Disabilities panel meets Wednesday
The Mayor’s Committee on People with Disabilities meets at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the ADRC Training Room, 1055 Kinoole St., Hilo. The meeting is open to the public.
The agenda will be posted on the county’s website.
For more information, call Sandy Arriola at 961-8600.
Kailua-Kona Seniors meets Wednesday
Kailua-Kona Seniors will meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Hale Halawai. The facility will be open for board games and socializing. Members are asked to bring craft projects they may be working on to share. No formal meeting is planned.
For more information, call Dave at 345-1388 or Pat at 329-2424.
Energy forum to discuss NextEra purchase of Hawaii Electric
Community Enterprises will hold an energy forum at 6 p.m. Thursday in the County Council Chambers at The West Hawaii Civic Center. Speakers will include Jay Ignacio, Hawaii Elelctric Light Co. president; Henry Curtis, Ililani Media; Marco Mangelsdorf, Hawaii Island Energy Cooperative secretary.
Doors will open at 5:30 p.m., pupu and beverages will be served prior to the program. The program is free and open to the public.
Questions discussed will include what will NextEra’s $4.3 billion purchase of Hawaii’s multi-island private electric utility, Hawaiian Electric Industries, mean to the state’s clean energy future and to the utility’s customers of Hawaii County? What are the benefits that NextEra’s acquisition brings to Hawaii? Hawaii boasts one of the fastest adoption rates of rooftop solar in the nation. With so many home-grown Hawaii solar jobs at stake, will Hawaii’s new power provider and utility follow a similar pattern of utilities in other states who are actively engaged in a war on solar (seen as competitive to their business interests) and stymie its popular adoption? Can NextEra meet the state’s newly adopted 100 percent goal for renewable energy by 2045? How will the power of size, money and political influence by Florida-based NextEra transform Hawaii’s energy future? Will Hawaii’s Public Utilities Commission protect the public interest?
These and many other questions will be discussed by a panel of experts, each with a different outlook on Hawaii’s electricity dependent future.
Lauhala bracelet workshop planned
The public is invited to create a lauhala bracelet during a workshop from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, at the Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in Captain Cook. Participants will learn many traditional uses of hala, and how to prepare leaves for weaving.
Cost is $10 for Bishop Museum members, $15 for nonmembers. Class size limited to 15.
To register, contact Cindy Whitehawk at 987-2662 or blossoming_whitehawk@yahoo.com.