Big Island briefs

Park plan input now available

The National Park Service has released a summary of public comments on the preliminary alternatives for the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park General Management Plan, Wilderness Study and Environmental Impact Statement. These comments help the NPS planning team as it continues to refine alternatives and identify a preferred alternative for the plan. More than 300 comments were received from Aug. 1 to Jan. 2 via talk-story sessions, mail, email and through the plan’s website. Park officials anticipate the draft plan to be completed in 2013, when a final round of talk-story sessions will also occur islandwide to gather public comments. The final plan will establish the overall direction for the park, setting broad goals for managing the area over the next 15 to 20 years. Each alternative offers a different approach to protecting and restoring park resources, using facilities, and providing a range of access and visitor experiences to meet the needs of local residents, off-island visitors, and students of all ages. The alternatives include access and visitor services at the Kahuku Unit; locations of visitor facilities and administrative functions; enhancing conservation of park resources; new or connecting trails; sustainable and climate-friendly park operations; acknowledgment of Native Hawaiian park significance; education, research and stewardship; transportation options and reduced congestion; commercial services and partnerships; and other elements. To view the summary, visit parkplanning.nps.gov/havogmp and click on “Document List.” Or request a paper copy by emailing Lora Gale at havo_gmp@nps.gov.

Pahoa woman sentenced for child care subsidy fraud

A 31-year-old Pahoa woman was sentenced Monday to pay $3,400 in restitution to the state Department of Human Services following her no contest plea to child care subsidy fraud. 3rd Circuit Court Judge Greg K. Nakamura granted Sharon Dupree’s request to defer for five years her no contest plea to second-degree theft, according to the Hawaii County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney. Nakamura also sentenced Dupree to a suspended one-year jail term. If Dupree complies with all conditions of her five-year deferral, the case will be dismissed and therefore not contained in her permanent criminal record, according to the office. The theft charge stems from a state investigation that revealed Dupree in 2009 obtained $4,300 in child care subsidy payments by submitting false documents stating that she was making child care payments, according to the office. Second-degree theft is a class C felony punishable by up to 5 years incarceration and a fine up to $10,000, according to Hawaii Revised Statutes.

UH-Hilo patents could be weapons in cancer fight

HILO — Two inventions patented by researchers at the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s College of Pharmacy could pan out to be valuable weapons in the war against cancer, and generate millions of dollars for the university. In a Friday press release, UH announced that it had entered into a technology commercialization agreement with Pono Corp., giving the Honolulu-based company ownership of three technologies developed by UH researchers. Under the terms of the agreement, UH becomes a shareholder in Pono in exchange for assigning the patents on the technologies for use by the company. The move, said UH Licensing Associate Jonathan Roberts, allows the university to realize the value of the inventions earlier than in a traditional licensing deal. “This is all about potential,” he said Monday. “The idea is that these are medical discoveries that aren’t something we can license right now. They would need considerable work, development, testing. That can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and we might not see anything for 10 years. … And it’s possible we might not see anything come out of it.” Roberts said the deal is a new way for universities to bring in revenue early in the development process, and only time will tell how successful it will be. As for the details of the agreement, Roberts said he couldn’t reveal how much money it is worth to the university, but he did say that it could end up being in the millions. For UH-Hilo researchers André S. Bachmann and Mahavir Chougule, the deal presents an opportunity to further develop their discoveries and possibly get exciting new drugs into the hands of doctors to treat their patients. Bachmann worked with collaborators to discover compounds known as “proteasome inhibitors.” The associate professor, who also serves as chairman of the College of Pharmacy’s Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, explained that the anti-cancer drug targets structures known as proteasomes in cancerous tumors and blocks their ability to shred proteins into smaller fragments. This process of shredding proteins facilitates the growth and spread of cancerous cells, he said. “If you can block or jam them up (the proteasomes), you can prevent cancer cells from growing,” Bachmann said. “The company (Pono) is interested in making chemical modifications … so we can tweak it so it’s even more potent, and even more specific. Basically, that original natural molecule we identified is a template that we can continue to modify and turn into a real drug.” Bachmann also worked with colleague Chougule in the development of a proprietary drug delivery process, known as a “hybrid nanocarrier” system. According to Chougule, the system helps to target medicines directly at cancerous tumors by “encapsulating” or enclosing drugs, like chemotherapy, in very small “nanoparticles” and then attaching an antibody that seeks out cancer almost like a “magic bullet,” he said. By local sources