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Permitting Process Receives Cleanup

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

Permitting Process Receives Cleanup

The Molokai Community Plan, last updated in 2001, is on the move after holding community engagement workshops last October. Up next is for the Molokai Planning Commission is to choose a Plan Advisory Committee.

The Maui County Council will choose nine of the 13 members on the advisory committee, and Mayor Alan Arakawa will choose the other four.

David Yamashita, planning supervisor from the Long Range Division of the county, said that they are a looking at a variety of plans for Molokai, including environmental resources, historic and cultural resources, economic, land use and development, housing and infrastructure.

Changes in Permitting Process
The MoPC has also moved forward in their proposed changes for the Special Area Management (SMA) rules.  Planning Commission Chairman Steve Chaikin said many of the rules in the permitting process required some “housecleaning,” since they have not been updated since 1989.

Currently, residents who do not apply for an SMA permit but move ahead on construction can see upwards of $1,000 per day fines. The commission recommends increasing the fine to $10,000 per day.
Shoreline setback areas were also given cleaner definitions.

 For example, fishponds would be defined as a fixed shoreline, along with its current definition of “natural stabilized geographic features such as cliffs and rock formations.”

The new rules also state that desired construction projects should be 150 feet “from the high wash of the waves,” and applications must be published in newspapers at least once before the commission meeting at which it is presented.

“We’re doing this to get rid of some of the inconsistencies,” Chaikin said.

The Maui County Planning Commission will first take a look at the changes before presented to the Molokai community.

New Faces on Planning Commission

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Arts Center Nears Construction

Monday, March 14th, 2011

Arts Center Nears Construction

Molokai Art Center (MAC) made it one step closer to the renovation of their new building this past weekend. They hosted nearly 250 people at a sold-out event at Coffees of Hawaii in an effort to fundraise for the first-ever art center on Molokai.

Last Saturday’s “Soup ‘R Bowl” party treated guests to handmade ceramic soup bowls, eight homemade soups, and the music of local musicians.

“I think [the center is] an important part of the community. We need a place for [artists] to do what they do,” said Darlene Hall, a community resident.

The arts center was founded in 2010 with local artists Emillia Noordhoek, Dan Bennett, Kim Markham, April Torres and Betty West. The board members have been throwing fundraisers ever since in order to renovate one of the buildings on the Coffees’ property.

MAC is nearing the finalization of a five year lease for a 763 square foot structure behind the coffee processing plant. President Emillia Noordhoek said that she plans on signing the lease within the next couple of weeks.

The group had abandoned the idea of renovating a different building on Coffee’s property, because it would have been too costly to make the structure useable and safe, according to Bennett.

The Art Center will feature a kiln, eight wheels, and a raku kiln. Raku is a Japanase-style of firing, which uses a low-heat process.

“I thought it was great. I had a great audience and I’d gladly do it again,” said one of the night’s musicians, Norman DeCosta.

After the signing of the lease, the committee can finalize its building plans and begin construction.

“We hope to start having classes by this summer,” Noordhoek said.

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Softball Starts Strong

Monday, March 14th, 2011

Softball Starts Strong

The Lady Farmers softball team went up against the Lanai Pine Lasses this past weekend on home turf, and started the season 2-0. Molokai came out full-force on Friday afternoon at Duke Regional Park – by the third inning, Molokai was on top 11-2 and by the end, the Lady Farmers bested Lanai 17-2.

The mercy-rule came into play after three innings.


Dirt was flying everywhere infield, with multiple stolen bases from Molokai, including one home steal to make it 11-2 in the third inning.

 “Everybody worked really well together. But we will have to work on our communication as a team,” said Tootie Rawlins.

Coach Coco Augustiro said she believes her team is ready for next game against a tough Seabury Hall next weekend on Maui.
“We should work on our batting, but I’m really proud of all of them and how they played,” she said.

Saturday afternoon’s match was played a little “slower,” according to Augustiro.

After six innings of play, the mercy-rule went into effect again with a final score of 23-7. The Pine Lasses went through three different pitchers.

Tyre Garcias Reyes hit a three-run homerun and Rawlins had two-run triple.

The Farmers will head to Maui this weekend to play Seabury Hall.

“I’m looking forward to it. I’m really curious about Seabury, because we haven’t really seen what they have to offer yet,” Augustiro said.

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MHS Utilizes New Technology

Monday, March 14th, 2011

MHS Utilizes New Technology

Some students at Molokai High School (MHS) are getting their hands dirty these days, as part of the school’s Natural Resources Academy. Their new farm has been growing a plethora of vegetables and students are learning what it takes to be self-sustainable.

It has been nearly five years since the last student farm on MHS property. Science teacher Malia Lee said funding for the program had run out. But the high school’s new administration finds that a school with the mascot of a farmer should provide an agriculture program.

“We are “The Farmers” after all,” Lee said.

She has been working with seven students since last October at the school’s small farm, teaching the students how to grow various vegetables organically.

The vegetables, such as tomatoes, lettuce, onions, eggplant and corn, are being grown through hydroponics. A hydroponics system grows vegetables organically using piping, fish, and water – all without using any soil. The main fertilizer in the process is the manure that comes from the fish pond.

The water from the pond is circulated through a series of tubes and used to give nutrients to the pla

vision  to get more Hawaii kids involved in finance, so we can keep more finances in Hawaii instead of being controlled from abroad,” said Paula Freal, an economics teacher at MHS.

The Bloomberg station is a sophisticated computer that teaches students how to evaluate stocks and invest money. It is one of eight in the entire state and one of 200 in the country.

“We are bringing the world to them,” said Stan Hao, MHS principal.

Freal runs the station with seven students, ranging from eighth to 12th grade. The station is made up of six LCD monitors that teaches the students how to read investment and stock charts and practice finance activities.

The program utilizes real-world situations. The students start with $1 million to invest in the stocks of their choice. 

Freal said having experience with the Bloomberg station is great for any student to have on their resume when applying to colleges, and especially those who want to go into a financial field.

The new technology has gotten more popular at the school since it was introduced last spring.
“I only had three students when I started this program,” Freal said.

Hao also recently purchased 30 iPads for student use with the 21st Century grant program.

“I want to push the envelope,” Hao said. “I think we have wasted money on projects in the past on equipment.”

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Inouye Focused on Kalaupapa

Monday, March 14th, 2011

Inouye Focused on Kalaupapa

Hawaii’s Sen. Dan Inouye has had enough of Kalaupapa’s outrageous airfares and is taking action to help relieve the peninsula’s residents and workers. 

He has invited Ray LaHood, the secretary of the Department of Transportation, and Kalaupapa patients to the Hawaii State Capitol for a March 25 discussion about ongoing airfare issues between Pacific Wings and Kalaupapa residents and workers.

Pacific Wings raised their prices dramatically for round-trip flights to Kalaupapa in 2009. Workers and patients pay up to $550 for round-trip tickets to Honolulu or topside Molokai.

said he was moved by the passion and frustration of the residents when he was in Kalaupapa, ” Sabas said.

Healthcare Facility Review
In other Kalaupapa news, the Adult Residential Care Home (ARCH) in Kalaupapa was surveyed for a new license last Monday. The Office of Health Care Assistance (OCHA) visited the peninsula to evaluate the facility for a new level of care. Their license expired in late December and received an extension until late March.

It is a possibility that the facility may be downgraded to type 1 status. This means the care center would continue to provide a similar level of health care, but offer less beds, according to Kalaupapa Department of Health Supervisor Carol Franko.

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Conservation Help Offered to Farmers

Monday, March 14th, 2011

Conservation Help Offered to Farmers

With the help of generous funds from the government, farmers can take advantage of benefits that pay for conservation.

There are several conservation programs offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to Molokai farmers. To be eligible, farmers must earn $1,000 a year and be producing some kind of crop or livestock. The programs specialize in water erosion prevention, wind erosion, soil management, waterway protection, manure management and more.

Ho`olehua farmer Rick Tamanaha has been participating in the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) since 2005 by using windbreaks.

just want you to use good practice. It will only enhance your property and you’ll get better cattle,” Decoite said.

Interested farmers can contact Wally Jennings at his Ho`olehua office, 567-6868 ext. 105 or email wally.jennings@hi.usda.gov.

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Wa`a Molokai

Monday, March 14th, 2011

Wa`a Molokai

Community Contributed

By Nichole and Jill Ross, Permaculture Research Institute USA

Food security and canoes go hand-in-hand in Hawaii. When Polynesians first settled the islands around 750 AD, voyagers stocked massive double-hulled canoes with specific crops necessary for survival. They carefully prepared, packed and loaded vine cuttings, rootstock, crowns, sprouts, slips, shoots and seeds for long journeys across the unforgiving Pacific Ocean. Early Hawaiians understood the importance of successful plant and seed propagation. Their survival depended on it, as does ours.

The Polynesians planted these staples, known today as “canoe plants” – ulu, kalo, mai`a, niu, `uala, uhi, etc. – on the islands using innovative techniques such as stream irrigation, terracing, mulching, and green manure. Eventually, the `aina became momona, or abundant, with everything needed for survival. This was particularly true for Molokai; so plentiful with food, it became known as the “breadbasket” of Hawaii, providing surplus shared with all islands.


Today, many on Molokai still get protein through fishing and hunting. However, poor land management mauka has devastated fishponds and reefs makai, which used to be momona, from erosion, goats, and deer. And, while 38 percent of the island grows produce, many rely on weekly barge imports. If barges stop coming, only a seven days’ supply of food will be left on grocery store shelves for all of Hawaii.

Fortunately, local community leaders have partnered to heal the `aina and create more food security. Little exposure to plant diseases and pests makes Molokai unique compared to her sister islands, creating an ideal place to begin re-stocking the land as a central food source.

With the aid of permaculture training, Molokai can reclaim `aina momoma and become a living canoe that will preserve Hawaiian culture and serve as a polycultured plant source the Pacific Rim. She can grow canoe plants with other tropical varieties, creating the most resilient mix for food security.

PRI USA, Sust`ainable Molokai and the Alu Like Ho`ala Hou Program sponsored 20 local students for five weeks of permaculture training in the fall of 2010 to prepare for island-wide planting on Hawaiian Homelands and ahupua`a restoration. Next, we will begin setting up nursery stocks via a four-day “Plant Propagation and Seed Saving” course starting April 11, covering propagation, seed collection, nursery management and soil mixes. During island-wide gathering efforts, we will document sources to create a local plant database. After, students will lead community collection and propagation efforts and begin re-vegetative work.

Please visit PRI USA’s website at www.permacultureusa.org to register for the course. We are also offering a two-day Swale Practicum on April 15.

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Washington DC Here We Come!

Monday, March 14th, 2011

Washington DC Here We Come!

Community Contributed

By Ric Ornellas

Tsunami waves couldn’t stop or delay eager Molokai High School students. An hour after the downgrading of Friday’s tsunami, four students and two teacher-chaperones left for Washington D.C. earlier than scheduled on March 11. A fifth student and third chaperone followed later. The students will participate in Close Up 2011, a nationwide educational program of civic engagement and citizenship training.

Days before, 2010 graduate Kawaiola Kalipi told the students, “Get lots of rest and learn to be flexible.” Kawaiola, a current student at Maui Community College on Molokai, was a Close Up participant last year and experienced first-hand the benefits of learning through civic engagement. Kawaiola told the students that meeting other high school students from different parts of the country was both interesting and challenging. While some of their new friends shared rural backgrounds and loved hunting, communicating at first was challenging with different pronunciations and slang.


The 2011 Molokai participants, like Kawaiola, raised their own funds to journey and participate in the Close Up program. Students wrote fundraising letters, made and sold plate lunches at the Molokai Hoe race, sold Liliha Bakery Coco Puffs, pizza tickets, and See’s chocolates. Parents supported throughout the many fundraising activities and community outreach. 

Since 1990, Molokai High School students have participated in Close Up’s exciting enrichment program. Students and their teacher-chaperones explore the inner workings of the nation’s capital, and meet with elected officials – namely Sens. Inouye and Akaka and Reps. Hirono and Hanabusa – as well as policy experts and media professionals. They tour national monuments which commemorate pivotal events in our country’s history as well as view locales where history was made. D.C. streets and buildings become a living classroom for emerging young citizens. Molokai High School students will meet with hundreds of other students from all over the country to exchange views and share ideas and experiences of civic engagement and approaching citizenship.

You can follow the students’ daily progress through D.C by going to http://www.molokaik12.hi.us/, click on Enter Our Directory, go to Academics, then Library, find Close Up 2011, and see DC Posting. Students will post daily their reflections and photos for family and friends back home.

On Thursday, March 31, come to the Molokai High School library where the students will share what they saw and learned in D.C. in a mix of spoken, written, and digital media.

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Basket Weaving Workshops

Monday, March 14th, 2011

Community Contributed

By Teri Waros

Kalele Bookstore and Divine Expressions is bringing in an artist-in-residence for a unique community project. Mavis Muller, a basket weaver, naturalist and teacher from Alaska has created a community interactive art project, called Burning Basket Project, which she has shared for many years in many communities, including Maui and Hawai`i Island.

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Energy Kokua for Business Owners

Monday, March 14th, 2011

Pono Solutions News Release

Mahalo for welcoming Pono Solutions to the island of Molokai and for allowing us to conduct lighting audits for your businesses.  We would like to invite all the business owners on Molokai to a town meeting at the Mitchell Pauole Center on Saturday, March 19. We will be conducting a group presentation three times: 10 a.m., 1 p.m., and 5 p.m. We also welcome one-on-one discussions from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. in between group presentations.

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