Funding for Kahoolawe commission running out

Posted: Jun 13, 2013 

Kahoolawe had been used for military exercises for more than 50 years. A $44 million trust fund was established when the federal government returned the island to the state, with the money going to the clean unexploded ordnance from the island, and for the commission’s work.

“Manage the island, to continue the restoration work on the island, to bring people to Kahoolawe to experience Kahoolawe,” said commission executive director Michael Naho’opi’i. “We feel this (budget) is as low as we can go and still accomplish all those tasks.”

The commission has never received funding from the state and has been surviving off the trust fund and grants all this time. But the fund will be down to $1 million by 2016.

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Kaho’olawe Island Reserve Commission members approved a nearly $2.9 million budget Wednesday for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

And, while the spending plan continues operations for another year at a “bare minimum,” according to commission Executive Director Michael Naho’opi’i, the budget doesn’t address a new source of funding. That would be needed to stem the rapidly depleting remainder of a $44 million trust fund established for commission operations in 1994 during the federal government’s cleanup of Kahoolawe.

In 2003, the trust fund had $33 million. In fiscal 2009, it was down to $16.5 million, further dropping to $13.5 million in fiscal 2010 and to $10.7 million in fiscal 2011, according to a financial report on the fund.

In a phone interview Wednesday, Naho’opi’i said the fund fell further to $8.1 million in fiscal 2012 and is projected to go down to $5.8 million in this fiscal year. If no new revenue source is approved by the state Legislature, the commission will be left with around $1 million at the beginning of fiscal 2016, he said. Continue reading →

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., right, tours BMW’s Spartanburg plant earlier this year

If you’ve got a policy against hiring anyone with a criminal record, you better review guidelines issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The EEOC today filed lawsuits againstBMW’s manufacturing plant in Spartanburg, S.C., and Dollar General, which is based in Goodlettsville, Tenn. The agency contends the companies’ policies against hiring people who have been convicted of a crime violate the Civil Rights Act because they disproportionately cost African-Americans jobs. Continue reading →

Employees from the local accounting firm Accuity LLP spent a day volunteering with the nonprofit Kakoooiwi to help restore the Heeia wetlands in Windward Oahu.

About 40 employees from Accuity LLP recently left their desks at the accounting firm’s Honolulu office and traveled to the Heeia wetlands to partner with the nonprofit Kakoooiwi to help its mission of restoring the Windward Oahu wetlands.

Partnerships like those are much-needed for the nonprofit, which relies heavily on volunteers to carry out its mission. Janice Yoshioka, Kakoooiwi’s chief financial officer, said that the nonprofit now recruits thousands of volunteers on a yearly basis, after starting from ground zero.

“In 2010, we had no staff, no resources … We relied heavily from the beginning on volunteer labor to help us get this restoration project started,” she said. “It is really tough to restore a landscape with a few people.”

Even though the nonprofit started in 2006, with the broad goal of supporting Native Hawaiians, 2010 was a turning point. That is when the organization focused its mission around one main project — Mahuahua Ai o Hoi — which means “regrowing the fruit of Hoi,” after acquiring a 38-year lease from the Hawaii Community Development Authority to restore 405 acres of the Heeia wetlands. Continue reading →

Jun 11, 2013, 1:31pm HST

Reporter-Pacific Business News

Billionaire Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison’s Lanai Resorts LLC recently submitted a special management area assessment for renovations permit to the Lanai Planning Commission.

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By Clare Seeger Mawae

The first part of May has been quite the week for the 10-year-old paddler Alex Mawae. He found out just days prior to the Maui to Molokai race in April that the ruling majority would not let him race due to his age. One week later he was given the green light to paddle Ka`iwi channel in the OC2 relay division on May 5. Ka`iwi was not the typical downwind run for 2013 and it was the worst conditions in the history of the race with 20 mph southwest winds. Due to conditions, his team was among 20 boats that were told to paddle to Hawaii Kai and not to the finish at Magic Island. Still, he had quite a smile on his face for crossing the channel to Oahu.

The following week was his yearlong dream race, the Olukai on Maui, an 8.5 mile downwinder with stand-up paddling on Saturday, and OC1on Sunday. He succeeded in both, with OC1 offering little visibility, rain and fairly good size surf at the finish. He finished in the middle of the pack on Saturday and not close to last on Sunday, and was the youngest competitor to compete in both events. His times were respectable in 1.33 and 1.35 for an 8.5 mile race in little wind.

Maybe reading this will help inspire other young Molokai paddlers out there that anything is possible with determination and will. Alex learned to overcome a fear of the ocean and replace it with respect. The times he became seasick while paddling still did not deter this young man with his goals and ambitions. Alex is no different to any other kid, but instead he learned step by step to overcome fear, respect the elements, understand his will, determination and goals in life. This is what the ocean has done for him. Alex hopes that more young Molokai paddlers will be paddling alongside him in the not too distant future. If Alex can do this, so can anyone else.

Ke Kukui Mohala News Release

In our opio lies Molokai’s greatest potential.  By providing pathways to helping them realize their vision of success, we are investing in their individual future and in our community.

Ke Kukui Mohala 2013 Graduates: (Left to right starting at top) Ronalyn Carino (UH Maui College, Culinary Arts), Tyshai Mawae (UH Maui College, Clinical Research), Jolambereen Mawae (UH Manoa, Medical-Anesthesiology), Abigail Adachi (Brigham Young University Hawaii, Music), Francis Ventura (UH Maui College, Nursing), Jake Sakamoto (UH Manoa, Business), Brandon Hanaoka (Honolulu Community College, Engineering/Architecture), Hauoli Falealii (University of Nevada Las Vegas, Sports Medicine)

With this vision at heart, UH Maui College, Molokai, the Queen Liliuokalani Children’s Center, the Educational Opportunity Center and the Interval House of Molokai partnered to initiate a program called Ke Kukui Mohala. Continue reading →