The Kamuela Vacuum Cooling Plant on the island of Hawai‘i is operated by the Kamuela Farmers Cooperative, which consists of sixty members, and processes approximately seven million pounds of produce annually, while also providing storage and limited processing services. The Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture (HDOA) obtained funding for the facility as one of two vacuum cooling plant pilot
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Rep. Nakashima & Sen. Dwight Takamine report that the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funded renovation of Hale Hauoli in Honoka‘a will commence soon. Isemoto Contracting will renovate all forty units and the community center in the 10 buildings that comprise Hale Hauoli. The Honoka‘a Seniors Club meets in the community building that also houses
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The 4th Annual Parade & Festival for the United Nations International Day of Peace was Sunday, September 19 in downtown Honoka‘a. The U.N. has celebrated the International Day of Peace for more than 25 years, but the official Hawai‘i Peace Day was signed into law by Governor Lingle in 2007 as a result of a
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Rep. Nakashima & Sen. Dwight Takamine reported that Honoka‘a Elementary’s Whole School Renovation project is nearing completion. The legislature initiated the Whole School Renovation Program shortly after the terrorist attacks of 2001 to address a serious backlog after the economic downturn in the 90s and to provide an economic boost after the attacks. The work
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Mayor Billy Kenoi has brought numerous stakeholders together in an effort to support sustainable agriculture on the Big Island by making 1,739 acres of county land in Kapulena available for community-based agriculture. The Kapulena lands project has several important goals related to sustainable agriculture—encouraging our youth to enter into agricultural fields, protecting prime agricultural lands from
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Rep. Mark Nakashima and Sen. Dwight Takamine report obtaining an update regarding the ARRA (stimulus) funded bridge rehabilitations in North Hilo. The Kukuaiu, Kuwaikahi, Ninole and Maulua Bridges support Hawai‘i Belt Road in the gulches. This bridge rehabilitation project involves removing lead paint & rust, cleaning, repairing steel and repainting. The work on Kuwaikahi and Ninole Bridges is
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The Hamakua Partners in Eldercare (HPiE) formed to proactively seek ways to help bolster information and services relating to elderly and disability care and assistance in the North Hawai‘i region. North Hawai‘i has a greater proportion of an older adult population than the state’s average, which is itself greater than the national average. Moreover, according
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The demise of the sugar industry in the 1990s severely impacted the Hamakua area. Discussions conducted by a committee of university and community leaders resulted in a proposal to establish an educational and research center for the North Hawai‘i region. Providing access to higher education in this rural, underserved area was part of the community-driven effort
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The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA), and commonly known as the Stimulus or the Recovery Act, furnished funding to HDOT to rehabilitate the aging bridges that support Hawaiʻi Belt Road (Highway 19 also Mamalahoa Highway) through the gulches in the North Hilo district. The scope of the project on Kukuaiu, Kuwaikahi, Nīnole and Maulua Bridges
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Rep. Mark Nakashima & Senator Dwight Takamine reported that State Traffic Engineer Alvin Takeshita recently provided an update regarding the Papa‘ikou Traffic Safety Project. Mr. Takeshita indicated that Traffic Branch staff are nearing completion of the design phase of the project. Advertising the bids for the project should happen later this fall and construction in
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