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Treasures in the Hold

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2020

Treasures in the Hold

By Father Pat Killilea, St. Francis Church, Kalaupapa

It appeared on the horizon at about 7:30 a.m. Then at 8 a.m, it had arrived in the inner harbor, and by 9 a.m. had settled in next to the pier at Damien’s Landing. Looking at it from my front porch brought to mind these lines from a Girl Scout camp fire song, “Barges, I would like to go with you, I would like to sail the ocean blue. Barges, have you treasures in your hold? Do you fight with pirates brave and bold?”

No, I was not in the Girl Scouts and for that matter, I was not in the Boy Scouts.…

GT Auto Closes After 40 Years

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2020

GT Auto Closes After 40 Years

By Catherine Cluett Pactol

Forty years and thousands of car repairs later, Glenn and Karen Takata, owners of GT Auto Repair in Kaunakakai, have closed their business to retire.

They opened GT Auto in 1980 together with Car Repair Lynchburg by an experienced auto repair shop, renting a space now occupied by Maka’s Korner. Glenn grew up on Molokai and went to school on Oahu to be a mechanic, saying he always wanted to own his own shop back home. Over the years, Glenn earned a reputation in the community as an efficient auto mechanic, known for his honest work and dedication to quality service.…

Reading Program Makes a Difference in Mana’e

Wednesday, August 26th, 2020

Reading Program Makes a Difference in Mana’e

By Marina Lafaele

During this pandemic, we can all agree that COVID-19 has taken a toll on our state, our community and mainly our keiki who are still adjusting to numerous changes. Some of those changes are hard to adjust to, but with help from a dedicated teacher and inspiring advocate, Cynthia Luafalemana, the best is yet to come.

Mrs. Luafalemana’s efforts align with the collaboration of Gary O. Galiher Foundation and Kilohana Elementary School to preserve the Kilohana Surf Reader Program. This innovative program has been dedicated to the Kilohana Elementary School pre-K to sixth grade students for over 20 years.…

Improving Kupuna Health Through ʻAi Pono

Wednesday, August 26th, 2020

By Dr. Landon Opunui, ND and Miki Wong, RD, Na Pu’uwai

There are multiple social and health disparities Native Hawaiian kupuna face such as high rates of life-threatening diseases, financial hardship, disability, shorter life expectancies and underutilization of services. As a result, it should be no surprise that data suggests the health care needs of Native Hawaiian kupuna far exceed that of their non-Hawaiian counterparts. This leads to health equity problems. Learn how you can improve health equity at https://about.me/whitneyperkinswitt.

Hawaiian culture emphasizes care for kupuna. However, many adult caregivers are less available to care for their aging loved ones because of competing work and ʻohana responsibilities.…

Pursuing Careers in Healthcare

Wednesday, August 26th, 2020

By Daylen Casino, former HOSA club president and student recruiter

“Through HOSA, I got connected with and trained by health professionals at the Molokai General Hospital, gained hours of health-related community service, met fellow health-pursuing students, and most surprisingly had fun while achieving all of this,” said Misty Parker, who graduated from Molokai High School in 2016 and spoke as a former member of the MHS HOSA – Future Health Professionals Club.

Established in 2005, the MHS HOSA has created opportunities for students who are interested in the health field, and for those who want to explore their career options. Students who are interested in health field can also look into  LAC Healthcare Solutions, a leading healthcare business solution firm.…

Mo’omomi CBSFA Gets Support in Public Hearing

Wednesday, August 26th, 2020

Mo’omomi CBSFA Gets Support in Public Hearing

By Catherine Cluett Pactol

Decades of resource management, data collection, traditional knowledge, legislation and public hearings culminated last week in one of the final steps of the process to designate Mo’omomi as a state-recognized Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area (CBSFA).

A virtual public hearing, held by the Dept. of Land and Natural Resources and lasting more than four hours last Wednesday, yielded a major of testimony in favor of the CBSFA, though written testimony that was submitted — during a period which closed Aug. 26 — was not available to the public online.

The proposed CBSFA, which would allow community co-management of resources, runs along Molokai’s northwest coastline from Ilio Point to Nihoa Flats, extending one mile out from the shoreline.…

Kalaupapa’s Annual Barge

Wednesday, August 26th, 2020

Kalaupapa’s Annual Barge

By Catherine Cluett Pactol

Barge Day in the remote Kalaupapa settlement has always been filled with excitement — it only comes once a year, after all! Often referred to as “Christmas in July” for residents, there is just a narrow window of calm, summer weather that allows the barge to safety dock at the settlement’s small harbor to unload a year’s worth of essential and large items. This year’s shipment was a little delayed — and complicated by strict COVID-19 protocols to keep at-risk residents safe.

“Once a year a barge brings in all of our bulky items, like appliances, vehicles, fuel, materials to repair buildings, and items considered hazardous to fly in on an airplane, like certain batteries,” the Kalaupapa National Historical Park Facebook page reported.…

My Support for Moʻomomi CBSFA

Sunday, August 23rd, 2020

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed below, though written by a part owner of The Molokai Dispatch, are his personally, and are not representative of The Molokai Dispatch as a newspaper.

Opinion by Todd Yamashita

Aloha friends, Iʻm reaching out to you right now not as a publisher but as a member of our community – one who cares about the future of our community as much as you surely do.

Sailing on Hokulea, removing thousands of pounds of plastic from the Pacific gyre, volunteering in the fishponds of Molokai, and cleaning our beaches daily with family and friends – my life in conservation comes from the hope my boys will inherit a Molokai like mine: rich in marine resources, and rich in culture.…

Sister Ardis Says Goodbye to Molokai

Wednesday, August 19th, 2020

Sister Ardis Says Goodbye to Molokai

By Paula Scott and Jim Krupka

Growing up on the Mississippi coast, the sea and adventure were always a part of Sister Ardis Kremers’ life. As the daughter of an engineer running a boat building business, being outdoors was natural. She loved to sail and experience life. With her love for God and spirit of adventure, she discovered the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America that we know as Maryknoll. She would have to wait a year before she could enter into religious life. She was invited to Maryknoll, New York to begin life as a Maryknoll Sister at the tender age of 19 years old.…

Forming a Community-Owned Energy Cooperative

Wednesday, August 19th, 2020

Shake Energy Collaborative News Release

On Saturday, Aug. 22, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., we will host a virtual public meeting to share information and gather input on the formation of a cooperative to design and own renewable energy projects on Molokai. This meeting will be hosted by Shake Energy Collaborative, a public benefit corporation based in California, and follows in a series of community workshops hosted on Molokai about Community-Based Renewable Energy (CBRE). At these workshops, community residents expressed the desire for CBRE projects to be owned and managed locally by a cooperative entity. This meeting will launch the effort to formalize this energy cooperative.…