MANGO COTTAGE IN KONA ORCHARDS
MONDAY, JULY 30, 2018 WESTHAWAIITODAY.COM 75¢
HILO — Maurice
Messina, deputy director
of the county’s Parks and
Recreation Department,
said the emergency
shelters operated by the
county are close to being
the longest-running
shelter in state history.
During a lava event in
the 1950s, an emergency
shelter was open for 88
days, and “I think we’re
coming up on that,” he
said.
But while volunteers
can come and go, Parks
and Rec staff have been
working since the eruption
began.
“That was a big concern
of ours — how is
this going to impact
our guys? How are
they going to handle
this once it’s all over?”
Messina said. “But with
the heart and the aloha
our employees have been
showing, when you go
out and talk to our staff,
they get motivated every
day because they are able
to help … the evacuees.”
The department even
had some staff who were
impacted by the lava
event and others that
work there and live in
the Pahoa area, he said.
It’s been difficult for
the few staff members
who have had to evacuate,“
but being able to
help other evacuees is
helping them cope.”
The shelters are a
partnership.
“Even though the facility
is the county facility
and the
parks
department
is
in charge
of overall
management,
we
couldn’t
do it
without
the Red Cross, Salvation
Army and other partners
who have assisted
us from the beginning,”
Messina said, adding
that the emergency shelters
will remain open as
long as there’s a need.
According to Messina,
Hope Services, the county’s
Office of Housing
and Development, and
Office on Aging have
been “a real big help in
finding housing for the
evacuees in the shelter.
Without their help, the
numbers in the shelter
would be significantly
higher.”
The shelters also
have been working with
county police on safety
issues, Messina said.
They’ve “really stepped
up to the plate” whenever
any issues arose, and
security has also been
increased “four-fold”
since opening.
KAILUA-KONA — For Kealakehe High
School principal Glenn Gray, building
better opportunities for students of the
island’s largest campus isn’t a one-man job.
“On a school of this size, it’s not about
me. It’s about us; it’s about what we can
do together with our community to make
it happen,” he said. “And I think that’s the
gift of this area of Kona and that’s how
success happens here: that collective,
everybody-involved kind of attitude.”
Gray, the former principal of Holualoa
Elementary School, replaces Wil
Murakami, who retired at the end of June
after serving as principal of Kealakehe
High School since the school opened
in 1997. The North Kona high school
has the largest student body of any on
the island, according to Department of
Education enrollment data, with a total
1,311 students in the 2017-18 school year.
Gray said he had an opportunity to
speak with Murakami, who he said is
“very much a legend” at the school.
“His advice to me was to continue to
ask the question of ‘What do the students
dream for themselves,’” he said. “And it’s
still that student-focused mindset.”
And that includes identifying the
things that are going well at the school
and amplifying that impact, including
increasing student participation in successful
programs as well as meeting the
needs of the school’s diverse student
population.
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Shelter populations have dwindled from their highest counts, but a number of tents and makeshift
shelters still dotted the fields around the Pahoa Community Center as seen from this aerial photo
taken July 19. PHOTOS BY HOLLYN JOHNSON/TRIBUNE-HERALD
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HI 89 LO 78 WEATHER, PAGE 6A
VOL. 50, NO. 211 20 PAGES
MAKE WAY FOR GRAY
KEALAKEHE’S NEW PRINCIPAL PREPARES FOR FIRST YEAR
BY CAMERON MICULKA
WEST HAWAII TODAY
cmiculka@westhawaiitoday.com
Glenn Gray takes the helm as the second principal of Kealakehe High
SEE GRAY PAGE 5A School. LAURA RUMINSKI/WEST HAWAII TODAY
Approaching
a record
COUNTY’S EMERGENCY SHELTERS
HAVE BEEN OPEN ALMOST AS LONG AS
THEY WERE FOR 1950S LAVA EVENT
BY STEPHANIE SALMONS
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
Messina
SEE RECORD PAGE 5A
A new normal
‘WE CAN’T LEAVE,’ SOME SHELTER RESIDENTS SAY; DESPITE DIFFICULTIES, A LACK
OF OTHER OPTIONS MEANS SOME REMAIN AT PAHOA AND KEAAU SHELTERS
BY STEPHANIE SALMONS
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
HILO — It was gray and overcast Thursday morning,
and the ground leading to Gemma Buell’s campsite at
the emergency shelter in Pahoa was still wet and muddy
from recent rains.
A Buddha statue sat guard at the entryway. Under
the large canopy were two tents, each with mattresses
inside. Shirts were drying on a clothesline, and nearby
shelving held books and old newspapers.
It was another day of a new normal for Buell, her
partner Wayne Wilkinson, and her mother, Laura, all of
whom evacuated from rental homes in Leilani Estates
nearly three months ago.
Shelter populations have dwindled from their highest
counts, but a number of tents and makeshift shelters
still dotted the fields around the Pahoa Community
Center.
Gemma Buell’s camping shelter had to be rebuilt
after heavy rains. SEE SHELTERS PAGE 6A
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