Community Unity
Opinion by Bob Aldrich
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Add your commentAces at 87
George Harada calls it luck. Darrell Rego, golf pro at Ironwood Hills in Kualapu`u, calls it “pretty damn good.”
The 87-year-old Harada recently sank his second hole-in-one at the course in eight months. The first ace, which Harada tallied in October, was the first of his life.
Both holes-in-one came on Ironwood’s Hole 3, a par 3 hole with a forced carry. “It’s a lot more challenging than some of the other holes,” Rego said.
Only weeks earlier, Harada had finished spending about two months in the hospital for a bacterial infection. Still feeling rusty, he used a No. 1 wood to drive it in.
“It cost me a few bucks,” he said, joking about buying dinner for his five playing partners.
By June, when Harada sank his second ace, he “got his swing back,” and sank it with a No. 7 club. At first, he and his playing partner couldn’t find the ball – but when they finally checked, “sure enough, it was in the hole,” he chuckled.
Rego said everybody was surprised to see Harada make his second hole-in-one in such a short time, because his two aces account for half of the course’s total this year – already above the course average.
Harada said he’s received plenty phone calls since the Honolulu Star-Advertiser ran a story about his golf successes, including messages from family and former colleagues. Still, he stays modest.
“It was only lucky,” he said.
Creating a Space for Creativity
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Pottery classes. Keiki learning how to sculpt or paint. Dance lessons. Workshops to teach local artists marketability, and for visiting artists to share the secrets of their craft. That’s what Molokai Arts Center (MAC) organizers envision as a vibrant workspace for community members to learn, teach and engage in art.
The vacant building behind Coffees of Hawaii might look sparse now, but it is already undergoing a transformation into what could become an artistic hub for Molokai.
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MAC is currently looking for building material donations, including shelving, and art equipment, including kilns. For more information, call Markham at 349-6270 or visit http://molokaiarts.yolasite.com/. Tax deductible donations may be sent as checks to the Molokai Arts Center at HC1 Box 370, Kaunakakai, HI 96748.
Veteran’s Corner
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Community Contributed
Column by Jesse Church
Hello veterans, old Jesse here with all the veterans’ news and upcoming events. In the May 23rd copy of Marine Times, an Associated Press article about mental health explained benefits owed to veterans. In a strongly worded ruling the San Francisco based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it takes VA an average of four years to fully provide the mental health benefits owed to veterans. The court went on to order the Dept. of Veteran Affairs to dramatically overhaul its mental health care system. The court also said it often takes weeks for a suicidal veteran to get a first appointment. The unchecked incompetence in handling the flood of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health claims is unconstitutional, the court said. The appeals court, however, said there is ample evidence that VA is failing in its duty to provide timely mental health care for the nation’s veterans, despite increases in its health care budget in recent years. The court also said one of every three troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan were treated by VA for mental health issues, including PTSD.
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Harry Hamburg of the Associated Press wrote an update on the problems at Arlington National Cemetery. He said lawmakers are growing impatient with the investigation into misconduct at Arlington. Nearly a year has passed since an Army inspector general report found problems with at least 211 gravesites at Arlington, including mishandled remains buried in graves marked as empty, and graves mismarked. The cemetery’s new director, Katheryn Condon, was grilled recently by the House Appropriations Committee’s military construction panel. The Army Criminal Investigation command continues to probe problems at the cemetery, and may refer charges to the U.S. Attorney’s office. That may result in either criminal prosecution, or civil penalties. Condon said she would provide a full report when the investigations are completed. Meanwhile, the cemetery is developing new protocols and record keeping systems.
In upcoming events, John Candello will be on Molokai July 7 and July 14. He will be at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs from 7:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. by appointment, call 553-3611. Also Joe Thompson, the VA service officer, will be on Molokai July 15 from 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. at the veterans’ center in Kaunakakai. For more information call 553-8387. The monthly meeting of the Veterans of Foreign Wars has been canceled for July.
If anyone has any news, or stories, or would just like to talk about their experiences while in service of this great country, give old Jesse a call at 553-3323, I’d love to hear from you. A big mahalo to all our veterans, and the people of Molokai, you’re the best, I love you all.
Rate Increase for Water
Maui County News Releases
The Department of Water Supply (DWS) would like to remind its customers that water rates will increase by an average of 5.5 percent effective July 1, 2011. The rate increase should generate approximately $2.9 million in additional revenues, which will be necessary to offset increases in electrical expenses, debt service, and operations and maintenance expenditures. In addition, the balance of additional revenues will be used to fund capital replacement projects. The County Council approved the rates during the fiscal year 2012 budget approval period.
The new monthly rates, per 1,000 gallons, are as follows: 0-5,000 $1.75; 5,001-15,000 $3.20; over 15,000 $4.60; agriculture less than 15,000 $1.05; and non-potable $1.05.
Governor Signs Landmark Native Hawaiian Rights Law
State Senate News Release
A 118-year-old deep-rooted obligation to formally recognize Native Hawaiians as “the only indigenous, aboriginal, maoli people of Hawaii” will take a major step forward when Gov. Neil Abercrombie signs Senate Bill 1520 into law on Wednesday, July 6, 2011.
The law will significantly improve protection of cultural rights, ceded lands and other entitlements, advance self-governance and heal the “kaumaha” – the heaviness or sorrow. When signed into law, the measure adds a new chapter to the Hawaii Revised Statutes, which would establish a process for Native Hawaiians to organize themselves.
Squash or Pumpkin?
Community Contributed
By Glenn I. Teves, County Extension Agent
In Hawaii, we call pumpkins squash, and squash pumpkins, and understandably so. They’re related and include several species of tropical gourds native to the Americas, both north and south, and even in the Caribbean. They come in greens, brown, oranges and stripes; in all shapes and sizes: bumpy, ribbed and smooth with some shaped like papayas and pears. Some can weigh over 1,500 pounds! These vines were grown extensively by the native peoples of these areas, and many American natives had their own varieties, including Lakota, Seminole, Arikara, and Cherokee.
Health Plan Up in the Air
Duplication of health services is not an issue for Molokai, said Loretta Fuddy, state Director of Health, last week. That announcement comes after health providers on Molokai have been concerned about duplication for the past two years, and have participated in several meetings mandated by the state to hash out a comprehensive health care plan for the island.
Health care providers and concerned residents gathered one more time at the Mitchell Pauole Center last Wednesday, to try and agree on a plan where health care professionals would form partnerships for services, as well as collaborate on funding.
Molokai Commission to Vote on Short Term Rentals
Molokai continues to teeter on the balance between the economic benefits from tourism and the desire to maintain the island’s pristine and undeveloped flavor. The Molokai Planning Commission (MoPC) is in the process of addressing whether or not to approve a legal avenue for homeowners wishing to turn their home into a short term rental, also known as a transient vacation rental (TVR).
At their meeting last week, commissioners debated on a draft ordinance from the Maui County Council that would establish permitting procedures for short-term rental homes on Molokai, Lanai and Maui.
Planning Partnerships
Community members expressed a wide range of suggestions last week for how to manage the future of Kalaupapa National Historical Park (KNHP), but among the differences, some themes arose: Keep it sacred, keep it spiritual, and ensure native Hawaiians have access to the land.
The Department of Hawaiian Homelands (DHHL) met with community members and homestead beneficiaries at the Lanikeha Community Center last Wednesday and Kulana `Oiwi last Thursday, gathering feedback as KNHP moves forward with a General Management Plan (GMP) for the peninsula.
The National Park Service (NPS) currently leases Kalaupapa land from DHHL for $200,000 a year, which will increase to $230,000 a year in July. The 50-year lease expires in 2041.
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