Kamuela Vacuum Cooling Plant is a large warehouse co-op run by Waimea’s Lalamilo farmers in partnership with the State Department of Agriculture to cool down Waimea-grown vegetables before being shipped to market.  It is located on Mamalahoa Highway townside of Lalamilo Farm Lots.  The entry to the cooling plant warehouse is almost directly across from the new Ala ‘Ohia Highway (also known as the new Parker Ranch connector road).  The cooling plant has large bay entry doors so warm jackets are suggested and hot coffee will be provided.

Sen. Solomon has invited representatives of several state agencies to participate in a discussion of issues that are high on the 2012 Legislative agenda, including State Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Director Paki Nahale’a, Department of Agriculture Deputy Director Jimmy Nakatani, DOT’s Hawai’i District Airports Manager Chauncey Wong Yuen, and Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustee Robert Lindsey.

The community is invited to discuss any issue of concern, including public education, job creation, watershed protection and related game animal concerns, expediting geothermal and other alternative energy resource development, mortgage relief, taxation, etc.  Also up for discussion will be major Capital Improvement Project (CIP) requests and ongoing CIP projects including improvements to Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway, Kawaihae Harbor and agricultural water systems.

For more information or to express your thoughts about specific bills, contact Sen. Solomon toll free: 974-4000 Ext. 67335, or email SenSolomon@capitol.hawaii.gov.

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Click here to see Hoʻokakoʻo letter announcing John Colsonʻs resignation.

Paniolo Preservation Society is inviting serious horseback riders on a half-day escorted trail ride exploring extraordinary pre-contact sites and features of the Waimea Field System as documented by historian Abraham Fornander in the mid 1800s, renowned Hawa’i historian Marion Kelly in the early 1970s, and more recently, by Ross Cordy in his respected book, “Exalted Sits the Chief,” which was published in 2000.

The Waimea Field System was comprised of many tiny rivulets (awewai) that — from a bird’s eye view — resembled a fish net of small waterways that supported intense cultivation of dry land kalo, u’ala (sweet potato) and sugar cane.

The ride – on Sat., Feb. 18, 2012 — will provide a fascinating perspective of this amazing food production “system” — one of three on the leeward side of Hawai’i Island which archaeologists believe date back to as early as perhaps the 1200s AD.  The Waimea Field System is believed to have been dramatically expanded in the 1700s, “likely associated with Alapa’inui’s and Kalani’opu’u’s presence in the Kawaihae and Waimea area, and with Kamehameha’s building of Pu’ukohola heiau — all requiring greater food production,” suggests Cordy in his book.

“Trail ride participants will come to understand why Marion Kelly concluded decades ago that this area was a priceless example of agricultural ingenuity that ‘should never be developed’,” said UH-Hilo archaeologist Dr. Peter Mills who is also one of several PPS Board members that will escort the ride.

Escorts also include Dr. Billy Bergin, Freddy Rice, Sonny Keakealani, Robby Hind, Gail Rice and Lilah Ellis.

Participants will assemble at 8 a.m. for an approximate three-hour escorted ride, then assemble for a BBQ lunch and talk-story about the day’s sights and revelations, which will conclude about 3 p.m.

The ride is exclusively for serious riders who are 18 years or older.  Participants must bring their own mount or arrange a rental; horses must be shod for rough terrain and no stallions will be permitted. Horses may be rented from Cowboys of Hawai’i, the outfitters that operates out of Parker Ranch’s former surgery barn behind (south) of Pukalani Stables, by calling Roberta Mendes at (808) 885-5006.  (Cowboys of Hawai’i’s deadline to secure a horse rental is Wed., Feb. 15.)

Participants also must bring weather protection and drinking water.

This is a PPS fundraiser to support the organizations’ educational preservation mission and help expand the new Paniolo Heritage Center at historic Pukalani Stables.  A $250 donation is suggested.

For more information, call (808) 854-1541 or go to www.PanioloPreservation.org or find PPS on Facebook.

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KLRC meetings are held monthly at the Hamakua Macadamia Nut Factory Visitors Center. Follow the yellow signs Mauka of Akoni Pule Highway on Maluokalani Street.

KLRC meetings are hosted by the Kailapa Community Association, a not for profit corporation serving more than 120 families residing in Kailapa Hawaiian Homestead Lands in Kawaihae. For more information contact Association President Diane Kanealii, phone: 808-880-9798.

On Saturday, January 28, join the Kohala Watershed Partnership to help protect the forest in one of our most stunning preserves on Kohala Mountain: Pu’u Pili at Kahua Ranch.  This 270-acre preserve is a gem of Kohala Mountain biodiversity—and we will be working to control the non-native plants that threaten it. Our main focus will be on kahili ginger, and our control methods include cutting the stems and applying a squirt of herbicide. Over the past three years, our volunteer teams have cleared more than 6 acres of ginger from the understory, and the result is a resurgence of native plants! Hurrah!

This day will likely be very wet, muddy and cold, so please be prepared! Bring along lunch and water, and we will provide tools, gloves and snacks. Meet at the back parking lot of the Kohala Center on Kawaihae Rd at 8:30am.  We will load up the KWP van and carpool to the ranch. We should be back in Waimea by 3:30pm.

RSVP to: Coordinator@kohalawatershed.org

Volunteer days for the next couple months are Saturdays: 2/11, 2/25, 3/24, 4/14, 4/28, 5/12, 5/26. Mark your calendars and join us!

To schedule an appointment or ask questions, call 808-388-6645.  Federal and state tax returns will be prepared by volunteers who have donated their time and skills to serve their community.  All returns will be filed electronically, with a few exceptions.  After scheduling an appointment, please prepare your tax packet to bring with you to include the following items:

• Picture identification (drivers license, passport, etc.)
• Social security cards for yourself, spouse and all dependents
• Copy of last year’s income tax return
• W-2 forms from each employer
• Unemployment compensation statements
• SSA-1099 if you were paid social security benefits
• All 1099 forms, 1099-INT., 1099- DIV, 1099-B, etc. showing interest and/or dividends, and documentation showing original purchase price of sold assets
• 1099-MISC. showing any miscellaneous income
• 1099-R if you received a pension or annuity
• All forms showing income tax or estimated tax payments paid
• Dependent care provider information (name, address, ID no. or social security no. of care provider, and amounts paid.
• Any other forms or statements you received applicable to your tax situation.
• A copy or voided check showing bank acct. no. so refund can be deposited directly into bank account.