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NO NEWS IS
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No major changes
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Kilauea lava flow
MONDAY, JULY 9, 2018 WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM 75¢
Dry and voggy conditions spell trouble for coffee farmers
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD “(Kona is) actually pretty dry. I think that might
Lilinoi Grace joins her students for the final performance at the Aloha MAP Summer Enrichment
Program Hoiki Friday at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. LAURA RUMINSKI/WEST HAWAII TODAY
WAIKOLOA — The ballroom at
the Hilton Waikoloa Village came
alive Friday morning with chants
and hula as nearly 300 keiki performed
for friends and family at
their summer enrichment program
Hoiki.
It wasn’t a summer fun program,
but West Hawaii students
from grades K-12 had fun this
summer at the four-week Aloha
MAP (Meritorious Achievement
Program) at Kealakehe High School.
And they learned much more
than hula and chant.
“The program is about building
up, motivating and encouraging
kids to be the best they can be,” said
Kumu Kenneth “Aloha” Victor.
Victor taught Hawaiian culture
through chants and hula, learning
about Madame Pele and the
Hokulea Voyaging Canoe along
the way. He instilled discipline and
managing emotions as life lessons,
all while uplifting and encouraging
his students. He said the program
provides an opportunity for
Hawaiian based summer enrichment,
showcasing the “intelligence
of our people and our culture.”
Students learned protocol, traditions,
values and an introduction to the
Hawaiian language through chants.
“The program is about building
them up and encouraging them to
give back to their community,” said
Victor. “They can move away, but
they can’t walk away from home.”
Every morning began with motivational
exercises. Victor said it got
them going physically, mentally and
spiritually, building self-confidence
and a readiness to learn.
Aloha MAP is the brainchild
of Lilinoi Grace, who secured a
three-year $2.4 million grant from
the Native Hawaiian Education
Program through the U.S.
Department of Education.
Grace, a former Miss Kona Coffee
and Konawaena High School and
Chaminade University graduate,
developed the hands-on curriculum
incorporating math, science, reading
comprehension, and Hawaiian
culture.
“I developed the program for students
in my hometown community
to be the best they can be,” Grace
said.
KAILUA-KONA —
Residents in the Laaloa
Avenue area are one step
closer to having a park of
their own.
A final environmental
assessment with a
finding of no significant
impact for the longplanned
project was
published Sunday in
the July 8 edition of the
Office of Environmental
Quality Control’s twicea
month Environmental
Notice.
With the finding,
Hawaii One1 Investors
LLC can move forward
with constructing the
park’s first phase, estimated
to cost between
$2 million and $3
million.
The park, which would
serve an estimated 550
homes comprising more
than 1,400 residents in
the area, would be the
only site for recreation
within the 300-acre area
other than Laaloa — also
known as Magic Sands
— Beach Park. It would
be built on 6.365 acres
of county land situated
north of Laaloa Avenue
and mauka of the proposed
Alii Highway,
also referred to as the
Kahului to Keauhou
Parkway.
The first phase
includes a playing field,
comfort station with an
attached lanai, driveway,
parking lot for approximately
40 vehicles, sidewalks
and fencing.
HILO — While most of
East Hawaii is seeing a wetter
than-average year so far,
much of West Hawaii is parched.
That’s particularly true for the
Kona coffee belt — potentially
bad news for this year’s coffee
crop — according to the June
rainfall report released Thursday
by hydrologist Kevin Kodama at
the National Weather Service’s
Honolulu office.
The rain gauge in Kealakekua
measured just 1.76 inches
for June, less than a third of
its normal 6.05 inches, and
“its lowest June since 2004,”
Kodama wrote. Rainfall there
for the year in was 14.34 inches
through June, about 55 percent
its usual total of 25.93 percent.
“The leeward side, especially
Kona, was a little surprising
— because this time of year,
the Kona slopes, the Kona coffee
belt, it’s their wet season,”
Kodama said. “It’s the only leeward
area in the state that has
a summertime rainfall maximum.
So they should’ve had
an uptick in rainfall, especially
with the oceans being a little
bit warmer, but they’re actually
pretty dry. I think that might be
an effect of the volcano, because
you have a lot more vog being
produced right now. That actually
has an effect of decreasing
rainfall, because you’ve got a lot
more particulates in the air.”
Kodama explained that
moisture in the air partially
condenses on vog particulates
and evaporates, with less rising
and condensing into rain
clouds.
Other leeward rain gauges
showing an unusually dry year
include Ellison Onizuka Kona
International Airport in Kailua-
Kona, with 6.25 inches, 62
percent of its usual total of just
over 10 inches and Kainaliu,
with 13.2 inches, 53 percent
of its norm of 24.77 inches.
Honaunau, also in the coffee
belt, is doing somewhat better,
with 21.86 inches, 86 percent of
its average of 25.52 inches.
Bill Myers, general manager
of Heavenly Hawaiian Kona
Coffee Farms in Holualoa said
the company’s upper farm, at
1,200 feet in elevation “has
had enough rain. We’re fine;
no problem.” However, at their
lower farm, which is at 800 feet,
“rain has been too light.”
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PAGE 4A
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HI 87 LO 75 WEATHER, PAGE 4A
VOL. 50, NO. 190 20 PAGES
BY JOHN BURNETT
be an effect of the volcano, because you have a lot
more vog being produced right now. That actually
has an effect of decreasing rainfall, because
you’ve got a lot more particulates in the air.”
KEVIN KODAMA
HYDROLOGIST, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU
SEE RAINFALL PAGE 4A
Laaloa Avenue
park clears hurdle
DEVELOPER TO CONSTRUCT
FIRST PHASE AS PART OF
FAIR-SHARE AGREEMENT
BY CHELSEA JENSEN
WEST HAWAII TODAY
cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com
This aerial image shows the location of the
park on Laaloa Avenue. IMAGE CAPTURE FROM EA/
SPECIAL TO WEST HAWAII TODAY
‘THE BEST THEY CAN BE’
ALOHA MAP SUMMER ENRICHMENT PROGRAM
TEACHES KIDS STEM, CULTURE AND LIFE LESSONS
BY LAURA RUMINSKI
WEST HAWAII TODAY
lruminski@westhawaiitoday.com
SEE ALOHA PAGE 5A
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