October 2014 PDF
October 2014
NEW & NOTEWORTHY: Miconia, Hu Honua
Menacing Miconia: In the wake of hurricane Iselle, all eyes have been focused on the substantial damages caused by falling albizia trees, with little attention paid to Miconia calvescens. Yet near Onomea, ground zero of the miconia infestation on the … Continued
Many Mahalos to Our Many Supporters
Our annual dinner was a roaring success, and we want to thank all those who made the evening so memorable. Most of all, thanks to Dr. Sam `Ohu Gon of The Nature Conservancy of Hawai`i, our guest speaker. We also … Continued
KIUC Advisor Outlines Potential Impacts Of Pumped Storage Projects in West Kaua`i
This month, the Kaua`i Island Utility Cooperative is expected to begin license negotiations with the state Agribusiness Development Corporation for a 25-megawatt pumped storage hydroelectric project in West Kaua`i. Pumped storage is one of several ways the utility hopes to … Continued
Parker Ranch Chief Details Rationale For Regional Defection from HELCO Grid
Last month, Neil “Dutch” Kuyper, president and CEO of Parker Ranch, laid out his arguments why residents in the northwestern corner of Hawai`i island might want to defect from Hawai`i Electric Light Company’s grid. Simply put, a new energy portfolio … Continued
Fight Over `Ewa Drainage Project Continues As Limu Gatherer Challenges It in Court
Noted Hawaiian cultural practitioner Uncle Henry Chang Wo, Jr., has taken his fight to protect the famed limu beds of `Ewa from the effects of increased development to 1st Circuit Court. On June 13, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation filed … Continued
Hawai`i Supreme Court Grants Request For a Hearing on Haleakala Master Plan
The Hawai`i Supreme Court agreed last month to hear arguments on whether the University of Hawai`i should have prepared a full environmental impact statement for its Haleakala High Altitude Observatory Site master plan — a plan the state Department of … Continued
Board Talk: Sand Island Homeless Facility, Kaua`i Beach Encroachments
Land Board Approves Controversial Lease For Temporary Homeless Facility at Sand Island If the city is going to soon start shooing the homeless out of Waikiki anyway, what’s the harm in giving them a place to go? That seemed, in … Continued
Hawai`i County Panel Refuses to Approve Change in Setbacks for ‘Pepe`ekeo Palace’
No one saw it coming. Not the Hawai`i County Planning Department, which had given its blessing to the 7,500-square-foot house being built by Scott Watson and his partner, mainland attorney Gary Olimpia, on the Pepe`ekeo coast a few miles north … Continued
Hawaiian Electric Agrees With Public: It Must Move to a New Business Model
Even though Hawai`i is the nation’s leader in solar power use per capita, no one here — not customers, not state legislators, and certainly not the solar industry — seems happy with the way the Hawaiian Electric companies have recently … Continued