Kauai News & Information

BARKING SANDS, Kauai » Just in time for the Fourth of July festivities, the Navy is allowing a bit more access to civilians at the Pacific Missile Range Facility.
Starting tomorrow, at the annual fireworks show, the Navy will unveil a new pass that will allow more access to areas on the base, including fishing and surfing areas currently difficult to access and entry into the base bar and restaurant Shenanigan’s.
There are four main changes to the policy, said Tom Clements, the facility’s public affairs officer.
The new “guest card” will replace the recreation pass currently offered by the base. The new card, which will come with a $20 fee, will require a federal background check, as opposed to the current statewide check. It will also allow part-time residents and those on extended stays to apply, Clements added.
The other changes allow access to fishing and surfing areas. At Kini Kini Point, a popular fishing area, a parking lot will be opened to the public to allow access into the special fishing area. Currently, fishermen have to walk about a mile from the Major’s Bay parking lot along the sand, with all their gear, to the spot.
At the other end of the base, Shenanigan’s will be open to the public, and the parking lot also can be used by surfers to get to the area fronting base housing. To get there currently, it requires about a mile walk along the sand.
Current recreation pass holders will be able to use their card for the same access privileges until it expires, Clements added.
Bruce Pleas, a west side resident who surfs the area fronting the base regularly, said the changes are steps in the right direction, the most important of which is the access to Kini Kini’s.
“As for surfing, it wasn’t that bad” to walk the mile from Major’s Bay to the housing area, Pleas said. But the new plan is “especially good for the fishermen.”
Pleas added that he would like to see a bit more walking access to other surf breaks fronting the base, especially those on the south end of the base, near Kokele Point. And while he acknowledged the new system allows part-time residents “a more fair system,” he hopes that those who have new access to the base will be good stewards of the land and won’t venture out into restricted areas.
But it’s a step up from the complete closure after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Clements said the new policy is a combination of retooling security capabilities on the base and the presence of new base commander, Capt. Mark Darrah, who took over in April.
“It was the right time to make a change,” Clements said.

LIHUE, Hawaii (AP) _ Owners of small agricultural and open-zoned plots on Kauai have until December 31st if they want to build additional homes on their land.
But many are confused about the rules.
Additional dwelling units are permitted in perpetuity statewide on residential lands.
But Kauai’s ordinance will allow additional homes on nonresidential land only until the end of the year.
Some landowners are confused as to what qualifies them to protect their right to the additional home by the deadline. They wonder if obtaining a zoning permit is enough or whether they need to have construction already started or even completed.
The Kauai Planning Commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing July eleven on a proposal to extend the deadline. “

KILAUEA, Hawaii (AP) _ At least two dogs sneaked into a protected breeding area for laysan albatross on Kauai and killed 15 of the birds.
Officials believe the dogs infiltrated Na Aina Kai Tropical Botanical Gardens Tuesday night through a hole in a fence opened by beachgoers seeking a shortcut.
Laysan albatross are not endangered but are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Brenda Zaun is a biologist for the U-S Fish and Wildlife Service.
She says the loss of 15 birds is serious considering the park only has 200 nesting pairs per year.
But Zaun was perhaps most upset with the hole in the fence.
She says the end of the fence had been pulled back by people trespassing onto that property from the beachside.
She says trespassers allow predators a way in when they alter the fence around the garden.

A fundraiser will be held for a volunteer injured in a crash
By Tom Finnegan

KAPAA, Kauai » Robert Nuesca used to spread aloha as an entertainer and share his knowledge as a football and baseball coach with youngsters.
These days, he and his family are just trying to survive, eight months after a traffic accident took his parents’ lives and left him a paraplegic and unable to communicate.

HOW TO DONATE
Donations are being accepted at any Central Pacific Bank branch throughout the state, via Paypal online at www.paypal.com (account [email protected]), or via mail at Robert Nuesca Benefit Fundraiser, c/o Colette Nagao, P.O. Box 324, Lihue 96766.

“Rob and (his wife) Mercy have a connection with almost everyone on the island,” said family friend Kathy Freire. “They are such wonderful people.”
Now, after giving of himself so freely, Nuesca and his family are asking for a little kokua.
On July 1, the family will hold an all-day event at the Aloha Church in Lihue, complete with entertainment, a paintball tournament, luau dinner, silent auction and booths for food and games.
They hope to raise at least $50,000 to repair and renovate the Nuesca family home in Anahola so Nuesca, 38, can get the 24-hour care he needs and make his wife and their four kids’ lives a little easier.
Robert’s wife, Mercy, has become the sole supporter for the family, while son Rylan, 17, a recent Kapaa High School graduate, has put his own plans on hold to help out, Freire added.
“The basic physical needs we want to help meet,” she said. The close-knit family is “trying not to look back” and remain positive.
Jameel Ramirez, the driver of the car that crossed the center line of Kuhio Highway near Kapaia and hit the Nuescas’ vehicle in October 2005, was arrested for manslaughter earlier this week.
Ramirez did not own the car, though, and did not have insurance to cover the accident.
An accident that left Robert Nuesca a paraplegic and unable to communicate drastically changed his family.
Robert’s parents, Helene “Lei,” and “Uncle” Louie Nuesca, who moved from the Halawa area years ago, both died in the crash.
They were well-known throughout the Kauai community, both for their volunteer work and for Uncle Louie’s work in security at Wilcox Hospital.
Robert also was a volunteer coach for the local Pop Warner football teams and the Kapaa High School junior varsity football team, as well as for little league baseball teams in the area. He’s an entertainer by trade, most notably with Uncle Larry Rivera’s luau show.
It’s not a surprise then, that entertainers will be traveling in from around the state for the benefit, with groups pledging to play from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m., and others waiting in the wings to help.
Otherwise, “we need pretty much everything and anything at this point,” said Freire.
Volunteers are needed to tend booths, while a couple of pop-up tents are still needed. Freire said any new items for the silent auction, as well as cooking ingredients and country store items, would also be greatly appreciated.
“Everyone is pitching in,’ she added. “It’s been a complete outpouring. A lot of people have called, saying, ‘I just want to help.’”
Admission is free, with a charge for games, activities and food. To compete in paintball costs $35 per person (three-person teams).
For more information, call Kathy Freire at (808) 651-9023.

The U.S. Navy said it shot down a medium-range missile warhead above the earth’s atmosphere Thursday in the latest test of the nation’s missile defense program.

The USS Shiloh detected a medium-range target after it was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii, then fired a Standard Missile-3 interceptor.

The Missile Defense Agency said the interceptor shot down the target warhead after it separated from its rocket booster. The missile was intercepted more than 100 miles above the Pacific Ocean and 250 miles northwest of the island of Kauai.

The Missile Defense Agency said the test had been scheduled for months and was not prompted by indications that North Korea was planning to test launch a long-range missile.

Businessman and landowner James Pflueger is applying for permits to restore several Kauai streams.
The state claimed the streams were damaged by illegally discharged storm water, which it said was caused by work done on Pflueger’s property.
The state fined Pflueger, and as part of that fine he was ordered to spend five million dollars to repair the streams and prevent further discharge.
The state historic preservation division is concerned the restoration plan could damage several historic sites and is asking that an archaeologist conduct a field visit before any work is done.
The restoration plan has received the support of the state land department.

A missile test on Kauai today was called off because of a small boat that wandered into the firing zone.
If things had gone as scheduled, a missile would have been launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands on Kauai. It would have been tracked by radar and shot down by an interceptor missile.
“Each time before any given test, there is a notice that goes out to seamen and airmen that there is going to be a test taking place on such and such a day in such and such a window,” said Chris Taylor from the public affairs office of the Missile Defense Agency. “It’s so they will stay clear of the operating area. Somebody ventured in and they weren’t going to make it through in time for the window that we had set for the test, so we just postponed it until tomorrow.”
A military spokesperson says the interceptor test has been scheduled for months. The timing is not a reaction to recent reports that North Korea is ready to test a long-range missile.

By Gregg K. Kakesako
[email protected]

For the first time, a Japanese destroyer will participate in a U.S. anti-ballistic missile test off Kauai’s Barking Sands facility today.
The Navy said the Japanese guided-missile destroyer Kirishima will be stationed off the Pacific Missile Range Facility, “performing long-range surveillance and tracking.”
Today, the San Diego-based cruiser USS Shiloh will fire a Standard Missile 3 and try to intercept a drone missile midcourse in its flight northeast of Kauai fired from the facility.
It will be the eighth attempt at a missile intercept. Six of the previous seven flight tests had been successful with missiles fired from the Pearl Harbor-based cruiser USS Lake Erie.
Last month, the Lake Erie used a Standard Missile 3 to hit a drone missile in the last minutes of its flight.
In previous tests, the Lake Erie successfully intercepted target missiles as soon as they were launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility.
The interceptor is part of the Missile Defense Agency’s multibillion-dollar program to protect the United States and its allies from an enemy missile attack.
Japan also participated in a March test when it provided the clamshell nose cone that was incorporated into the interceptor missile. That trial marked the first U.S. missile defense flight test using Japanese parts.
Today’s test comes while the United States has activated its ground-based interceptor missile systems in Alaska and California because the North Koreans are said to be preparing to launch a Taepodong missile.
As part of the U.S. anti-ballistic missile shield, two Navy Aegis warships — similar to the Lake Erie and the Shiloh — are now patrolling the water near North Korea. However, these two destroyers are only equipped with sophisticated radar systems and do not have the interceptor missiles being tested on Kauai.
The Navy is installing missile tracking radar and intercept missiles on 18 of its Pacific Fleet warships, to be completed by 2009.
In today’s test, the Shiloh will attempt to detect and track a missile fired from Barking Sands with its SPY-1B radar.
The North Korea Taepodong missile was first tested in 1998 over northern Japan.

A Kauai company is importing the limpets from Ireland

By Gary T. Kubota
[email protected]

WAILUKU » Noelani Josselin said she was with surfer friend Patrick Murphy in Ireland when they noticed a seabed of what looked like opihi as the sea receded at low tide.
They turned out to be a relative called limpets.
An old Irishman told them that residents no longer gathered and ate the “barnacs” as they did during the great famine when there were no sheep or cows.
“I was just so amazed there was just so much opihi,” Josselin recalled. “My wheels started spinning and one thing led to another.”
Josselin, owner of Kauai-based Island Opihi Co., is importing the opihi’s Irish cousin — about 1,000 pounds every two months — and selling most of them to organizers of luaus.
“When they try it, they say, ‘Wow, this is really good,’” Josselin said.
“We keep bringing more in.”
The importation of the limpets comes when the Legislature has passed a bill to ban the commercial sale of opihi. The measure is sitting on Gov. Linda Lingle’s desk. She has until Monday to tell lawmakers what bills she might veto.
Legislators say overharvesting has depleted opihi on Oahu and easily accessible areas on the neighbor islands.
Under state law, opihi shells must be at least 1.25 inches wide, or the meat must be at least a half-inch wide, to be legally harvested in Hawaii.
There are four main species of opihi found in the Hawaiian Islands, including the blackfoot Cellana exarata, also known as makaiauli and once the most common limpet in Hawaiian waters.
Other limpets include C. talcosa, known as the kneecap opihi; C. melanostoma, found on Kauai; and the popular yellowfoot C. sandwicensis, or alinalina, which is the preferred species for eating.
Josselin said the Irish cousin, Patella vulgata, closely resembles the yellowfoot C. sandwicensis.
Both the Irish and Hawaiian limpets have cap shells and grow on rocks along the shoreline.
Picking opihi in Hawaii can be dangerous because the limpets are often found along rocky cliffs and the roughest parts of the coastline where there are huge wave surges.
Josselin said pickers in Ireland also face ocean dangers, mainly from tides that can rise to 12 feet.
She said Irish people familiar with the ocean tides and certified as lifeguards pick the limpets for her company.
Her company has been selling the Irish limpets for $250 a gallon or 8 pounds, with each pound equivalent to about 120 to 130 limpets, she said.
Tamashiro Market on Oahu says that when opihi is available, it usually goes for $29.95 a pound.
Josselin, a former co-owner of A Pacific Cafe in South Maui, said while Japanese visitors seem to like the product, she has faced some challenges in expanding her market to mainland tourists and European-trained chefs unfamiliar with the preparation.
She has been working on a book of recipes.
Besides the traditional Hawaiian preparation of paa kai or Hawaiian salt, she adds various limu or seaweed, as well as other garnishes. There is limpets teriyaki style, with ginger, soy sauce and a little bit of chili and sugar.
She has prepared it European style with garlic and butter, and Filipino style with ginger, tomatoes, onions and patis boiled in a broth.
Her nouveau cuisine preparation includes the opihi in a green papaya and ogo salad with tomatoes

The legislation aims to fund repairs after harmful downpours
Associated Press

U.S. House and Senate negotiators agreed to spend about $11 million to repair Kuhio Highway on Kauai and roads on Oahu damaged by this year’s foul weather.
The money is part of some $13.5 million earmarked for Hawaii in an emergency supplemental appropriations bill.
The measure also includes $2 million to analyze dams and reservoirs that might have been weakened by the torrential rain.
The legislation must be approved by the House and Senate before being sent to President Bush.
“I am disappointed that the recovery assistance is less than what the Senate had approved,” U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, said Friday in a news release.
“But it was the firm decision of the Bush administration that this appropriations measure be devoted almost entirely for funding the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and for hurricane recovery along the Gulf Coast,” Inouye said.
“While it was my desire that federal assistance reach the affected people of Hawaii as quickly as possible, it was clear that the Bush White House placed very little priority on Hawaii and other areas of the United States that experienced devastating natural disasters,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has issued grants totaling more than $500,000 for individual assistance, and the Small Business Administration has approved more than $1.3 million in loans for homes and businesses, Inouye said.
“I am particularly interested in FEMA’s commitment to stabilize Round Top Drive in Honolulu, including clearing the mudslide and debris, and reopening the road for the affected residents, as well as reimbursing the City and County of Honolulu for the emergency Beachwalk sewer line repair, which impacted the Ala Wai Canal and Waikiki beaches,” he said.