Kalalau Trail on Kauai gets a clean up

KPUA.net

Kalalau Trail on Kauai gets a clean up

By Associated Press

LIHUE, Hawaii (AP) _ The most famous hiking trail along Kauai's famed Na Pali coast has gotten a cleanup.

That's after months of complaints about treacherous conditions, overgrowth and washed out sections along the path above the ocean.

Hikers are praising the improvements.

A crew of five volunteers from Hunakai Plantation recently cleaned up a particularly difficult stretch of the trail, along with four state workers.

Benjy Garfinkle, owner of the land management company Hunakai Plantation donated his workers' time to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Garfinkle says his company was glad to help improve what he calls a ``national treasure.''


(Copyright 2004 by the Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Kauai: A lush, relaxing getaway

The Seattle Times

Kauai: A lush, relaxing getaway

By Gary A. Warner
The Orange County Register

JANE WOOLDRIDGE / MIAMI HERALD
Hanalei, on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, is known as a town that is the wet, lush Hawaii of fantasy, where "slo-mo" is the only speed.

Snowman and Lobster Boy are tossing a football on the lawn in front of my cottage fronting Hanalei Bay, the arc of the pigskin spiraling past the green scalloped peaks above the North Shore of Kauai.

Snowman is the nickname Lobster Boy has given the pale new arrival to the beach, while Lobster Boy is the tag Snowman has hung on his sunburned buddy.

The boys are part of a massive family reunion going on at the big house next door.

Somewhere up on the hill at Princeville, people are playing golf or taking catamaran rides or banging little yellow balls around the tennis courts.

But I'm down the hill, in Hanalei. Sitting on the porch of Hanalei Cottage with a homemade mai tai in a Hilo Hattie coffee cup watching my ono fillet slowly cook on the grill.

Slo-mo is the only speed in Hanalei, on the far side of Hanalei Bridge.

Built in 1912, the bridge spans the Hanalei River that runs past the taro fields below Princeville.

Like a clogged artery, the bridge acts as a regulator, slowing the tidal wave of commercialism that has swamped much of the rest of the Hawaiian Islands.

The bridge leads to a long dead-end road. There are no fancy resorts. No great restaurants. There is no top-end shopping. There are no luaus. Parking on the beach is lousy. It rains — a lot.

That's bad news if you are hitting a 7-iron on the back nine, but no big deal if you are lolling on the lanai looking at the uluhe ferns and red hibiscus. The rain makes everything brilliant, green and golden. This is the wet, lush Hawaii of fantasy. A place of swaying coconut palms, ribbon-like cascading waterfalls. When they made the movie about James Michener's mythical "Bali Hai," from "Tales of the South Pacific," they filmed it here.

In deference to travel-writing tradition, I guess I should enumerate a few things to do for those who propel their Type A personalities across the bridge. There's great snorkeling at Kee Beach, at the very end of the road. I've heard that the hike up into the Napali Coast, which leaves from the Kee Beach parking lot, is wonderful. Green thumbs should check out the vast rows of tropical plants at Limahuli Garden.

My one big trip is usually to another beach. I drive up the Kuhio Highway to Lumahai Beach, the North Shore's world-famous "secret beach." It's been in a few Hollywood movies, but still there are no signs showing the way.

Hanalei, Kauai

Lodging

I've stayed at the one-bedroom Hanalei Cottage and at the six-bedroom Hanalei House next door. The house costs a minimum of $695 per night. The cottage starts at $335 a night. Both places can be booked through Waimea Plantation Cottages. Call 808-338-1625 or see www.hanaleihouse .com

Hanalei North Shore Properties. 800-488-3336 or www.kauai-vacation-rentals .com

Hanalei Colony Hotel is the closest thing to a traditional hotel in the area. Two-bedroom condos start at $180 per night. Call 800-628-3004 or see www.hcr .com


Restaurants

Bubba's in Hanalei serves a good burger, but I prefer Ono Char-Burger in Anahola, next door to Whalers General Store. Expect a long wait, but it's worth it. 808-822-9181.

Hanalei Dolphin Restaurant & Fish Market is a nice place for a meal, though I prefer to buy at the market in the rear and cook back at the beach. 808-826-6113.


More information

Beach stuff: Hanalei Surf Co., a good place to buy or rent fins and snorkels. 808-826-9000.

Just ask them, click on it: Kauai Visitors Bureau, 800-262-1400 or www.kauaivisitorsbureau .com


You look for cars parked by the side of the road, find a bit of dirt for your own vehicle, then hike down through the ironwood trees until you pop onto a beautiful small beach. The surf can sometimes be rough, but when it's placid — especially in summer — people love to jump off the rocks into the pools.

Back in town, I might pop into a couple of shops in the mall converted from the old primary school building or stick my head in the pretty 19th-century Waioli Huiia Church, a remnant of the area's missionary past.

Most evenings, I'll saunter down to Tahiti Nui. Auntie Louise Marston passed away last year, and her bamboo-thatched bar misses her. Marston would greet visitors in a flowing muumuu, with multiple leis around her neck and flowers in her hair.

Over a mai tai or two she would recount tales of her days in Tahiti, a no-good husband and how much the North Shore has changed — and hasn't — since she arrived in 1964.

A relative and a New Zealander have saved the bar from extinction, giving up half the building to, what else, a real estate office.

Two stools away from me is Kurt Mueller, a honeymooner from Cary, N.C.

"I'm in denial — denial that I am going home tomorrow," he moans.

Not me. It's back to the cottage. Check to make sure there's a papaya and lime in the fridge for breakfast and some Kona coffee by the Mr. Coffee. Sit back in the easy chair and let the flow of the waves carry me away. Dreaming of another day on the North Shore. Waking to find that dreams do come true.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

Where’s Bali Hai? In your mind

seacoastonline.com

Where’s Bali Hai? In your mind

By Toni Stroud
Chicago Tribune

One of the most haunting love songs of American musical theater is not about a man or a woman. It’s about an island, your special island, Bali Hai, calling you to come, come away.
Author James A. Michener described Bali Hai in "Tales of the South Pacific" (1946-47), a World War II epic that would later be immortalized on stage (opening in 1949) and screen (in 1958) in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musica* South Pacific."

Every island wishes it were Bali Hai. Visit Kauai, Moorea or Bora Bora, and tour guides will tell you that each is Bali Hai. True, Kauai and Moorea were film locations for the movie. And Bora Bora has a restaurant named after one of the script’s more colorful characters, Bloody Mary, who sings that oh-so-alluring song "Bali Hai." But Kauai is a Hawaiian island in the North Pacific. And both Moorea and Bora Bora, though in the South Pacific, are in the Tahitian archipelago of French Polynesia. The native population of Bali Hai was Tonkinese.

So where in the world is the real Bali Hai?

Michener set the record straight by placing the inspiration for Bali Hai much closer to New Guinea than Tahiti. In an article he wrote for the Philadelphia Sunday Bulletin in 1970, provided by the James A. Michener Library at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Bali Hai was the combination of a "miserable" village on Mono Island, about 400 miles northwest of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, and a "steaming, savage island called Aoba," in what is now Vanuatu.

Michener confessed that those islands were so off-putting that no sane person would willingly visit them. But as a writer, Michener took "the privilege of dressing them up a little ... creating an island of loveliness and imagination named Bali Hai."

It wasn’t until after he’d submitted "Tales of the South Pacific" to the publisher that he visited Moorea. When he entered Moorea’s Cook’s Bay, surrounded as it is by dramatic peaks, Michener said the scene was exactly what he had in mind when he "invented" Bali Hai - until he saw Bora Bora, which he named the "Bali Hai of the spirit."

By his own admission, Michener refused to argue with those who claimed Moorea was the real Bali Hai, and placated those who chose Bora Bora by saying that in creating Bali Hai he was describing a perfect island and that "there can be no other more perfect than this."

Perhaps the lure of Bali Hai is that it can be any island you want. That’s the power of fiction. Michener concluded this much about it: "I no longer know what the relationship between fact and fiction is, or ought to be. All I know is that I created an idea long before I saw its reality, and I believe that often happens in art."

Kauai woman gets 18-month sentence in Cambodian adoptions case

KPUA.net - KPUA Hawaii News

Kauai woman gets 18-month sentence in Cambodian adoptions case

By Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) _ A Kauai woman who took children from Cambodia and offered them for adoption has been sentenced in Seattle to a year-and-a-half in prison.

Fifty-three-year-old Lauryn Galindo of Hanalei had pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit visa fraud and to launder money.

Galindo's sister, Lynn Devin of Mercer Island, ran Seattle International Adoptions until it was closed by federal officials.

The sisters arranged hundreds of adoptions from Cambodia, including one for actress Angelina Jolie -- although there was nothing fraudulent in that case.

Investigators said that not all of the children put up for adoption were truly orphans. They said some had been bought from poor families.

As part of her sentence, Galindo was ordered to forfeit her home in Hawaii, worth one-point-four (m) million dollars.

In her guilty plea last July, Galindo admitted she misrepresented some Cambodian children as orphans.

Devin pleaded guilty to related charges and will be sentenced next month.

(Copyright 2004 by the Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

State land chief cautions guidebook writers

Maui News

State land chief cautions guidebook writers

By VALERIE MONSON, Staff Writer
KAHULUI – The co-author of the controversial guidebook, "Maui Revealed," has been asked by Peter Young, chairman of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, to make revisions in future editions regarding descriptions of the Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve and surrounding sensitive places.

"We believe that with the recommended changes, visitors using your book will be safer and have a better quality experience, and at the same time, the natural and cultural resources of the area will receive less direct human impact," wrote Young in a 6¢-page letter sent Monday to Andrew Doughty of Wizard Publications based on Kauai.

The letter was distributed to members of the Ahihi-Kinau/Keoneoio Advisory Group Tuesday. The panel endorsed the suggested revisions and added three of its own that will be sent to Doughty under separate cover.

Lisa Williamson, the director of marketing for Wizard Publications, told the advisory group in August that recommendations from DLNR would be reviewed. Harriett Friedman wrote the book with Doughty.

While other guidebooks contain information about Ahihi-Kinau and adjoining Keoneoio, "Maui Revealed" has been blamed for much of the increase in traffic because of its detailed maps and style of writing that seems to suggest that readers can disregard signs posted by private landowners.

Young recommended that the authors encourage visitors to snorkel at Ahihi/Kanahena Cove and Dumps (Maonakala) rather than the vulnerable coves known as Fishbowl and Aquarium.

"A reduction in the number of visitors to the Aquarium and Fishbowl sites is needed to protect the sensitive natural resources (such as rare corals) found in these areas, and we believe the alternative sites provide an equally impressive snorkeling experience," wrote Young.

The recommended revisions "also reflect an intent to include more information about the natural conditions of the area, so that visitors are aware of the potential dangers of walking over lava to remote areas and of snorkeling or swimming in rough seas," Young continued. "This recommendation is to increase public safety – there have been several rescues in this area that are a result of unprepared users."

The advisory group applauded Young’s letter, but decided to send Doughty three more suggestions that emerged from Tuesday’s meeting. Those are:

” Being aware of the panel’s decision to ask DLNR to completely close off access to Fishbowl and Aquarium.

” Urging visitors to stay away from dolphins so they don’t harass them.

” Properly identifying private property and making it clear that visitors should respect those properties.

Young also asked that the authors tone down some of their descriptions, eliminate directions to some sites and completely delete a hike to Kalua O Lapa, the vent on the mauka side of the road which involves difficult hiking on a rocky trail as well as trekking across a lava field without a path.

"If there is no existing trail, then it is irresponsible to direct people to this area," wrote Young. "They will end up trampling the lava, thereby committing illegal offenses."

Guidebook blamed by couple washed away in flash flood

USATODAY.com

Guidebook blamed by couple washed away in flash flood

WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) — A Tennessee woman says she and her husband were washed away in a flash flood because they had relied on a guidebook that directs tourists to remote areas of the island.
"We had no idea we were somewhere we should not be," Beth Pickel told the Maui News on Tuesday from her home in Nashville.

The Pickels said they got into trouble Sunday when, following the guidebook Maui Revealed, they drove to Nahiku to visit the Blue Pool. The couple crossed a stream to get to the pool, but when they tried to get back, the stream had turned from a trickle into a torrent because of rains in the mountains.

The Pickels tried to swim across, but were swept down to the sea, where they became separated. Kirk Pickel made it back to the pool, while his wife climbed out on the opposite shore, where she could run for help.

A fire crew arrived on the scene, but was unable to reach Kirk Pickel, who had to be lifted to safety by a rescue helicopter.

Beth Pickel said she was upset that the book did not specifically mention that rain in the mountains could cause flash flooding downstream, even in areas where the weather was clear, as it was Sunday at the pool.

Lisa Williamson, director of marketing at the guide's publisher, Kauai-based Wizard Publications, said the book addresses flash floods and other hazards.

She note the book says: "Flash floods can occur in any fresh water stream anywhere in the world, even paradise. Be alert for them."

"It would be redundant to mention this hazard for every single stream on Maui," Williamson said.

Beth Pickel also complained there were "no trespassing" signs at the pool, saying she and her husband wouldn't have gone if they had known it was on private property.

But Williamson said Maui County had informed the publisher before the guide was published that the land at the Blue Pool is public, and no landowner has ever said anything to the contrary.

Meanwhile, Peter Young, chairman of the state Board of Land and Natural Resources, has asked guidebook co-author Andrew Doughty to revise future editions of Maui Revealed when describing the Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve and surrounding sensitive places.

"We believe that with the recommended changes, visitors using your book will be safer and have a better quality experience, and at the same time, the natural and cultural resources of the area will receive less direct human impact," Young said in a letter to Doughty on Monday.

Williamson told the Ahihi-Kinau/Keoneoio Advisory Group in August that recommendations from DLNR would be reviewed.

Doughty and co-author Harriett Friedman moved to Kauai about 10 years ago and formed Wizard Publications. They wrote The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook, followed by Hawaii the Big Island Revealed, and then Maui Revealed.

The books are very popular with tourists, but have been criticized by land owners, public safety authorities and business owners.

The criticism stems from the books supposedly encouraging tourists to go on private property, despoiling formerly hidden places with crowds of visitors and for blunt reviews of restaurants, visitor-oriented businesses and tourist attractions.

Some authorities say the books are leading visitors to remote places where they can get into serious trouble.

Justice Department OKs anti-drug money for Kauai

KPUA.net

Justice Department OKs anti-drug money for Kauai

By Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) _ The federal Justice Department has approved nearly one-point-five (m) million dollars to support anti-drug programs on Kauai.

Senator Daniel Inouye says the money will be used for a number of things to combat drugs, crystal methamphetamine in particular.

The Kauai Police Department will support an Ice Task Force to target crystal meth users and dealers at all levels. The county Prosecuting Attorney's office will add a deputy prosecutor to its staff to focus on prosecuting drug dealers. And the money will also support drug prevention activities across the island.

Inouye also says Mayor Bryan Baptiste's office is organizing an annual drug summit to discuss the county's progress and update the community response plan.

Inouye says announcements on additional funds for Neighbor Island counties are forthcoming.

Iraq orders canceled for veteran on Kauai

Honolulu Star-Bulletin Hawaii News

Iraq orders canceled for veteran on Kauai

Inouye's office cites a 'computer discrepancy'

By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com

The Kauai resident who was ordered back into the Army for a tour in Iraq 13 years after his honorable discharge will stay home after all.

David M. Miyasato said retired Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Alexis Lum, who works for U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, called him yesterday to say his mobilization orders had been revoked.

"It's a great day. It's an even greater Veterans Day," said Miyasato, whose plight gained national media attention after he sued the Army last week to stop his mobilization orders.

Miyasato said that Lum told him the problem had been caused by "an internal computer discrepancy."

But Miyasato's attorney, Eric Seitz, said he has no plans to dismiss the lawsuit against the Army until he is assured that his client is safe from a mobilization order.

Miyasato, who is married with a child, received orders in September to report to Fort Jackson, S.C., by Tuesday "for no more than 24 months active duty."

It came as a surprised for Miyasato, who believed he had fulfilled his Army duties. Miyasato served in the 1991 Gulf War after enlisting just before he graduated from Kauai High School in 1988. He completed his eight-year enlistment in August 1996.

Miyasato, who was a truck driver and refueler during his enlistment, wrote to the Army several times protesting the mobilization order. Miyasato asked Hawaii's congressional delegation for help after he did not get a response from the Army.

Rather than face an absent-without-leave charge, Miyasato hired Seitz, who filed a federal lawsuit on Friday seeking a restraining order. Within hours the Army responded and gave Miyasato a 30-day exemption.

After hearing from Lum yesterday, Miyasato said, "I am definitely relieved, and the weight has been lifted off our shoulders." Miyasato's wife, Estelle, gave birth to their first child, Abigail, in March.

During his Army stint, Miyasato was assigned to the 3rd Armored Division in Germany and was sent to the 4th Squadron, 7th Cavalry. Before Christmas 1990 his unit was deployed to Saudi Arabia, and later joined the ground war in Iraq.

On Aug. 15, 1991, Miyasato received an honorable discharge.

Miyasato started an auto-tinting shop in Lihue two years ago. He said he never re-enlisted, did not sign up for any bonuses and was never told that he had been transferred to the Individual Ready Reserve or any other Army Reserve unit.

In July, 4,166 soldiers in the Individual Ready Reserve received mobilization orders. Of those, 843 have neither reported nor asked for a delay or exemption, according to the Army. At least two other veterans have filed suit against the government after being ordered to report to Iraq.

Last week, the Army agreed to honorably discharge Capt. Jay Ferriola, who was told to go to Iraq even though he had notified the Army he was resigning his commission.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Frank Daimler Jr. in California refused to grant an injunction stopping another soldier, known only as John Doe, from being transferred because his California National Guard enlistment does not expire until May.

The soldier, believed to be a member of the California infantry battalion assigned to Hawaii's 29th Infantry Brigade, was affected by the Pentagon's "stop-loss" program, which extends enlistment during war or national emergencies.

He signed up under a National Guard program for veterans that offers military education and family medical benefits for a one-year trial. Before that term expired, he was called up for an 18-month tour that will extend his enlistment by nearly a year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Steve Case, Honolulu native and co-founder of America Online, spoke yesterday at the Hawaii Business top 250 luncheon at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Honolulu Star-Bulletin Business



DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM

Steve Case, Honolulu native and co-founder of America Online, spoke yesterday at the Hawaii Business top 250 luncheon at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Case discussed his investments in the islands and ideas for building a vision for Hawaii that combines respect for the native culture and environment with job creation and economic growth. Above, Case is pictured next to a mirror.

Making his Case

Hawaii prodigy Steve Case says
isle firms benefit from investing
locally and raising the quality
of life
By Allison Schaefers
aschaefers@starbulletin.com

FOR Hawaii to lure back young professionals leaving for opportunities elsewhere, it must provide well-paying jobs while allowing quality family life, America Online co-founder Steve Case told local business leaders yesterday.

Steve Case
» Age: 46
» Claim to fame: Co-founder of America Online
» Worth: $825 million
» High school: Punahou, class of '76

Case, a Honolulu native, spoke at a Hawaii Business magazine luncheon at Hilton Hawaiian Village. Case, who helped make "you've got mail" part of America's vocabulary, has also made significant investments in the islands. Case, with a net worth of about $825 million, is listed at No. 363 on the Forbes magazine's list of the 400 richest Americans.

"Hawaii gave me a great start in life. Now it's my turn to give back -- not just for nostalgia or sentiment's sake, but because Hawaii represents a great opportunity to invest in businesses that I'm convinced can do well by doing good," Case said.

Case, a 1976 Punahou graduate, is one of four children of prominent local attorney Daniel Case and his wife, Carol. He got his entrepreneurial start as a youth selling lemonade, where he said he "learned that business was a rewarding and honorable profession."

Case's dreams took him to the mainland where after marketing positions that included a stint at PepsiCo Inc., he joined the company that was to become America Online. After the merger of America Online and Time Warner in 2001, Case served as chairman of the board, and is now a member of Time Warner's board.

Case, who lives in Washington, D.C., has made recent investments on Maui and Kauai. He is a major investor in Kauai's Grove Farm, where his grandfather was once chief executive officer, and in Maui Land & Pineapple. Case is also the chairman of the Case Foundation, a leading supporter for Hawaii Habitat for Humanity, and an investor in the Hawaii Superferry.

Case said he's looking for other investment opportunities that will improve the lives of Hawaii residents, and encouraged business leaders to do the same.

If businesses help improve Hawaii's quality of life, they will become more successful at attracting talent and resources in an increasingly competitive environment, he said.

"It's a virtuous cycle, where the better we do, the better we stand to do," Case said.

But businesses must also provide well-paying jobs that allow for rewarding family lives, he said.

"Right now, with Hawaii's Manhattan prices and Midwestern paychecks, that's rarely a viable option," he said. "I truly believe Hawaii can be a beacon of opportunity -- a place where kids don't have to leave home in order to follow their dreams."

Business decisions that promote Hawaii's niche tourism markets, help grow local agriculture and improve shipping and transportation while still remaining true to the state's diverse culture and protect the environment are rooted in success, Case said.

"I know everybody has different interests. I know that lots of good work is underway," he said. "But what I'm saying is that I believe we all can do even more -- and that if we do, we can spark momentum that will be self-reinforcing."

Great communities need contributions and business offer the best hope for positive far-reaching, durable change, Case said, challenging Hawaii's top businesses to take risks and invest locally.

"If we won't bet on Hawaii's future, then nobody else will either," he said.

Walter Dods, chairman and chief executive of First Hawaiian Bank and parent BancWest Corp., said Hawaii's business community will likely respond to Case's challenge.

"We haven't heard a speech like that in a long time," Dods said. "I personally loved it. Businesses that derive their incomes from the community need to give back to the community."

United Way effort under way

Maui News

United Way effort under way

It’s that time of year again. The Maui United Way has launched its annual campaign to raise funds for 32 nonprofit agencies devoted to meeting the needs of the community.

Almost by definition, island communities are generous, willing to give a helping hand to those in need. The Maui United Way, with partners and affiliates on Maui and Lanai, makes it possible for individuals to contribute to a wide range of social service agencies with one contribution. Molokai has its own United Way, as do Oahu, the Big Island and Kauai.

An effectively, efficiently run United Way gets maximum mileage out of every dollar donated. If you are a wage earner, you probably have already received a form that allows making a donation as easy as filling out a few lines and checking a few boxes.

The form allows you to pick the amount of your donation and the way you will honor your pledge. Donations can be made by way of a payroll deduction, a one-time donation paid by cash, check or credit card or by having the United Way bill you later.

The payroll form also gives you the option of having your donation go to all 32 participating agencies or specifying a particular nonprofit agency that may or may not be a part of the United Way.

The United Way is also interested in learning what you think are the community health and human service priorities on Maui. According to the United Way’s 2004 Report to Donors, 30 percent of your donation goes to basic human needs such as emergency assistance and victims of domestic violence, 21 percent goes to youth development agencies and programs, 18 percent goes to individuals with disabilities and the elderly, 16 percent goes to programs aimed at strengthening families and parenting and 15 percent goes to education and health education.

The United Way is also a coordinator and clearing house for those wanting to volunteer and to devise new ways of meeting Maui’s problems.

For more information about the Maui United Way and its partners and affiliates, go to its Web site at www.mauiunitedway.org or call 244-8787. A small contribution – in cash, time or energy – can make a large difference.

Maui, Kauai selected for federal watershed conservation program

KPUA.net - KPUA Hawaii News - Maui, Kauai selected for federal watershed conservation program

Maui, Kauai selected for federal watershed conservation program

By Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) _ Federal agriculture officials say the Maui and Kauai watersheds are eligible for the federal Conservation Security Program.

More than 200 watersheds across the nation have been selected for the program, which provides payments to eligible farmers for maintaining and enhancing natural resources.

Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman says that helps to improve water, air and soil quality.

The program this year also includes a renewable energy component.

Eligible farmers will be compensated for converting to renewable energy fuels such as soy bio-diesel and ethanol and for recycling 100 percent of on-farm lubricants. They'll also receive payments for implementing energy production, including wind, solar, geothermal, and methane production.

Congressman Ed Case notes that Maui and Kauai are the first islands to benefit from the program. "

Gulf War Veteran Sues Army Over Involuntary Recall, Called Up 13 Years After Honorable Discharge in “Back-Door Draft”

Commondreams.org

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: November 8, 2004

HONOLULU, Nov. 7 (AP) - A veteran of the first Persian Gulf war is suing the Army after it ordered him to report for duty 13 years after he was honorably discharged from active duty and 8 years after he left the Reserves.

The veteran, David Miyasato of Kauai, received word of his reactivation in September, but says he believes he completed his eight-year obligation to the Army long ago.

"I was shocked," Mr. Miyasato said Friday. "I never expected to see something like that after being out of the service for 13 years."

His federal lawsuit, filed Friday in Honolulu, seeks a judgment declaring that he has fulfilled his military obligations.

Harry Yee, an assistant United States attorney, said his office would defend the Army. He declined to comment further.

Mr. Miyasato, 34, was scheduled to report to a military facility in South Carolina on Tuesday.

Within hours of filing the lawsuit, however, Mr. Miyasato received a faxed letter from the Army's Human Resources Command saying that his "exemption from active duty had not been finalized at this time" but that he had been given an administrative delay for up to 30 days, said his lawyer, Eric Seitz.

Mr. Miyasato, who is married and has a 7-month-old daughter, enlisted in the Army in 1987 and served in Iraq and Kuwait during the first gulf war as a petroleum supply specialist and truck driver.

Mr. Miyasato said he received an honorable discharge from active duty in 1991, then served in the Reserves until 1996 to fulfill his eight-year enlistment commitment.

The Army announced last year that it would activate an estimated 5,600 soldiers to serve in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Army officials are tapping members of the Individual Ready Reserve - soldiers who have been discharged from the Army, Army Reserve or the Army National Guard, but still have contractual obligations to the military.

Mr. Miyasato said he never re-enlisted, signed up for any bonuses or was told that he had been transferred to the Individual Ready Reserve or any other Reserve unit.

America Online co-founder to help honor Hawaii's top businesses

Pacific Business News (Honolulu)

America Online co-founder to help honor Hawaii's top businesses

The co-founder of America Online will be the featured speaker next Wednesday at an event honoring Hawaii's leading companies.

Steve Case is expected to talk about his investments in the islands during the Hawaii Business Top 250 luncheon at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa.

The Honolulu native also will share his ideas for building a shared vision for Hawaii that combines respect for the native culture and environment with job creation and economic growth, according sponsors First Hawaiian Bank, Matson Navigation Co. and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Case is described in the event's new release as a lifelong entrepreneur and innovator, focused on developing creative companies and nonprofit organizations that can improve people's lives.

He also is a major investor in Grove Farm of Kauai and Maui Land & Pineapple. In addition, he is chairman of the Case Foundation, a leading supporter of Hawaii Habitat for Humanity.

Turnout on Oahu reaches 67% as ballot mix-up delays final count

Honolulu Star-Bulletin Hawaii News

Turnout on Oahu reaches 67% as ballot mix-up delays final count

Some trouble surfaces with absentee ballots as a record 127,000 mail in their votes

By Craig Gima
cgima@starbulletin.com
Encouraged by the chance to make a difference in the presidential race, Hawaii residents crowded polling places yesterday.



GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS

GENERAL ELECTION GUIDE


KEY RACES
THIRD STATEWIDE PRINTOUT
As of 5:30 a.m., Nov. 3
FEDERAL
President/VP
Kerry 231,691 54%
Bush 194,184 45%
Cobb 1,737 0%
Badnarik 1,377 0%
C&C HONOLULU
Mayor
Hannemann 147,943 50%
Bainum 146,588 50%

On Oahu, turnout was about 67 percent. More than 127,000 people voted absentee statewide, a new record.

In the last presidential election in 2000, turnout was about 58 percent, with 371,033 ballots cast.

Late last night, a mix-up involving about 4,000 late mail-in absentee ballots held up the final count for Oahu. There was also a problem at a precinct in Mililani where an unknown amount of voters got the wrong ballot for the state House race.

The state Democratic Party was also investigating a possible snafu involving absentee ballots that did not get to Hawaii National Guard soldiers training for duty in Iraq in Texas, said spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz.

She said party lawyers were waiting for an explanation from the Hawaii National Guard that was expected sometime today.

Chief Elections Officer Dwayne Yoshina said his office made a special effort to sign up soldiers for absentee ballots. He said the ballots for the soldiers were among the first mailed out by county clerks.

The ballots were sent to the National Guard headquarters at Diamond Head, and the Guard was supposed to forward them to the soldiers.

At the time, Yoshina said, it was not known where the soldiers would be deployed.

It was unclear how many soldiers did not receive their absentee ballots.

"I don't think there's that many," Yoshina said.

He said he followed up on a complaint last week that a soldier had not received a ballot, and was told by the Guard that all the ballots had been forwarded.

A National Guard spokesman was not available for comment last night.

According to state law, completed absentee ballots must be received by 6 p.m. on Election Day. So, soldiers who did not fax or mail their ballots by the deadline cannot be allowed to vote, said election spokesman Rex Quidilla.

Both Republicans and Democrats agreed that yesterday's strong turnout was due, in part, to new voters or voters who do not regularly turn out.

Young people appeared to be a factor in the presidential race. Higher-than-average turnout in low-turnout areas might have also played a role in the mayor's race.

At Ala Wai Elementary School, first-time voters appeared to favor John Kerry.

"My union said to vote," said Jamal Kirk, a Kerry voter who had not voted in the last three elections.

Gina Abou-Sayf said she voted for the first time for Kerry because she thought she could make a difference.

"I could be that last vote," she said.

Precinct workers in working-class Kalihi, which saw lower voter turnout in the primary, said about 50 percent more people were turning out for the general.

Vao Salanoa, who said he is not a regular voter, cast his ballot yesterday for Mufi Hannemann and George Bush.

"Everybody said, 'Go vote,'" Salanoa said.

Edwin Butay, who is also not a regular voter, said he wanted to choose a new mayor and voted for Hannemann because he grew up in Kalihi. He also voted for Bush.

Democrats said they believe young new voters made a big difference in the presidential race and could be a factor in future elections.

Jadine Nielsen, state director for the Democratic National Committee, said the party believes it has identified new Democratic voters who will play a role in future elections.

Aaron Johanson, the state GOP's political director, said it is difficult to know what role new voters played in the election. But, he said, on the local level, candidates are able to get lists of new registered voters and can target information toward them.

Voters say ‘Yes' to Ohana Kauai Charter amendment

Kauai Garden Island News

Voters say ‘Yes' to Ohana Kauai Charter amendment

By Chris Cook, Lester Chang - The Garden Island

The voters have spoken on how to reform Kaua‘i County's property tax system.

In perhaps the biggest surprise for Kaua‘i on election night 2004, the Ohana Kauai group's property tax reform County Charter amendment won by an overwhelming majority in Tuesday's general election.

It was the first initiative measure to make the ballot on Kaua‘i in 20 years.

"I think the people have spoken and I think this is a wake up call to every member of the Council," said Ohana Kauai member Monroe Richman of Po‘ipu.

Richman, a retired physician, said the group may expand their efforts into other areas of county operations they see as malfeasant.

"Ohana Kauai will not go away," he said, citing infrastructure, "unfettered development without charging developers sufficient fees to buy affordable housing," and addressing the problem of solid waste as possible focus areas.

"Ohana Kauai will be back again and again and again," he said.

"I would like to thank the Ohana group members who have worked so hard toward the adoption of the measure," said Walter Lewis, a retired businessman from Princeville who played a key role in drafting the proposal and getting it on the ballot. "I would like to thank the voters who have supported it. And I would like to invite the County to recognize the will of the people and join us to implement the amendment which will benefit so many of the citizens of our island."

The Ohana Kauai proposal advocates reducing property taxes for residents who occupy their homes to the tax amount they paid in 1998.

The initiative also would limit tax increases to 2 percent a year in 2006, a year after the proposal would take effect.

The amendment has found opposition from Mayor Bryan Baptiste, the County Council, the Kaua‘i chapter of SHOPO, the statewide police officers union, and other organizations, their argument being that adoption of the measure would result in significant revenue losses to the county, thereby leading to layoff of county employees and cutback in services.

Former Council Chair Ron Kouchi announced his backing of the Ohana Kauai amendment last week.

He said he feels it will do a better job of helping longtime property owners from being taxed off their properties, without setting back county operations.

Kaua‘i County officials have asked a judge to make a determination on the legality of the proposal, based on inquires from the Baptiste's administration and the council, led by councilchairman Kaipo Asing.

Lewis said he is astounded that the council and county administration are looking into the matter so close to the election.

He said, I would be very disappointed if they choose the legal avenue to oppose the voters on this measure; the people have spoken learn to respect them.

County officials contend the proposed charter amendment, if adopted, would illegally interfere with the taxing authority of the county. A determination by a judge is pending.

If the judge determines the proposal is illegal, Ohana Kauai leaders will very likely appeal the ruling, Lewis said.