in

Search Results for: <

Early Christmas for Science

Monday, December 14th, 2009

Early Christmas for Science

Community Contributed
By Dawn Bicoy

Three Molokai teachers got their Christmas presents a little early last week. Malia Lee, Jenny Ainoa and Scott Hemenway were all presented with grants from the Monsanto Hawaii Science Education Grant Fund at the conclusion of last week’s Science Fair.

The grants were awarded for a variety of educational endeavors, including requests for the purchase of digital cameras, science fair supplies, and digital probes for labs to study water quality and oceanography along Molokai’s shores. 

“It’s truly gratifying to see the range of projects and commitment from educators like Malia, Jenny and Scott, who continue to pursue such worthwhile programs despite the tough economic times our state is facing,” said Dawn Bicoy, Monsanto Hawaii’s Molokai Community Affairs manager.

The three award winners were excited about the possibilities it will open for them inside the classroom.

  “We really need the supplies and tools.  Just to have these items in the first place, makes all the difference.  Instead of me doing a demo in front of my students, we can now do it together” said Scott Hemenway, Molokai Intermediate School science teacher. 

The fund is open to public schools serving students at the intermediate, high school and college grade levels on the islands of Molokai, Maui, Kauai and Oahu.  Established in 2005 it was intended to help our Hawaii public schools with programs, tools and supplies, as well as enhance science education and encourage students to consider a future career in the sciences.  It is entirely up to the school, teacher, or parent-teacher association to envision its grant request and apply. 

 “As a company we’re dedicated to scientific research, and we’re proud to be able to support these educators who empower students with science and technology skills.  Their vision is instrumental in creating this partnership so that everyone here on Molokai wins,” Bicoy said. 

For more information on Monsanto Hawaii, visit www.monsanto.com/hawaii

West End Mansion Still Uncertain

Monday, December 14th, 2009

West End Mansion Still Uncertain

Eight months after being exempted from a Special Management Area (SMA) permit, Pierluigi Zappacosta is no closer to building his proposed 20,000 square foot farm dwelling on Molokai’s west end, nor is his opposition any closer to stopping him.

The Molokai Planning Commission (MoPC) met last week to continue to sort through the tangled web of legal procedures surrounding the controversial project. The commissioners decided they would wait until January to decide whether or not to hear an appeal on their April 22 decision to exempt Zappacosta from obtaining the SMA permit.

or the reasons we made the decision,” said Commissioner Napua Leong. Leong, who spearheaded the motion to allow Morgan’s appeal, asked the appellant to do a better job of capturing the commission’s reasons for allowing the appeal rather than his own.

The commissioners decided that a final decision on whether or not to hear the appeal would be made at their next meeting, schedule for Jan. 13. MoPC Vice-Chair Steve Chaikin said if Morgan’s report was not up to par at that meeting, the group would have to reconsider their decision to let him appeal.

 

Off to the Capitol

Monday, December 14th, 2009

Off to the Capitol

Washington D.C. is a day of traveling away, but worlds apart from what most Molokai High School students are used to. It has stoplights, an area population in the millions, and museums with artifacts documenting the birth of our nation. But, as these students said, they will have the opportunity to use the nation’s capitol as their classroom to better understand their country.

This year, a record number 23 students from Molokai High School are signed up to participate in Close Up, a nonprofit organization that brings U.S. and international students to visit and study in our nation’s capitol. The week-long excursion will be over spring break in 2010.

The $2500 price tag for the trip is steep, but it comes with the opportunity to discuss and debate domestic and international issues with other students around the country, as well as meet members of Congressional staff, visit museums like the Smithsonian, monuments like the World War II memorial, and government buildings like the Supreme Court. Each student is responsible for raising their own money for the trip.

,” Mokuau said.

The students will be traveling to Washington D.C. from March 14 – 19, and are still actively seeking donations. They will continue to hold fundraisers until their trip, and encourage anyone interested to contribute.

Choke Talent on Molokai

Monday, December 14th, 2009

Choke Talent on Molokai

Nearly 50 students from four Molokai schools participated in this year’s Brown Bags to Stardom talent show last Saturday night, an island-wide talent competition. This was the second year that the competition was open to elementary and middle school students, and the first year that Molokai had all three divisions represented.

The Upper Hand

Monday, December 14th, 2009

The Upper Hand



Photo Courtesy of Kevin Dudoit

Molokai junior Kevin Dudoit locks down his opponent from Mililani High School during the Maui Invitational Tournament at War Memorial Gym last Friday. Dudoit avenged a loss last year by winning the match and taking third place in the 135-pound weight class at the tournament. Koa Coupuz and Kailen Inouye also tooked home fourth-place awards in the 152 and 125-pound divisions and Kayla Pico was the Farmer’s top finisher with a 3rd place in the 98-pound divison. Twenty-one schools from all over the state competed in the annual tournament.

Farmers Finish Scoreless

Monday, December 14th, 2009

Farmers Finish ScorelessThe Molokai High girls’ soccer team failed to find the back of the net in a pair of games this weekend against Maui’s Kamehameha School. Kamehameha improved its record to 2-2 with a 7-0 Friday afternoon and a 5-0 win the following morning. Molokai dropped to 0-4 on the young season.

The Twilighters’ Dance

Monday, December 14th, 2009

The Twilighters’ Dance

The Big Stage

Monday, December 14th, 2009

The Big Stage


Tough green Astroturf, thousands of fans, a slew of opposing defenders and one league record were all left in the dust as Molokai running back Noah Caparida sped down the sideline at Honolulu’s Aloha Stadium last Sunday. Caparida weaved and juked his way to a 95-yard touchdown run – the longest in Island Youth Football League history – as the Farmers ran away with a convincing 32-6 win in their end-of-the-year bowl game.

“We ran a sweep to the outside and I just juked all of them out,” Caparida said. “It’s a good feeling [to set a record], it’s exciting.”

“It was a lot of fun I got to run over a couple of guys,” he said. “Every time we were getting close to the end zone I was running it up the middle.”

Traxler-Ortiz went out of his way to run over a few extra defenders on his first touchdown, a 15-yarder right up the middle.

“Overall, today they were the team that we were always looking to find throughout the season,” Kiaha said. “They played with heart and soul and passion for the game. Everybody had a great game.”

The Farmers finished their season with a 3-6 record, but turned some heads with their strong performance in the stadium this weekend. The trip, their second in as many years, was funded by generous donations from several local businesses and residents. The team went door-to-door on their furlough days to raise the money.

Too Few Tuna

Friday, December 11th, 2009

Too Few Tuna

NOAA News Release

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is dropping its baseline catch limits for bigeye tuna by 400 metric tons. The new limit applies to the U.S. pelagic longline fisheries in the western and central Pacific Ocean that will stand through 2011. The limits are being placed because the species’ Pacific Ocean population is subject to overfishing.

The rule, published last week in the Federal Register, puts in place catch limits for longline fisheries, which target adult bigeye. Under this rule, the U.S. will reduce its longline catch of bigeye tuna from the 2004 baseline catch of 4,181 metric tons (mt) to 3,763 mt.

Once the 3,763 mt catch limit is reached in any of those years, retaining, shipping or landing bigeye tuna caught in the western and central Pacific Ocean will be prohibited for the remainder of the year, with limited exceptions. The catch limit will not apply to the longline fisheries of American Samoa, Guam or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Members of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, the international body which manages highly migratory fish species like bigeye tuna, agreed to the catch limits in both their longline and purse seine fisheries at their meeting last December.

Earlier this year, NOAA published a rule limiting fishing days by purse seine vessels and restricting tuna purse seine sets on floating objects known as fish aggregation devices, in an effort to reduce the catch of juvenile bigeye tuna.

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources. Visit http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov

Keep Molokai Art in Molokai

Friday, December 11th, 2009

Keep Molokai Art in Molokai

Art From the Heart News Release

Molokai Art From the Heart, formerly known as Molokai Artists & Crafters, is committed to promoting the talent so abundantly found on Molokai. We have found a new talent which we would like to share with the rest of our island.

Steve Legare, our retired Fire Captain from Ho`olehua is our latest discovery. Steve has been photographing sunsets for about four years. We could see he had a great artistic eye so we asked him to give acrylic paint a try. His first two paintings of the buildings on Kaunakakai’s Hotel Lane turned out great. The first one was the old Imamura Residence, built in the 1930s. In the second, Legare did a great job of capturing the essence of the old Molokai favorite, hot bread.

We want to encourage him to continue to paint because he has a lot of talent. You can see his work on display at our gallery located next to Misaki’s on Ala Malama Ave. in Kaunakakai. For everyone’s convenience we will be open in the evenings on Wednesdays, Dec. 9 and 16. We are also open every day and evening the week of Christmas.