Island Air to fly Kauai-Big Island

Island Air will launch flights between Lihue International Airport and Keahole (Kona) International Airport beginning next Tuesday, Sept. 5.
It is the first time in over 10 years that any airline has offered a direct flight between these two destinations, said Les Murashige, chief operating officer.
"Our goal is to continue to invest in the community by making traveling between the islands easier," he said. "Being a Kauai native, I am proud to have this great opportunity to help my hometown."
This will bring Island Air to 17 individual flight routes, three times as many as any other carrier in Hawaii. It has 103 flights a day.
Flight 176 will leave Lihue at 11:45 a.m. and arrive Kona at 1 p.m. while Flight 177 will leave Kona at 1:25 p.m. and arrive Lihue at 2:40 p.m.

Kauai center to treat young drug addicts

Kauai has been without an inpatient drug and alcohol treatment facility since Serenity House closed after Hurricane Iniki in 1992.
While the situation is slowly improving, many health professionals say Kauai's addicts are still underreported and underserved.
Officials hope to change things with a new adolescent drug treatment center. Ground was broken last week near Salt Pond Beach Park. Police, politicians, prosecutors and others applauded the new facility.
But the center, which will hold 16 teens and is scheduled to be opened in June, tackles only drug abuse.
For a decade the only treatment available on island was outpatient therapy.
Gail Gnazzo, chief executive officer of the Maui Youth and Family Services, the group selected to provide treatment in the new Kauai center, said about 20 Kauai youths a year travel to the Maui treatment center to get help.
Mardi Maione, a certified substance abuse counselor and head of Kauai Mayor Bryan Baptiste's drug treatment committee, said there is no way of knowing exactly how many Kauai residents are affected by the disease of addiction, both adults and juveniles.
Between 10 and 25 adults need to go off island for treatment a year, Maione said.
Kauai's Drug Court has been consistently full. So are the outpatient treatment options currently available.
Hina Mauka, a statewide nonprofit, and Ke Ala Pono, a local treatment center, have provided outpatient care on Kauai for years.
Started just last year, U-turn for Christ, a Christian-based treatment program run by Calvary Church, also has seven patients, said Roy Nishida, Kauai's anti-drug coordinator.
Still, "they're underreported" on Kauai, Maione said.
Maione said she is proud to announce Kauai finally has halfway houses for recovering addicts for the first time in more than a decade.
Ke Ala Hoku, a group providing halfway houses, currently serves women, single women with children, and a male house is in the works, Maione said.
But detox programs are nonexistent, and after-care is difficult to find, the experts say.
"Scott," a longtime alcoholic and drug addict, said he had to lie to get into treatment on Kauai last year. In his 40s and a longtime Kauai resident, he told emergency room officials he was suicidal in order to get admitted to a detoxification program for those dually addicted -- drug addicts and mentally ill.
It was his only option to get help, he said. After a month in the Salvation Army program on Oahu, "Scott" has been clean for almost a year.
Despite the gaps in coverage, last week's celebration was to tout progress.
Maione, who has been fighting to get treatment options on Kauai for about a decade, said there is hope in the community now.
"One little baby step at a time," she said.

Family promises to care for survivor of Kauai crash

The life of the Yim family had always been focused on the lives of their two boys, Lindon, 5, and Brandon, who would have turned 8 yesterday.
Now, their aunt, Chong Yim, said the focus of their entire extended family is on Lindon, who is recovering from a punctured lung and other injuries at the Queen's Medical Center.
Lindon Yim's parents, Yong "Michael" and Lan of Irvine, Calif., died Thursday in a car accident that also killed Brandon along Kauai's west side.
Their rental car was making a U-turn when a Gas Co. truck going about 50 mph crashed into it, police said. Lan, who was driving, died at the scene. Michael died at Kauai Veteran's Memorial Hospital. Brandon died en route to Queen's.
After a few days in critical care and a surgery to repair his lung, Lindon still is not completely sure what happened, Chong said yesterday.
Lindon thinks Michael's identical twin brother is his dad, she added.
But the little boy is making progress.
"He's sleeping a lot," she said, but the prognosis is good. He might be able to leave the hospital within 10 days.
Family members are flying from all over the globe to be with Lindon, she added. Lindon's mother's family was expected to arrive in Honolulu from Korea yesterday afternoon, and Chong said she will fly out next week to be with her youngest nephew.
"The boy will be in very good hands," Chong said. "We are trying to focus on (Lindon) trying to get well."
Lindon likely will live with his aunt and two cousins in Northern California, Chong continued. Michael's sister and brother-in-law, an executive with a Silicon Valley company, already have two daughters, ages 7 and 5.
"He'll be better off there," she said. They "are more than willing to take him."
Meanwhile, the family begins to make plans for memorials for the three who died.
Michael Yim, 43, moved to California from Korea in 1968, Chong said, and attended high school in the San Diego area. He went to college in San Diego, and law school at the University of California-Davis.
He was a successful lawyer known by many in the Korean community in Los Angeles, she said.
Lan, 43, was a registered nurse and a doting mother.
Laurie Lawver, whose son was in school with Lindon, said the couple "were always very classy, friendly parents that were very involved with their boys.
"This has been extremely sad for our entire school family and community and just hope Lindon will be all right," Lawver added. "He is a very smart and happy little boy."
His older brother, Brandon, was "exceptionally bright," Chong said, and that's not just a proud aunt talking. "He was way advanced in his class.
"He loved to read, loved to play piano," she added. "He loved to teach his little brother everything he knows."
The two just started playing Little League this year, Chong said.
According to a report in the Orange County Register, the family had a timeshare property on Kauai and told neighbors they were excited about the trip.
"They were in paradise on Earth" before the crash, Chong said.
"They were happy," she added. "That comforts me."

UH aid plan targets isle students

Public high school students could get partial scholarships with adequate grades
University of Hawaii President David McClain is proposing a "Century Scholars" program that would give a partial scholarship to any public school student who graduates in the top 10 percent of their class and attends a UH campus.
The program is aimed at recruiting more Hawaii students to stay in the state and attend a UH school or community college and would be incorporated into the university's celebration of its 100th anniversary next year.
McClain said he is reviewing the details of the proposal and will present it at next month's Board of Regents meeting on Kauai.
The idea is based on a suggestion by student regent Michael Dahilig, who learned about a similar scholarship program while visiting the University of Alaska.
It offers $11,000 over four years to students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their class, attend a University of Alaska campus and maintain their grades, McClain said.
Based on the number of public high school graduates in Hawaii last year, McClain estimated that about 1,300 students would be eligible for the scholarship.
The university is looking at how many of last year's top graduates attended a UH campus to estimate the cost of the program.
The amount of money offered and other details of the scholarship would be based on that estimate, he said.
UH may use a mixture of its own special fund money, state money and private donations raised during the UH Foundation's Centennial Campaign to fund the scholarship program, McClain said.
McClain unveiled the proposal during a workshop on the university budget at the Board of Regents meeting on Friday.
The university is in the midst of a long budget process before administrators present a budget request to the regents and the governor for approval.
The draft UH budget, which McClain is now reviewing, calls for $37.4 million in new state spending next fiscal year and $57 million in the fiscal year ending in June 2009.
The current UH general fund budget is about $383 million.
McClain said the university will be pushing what he calls "access with success" initiatives to the governor and the Legislature, which include the scholarship program and requests for more counselors to help students get financial aid, stay in school and graduate on time. The idea is to increase opportunities for people to take advantage of higher education and to graduate, McClain said.
Other priorities for new students focus on meeting the state's needs for new workers and diversifying the state's economy.

Three Kauai officers indicted on theft charges

Three police officers surrendered at the Kauai Police Department cellblock today.
Sergeant Wesley Perreira, Sergeant Lawrence Stem and Officer Channing Tada have been indicted on charges of theft and record tampering for a county-paid trip they allegedly turned into a vacation on Maui
The three were released after being processed and posting bail. Arraignment is set for Thursday.
A grand jury indictment accuses Perreira, Stem and Tada of using tax dollars to take the trip in September 2005 and then lying about it on records they filed with the police department.
They were supposed to be on Maui for a marijuana eradication seminar. But the three are accused of failing to attend class sessions.

Aloha connects Maui with Kona, Kauai

Aloha Airlines launches in one week some new flights that move away from the carrier's hub-and-spoke system in which all flights lead to Honolulu. It now flies Kahului-Lihue and Kahului-Kona.
It is an important new development in the interisland airline battle, as Aloha, until now going head to head with Hawaiian Airlines and the new Mesa Air Group service go!, now competes head to head with its own former subsidiary Island Air.
Hawaii airline historian and analyst Peter Forman says Aloha sees ticket prices deteriorating on its current routes due to arrival of go!.
"Aloha probably figures there's more money to be made by moving resources to thinner routes that have been the domain of Island Air for the past few years," Forman said. "Thus, Island Air will soon indirectly feel the squeeze from the new entrant's arrival."
From Friday, Aloha will have two flights daily from Kahului to Lihue and two flights daily from Kahului to Kona International Airport on the Big Island.
"Aloha is responding to our customers' wishes, making it easier and faster to travel between the islands on the only Boeing 737 jets in Hawaii," CEO David Banmiller said in June when the service was announced.
Rob Mauracher, CEO of Island Air, said Thursday that the Aloha move still leaves his smaller carrier offering twice as many round trips in the same corridors.
Aloha's jets are faster, but the difference is only 10 to 20 minutes depending on the route, and Mauracher says his smaller planes confer certain advantages.
"The beauty of our aircraft size and type," he said, "is that it allows us to be very flexible in our offerings to the market, without burdening us with the requirement to carry 60 or more passengers to cover our costs."

Family killed in Hawaii crash identified

Irvine residents Yong and Lan Kim Yim and their 7-year-old son died while vacationing in Kauai. Another son is in critical condition.
Authorities today identified the Irvine family – a mother, father and young son – who were killed Thursday while vacationing in Kauai, Hawaii, when a utility truck broadsided their rental car.
Lan Kim Yim, 44, was behind the wheel of her family's rental car and pulled over to the shoulder of Kaumuali'i Highway near mile marker 24 in Waimea, where she tried to make a U-turn, police Lt. Mark Scribner said from Kauai.
A gas company truck heading west on the highway broadsided the vehicle.
She died at the scene. Her husband, Yong T. Yim, 43, died at Kauai's Veterans Memorial Hospital.
The couple's 7-year-old son, Brandon, died as he was being transported by air ambulance to another Kauai hospital, Scribner said.
The couple's 5-year-old son, Lindon, remains in critical condition at Queen's Medical Center on Oahu.
The gas company driver was treated and released.

Environmental, consumer groups ask judge for suspension of drug crop permits

The attorney for groups challenging federal authorization of test plantings of drug-producing crops has asked a federal judge to impose a nationwide moratorium on the permits.
Earthjustice and other environmental groups oppose the test because they fear genetically altered crops could contaminate other farm products and harm the environment.
U.S. District Judge Michael Seabright already ruled last week that federal agriculture officials violated environmental laws in permitting four companies to plant corn or sugarcane genetically modified to produce experimental drugs on Kauai, Maui, Molokai and Oahu between 2001 and 2003.
None of the crops is currently being planted in Hawaii.
Tuesday's hearing focused on two remaining counts in the case requesting that the U.S. government's system for issuing permits for such crops be reviewed with an eye to whether it violates environmental laws.
As part of that discussion, Earthjustice attorney Paul Achitoff also asked Seabright to issue an injunction putting a nationwide stop to the federal government issuing any more permits for testing in open fields until the review is complete.
Earthjustice represents plaintiffs in the case, which include the Center for Food Safety, the Hawaii environmentalist group KAHEA, Friends of the Earth, Inc., and Pesticide Action Network North America.
Greg Page, the attorney representing the government in the case, said Achitoff's request for a nationwide ruling is inappropriate in the Hawaii-focused case. A ruling in favor of the wide-ranging reviews could also lead to a flood of people filing lawsuits when they simply disagree with government policies, he said.
Achitoff said recent cases of genetically modified varieties of grass and long-grain rice being found in the wild illustrate the potential for failure of containment policies and for harm to the environment. As a result, Japan has suspended imports of U.S. long-grain rice.
He noted that there are still a handful of permits relevant to the case for sites across the U.S. listed on the Web site of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
``It should be nationwide because the programs are nationwide,'' Achitoff said.
The service has already begun a review of the potential environmental impact of its policies.
But Achitoff said after the hearing that the review is limited only to the regulations the service has recently updated. Seabright's previous order was also focused on procedural violations in issuing specific permits for crops planted in Hawaii.
What the two remaining counts seek is a closer look at the system that grants the permits and the risks that such projects share, he said.

Kauai tea time

A proposed 2,021-acre development on Kauai will include a tea plantation
For Andy Friend, there was no question that his new agricultural subdivision on Kauai would center on tea.
Friend, project manager of a proposed 2,021-acre agricultural subdivision in east Kauai -- named Kealiakealanani -- believes tea is the untapped potential for Hawaii's economy.
"Tea has not been done," Friend told the Star-Bulletin. "But Kauai has the proper elevation, soil content and rainfall. Tea, especially gourmet teas, has a growing market of consumers, particularly in North America."
The $100 million-plus project by Plantation Partners Kauai LLC proposes 290 estate lots, along with a tea plantation, taro fields, a rodeo and cacao trees just north of Kapaa.
The developers are setting aside 100 of the lots as affordable housing. Some will be set aside as rentals for agricultural workers who will work on the tea and taro plantations.
Plantation Partners is made up of San Francisco-based Lynch Investments LLC as the majority shareholder, Friend, and Paul Kyno of Sleeping Giant Realty.
For the last decade or so, the lands have been leased out as cattle pastures by Michele and Justin Hughes, but for the previous century, they were used as a sugar cane plantation.
Plantation Partners acquired the lands from the Hughes in March for about $49 million -- $47.4 million in cash and the remainder in Idaho real estate.
Lynch owns several properties on the Big Island, including Makalei Golf Course and the Big Island Country Club. Initially, Lynch had plans to develop Waikoloa Heights, a master-planned community in South Kohala, but has since sold it to a group led by Charles Somers.
"We're following the letter of the law when it comes to agricultural land," said Kyno. "We did not want another Hokulia situation, and we wanted to do something good for the island. It will not be gentleman farms, but it will offer nice subdivisions with nice homes."
Lots are expected to range anywhere from three to 100 acres each, with prices starting at $500,000. Owners will have the option of being involved in tea, taro or cacao cultivation.
No guest houses
Only one residential dwelling would be allowed per lot -- in other words, no guest houses. All lot buyers would have to submit an agricultural plan.
Kealiakealanani, meaning "pathway to beauty" -- and dubbed
Kealanani for short -- is different from other developments in that it will offer no golf course, spa or clubhouse.
Instead, it will offer 10 miles of hiking, biking and horseback trails to be maintained by the homeowner's association, along with a barbecue cabana near a reservoir.
Plantation Partners plans to go before the Kauai County planning commission in September to get subdivision approvals. Delivery of the first phase is expected in the third quarter of 2007.
Growing tea
Plantation Partners is setting aside 100 acres for the first test crop of tea.
It would be privately run by the Kauai Tea Co., which will oversee everything from production to processing, packaging and marketing. The company would also offer lot owners cultivation services if they agree to lease some of their properties for tea crops.
While the University of Hawaii at Hilo, U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers, and some small mom-and-pops are experimenting with growing tea on the Big Island, no one is doing it on a large scale on Kauai, according to Friend.
"There's similarities to Kona coffee," Friend said. "You go back to when coffee was introduced to Hawaii, and it was grown in other areas of the world. It was not familiar to the U.S. as a commodity, but now specialty Kona coffee can sell for $20 to $30 a pound. Tea has similarities."
Premium gourmet teas, according to a detailed marketing summary in Kealanani's business plan, when well-presented and well-packaged, can sell in retail stores for $100 or more per pound.
Enticed to Kauai
Friend, who moved to Kauai from Arizona, said he became interested in tea while researching Kona coffee. Originally, he was planning to develop a tea plantation on the Big Island. But then a friend persuaded him to move to Kauai.
In 2002, Friend hired and brought Tea Technology Associates, a Britain-based tea consultant, to Kauai to scope out the potential for the crops on the Garden Isle. In a feasibility study two years later, TTA concluded tea could successfully be grown on the Garden Isle.
Kauai Tea Co. will invest more than $1 million to build its own tea processing facility, with an emphasis on energy efficiency and automated machinery.
It will offer high-end specialty black, green and white teas, and maximize its marketing potential as a Hawaii brand. It also plans to use organic farming methods.
By its seventh year, Plantation Partners envisions a visitor center, complete with a tearoom, retail store and tours of operations so it can participate in the growing trend of "agritourism."
The company aims to produce about 1,200 pounds of tea per day from its 100-acre parcel. Its financial projections for revenue in its sixth year? $1.5 million.
Friend knows he's aiming high, especially since this never has been done before. But he says the retail value of the U.S. tea market is growing 20 percent a year, due to a growing interest in its health benefits.
Tea is a perennial crop grown throughout the world, in Kenya, India, Sri Lanka, southeast Asia, Russia and Japan.
"Why not Kauai?" asked Friend.
Friend is expecting his first shipment of about 1,000 plants from Africa in October, and plans to put them in the soil by next spring. Friend said he would periodically bring tea masters to monitor the crops and offer advice.

Pre-sale parties revive Kauai resort's past

WAILUA, Kauai » Most resorts do not throw two consecutive parties, with guests totaling 500, just to sell 200 condos. Especially when the condos are not even built yet.
But the Coco Palms Resort is not like any place else.
After all, the 35-acre resort was once the jewel of Kauai. It was the site of Elvis Presley's "Blue Hawaii." And for centuries the site was the home of Hawaiian kings and queens.
The developers start selling condos tomorrow, months before groundbreaking is scheduled to begin.
The parties were more a way to re-establish the cultural tradition of Coco Palms, the ambience and spirit of aloha for the land fronting Wailua Bay, said Richard Weiser, one of the project's developers.
"A lot (of the attraction) is a mental state," said Weiser yesterday as they prepared for the second party. "People who stayed here stayed within the surroundings. It became like a second home."
The attraction of what Coco Palms used to be still brings tourists daily by the vanload, and weddings are common in the chapel on the grounds, which still has lagoons and a huge coconut grove.
But the majority of the buildings have been in disrepair since Hurricane Iniki in 1992, and will have to be destroyed to make way for the new resort, which is scheduled to open in fall 2008.
Weiser, though, is dedicated to restoring the grandeur of the resort and hiring back old employees who made the place special.
"We're saving something," he said. "We're not doing new construction."
Jonathan Staub, who is part of the team designing the resort, said they have just taken the style created by longtime General Manager Grace Guslander, and modernized it.
He joked that he is still trying to convince the developers of returning the sinks in the shape of shells, one of Guslander's famous details.
"She has been the guide," Staub said of Guslander, who died in 2000. "She would have made (the resort) current if Iniki didn't hit."
Staub, from Honolulu, said he is often told story after story when mentioning the Coco Palms, and he feels a responsibility to those with history on the grounds.
"There's only one Coco Palms," he said. "There's such a feeling of aloha for this property."
Prices have not been released on the 200 one-, two- and three-bedroom units, but Weiser said interest is high and he expects them to sell out quickly. Also, 47 bungalows will be built to accommodate standard hotel guests.
Almost 300 people are expected to work at the resort when it is operational, Weiser said.

Aloha to start new interisland flights

Hawaiian carrier Aloha Airlines has announced that it is to begin new interisland service on two new routes from the beginning of next month.
Starting September 1, Aloha has scheduled nonstop flights between Kahului on the island of Maui and Kona, Hawaii; and Kahului and Lihue on the island of Kauai.
The airline has listed fares for September travel at $59 each way, excluding additional taxes and charges, and tickets are non-refundable, non-transferable, and non-changeable.
Aloha is one of the three major carriers to offer service between the Hawaiian islands, in addition to the state's largest carrier, Hawaiian Airlines, and the new start-up company from the Mesa Group, Go!.
There is solid competition for passengers on interisland flights, meaning fare sales are frequent and good value for customers. Analysts have suggested competition could be even fiercer in the upcoming fall months, when travel is traditionally slower.

A worker’s market

Hawaii suffered through another month of ultra low unemployment in July. It was just 3 percent, more than a third lower than the national rate.
Although nobody would likely trade Hawaii’s vibrant economy for a declining one, success has brought its problems, especially for employers. There’s a “Help Wanted” sign in almost every store window. Although it’s less visible, there are empty chairs in businesses of all kinds. Requests for services are often met with, “Can’t do it this week.”
It makes you wonder what the 19,750 Hawaii residents who were supposed to be looking for work in July and not finding it were holding out for.
According to the analysis by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, even that very low figure of 19,750 may overstate the unemployment picture.
Now that public schools have moved to a single year-round schedule, with only a six-week “summer,” there were fewer summer schools than before this year and therefore fewer summer school jobs.
Another big chunk of “unemployed” were striking nurses on Kauai, who have since gone back to work.
Even an apparent rise in joblessness in the leisure/hospitality sector may have been more apparent than real. According to DLIR, the shift from less pronounced seasons in the visitor industry has led to steadier work throughout the year. The peak is lower but the bottom of the valley is higher now.
There are several dark linings in this silver cloud.
The big one is housing. The housing supply has expanded a lot less than the economy has. That drives up rents, usually faster than wages.
This is largely a self-inflicted wound. One thing Hawaii is not short of, for better or worse, is developers.
The upside is, it’s pretty easy to find that second job if you want one. The downside is, you may need to get one whether you want to or not.

Census Shows Fastest Growth On Neighbor Islands

HONOLULU -- According to the latest Census figures, the fastest population growth in the islands isn't happening on Oahu -- it's happening on the neighbor islands.
Between April 2000 and July 2005 Hilo saw a 12.5 percent increase in population. That ranked the Big Island city as the 24th fastest growing "micropolitan" area of 560 such areas in the nation.
Kahului ranked 56th and Kapaa ranked 79th.
Maui's island-wide population grew 9.2 percent and Kauai's population increased by 7.1 percent.
At the same time, Honolulu's population went up just 3.3 percent -- earning the city a ranking of 219 among the nation's fastest growing metropolitan areas.

Kauai group asks end to nurses strike

A citizen group has formed on Kauai to push for settlement of the nursing strike at Wilcox Memorial Hospital.
The Garden Island newspaper reports the group is called Concerned Citizens for Kauai's Healthcare Future and is led by Peter Kim, a retired Wilcox doctor, and Mary Thronas, a former Kauai councilwoman. The group sent a letter to the hospital board asking for more movement. The hospital responded that it was seeking a settlement by being open to new negotiations.
Nurses struck Wilcox on June 24 after Hawaii Pacific Health, which agreed to large raises, balked at agreeing to specific staffing levels. Nurses said it was a quality of care issue for them and more important than money. Negotiator Jon Carroll called it "an action that we desperately wanted to avoid."

Secret Garden-West Kauai is the lonely end of the 'Garden Isle.'

Bird poop has splattered the stern likeness of Capt. James Cook staring to sea from the western lip of the westernmost major Hawaiian island.
From his perch in a shady square in the town of Waimea on Kauai, it's a short stroll across the highway to the spot where the British explorer "discovered" Hawaii in 1778. The following year, Cook got into an argument over a boat on the Big Island and had his brains bashed out by the locals.
Among some locals, he's still not a popular fellow.
"He didn't discover anything," says Florens Castilla, 16, leaning against the statue. "People were already here. He was a bad man. He sent all the hassles over here that are sinking Hawaii."
Ironically, the place where Hawaiians had "first contact" with the West is one of the least affected by Cook's modern descendents – tourists.
Waimea has a long list of superlatives that should make it a top destination in the islands. It's home to Polihale, Hawaii's longest beach, and Waimea Canyon, "the Grand Canyon of the Pacific." The natural light show of the best sunsets on the island are occasionally aided by a blazing rocket launch from the Navy's nearby Pacific Missile Range.
But West Kauai remain a vacationer's afterthought, a day trip at most for visitors staying in Poipu, Kapaa, Princeville and other points east.
The reason I love to stay in Waimea is what drives most tourists away. No luxury hotels. No timeshare sales offices. No gourmet dining. No pricey boutiques. No Wyland whale murals. No McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell or even an outpost of Kauai's popular Bubba's Burgers (OK, there is a discretely positioned Subway). Even, gasp, cell phone dead zones.
Beach, bluff and buffs
West Kauai's greatest crime from a tourist point of view is the lack of a really great swimming beach. There's no gentle crescent like the north shore's Hanalei Bay or the south shore's Poipu Beach. Much of West Kauai meets the sea full bore. Great to look at, but a devil to swim in.
Polihale is reached by a fivemile long bumpy dead end dirt road. The view is stunning, a wide golden beach backed by bluffs where ancient Hawaiians believed the souls of the dead departed for the afterlife.
But body surf? Only if you like getting slammed by choppy breakers intent on shoving your face in the sand and yanking your swim trunks down around your knees.
What Polihale lacks in aquatic comfort it makes up for in solitude. When I arrive in the afternoon, the only other people in sight are two 20ish women who prefer their birthday suits to swimsuits.
I politely sauntering off in the other direction when behind me, I hear the squeal of a gaggle of children coming over the parking lot's sand berm. I turn to see a family. Dad and the boys are in tropical wear, but mom is decked out in an outfit familiar from my days living in Lancaster, Penn.: neck-to-shin dress, hair bonnet and reasonable shoes. They pass not far from the two naked ladies, mom and dad quietly steering their brood away from the scene. The juxtaposition of the two extremes of female attire (or lack of) is a classic travel moment.
I wander over to chat with the couple, Adam and Sarah Grover. They're German Old Baptists from Modesto.
"We were up in Waimea Canyon and we looked in the guidebook for a place for the boys to swim," Adam says, staring out at the big, choppy waves. "But I'm not going to let them go very far out in this."
I ask Sarah if she is surprised by the au naturel pair just a few dozen yards away.
"Sure," she says with a smile. "But this is Hawaii. We just walked the other way."
Anyone seeking to splash around in West Kauai waters would be better off heading to Salt Pond Beach. It's a tranquil half moon of sand near Hanapepe on the road back to Poipu. The shore is protected from the pummeling surf by offshore rocks. Swimming here is as boring as Polihale is life-threatening.
But there are other "dangers" to contend with. On my visit, I pass a sign that says "CAUTION FALLING COCONUTS." As if on cue, a stiff breeze whips the trees and a green coconut comes crashing down near a family hanging out in the shade. A middle-aged man sticks the coconut in a bag.
"We'll take it home," he announces. "It's a family heirloom. The coconut that almost killed grandma."
Cottage by the sea
There are three hotels I truly love in Hawaii: The Polynesian fantasy of Kona Village on the Big Island, the historic frivolity of the pink-toned Royal Hawaiian in Waikiki, and the Waimea Plantation Cottages on Kauai.
Kona Village can top $1,000 per night per couple for one of the premier units. The Royal Hawaiian's published rates start at $425 for the least expensive garden view room. But you can get into a smaller cottage at Waimea Plantation Cottage for $150 a night. And it comes with a small kitchen.
The refurbished plantation houses were once part of the Faye family's sugar plantation. Over the years, the hotel has trucked in cottages from around the island as plantations closed and were swallowed up by development. The cottages are lovingly restored, then placed by the beach or amid the long, green lawns amid dozens of swaying palms.
Visitors sleep in a piece of early 20th-century history, though one updated with 21st-century comforts like microwaves, CD players, air conditioning, and cable television.
I feel ambivalent about the Wi-Fi in the guest center's lanai, but admit I spent a few evenings checking e-mails. At least I had Goldilocks, the hotel's orange shorthaired cat, to keep me company.
One morning, I stop in the hotel's Faye Museum, a one-room exhibit chronicling the rise of H.P. Faye, a Norwegian immigrant who became a sugar baron.
Later, I pad over to the nearby Inn Waimea, a bed and breakfast where a friend had enjoyed a recent stay. The manager, Lorraine DeRosa, shows me around the pretty rooms decorated with Polynesian prints.
"Waimea is a real town," she says. "A bank, a market, a hospital, a pharmacy. There are a lot of families. It doesn't exist just for tourists. It's the kind of place you visit if you are tired of the resort experience."
Down time
Late afternoon is the best time in West Kauai. The Mustang convertibles and PT Cruisers, mainstays of the rental-car fleets used by vacationers, start heading back to the other sides of Kauai.
The sun is starting its drop behind the "forbidden island" of Niihau. The old wooden storefronts of the town glow with golden light. The undersides of the clouds over the Pacific are turning pink. Palm trees rustle in the trade winds, the whitecaps off the dusty black-sand beach sparkle.
Whatever I am doing, which frankly is blissfully not much, I make sure to get back to my cottage about an hour or two before sunset and find a hammock near the beach to doze a bit or read. Then with about 15 minutes to go to sunset, I walk down to the surf.
Sometimes there's even an added attraction.
One afternoon a man riding a horse along the beach has his steed suddenly rear up and dump him into the surf. The horse ran off into the bush, where he hid beside a friendly mule.
But mostly it is just me and a few other sunset worshippers, mai tais or beers in hand. Saluting the sun on its crash dive into the deep blue. Glad that Cook found this spot and thankful that so few have since.

Settlement allows interpreter for deaf Kauai baseball player

11 year old Justin "Pono" Tokioka can bat from either side of the plate.
And like other kids he has a favorite major league player - Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees.
However when he enters the batter's box or takes the field as a second baseman, Pono can't hear the crack of the bat or the ball hitting a glove. That's because Pono is deaf.
"He's pretty athletic," says his father James Tokioka. "He likes all the sports but baseball was a passion the he had."
It's a passion that was almost cut short.
Last year PONY league officials barred a sign language interpreter, usually Pono's mom Beth or his dad, from the dugout during an all-star game in Hilo on the Big Island.
"He just needed to understand the motivational strategies that the coaches were telling him," said his dad while speaking to reporters in Honolulu. "Without an interpreter there was no why he could have done that."
Pono almost gave-up baseball because of the controversy.
That all changed on Thursday when PONY league officials agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department.
Through his father who speaks sign language Pono said he feels "pretty happy that [he'll] be able to have an interpreter at the dugout."
However it's not just Pono.
The settlement means all deaf players in the Pony league can now use an interpreter. The league must also modify rules, giving disabled players an equal opportunity to play.
Pono's family received hundreds of positive letters and e-mails during their legal battle, but one in particular stood out. It was from the "Iron Man" -- Cal Ripken, one of the best shortstops to ever play the game.
"He said he supported me... [and said to] play hard and practice hard."
The Tokioka's say the case was never about money, but Pono's family received $30,000 dollars in damages. They were hoping for a letter of apology instead.
Although the letter never came Pono's father doesn't hold any hard feelings toward the league.
"We still are part of PONY baseball and we're proud of Pony baseball."

New jobless claims: 1,002 - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

There were 1,002 new and 6,425 total claims for unemployment compensation across Hawaii in the seven days through Sunday. Both numbers were down.
New claims fell by 83 and total claims fell by 465, the Hawaii Department of Labor & Industrial Relations reported Thursday. The figures are newer than the data which went into the July unemployment report, also issued Thursday, and give some indication that the next monthly report will be similar to the 3 percent rate logged for July.
New (and total) weekly jobless claims around the islands:
Oahu: 575 (3,773). New and total claims fell at all three Oahu unemployment offices (Honolulu, Kaneohe and Waipahu) and total claims fell below 4,000 for the first time since June 3.
Big Island: 154 (1,163). In the Hilo office, new claims fell from 156 to 107 while total claims fell from 773 to 706. In the Kona office, new claims fell from 89 to 47 while total claims fell from 507 to 457.
Maui County: 94 (746). On Molokai, new claims fell from 15 to 10 while total claims rose from 75 to 65. At the Wailuku office on Maui, news claims fell from 86 to 84 while total claims fell from 719 to 628.
Kauai: 129 (470). Kauai new claims more than doubled from the week before and total claims rose by 120.
There were also 50 new (and 326 total) agent claims, filed against other states by people who now live in Hawaii.

Churches Trace History of Christianity on Island of Kauai

Although the state of Hawaii is today multicultural and multiethnic, the influence of the early Christian missionaries is still quite evident. Last week I described the Anglican/Episcopal presence on the island of Kauai; today's focus is on three historic Christian churches.
The British explorer Captain James Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands in 1778. By 1819, "Puritan missionaries" came from Boston, an event fictionalized in James Michener's epic novel "Hawaii."
In the 1830s, commercial sugar production began in Kauai, and laborers arrived from all over the world to work on plantations. Faith communities developed to meet the needs of immigrants and proselytize the population.
In the north shore community of Hanalei is Wai'oli Hui'ia Church, founded in 1834 by New England Congregationalist missionaries. A wood and thatch meeting house was constructed by Native Hawaiians in anticipation of the arrival of the missionaries.
Two early churches were destroyed by wind and fire, and in 1912 the present church, now affiliated with the United Church of Christ, was built through donations of descendants of missionaries who taught at the mission school from 1844-1866.
This shingled church, built in American Gothic style, has a belfry housing a bell dating from 1843. Visitors to Hanalei are struck by the building's green walls and stained glass windows set against the lush green landscape.
For decades the royal family of Hawaii did not allow Roman Catholic Mass to be celebrated in Hawaii, but in 1839 the commander of a French warship threatened attack if Catholics were not allowed religious liberty.
Taking advantage of the new policy, Father Arsene Walsh came to Kauai in December, 1841, and established St. Raphael's Church, celebrating the first Mass on Christmas Day.
The first church building was completed in 1854, built of native volcanic rock, with mortar formed from sand and crushed coral. It was enlarged several times, and in 1933 an adobe tower was added.
The site of the church, near the sugar production town of Koloa on the island's south shore, contains many other attractions (besides the old chapel which seats 120): a cemetery, remains of a rectory which was destroyed in 1992 by Hurricane Iniki, a grotto to Our Lady of Lourdes, and a large new church (actually termed a "meeting hall" so its rebuilding could be financed by FEMA funds) featuring clear, etched-glass windows.
On a hill overlooking Lihue, Kauai's commercial center, is The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lihue. In 1881, German immigrants arranged for a theological student to lead their worship; in 1883, they incorporated as a congregation.
The architecture of the church they erected in 1885 symbolizes their six-month journey on a sailing ship around Cape Horn from their homeland: The floor slants like the deck of a ship, the balcony is the captain's bridge, the ceiling is like the hull of a ship, the lights are like ships' lanterns, the pulpit is the forecastle.
Unfortunately, this beautiful church was destroyed by Hurricane Iwa in 1982. With the assistance of gifts and memorials from friends around the world, the present church was erected as a faithful replica of its predecessor.

Southwest begins offering Hawaii packages

Southwest Airlines Vacations has added Hawaii to its package destination spots, even though Southwest Airlines doesn't fly to Hawaii.
The Friday offer is effectively a further expansion of the code-share alliance by which Phoenix-based Southwest (NYSE: LUV) uses ATA Airlines as its Hawaii extension. Southwest tickets over ATA provide the last leg of travel.
"Prior to adding Hawaii to our vacation destinations, 22 percent of our customers told us that their next vacation would be to a destination that we did not serve at that time. Travel packages to Hawaii were on the top of their lists," said Rich Basen, general manager of the vacations division.
While both Southwest and ATA will benefit when travelers book such packages, the service is actually offered by a third-party. Southwest Airlines Vacations is operated by Mark Travel Corp. of Orlando.
The roster of 43 Southwest Airlines Vacations destinations now includes Honolulu and Maui, a land-only package in Kauai, and, starting in one week, a package to the Big Island, flying into Hilo.

Kauai County to begin debris cleanup after dam break

Federal funds aid the project to remove hazardous waste

KILAUEA, Kauai » Five months after the Ka Loko dam breach sent millions of gallons of water, waste and debris down Wailapa Steam, killing seven people, Kauai Mayor Bryan Baptiste announced yesterday the beginning of hazardous-waste removal in the area.
The hang-ups, county officials said, were finding the money to pay for the cleanup and getting right-of-entry forms from all the affected landowners.
Baptiste said almost 20 of the entry forms have been completed and notarized, with a few in the process of being completed. Also, the county just found out that debris removal work qualifies for funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Kauai's Hurst R. Excavation will be in charge of the cleanup, which includes removing cars, vehicle parts, and propane and acetylene tanks along Wailapa Stream.
"We need to be sure these items don't contain any oil or other flammable liquids before recycling them," said Troy Tanigawa, program administrator for the county's Solid Waste Division.
The hazardous-waste portion of the cleanup is expected to cost $33,000 and take a couple of weeks, Tanigawa said, but it could take longer if more hazardous waste is discovered in the area.
Local residents have complained since the March 14 break that hazardous debris likely washed into Kilauea River, which joins with Wailapa to reach the ocean.
"If that needs to be done, (residents) need to speak to" the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, which is responsible for the river, the mayor said.
The next step would be green waste and woody debris removal, which is expected to cost the bulk of the $1.5 million in state and FEMA funds allocated for the project.
"Our target completion date for the entire cleanup is the end of October," Tanigawa said.

Kauai Home-Made Bomb Found To Be Hoax

A home-made bomb found Sunday in Kauai was determined to be a hoax, according to Kauai police.
It happened near Kaikea lookout in Kealia.
Three local males were driving down a cane haul road at around 6:45 p.m. when they discovered what appeared to be an "improvised explosive device."
The tubular device was about a foot long with wires protruding from it, including a trip wire, according to Kauai police.
A team from the U.S. Army Explosive Ordinance Dispatch Unit at Schofield Barracks was sent to Kauai to examine the device, but later found the device to be safe.
There were no injuries or damages related to the incident, according to police officials.

Kauai Teen is New Face for 'McDonald's'

McDonald's is loving a Kapa'a teenager. The fast food giant selected Nick Mortell to be a new face in their "I'm Loving It" campaign.
Mortell entered a global casting call that asked consumers to submit personal stories of what they love. He beat out 13,000 entries world-wide.
What is he loving? Football!
Mortell is among 25 stars chosen. He'll be seen on McDonald's packaging early next year, for at least one year.
McDonald's is giving all 25 the star treatment with an all-expense paid trip for them and a guest to London.

Ka Loko seller maintains dam owner created hazard

Workers complained to Kauai County officials that Ka Loko Dam owner James Pflueger covered the reservoir's emergency spillway in 1997 or 1998, creating a potentially dangerous situation, a spokesman for C. Brewer & Co. said yesterday.
C. Brewer maintenance workers at the reservoir "told Mr. Pflueger that filling in the spillway could be dangerous, and they reported it to the county," company spokesman Jim Boersema said yesterday. They "could do no more than that. Pflueger owned the land."
Pflueger has filed suit in Oahu Circuit Court against C. Brewer and others for the Ka Loko Dam breach that killed seven people March 14. He alleges that C. Brewer knowingly sold him the dam in 1987 even though it had structural problems.
Pflueger's attorney, William McCorriston, said yesterday that if anyone had complained to the county about the blocked spillway, it would have been included in the numerous claims the county made against his client.
Starting in 2001, the county filed a lawsuit and criminal charges against Pflueger for illegal grading work at his makai property near Pilaa, as well as grading work done on the other side of Ka Loko Reservoir. He was fined a total of about $12 million.
"If the county had (received) a complaint, they had ample opportunity" to ask Pflueger to fix it, McCorriston added. "Everything the county ... complained about, we fixed."
While Boersema said he could not identify the maintenance staff who witnessed the blocking of the spillway, he believed Tom Hitch, the current owner of Kilauea Irrigation Co., was likely employed by C. Brewer at the time of the spillway work.
Hitch, who is also being sued by Pflueger, would not comment on the spillway, and neither would his lawyer, Peter Morimoto.
"We don't want to try this case in the media," Morimoto added.
State investigators and others close to the Ka Loko breach case said they had heard rumors about a county Department of Public Works report that included a complaint about the spillway. But they have yet to receive a copy of the report, although they have subpoenaed all county records on Ka Loko.
Kauai County Engineer Donald Fujimoto was on Oahu and could not be reached for comment.
Boersema, who was responding to the lawsuit filed Wednesday by Pflueger against the former "Big Five" sugar company, also said the lawsuit's premise was false.
Pflueger's suit says C. Brewer was negligent and committed fraud by selling the dam in 1987 without notifying Pflueger of any trouble. A 1982 federal draft report about the dam, McCorriston said, mentions seepage from the dam and says the irrigation system would cost $1.8 million to fix.
The Mary Lucas Trust, which owns half of the reservoir, received a copy of that report, Boersema said yesterday, and Pflueger was the co-trustee of the trust.
"Nothing was hidden from him," Boersema said.
McCorriston denied that Pflueger ever received the draft report, and said that he "has no memory of receiving" the 1984 final report on the irrigation system.
He added, "The important thing was that it was not disclosed in the sale."
Boersema also denied the lawsuit's claim that the irrigation system was faulty. C. Brewer employees "did do normal maintenance every month" to the Ka Loko irrigation system, he added.
"The problems didn't start until he (Pflueger) filled up the spillway," he added.

Kauai Food Bank gains despite no aces

Dallas’ David Arlen and Dr. Bob Weisberg both failed to make a hole-in-one yesterday at the Puakea Golf Course.
But they did manage to accomplish something else.
Their donations to the Kauai Food Bank was well worth the shot.
“It feels good to support a local charity now that we’re apart of the community,” Arlen said.
The business partners recently purchased property on the island.
The Second Annual ‘Hole-in-One For Hunger Challenge’ began with no aces, but many greens for the local charity that keeps tummies full.
“We’d love to have more individuals out here to win something and help out the community at the same time,” Puakea director of golf Paul Ito said.
So far, Ito said this year’s turnout has been better than expected.
“Our real goal was at least 50 percent of the golfers donating to the Kauai Food Bank and the numbers have been in our favor,” he said.
The event continues until Sunday at 5 p.m. You must play a round of golf in order to try for a hole-in-one at one of the four par-3s on the course.
Jim Saylor and Bob Friedman decided to hit the links yesterday and while on the course, the twosome tried their luck at the par 3s.
“My ball went into a trap,” Friedman said. “I was way off.”
Up for grabs were a Dell computer system, a set of Ben Hogan irons, a Bose stereo system and on the No. 6 hole, golfers have the chance at $10,000 cash.
“All the proceeds go towards the Food Bank,” Ito said. “It’s a minimum $10 donation.”

Kauai United Way comes up with more funds than expected

Although it was tabbed as the “Just For Fun...Just For Kaua‘i” golf tournament, event officials of the Kauai United Way chipped in with more than what they expected.
The sixth annual tournament, which was held on July 23 at the Princeville Makai Golf Course, netted over $31,000, an increase of 72 percent over last year. The original goal was to raise $25,000.
The money will provide a huge boost toward the organization’s 2006 annual campaign, which gets underway soon.
“It is indeed gratifying to know that in the coming year, tens of thousands of Kaua‘i people in need will receive social services through programs provided by our 24 participating agencies, made possible in part by funds we raised in this tournament,” event organizers said in an open letter to donors. “To top it all off, it was a lot of fun.”
Almost 200 players entered the event, which was the biggest turnout so far in the tournament’s history.
Team YMCA of Kauai, led by captain Tom Tannery, Fred Atkins, Phil Fill and Ron Agor, took the low net title (48.2).
Because it was the sixth year of the tournament, event officials decided to hand the grand prize to the sixth place squad, Team Red Rockets (Tom and Donna Rice, Marie and John Mosley).
They won a Big Island getaway golf package, including airfare and room accommodations at the Mauna Lani Resort, a Dollar Rent-A-Car rental and golf at the course.
Other winners included Team Kauai Lagoons (Ron Kouchi, Scott Kouchi, Royden Pablo and Paul Ganaden), which received a Po‘ipu golf getaway with rooms a the Kiahuna Plantation by Castle, golf at Po‘ipu Bay, lunch or dinner at Po‘ipu Tropical Burgers and Big Save gift certificates.
Team Rob’s Good Times Grill (Rob Silverman, Jason Apilado, Glen Batoon and Norvin Olivas) took home a Kuku‘i‘ula prize package, which included a Tori Richard silk shirt, a burlap Kuku‘i‘ula bag, cap and island living book.
Dustin Moises of Team S&S Business Machines was the grand prize lucky number drawing winner.
He scooped up a Las Vegas package including a travel certificate of $800 and a four-night, five-day stay at the California Hotel and Casino.
In the meantime, Jules Cannon putted his way to a brand new 27-inch color television from Otsuka’s.
Next year’s event is already set for Sunday, July 22 at the Princeville Makai Golf Course.

Hawaii Business Magazine

Growth and Sustainability
Kauai's Grove Farm proves the two concepts are not mutually exclusive
It’s funny, but lately, Grove Farm President and CEO Warren Haruki has been sounding an awful lot like counterpart David Cole, who runs the other Steve Case-owned company, Maui Land & Pineapple Co. Over the course of our most recent interview with Haruki, he talked a lot about “building communities” and taking care of the locals. He discussed reforestation and other conservation projects the Kauai-based firm has in the works. He even mentioned the S-word, sustainability. Anyone who’s ever heard Cole speak, or read any of the countless print interviews he’s done knows that he practically owns the local rights to the use of the word “sustainability.”
But Haruki says any similarities to Cole and his MLP mantras are by and large coincidental. “I’d say our business philosophies are very similar, but it’s not by intense collaboration,” he says. “Grove Farm’s emphasis has been, and will continue to be to satisfy the various needs of the local housing markets and pushing forward on projects that promote smart growth.”
So what has changed? The real estate market, for one. In the late ’80s, when Grove Farm began work on a massive 600-acre, mixed-use project in Puhi, the market had never been hotter and the company stood to make a nice chunk of change. But a taxing county requirement to sell 60 percent of its units at “affordable” rates, combined with the market crash in the mid- to late- ’90s changed all of that, and nearly bankrupted the company. By the time Steve Case came in and rescued the revenue bleeding company in 2001, by purchasing it for $26 million, the company was $60 million in debt.
Over the past few years, however, things have taken a big turn for the better for Grove Farm. Last year, the company cracked the Top 250 for the first time, posting 2004 sales of $21.7 million. This year, the company jumped almost 100 spots up the list, from 232 to 136, thanks to a 190.3 percent increase in sales — the highest of any Top 250 company.
Haruki says the frenzied tempo of Kauai’s real estate market last year was the main reason for the whopping increase in sales. In 2005, Grove Farm sold one big parcel to Schuler Homes, 88 residential lots in Puhi and a handful of commercial lots near the island’s first Home Depot, and closed the year with $63 million in revenues. He expects the sales growth to continue through this year, albeit at a more tempered pace.
But forget about numbers and dollar signs for a moment. Let’s get back to Grove Farm’s commitment to the community and this concept of sustainability. “We don’t want to just sell real estate. We want to build communities that the local people can live in and be proud of,” explains Haruki. “We’re also trying to focus heavily on Kauai residents. For example, we’ve put shared appreciation clauses into our real estate sales, so that if the buyer chooses to sell within the first three years, he has to share the appreciation with us 50/50. That’s in order to prevent and deter speculation.”
So far, so good. According to Haruki, roughly 95 percent of Grove Farm’s real estate has been sold to Kauai residents.
In addition to its residential and commercial projects, the company has several community projects in the works as well. Grove Farm has been working with nonprofit organizations to reforest some of its agricultural land with koa wood and other Native Hawaiian plants. The company also recently built nene goose habitats surrounding a water purification plant it installed near Wailua Falls.
One of its biggest community initiatives has been the creation of a 5-acre taro farm operation on the mauka side of its Mahaulepu lands. “The amount of taro being grown in the state has been diminishing and Mahaulepu is pretty fertile ground for growing taro,” says Haruki. “So we’re trying to attract long-time taro farmers to take over and further expand the taro production, hopefully to about 20 acres by the end of the year. There are so many products that can be made from the taro, so, in a small way, for Kauai, it’s a step toward — and I use this term loosely — sustainability.”

Oregon firm wins $11.5 defense contract here

The Naval Air Systems Command has awarded an $11.5 million contract for airlift and recovery functions in Hawaii.
Croman Corp., based in White City, Ore., has a fleet of helicopters which it uses for logging, firefighting and rescue operations, among others. It won the $11,521,918 firm-fixed-fee contract to provide airlift and recovery functions in support of all Hawaiian military ranges.
The contract also provides for utility/transport missions to carry passengers/cargo and range clearing operation in the Hawaii operating area. The minimum level of effort for the base-year is 2,510 flight hours.
Croman will be based at the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands, Kauai. Its work is expected to be completed in one year. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Six firms were solicited for proposals and Croman was one of four companies bidding for the business.

Freedom of the road now a nostalgic memory

A KAUAI resident who hadn't been to Honolulu in about three years was astonished that even on weekends, traffic packs the H-1.
She had assumed that when people told her to always expect slow going on the freeway they were exaggerating. They weren't. She found that no matter if it was Saturday or Monday or Wednesday, through most of the daylight hours and into the night, cars stream relentlessly over Oahu's roads.
Kauai, she said, had traffic problems, but nothing like the city's. She said it made her feel better about her daily 20-minute commute, at least until a minor fender-bender tacked on more than 45 minutes one rainy morning.
That's the thing about traffic. You don't much care about it as long as you don't get stuck in it.
When some national study or other details how drivers in Skokie, Ill., or Franconia, Va., spend 63.78 minutes a day in jams, then spins out stats that show we in Honolulu don't have it as bad as others, I laugh because, as that Kauai woman conceded, knowing others suffer doesn't necessarily lessen misery on island roads.
It wasn't always painful. I'm remember when the freeway first opened, the family piled into the black four-door sedan -- was it a Pontiac? -- for a test drive. By turns, each of the kids got to sit by a window for a spell, no seat belts or harnesses to restrain us, few other cars to block our views.
At 40 mph, mock orange bushes planted between the coming and going lanes became blurred green barriers, but we could still catch the sweet scent of their white blossoms in the rushing air.
At the service station, $2 was the standard order for a fill-up of gasoline, the pump so slow that the attendant had enough time to wipe the windows and check the tires before its ping-pinging stopped.
In college, a friend's huge white car -- was it a Chrysler? -- gave the gang a cheap, weather-proof hangout that could accommodate six in comfort. Each of us would chip in a buck for gas and still have cash to pick up guava juice and mochi crunch to sustain us through the cruising.
The itinerary would vary from town cruises -- Tantalus, Waikiki and Manoa -- to runs to the airport or night-time tours up the old Pali Road where we'd scare ourselves telling ghosts stories about pork and apparitions of white-haired women in the rear-view mirror.
Problems with traffic never entered our minds. The freedom of the road had yet to be confined by the price of fuel and number of vehicles.
We're talking now about a transit system, probably rail, that we hope will lessen traffic congestion in Honolulu. The notion is that drivers will leave their cars -- or a least one of the two or three each household seems to own -- in the garage and hop on a train instead.
Even then, I don't expect free-flowing movement on the H-1, the H-2, H-3, Kapiolani Boulevard or Moanalua Road.
There are just too many people, each with destinations too far from home or purposes too numerous to perform without a private vehicle. It will be tough to persuade them to surrender the independence and convenience of a car.
Humans are good at adapting. Some will undoubtedly reconcile themselves to a heightened misery factor that's sure to come as the island's driving population increases. But I hope more will adjust the other way and decide that a car doesn't have to be the hub of their lives.

State postpones auction for Kokee State Park cabins

Those looking to buy a quiet vacation place in one of Kauai's most beautiful state parks will have to wait awhile, state officials said recently.
An auction of 100 privately held cabins in Kokee State Park, originally scheduled for September, will be put off at least until next year, thanks to a Kauai court decision last month.
And those holding on to their rustic cabins might be able to enjoy them for a while longer, when a decision to issue revocable permits to current leaseholders comes up at Friday's Board of Land and Natural Resources meeting.
"We didn't want to get to a situation where the leases expire and then people didn't have a right to stay on their property," said Peter Young, chairman of the Board of Land and Natural Resources.
"While the issue is being resolved in the courts, we're going to let them stay," he said.
At stake are leases of the land under about 100 cabins, 60 of which are designated for historical designation, in wooded Kokee in mauka Kauai. The area, which features hiking trails, fishing areas and native flora and fauna, marks one of the few accessible areas to the inland mountain regions of the Garden Isle.
Frank Hay, president of the Kokee Cabin Leaseholders Association and one of the leaseholders suing the state, said he just wants the opportunity to stay in the cabin he has had for 30 years. If that is not possible, he said, he would like to be compensated for the cabin and the improvements he has made.
Hay said he bought the cabin in 1975 and then negotiated a lease with the state, first in 1975 and again in 1985. The lease ran out at the end of 2005, but the board extended the leases until Dec. 31, 2006.
According to the lawsuit filed on his behalf, Hay and the other leaseholders say they are entitled to compensation under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.
But Young said the leases clearly state that any improvements revert to the state when they expire.
A Kauai judge ruled last month that the decision on compensation would have to be made at trial, killing the chances for a September auction.
Hay said he and his fellow leaseholders are not wealthy. Many are local and kamaaina families who care for the land and want to preserve the beauty of Kokee.
The leaseholders first petitioned the Legislature to include areas like Kokee for historical preservation. Then they petitioned the area to be included as a historic district.
They thought that the preservation would lead to direct negotiations with the state for a new lease on the 60 historic cabins, with the 40 newer ones to be auctioned to the public, Hay said.
The Land Board, however, decided in February to auction off all the properties, except for a few run by nonprofit organizations.
Young said the board received a number of requests to put all the cabins up for auction, "so they have a chance."
But many of them believe that opening up the auction will allow speculators to drive up the prices of the cabins.

Kauai bridge, road closed by flooding

Kauai police closed the Hanalei bridge today after heavy rain overnight caused flooding.
Similar flooding conditions were reported on the south side of the island, where police also closed Omao Road. Henry Lau, National Weather Service forecaster, said the rainfall was caused by “a lot of low-level moisture” coupled with “an enhanced upper level disturbance.”
Between 2 to 5 a.m. 2.6 inches of rain fell on Mount Waialeale with .63 inches recorded at Hanalei and 1.73 inches at Kalaheo.
Kauai remained under a flash flood watch until noon today.

Kauai Pasta not just noodling around

When Russell Stokes told his wife Karolyn that he wanted to open a second Kauai Pasta restaurant in Lihu‘e, she hesitated.
“I’m tired,” she said.
The couple already helms Kauai Pasta in Kapa‘a, which opened in 2004, and Kauai Cuisine, a catering business opened in 2002 that specializes in food for high-end weddings and events.
Stokes, 29, does bookkeeping for both businesses, with the restaurant bringing in about $60,000 in revenues each month, she said. She was looking forward to a two-month break in Europe.
Instead the couple leased the old e.b.’s Eats storefront on Kuhio Highway, revamped the interior and hung a Kauai Pasta banner in the window.
“Everything just fell into place,” Stokes said last Friday.
White chef coats piled on a table in the front window indicate one of the biggest boons for the restaurateurs.
“We found 20 employees in less than a week,” Stokes said. She expects to hire five more, she said.
Her brother-in-law Cory Stokes, an eight-year veteran of the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i, signed on as executive sous chef, a move she says will allow him to spend more time with his five children.
The couple also hired Jeffrey Aguinaldo as executive sous chef. He comes from Roy’s Po‘ipu Bar and Grill, where he also worked as executive sous chef, Stokes said.
The biggest change will be the addition of a lunch menu. The Kapa‘a location only serves dinner.
Otherwise, the fare offered at the two restaurants will be similar, Stokes said. The menus feature pasta with homemade sauces. The new location will offer some new items, including entree-sized salads, sandwiches, manicotti, real tiramisu and more specials, Stokes said.
She said the Kapa‘a restaurant attracts a local clientele, and she expects the same for the new location.
“We design the menu for that,” she said. “Good food, big portions for a reasonable price.”
The couple still has a lot of work to do, but with new tables in the front window and chairs stacked in front of coolers, the restaurant is less than two weeks from completion.
The doors will open for lunch at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, August 14.
Stokes said customers can bring their own wine and beer until the restaurant obtains a license to sell alcohol.

Kauai delivers on underwater artistry

Dive Kauai offers undersea adventures that boast scenery unlike anywhere else
Ask Michael Gough to recount his most memorable diving experiences, and there's no doubt that petting a 5-foot whitetip reef shark at Tunnels Reef off the northern coast of Kauai will be among them.
That said, Gough, a PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) master instructor with more than 3,500 hours logged underwater, doesn't advocate touching or disturbing any sea creatures -- especially sharks. "I'm a professional diver who has done many dives with sharks," he explains. "Do not attempt to do that on your own!"
Gough is president of Dive Kauai Scuba Center, a PADI International Resort Dive Center whose professionals teach courses and lead tours according to PADI's highest standards of safety. He considers Kauai to be one of the best dive sites in the world.
For instance, at Brennecke's Ledge off the island's southern coast, a humpback whale swam within 25 feet of him.
"I was so close to him, I could see the barnacles on his fins!" he says.
Another time, Gough and his tour group were gliding through Camp One at Weli Point, along the south shore off Port Allen, when a Hawaiian monk seal appeared. Gough recalls, "He was mimicking our movements and gestures just 10 feet from us -- turning his head back and forth, then using his flipper to cover his eyes like he was playing peekaboo."
Many of Dive Kauai's customers, even novices, have gone on multiple tours.
"They see the marine life in one spot and are so enthralled, they want to know what creatures they might see in another location," says Gough. "When you dive off Kauai, you really get the scuba bug!"
Tunnels reef, as seen from the air, represents an area where lava once met the sea, forming a labyrinth of underwater caves and arches now home to a variety of marine life.
HAWAIIAN WATERS harbor an abundance of marine life, including 680 species of fish, 25 percent of which are endemic, meaning they can't be found anywhere else in the world. On the Tunnels Reef Shore Dive, one of Dive Kauai's most popular offerings, certified divers descend 60 feet to enjoy close-up views of razor and dragon wrasses, flying gurnards, green sea turtles, moray eels, barracudas, lobsters, raccoon and milletseed butterflyfish, and much more.
This site also is known for its dramatic underwater topography -- an intricate maze of caves, cracks, arches and more than two dozen lava tubes formed eons ago when molten lava met the sea.
Says Gough, "The lava tubes are a magnificent sight; beams of sunlight shine through them, creating an ethereal effect. They look like caves with many passages, and certified divers can swim through them! The longest tube measures about 75 feet."
The Tunnels Reef Shore Dive is only offered during the summer, when there's no high surf to create strong currents and poor visibility. Certified divers complete a two-tank, three-hour dive in two different areas, one inside the reef within 25 yards of the coast, and the other outside the reef about 150 yards from shore.
Noncertified divers complete a one-tank dive as deep as 40 feet, but they must first read and sign the PADI Registration/Medical Questionnaire, downloaded from Dive Kauai's Web site.
"Scuba diving is an exciting and demanding activity that involves physical exercise and breathing compressed air," explains Gough. "A 'yes' response to a question on the form won't necessarily disqualify you from diving, but it does mean you have a pre-existing condition that may affect your safety. Therefore, you must seek the advice of your doctor before diving with us."
DIVE KAUAI'S tours are led by experienced PADI instructors and dive masters, sometimes by Gough himself. His passion for diving dates back 25 years. At the time, he was working for Paramount Can Co. in Southern California, selling a wide range of food and chemical containers to clients including paint, chemical and food processing companies. Hawaii was part of his territory.
One morning in 1981, one of Paramount's vice presidents, a certified diver, described a fabulous dinner he and some friends had enjoyed on the beach in Palos Verdes, Calif., where the television show "Sea Hunt," starring Lloyd Bridges as a crime-solving frogman, was filmed from 1958 through 1961.
"They went for a night dive, came back with lobster and abalone, and cooked them right on the beach," Gough recalls. "I thought, 'Going grocery shopping underwater -- that's way cool,' and started scuba lessons the following week."
Three weeks later he obtained his PADI Open Water Certification, and for the next nine years explored underwater oases across the globe, including Mexico, Guam and Yap.
In the spring of 1990, Gough was reading Dive magazine and noticed an ad announcing a PADI dive company on Kauai was for sale. He had just returned from a sales trip to Kauai, and says, "I immediately thought, 'Wow! I can live in paradise and do the thing I love the most!'"
Within 60 days, Gough bought Dive Kauai and moved to Kauai. For the past 16 years, he's been thrilled to run a company that enables him to share his love for Kauai and for diving with people from all walks of life.
"About two years ago I taught a couple who lived in Kiev," he said. "The oldest diver I've ever taken out was 84 years old. Many of my former students have become professional divers."
Wise stewardship is a key aspect of Gough's business philosophy. For example, eight years ago, in an effort to protect Tunnels Reef's fragile ecosystem, he and other Kauai tour company owners agreed they would only use that area on weekdays, reserving it for the local community on weekends and holidays.
Gough is steadfast in his commitment to conservation: "Diving gives us the opportunity to see a pristine, incredibly beautiful side of nature," he says. "We all need to do our part to ensure it stays that way."

Paddlers set sights on reaching NW islands

Sixteen people left Kauai yesterday with plans to paddle a Hawaiian outrigger canoe 450 miles over four days in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
The 15 men and one woman will stroke a six-man canoe from Mokumanamana, also known as Necker Island, to Laysan Island, starting tomorrow afternoon, said paddler Kendall Struxness of Hanalei.
This is the sixth year for the Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Voyaging Society's epic journey through the entire Hawaiian Archipelago.
The mission began in 2001 with a trip from Waikoloa on the Big Island to Kihei, Maui. Last year's trip was from Nihoa to Mokumanamana.
The society hopes to complete its mission next summer by paddling from Laysan Island to Kure Atoll.
This year's voyage includes four support crew for the paddlers and four crew for the escort vessel, the tugboat American Islander.
The participants come from all walks of life, including "a pig farmer from Molokai, a real estate broker, a personal trainer from New York, an insurance broker from Santa Cruz," Struxness said.
Three Maui men have participated in each segment of the multiyear project: Kimokeo "Bully" Kapahulehua, Jamie Woodburn and Chris Luedi.
Each year other paddlers join in. This year they are: Chris Smith, Michael Spalding, Katherine Hughes, George Rixey, Terry Quisenberry and Jeff Meadows of Maui; Kamakea Han of Molokai; Struxness and Scott Funk of Kauai; Frank Negri of New York; Matt Muirhead and Dave Loustalot of Santa Cruz, Calif.; and Scott Woodburn of Florida. Ages range from 26 to 63.
Kapahulehua is credited as the visionary of the project. "His vision has basically been to retrace his ancestors' footsteps by paddling the ancient sea trail," Woodburn said. "And to do it consistent with cultural protocol and traditions, paying respect and make sure what we do is passed on."
Though only two paddlers this year have native Hawaiian heritage, everyone participating feels a link to the islands, Struxness said. "I may not be Hawaiian by culture, but I'm Hawaiian at heart," he said.
The name of the group's canoe is Ke Alakai O Ko'u Mau Kupuna, which translates to "in the pathway of our ancestors."
The trip is costing about $110,000, much of which the paddlers contributed themselves. Support also has come from businesses, the Hawaiian Sailing Canoe Association and individual contributors, participants said.
On the voyage, each person paddles an hour at a time, then rests in the escort boat until their next rotation. The voyage is taking place during a full moon for good visibility while paddling at night, Struxness said.
They train separately and don't paddle together except during the annual segments as the Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Voyaging Society. Part of the group's commitment is to visit schools and community organizations to share about their journeys and to create a video documentary to be used by teachers.
Struxness, a colon cancer survivor, said he is eager to "paddle in waters that haven't been paddled in centuries. It's new territory and there's something very gratifying about new territory."
Woodburn agreed. "It really makes you appreciate a number of things. ... One is the vastness and just how small you are in relationship to how big everything is out there. Another is the interdependence on each other and how you grow together as a family and deal with whatever comes up."

Tourist arrivals grow; spending grows more

Tourists have opened their wallets this year to the tune of nearly $1.8 billion in Maui County, an average of almost $10 million a day.
In June, they spent even faster. Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism numbers show that visitors spent $333.2 million in June, or more than $11 million a day.
For the first six months of 2006, tourism numbers are up 9.2 percent while tourist spending is up 20.1 percent.
The other Neighbor Islands are getting the higher head counts but not the extra money. And Oahu is down in head count and just even in spending.
In June, the average per-person, per-day spending on Maui island was $197.80. It was $275 on Lanai but only $103.10 on Molokai.
Except for Lanai, where the year-to-date daily average is $269.60, the June figures were higher than in the previous months on Molokai and Maui.
Maui County also saw a big jump in head count in June compared with June 2005. Maui island welcomed 228,601 visitors, up 22.9 percent.
Lanai was up 23.1 percent to 7,691, and Molokai was up 4.7 percent to 6,599.
For the year to date, the Maui head count is up 9.2 percent to 1.18 million (with Molokai up 2.3 percent and Lanai up 11.9 percent).
Over the past two decades, Maui generally has attracted almost exactly half as many tourists as Oahu, and as many as Hawaii and Kauai combined.
That ratio holds today for the Neighbor Islands: Maui County’s total this year is 1.26 million, Kauai and Hawaii together have drawn 1.39 million.
But Oahu is slipping badly. Its total arrivals are down 2.2 percent to 2.23 million.
Kauai’s head count is up 9.8 percent this year to 555,973, a slightly faster rate of gain than Maui’s.
Hawaii’s head count is up 8.1 percent to 772,728.
Oahu, despite much the lowest room rates in the state, still outpaces Kauai and Hawaii in per-person, per-day spending: $173.30 vs. $160.80 on Kauai and $149.10 on the Big Island.
One factor in the differences is the amount of retail shopping and fine-dining options available on each island.
Tourism on Maui’s small islands is only a tiny fraction of Maui island’s totals.
Molokai accounts for a little over 3 percent of visits but only about 1 percent of tourism money ($15.1 million).
Lanai also accounts for about 3 percent of visits and about 3 percent of spending ($36 million).

Feds fund airport projects

Lihue Airport on Kauai will be getting perimeter security fencing and an improved service road.
The projects will be paid for with a four-point-two (m) million dollar federal grant.
Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye says the projects with strengthen the airport's security.
He says the plan for the installation of eleven-thousand-300 feet of fencing was coordinated with the U-S Transportation Security Administration.
Inouye says airport security and emergency vehicles will be better served when the road is improved and realigned.

Of Wind and Waves: The Life of Woody Brown, Hawaii Premiere

Of Wind and Waves: The Life of Woody Brown, an award-winning hour-long documentary on a 94-year-old legend in the worlds of surfing, sailing and soaring, will receive its Kauai premiere at the opening night of the Kauai Health Guide Film Festival in the Grand Ballroom at the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort in Poipu at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 8th as the opening night film of the Kauai Health Guide Film Festival.
Full festival schedule is on-line at www.HawaiiHealthGuide.com/films
Maui resident, Woody Brown, will attend and answer questions along with filmmaker, David L. Brown (Surfing for Life). Woody has not only lived a life full of remarkable adventure and accomplishment – including inventing the modern catamaran, setting world gliding records, and surfing Hawai’i’s 25-foot surf in the early 1940s – but he has also done so with a kind of selflessness and generosity that have made him a role model for three generations of Hawaiians.
Woody is like a modern Thoreau on a surfboard, living in harmony with the world around him, alive to the possibilities of each new day, and following his own singular vision of how to be in the world. The documentary captures his unique blend of enthusiasm, wisdom, humor and spirituality that have made him a truly inspirational figure for everyone who has met him. Born to great wealth in New York City, Woody ran away from the life of privilege to become a protégé of Lindbergh at age 16. The film portrays his journey to become a world record glider pilot, surfing pioneer and inventor. It also depicts the tragic death of Woody’s first wife in childbirth which led to the painful decision to let relatives adopt his two children.
Of Wind and Waves explores Woody’s life in his own words and from the perspectives of his family and friends who have shared his journey. Family members adding their perspective include Woody’s daughters, Mary Sue and Jennifer, his sons, William and Jeffrey, and big wave surfing friends Wally Froiseth, Joe Quigg, Peter Cole and Fred Van Dyke. Surfing superstars, Laird Hamilton and David Kalama, are shown bonding with Woody and comparing Maui’s big waves from the ‘40s with the present huge surf at “Jaws.” The film also features a remarkably rich archive of film and photography from every stage of Woody’s long life to complement coverage of his contemporary life as an amazingly lively elder whose days are filled with service, friendship, humor, compassion, spirituality, and, up to his 90th birthday, frequent surfing.
Among the high points of the film are Woody piloting a glider and skippering a catamaran at age 92, his volunteering at Hale Makua Adult Day Health Center on Maui, his tales of early big wave surfing, his story about his first experience sailing on a double-hulled canoe and then deciding to build the first modern one, and his poignant 2002 reunion with his 67-year-old son, Jeffrey and 75 year-old step-daughter, Jenny, whom he left in the care of relatives in 1939 to embark for the South Pacific. There are also very humorous recollections about Woody and “Ma” Brown from Woody’s daughter, Mary Sue, and granddaughter, Nicole Bastian.
Of Wind and Waves provides a valuable cross-cultural portrait of the land, people and culture of Hawai’i over the six and a half decade span of Woody’s life there. While the explosive economic growth of the islands has unquestionably undermined and obscured many Hawaiian traditions, Woody Brown’s story shows that the spirit of aloha remains very much alive. Of Wind and Waves won the “Inspiration Award” at Mountainfilm in Telluride in May of 2006. The 35-minute version won the “Audience Award for Best Short” at the 2004 Maui Film Festival.

Feds give state millions to help repair rain-damaged roads

HONOLULU (AP) _ The state is getting more than (m) million dollars in emergency federal funds to repair roads damaged by 42 straight days of rain in February and March.
Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye said in a news release issued by his Washington office that the money will be used for Kuhio Highway on Kauai and other roads on Oahu.
Inouye says most of the significant repair work to Kuhio Highway has been completed. He says only minor pavement work still needs to be done.
The emergency funds were authorized by the U-S Department of Transportation. They will reimburse the state for expenses related to damage caused by the heavy rainfall and flooding.