Ethel, who had come from Oahu with her husband and friends to spend another weekend golfing and staying at the Sheraton.   “It’s beautiful here and the course is better than our Mid Pacific Country Club on Oahu.”

That was way back in the early 1980s. Many times I had heard similar words from those who visited our island, not only from those who golfed, but others who came primarily to luxuriate in the hotel’s vacation atmosphere or to dine in the charming dining hall.

The view of Kepuhi beach was breathtaking.…

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