Kayakers rescued off Kohala Coast
Hawaii County Fire Department personnel rescued two kayakers Wednesday after their vessel was apparently pulled by currents more than 2 miles offshore of the Kohala Coast.
The kayakers were located between 2 and 3 miles offshore of mile marker 12 on Akoni Pule Highway, when fire rescue personnel arrived in the area shortly after 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to the department. Chopper 2 was already on scene and hovering over the kayakers.
Chopper 1 subsequently arrived and extricated the kayakers to shore, according to the department. Their kayak was also retrieved. Both declined medical assistance after being rescued.
According to the department, a possible undercurrent pulled the kayak farther from shore than the kayakers had thought.
Hawaii Community College at Palamanui progressing
The first students could graduate from Hawaii Community College at Palamanui in 2017.
The site, located north of mile marker 91 on Queen Kaahumanu Highway, has been graded, underground utilities installed and the foundation prepared for the first phase of the long-awaited West Hawaii community college, Jim Lightner, culinary arts program assistant professor and hospitality division chairman, said. Crews are expected to begin pouring concrete pads in early April, he added.
That means, Lightner said, that students who enroll in the community college in fall 2015 — when the Palamanui campus is slated to open — could graduate with an associate degree in spring 2017.
Michael Unebasami, associate vice president for administration at Hawaii Community College, confirmed the campus expects to have students in classrooms for the fall 2015 semester. He said the grading and rock crushing has been completed with the exception of an area where a petroglyph was located. Crews are in the process of working around that petroglyph.
Visit westhawaiitoday.com for the full story.
New coffee pest identified
University of Hawaii faculty have identified a new coffee pest. UH officials on Thursday said the disease symptoms have not been reported anywhere else in the world. The symptoms are circular yellow or yellow-green lesions, or spots, about 1/4 inch in diameter on the leaves and petioles. Anecdotal evidence suggests that it renders the coffee cherries unusable, though it is not yet known what the lesions look like on the cherries.
Pictures of affected leaves are available at sites.google.com/a/hawaii.edu/emaravirus-infects-coffee-in-Hawaii.
In January, a farmer contacted Scot Nelson, via his plant diagnosis application, The Plant Doctor, to ask about the spots on his coffee leaves. Nelson had never seen the disease before, officials said. Another professor and an extension agent found several symptomatic plants in two locations at the farm, and they could also see some symptomatic plants across a fence at a neighboring coffee farm.
The second professor, Michael Melzer, analyzed the leaves and found a new species of virus similar to emaraviruses in the symptomatic coffee. There is no specific evidence that the virus causes this disease, though efforts are underway to investigate this. To date, no emaraviruses have ever been reported to infect coffee. Emaraviruses are transmitted by eriophyid mites, which can be spread on wind currents as well as by the movement of infected plant material.
They are asking coffee farmers and community members to provide more information that might help identify the pest, by checking coffee for symptoms and contact Nelson at snelson@hawaii.edu or via his Plant Doctor app, which can be downloaded and used for free by iPhone and Android users, or Andrea Kawabata at andreak@hawaii.edu. The Hawaii Department of Agriculture has expressed interest in conducting a survey of farms in the area to determine the spread of the disease, but this will take time; individuals are encouraged to report on their own crops as soon as possible.
Site helps vets with catchment homes
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has posted a page online for people to go if they have questions about getting a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs loan for a home on water catchment: gabbard.house.gov/index.php/serving-you/va-loans-for-catchment-homes.
Woman in coma after oral surgery
A 23-year-old Hilo woman is in a coma after oral surgery on Monday.
Hawaii News Now reported that Kristen Tavares, a mother of two small children, went into cardiac arrest while having all four wisdom teeth pulled and didn’t wake up.
Family members told the Honolulu news outlet that the procedure was performed by Dr. John Stover in Hilo. The woman’s boyfriend said she went into cardiac arrest and a defibrillator was used on her.
Tavares was flown to Maui Memorial Medical Center, where she remained on life support, according to the family.
An employee at Stover’s office said Thursday that he “is not taking calls today.”
State investigates illegal solar panels
HONOLULU — The state is investigating solar panel systems that are being turned on without permission from Hawaiian Electric Co.
KHON-TV reported Wednesday the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs is investigating the illegal photovoltaic systems because they’ve already damaged some homes.
DCCA Consumer Advocacy Branch Executive Director Jeffrey Ono said officials are already seeing homes on Molokai that have had electronic systems burn out as a result.
The Hawaii Solar Energy Association estimates there are more than a thousand so-called “rogue solar systems.”
HECO spokesman Darren Pai said the utility is taking time to understand the problem before taking action.
Crash survivor: Plane made ‘extreme bank’
WAILUKU, Maui — A police report says a man who survived a Lanai crash told authorities the plane made an “extreme bank to the right” after takeoff.
According to a statement provided to police from a Transportation Security Administration supervisor who spoke with the survivor, everything happened quickly and the man was thrown from the plane.
The pilot and two women working for the Maui County Planning Department were killed in the fiery Feb. 26 crash. Three men who are also Maui County employees were hospitalized with burn injuries.
The Maui News reported Thursday the unidentified survivor told the TSA supervisor that after he was thrown from the plane, he saw two men lying on the ground and two women still in the burning plane. He said he didn’t see the pilot.
Oahu park draws hikers despite closure
HONOLULU — The indefinite closure of Hawaii’s Sacred Falls State Park has not deterred visits from hikers, including two who were issued citations by the state this week.
Ninety-two people have been cited since 2012, despite numerous warning signs of penalties for trespassing, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Thursday.
The Oahu park was closed after a 1999 rockfall killed eight people and injured 33 others. Since 1970, there have been 22 deaths and many injuries and rescues because of rockslides or flash floods.
There are no plans to reopen the area, said state Department of Land and Natural Resources spokeswoman Deborah Ward. The closure decision that was made shortly after the 1999 accident was based on recommendations from geologists and professionals hired by the agency, she said
The state agreed in 2003 to pay more than $8.5 million to the families of the victims of the 1999 rockfall. Victims had claimed warning signs were inadequate at the time of the rockfall.
Citations are petty misdemeanors with penalties of up to 30 days in jail and $2,500 fines.
Nomination note sent to wrong person
HONOLULU — A Hawaii agency says it told the wrong man he was nominated to the board of the Hawaiian Homes Commission, which manages land set aside for Native Hawaiians.
Hawaii News Now reported Thursday William “Billy” Richardson was notified he was a nominee, so he told all his friends and started preparing for the confirmation process.
But state Boards and Commission Manager Jayson Muraki said a confirmation email was “inadvertently” sent to the wrong William Richardson.
The letter should have gone to the William Richardson who heads a venture capital firm and is the son of a former Hawaii Supreme Court justice.
Renwick Tassill of the Hawaiian Homes Commission said the mix-up shows the state places a low priority on Hawaiian issues.
Muraki said the agency is working to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
By local and wire sources