The National Weather Service is warning of high wind expected to hit the island sometime tomorrow and into Friday.
A COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH THE ISLANDS IS EXPECTED TO BRING STRONG SOUTHWEST AND WEST WINDS ACROSS THE STATE THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND FRIDAY. STRONGEST GUSTS WILL OCCUR ON THE WINDWARD SIDES OF THE SMALLER ISLANDS AND OVER HIGHER TERRAIN…WHERE DAMAGING WIND GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH ARE POSSIBLE.
We’re a bit apprehensive, given our recent experience of a few hours of damaging wind.
Unfortunately, the Kaaawa Community Association has scheduled a meeting on Thursday night to discuss the DOE’s proposal to close Kaaawa Elementary School. Notices of the meeting are being distributed by concerned parents and community members. If the wind lives up to expectations, though, it could impact the turnout for this important meeting.
Kaaawa is really providing a test-case for community push-back against the state’s strategy of squeezing out small schools. In Kaaawa’s case, the DOE plan means closing the only school in the area that is successful in educational terms.
I thought the DOE was about improving educational outcomes as the top priority. If that were the case, they would be planning to enhance Kaaawa in order to extend its successful performance. Instead, they’re looking to get rid of it.
What’s the larger policy message here?
A Maui News story by Chris Hamilton reports on the approval given a new B&B on agricultural land.
Operating a B&B on land classified for agricultural use is permitted by a bill passed by the legislature in 2006.
HB 2145 CD1 added this paragraph to the permitted uses in an agricultural zone:
(9) Agricultural tourism conducted on a working farm, or a farming operation as defined in section 165-2, for the enjoyment, education, or involvement of visitors; provided that the agricultural tourism activity is accessory and secondary to the principal agricultural use and does not interfere with surrounding farm operations; and provided further that this paragraph shall apply only to a county that has adopted ordinances regulating agricultural tourism under section 205-5;
Here’s what I don’t understand. At the time the bill was being considered, there was a lot of discussion about preventing tourist-related activities from eventually squeezing out real agricultural businesses.
As a result, the bill which became law as Act 250 (2006), requires the counties to adopt governing ordinances before ag tourism activities are allowed, and also contained a specific provision prohibiting the counties from allowing overnight accommodations.
Ordinances shall include but not be limited to:
(1) Requirements for access to a farm, including road width, road surface, and parking;(2) Requirements and restrictions for accessory facilities connected with the farming operation, including gift shops and restaurants; provided that overnight accommodations shall not be permitted;
(3) Activities that may be offered by the farming operation for visitors;
(4) Days and hours of operation; and
(5) Automatic termination of the accessory use upon the cessation of the farming operation.
That restriction appears to still be part of Section 205-5 HRS.
So hopefully someone over there on Maui can help me understand how a bed & breakfast operation is consistent with that prohibition on “overnight accommodations”. Perhaps there’s some other loophole that wasn’t apparent when the bill passed in 2006, or maybe it was subsequently amended to allow this kind of operation.
We’ll see.
Hey, I was surprised by the strong words from Howard Dicus this week concerning HECO’s recent blackout.
And congratulations to Star-Bulletin owner David Black for being named to British Columbia’s Business Hall of Fame.
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Howard Dicus is right on, and it will take strong words to bring about change.
Today is a hearing at the Legislature at 1:30 in room 229 on the subject of the outage. HECO will explain how it happened, but likely no independent engineer is available to explain how it could and should have been prevented.
Howard also reflects what I’ve been writing over at disappearednews.com on what kind of a power grid we need — an independently run power grid– in order to allow alternative energy to thrive in Hawaii. In yesterday’s paper, Ted Liu’s op-ed sounded like he’s also clued in on the need for a better grid.
We can’t reasonably expect that HECO, needing to write the cost of its new generators off over the years, will work very hard to replace itself. Nor does it bring expertise in alternative power. While we all talk, a Washington-state company has quietly begun getting federal approvals to put wind/wave generators into the waters of Penguin Bank. Yes, an out-of-state company, not our HECO, is at least doing something, even if they’ve picked exactly the wrong spot. No Hawaii investment is involved that I know of, and we had nothing to do with it, we’ve been talking but not doing, with some exceptions.
Newspaper exposure for the Penguin Bank invasion? Zip. At least the need for a better power grid is getting some exposure.
I am the chair of the SCC at our small elementary school in Town. We’re a Blue Ribbon school who has seen the quality of our educational environment degrade slowly year by year over the past 5 years. There is such bemoaning in the DOE about the lack of parent and community involvement, and yet they punish these high performing schools, with very high community involvement (due in no small part because that are located IN THE COMMUNITY). I cannot understand the thinking that closing a high performing school and taking the kids and families out of the community will result in a comparable education elsewhere.