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Helemano Farms, which grows thousands of Norfolk pine Christmas trees in Central Oahu, will open on “Black Friday.” This is the company’s fifth year of tree sales. The farm will be open every day, from noon to sunset on weekdays and 10 a.m. to sunset on weekends, until two days before Christmas 2009.

Prices for all Norfolk trees up to 8 feet tall are the same as last year: 6-foot Norfolks are still only $40! Our locally made Christmas wreaths also are the same price as last year: $25.

Visitors at Helemano Farms choose from thousands of Norfolk Christmas trees, which range from 5 to 20 feet tall. Employees cut, wrap and load trees free of charge. And Norfolks grow back after they’re cut down.

Potted Norfolk Pines are not available at the farm and the company does not ship trees off Oahu.

Helemano Farms has planted its popular Leyland Cypress trees, which sold out in 2008. The new Leylands should be ready by Christmas 2010.

Helemano Farms LLC started growing Christmas trees in Central Oahu in 2002. The farm began as the green retirement project of late agriculture executive Mike O’Brien, whose family runs Helemano Farms in his memory. The farm is in Whitmore Village in Wahiawa at the end of Whitmore Avenue.

A visit to Kilauea can bring a sense of awe and appreciation for the earth’s volcanoes. Over the past weeks, the east rift eruption has produced multiple ocean entries, and photogenic surface flows, which have touched off fiery infernos in the rare remaining kipuka (island of vegetation). The flows came uncomfortably close to the tourist trail that has carried tens of thousands of admiring visitors, and engulfed and destroyed a lone structure. Not to be outdone, the Halema`uma`u Overlook vent has offered glimpses of a rising and falling lava pond, as well as a landscape of molten, shifting holes opening into a deep cavity within the vent.

In contrast, living downwind of Kilauea’s copious gas emissions, or in the path of lava flows, can bring an exclamation of “auwe” (“oh dear!” or “Alas!”). Since the onset of summit activity in 2008, impacts from Kilauea have increased. Hawai`i County was declared a federal natural disaster area owing to agricultural losses, and air quality in downwind communities frequently exceeded federal and state standards.

While Kilauea does contribute modest amounts of gasses to the atmosphere, most impacts are local to Hawai`i. We might count ourselves lucky because growing evidence suggests that very large volcanic eruptions have extreme effects on the global environment. For example, massive volcanic activity around 60-70 million years ago occurred on the Deccan Plateau in what is now west-central India. This activity, which produced the Deccan Traps (from the Swedish word for stairs, Trappa, which refers to the feature’s step-like landscape), is one of the largest known eruptions to occur since the Earth’s initial formation.

There are distinct similarities between Kilauea and the Deccan Traps. While Kilauea is being created by the Hawai`i hot spot, the Deccan Traps were likely a product of the Reunion hot spot. The eruptive style of both can be characterized by multiple volcanic events separated by relatively short repose periods. They produce basaltic lava and have flow units with pahoehoe toes as the basic building block. In fact, scientists have studied Kilauea’s active volcanism as an analog for processes that would have created the Deccan Traps.

During the 0.5 million years or so since Kilauea first began growing from the floor of the ocean, 1,400 square kilometers (540 square miles) have been covered by lava, or about 1/7 the area of Hawai`i Island. The Deccan Traps currently cover 500,000 square kilometers (190,000 square miles), an area somewhat greater than that of California. During its peak, which likely lasted less than 1 million years, the eruption rate of the Deccan Traps was at least 15 times that of Kilauea’s current eruption rate, or at least 25 times that of Kilauea’s more modest lifetime eruption rate.

The timing of the Deccan Traps is intriguing, with the peak in activity occurring at around 65 million years ago. Movie buffs and dinosaur fans might recall the tagline for the 1993 movie Jurassic Park: “An Adventure 65 Million Years in the Making,” referring to the timing of the transition between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods. Known as the K-T boundary, it was characterized by mass extinction of species, including the non-avian dinosaurs.

There is strong evidence that the impact of a large asteroid or comet contributed to this mass extinction due to the presence of enriched iridium in the fossil record at the K-T boundary. Iridium is an element that is much less abundant in the earth’s crust than in meteorites, and, thus, likely originated from space. The Chicxulub impact crater on the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, has been identified as a likely candidate for a K-T impact event.

However, growing evidence suggests that volcanic activity from the Deccan Traps was a significant contributor to the mass extinction event. Recent studies examining the fossil record were able to correlate an abrupt change at the K-T boundary in species of tiny sea creatures known as foraminifera, with the main eruptive pulse in the Deccan Traps.

Volcanoes great and small can affect life on earth, from contributing to the extinction of dinosaurs to impacting Kilauea’s neighbors.

Kilauea Activity Update

Lava continues to erupt from the TEB vent on Kilauea’s east rift zone and flow through tubes to the ocean at two locations—Waikupanaha and west Waikupanaha. Small surface flows have been sporadically active on the coastal plain for the last several weeks. In the past week, these surface flows were scattered mostly over a broad area more than 1 km to the west of the Hawai`i County lava viewing trail.

Glow above the vent at Kilauea’s summit has been visible at night from the Jaggar Museum. Incandescent openings, sometimes providing views of the lava surface, were visible on the floor of the vent cavity throughout the week by the Webcam perched on the rim of Halema`uma`u Crater. Volcanic gas emissions remain elevated, resulting in high concentrations of sulfur dioxide downwind.

One earthquake beneath Hawai`i Island was reported felt this past week. A magnitude-2.8 earthquake occurred at 6:04 a.m., H.s.t., on Sunday, November 15, 2009, and was located 3 km (5 miles) north of Paa`auilo at a depth of 11 km (7 miles).

Visit the HVO Website for detailed Kilauea and Mauna Loa activity updates, recent volcano photos, recent earthquakes, and more; call (808) 967-8862 for a Kilauea summary; email questions to askHVO@usgs.gov.

Volcano Watch is a weekly article and activity update written by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa will hold a Physics and Astronomy Open House from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday, November 21. Eleven sites—including Watanabe Hall, Krauss Annex and the Physical Science Building—will feature physics and astronomy research and applications presented by Department of Physics and Astronomy faculty and students.

The public is invited to attend the 2009 open house, which will also draw high school teachers and their students. There will be physics demonstrations, and presentations on density and buoyancy, nanophysics, anti-matter, free electron laser, cosmic ray physics, astronomy, astrobiology, geo-neutrinos, the Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) project, and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

The welcome and overview will take place in the Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics Auditorium at 8:30 a.m., with sites open from 9:00-11:00 a.m. for group visits, and 11:00 to noon for informal visits.

“This is an opportunity to learn what is happening in physics and astronomy in Hawaii and elsewhere,” said Michael Jones, an Associate Physicist in the UH Mānoa Department of Physics and Astronomy. “Attendees have found previous open house events to be interesting and enjoyable.”

A full schedule is available online in the News & Events section on the bottom of the Physics & Astronomy website at www.phys.hawaii.edu.

U. S. Representative Neil Abercrombie today announced that the City and County of Honolulu is receiving $3,863,700 for Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The block grants are funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to help communities improve their energy efficiency, reduce energy use and fossil fuel emissions, and create green jobs locally.

“Ultimately, this helps families save money on utility bills,” said Rep. Abercrombie, “because the more energy efficient Hawaii’s communities are, the smaller our overall energy demand and the less fuel we’ll need to generate electricity.”

Activities eligible for grants funding include home and business energy audits and building retrofits, the development and implementation of advanced building codes and inspections, and the creation of financial incentive programs for energy efficiency improvements.

“The other sustained benefit to these grants is the creation of new green jobs, from conducting energy audits and retrofitting buildings, eventually to the creation of Hawaii businesses to manufacture energy efficient equipment.”

Hawaiian Airlines pilots represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), declared today that they believe their contract negotiations are at an impasse and asked the federal government to release them from mediation, a process that could start the clock for a future pilots’ strike at the airline.

In a letter sent to the National Mediation Board (NMB) on behalf of the Hawaiian pilots, ALPA President John Prater outlined three years of stalled negotiations where HAL management has repeatedly demanded contract concessions from its workers while the airline soared to unprecedented profits and richly rewarded its senior executives.

“The Company continues to insist that its present business plan requires significant sacrifice from pilots and other employees. That position is not justified by either the competitive environment, the Company’s place in the industry, or its present financial condition,” Prater said. “There is simply no reason to believe that the Company will change its position without the imposition of a deadline and the possible release from mediation. The Association believes that further mediation is not likely to lead to an agreement and that further bargaining, in the absence of a proffer, will be futile.”

In response, Hawaiian Airlines released a brief statement:

“ALPA’s request is nothing more than posturing for negotiations, which continue with the oversight of the National Mediation Board. Hawaiian remains committed to reaching a fair agreement with its pilots union.”

ALPA formally requested that the NMB end its mediation efforts and issue a Proffer of Arbitration to both parties. If the Board makes a proffer and either ALPA or Hawaiian declines to enter binding arbitration, the two sides would be released from mediation and will enter a 30-day cooling-off period after which the parties are free to take self-help. At that point Hawaiian’s pilots could strike.

Capt. Eric Sampson, chairman of ALPA’s Hawaiian group, said the final straw came last week, when the company announced a $30.7 million net profit for the 3rd quarter of 2009 at the same time they asked pilots, in large part, to fund pay increases with productivity savings and work rule changes. The Company continued its track record as one of the most successful airlines in the United States and put it on target to record over a $100 million profit for the year.

With that profit, like last year, company executives will share millions of dollars in bonus money – enough, in fact, to fund the contract improvements ALPA is seeking. The bonuses and awards that Hawaiian gave to just its top five executives in 2008 are almost double the amount ALPA has asked for in 2010 pay raises for its more than 400 HAL pilots. HAL CEO Mark Dunkerley alone received a 42 percent increase in his total compensation in 2008.

“Our pilots have worked under a bankruptcy-era contract for almost five years, while the airline made more and more money. Every time the Company needed help, we stepped up to the plate,” Sampson said. “We helped them emerge from bankruptcy, we made acquiring new Airbus A-330s possible by agreeing to fly those larger planes for the same rate we fly our current Boeing aircraft, and we waived work rules to fly more hours so the Company could fill the void left when Aloha and ATA stopped flying.”

“To us, ‘ohana’ and ‘aloha’ aren’t just company marketing slogans. They mean something. We’ve had enough and we’re stating simply that pilots and other employees have to be rewarded the same way that management rewards itself for the Company’s unprecedented success and extraordinary financial performance,” Sampson stated.

In a strike authorization vote taken earlier this fall, 98 percent of participating HAL pilots gave their leadership the go-ahead to declare a strike if the NMB releases ALPA to self-help. It would be the first walkout in Hawaiian’s 80-year history.

“White on Rice,” an award-winning comedy film directed by Brigham Young University student Dave Boyle, is on the verge of becoming a grassroots success story. It will open in Honolulu on October 30 at the Regal Dole Cannery 18, with other theaters to follow. The film is also an official selection of the 2009 Hawaii International Film Festival.

The Japanese and English language family film, which the San Francisco Chronicle’s Jeff Yang calls “a cinematic milestone,” has previously opened in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Francisco, San Jose, Salt Lake City and other markets courtesy of distributor Variance Films. The trailer can be viewed here.

Director Dave Boyle and star Hiroshi Watanabe (Letters from Iwo Jima) will attend the Hawaii premiere at the Hawaii International Film Festival on October 19. The film also stars James Kyson Lee (NBC’s “Heroes”), Lynn Chen (Saving Face) and Japanese Academy Award winner Nae. Boyle and Watanabe will be in Hawaii from October 18-23 for promotional events at local universities.

Film Synopsis:

Jimmy (Hiroshi Watanabe, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA) loves dinosaurs and sleeps on the top bunk. Unfortunately, Jimmy is 40 and shares that bunk with Bob (Justin Kwong), his 10-year-old nephew. Freshly divorced, Jimmy lives with his sister Aiko (Japanese Academy Award winner Nae) and her family while boldly searching for a new wife. His brother in-law, Tak (Mio Takada, “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”) thinks he’s a disaster. And although Jimmy may lack social grace, he is convinced the best years of his life are just beginning. His plan seems like it’s all falling into place when Tak’s beautiful niece Ramona (Lynn Chen, SAVING FACE) moves in. But once Jimmy sets his sights on stealing her from his best friend Tim (James Kyson Lee, “Heroes”), he sees his intentions go hilariously awry.

Hilarious and touching, “White on Rice” is a Japanese-American comic treat that reminds us families stick together…like white on rice!

The U.S. Department of Education announced the disbursement of over $21.8 billion in formula grants, including over $75 million for Hawaii. The Hawaii funding breaks down as follows:

• Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to help students living in poverty: $33.71 million.
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B for America’s students with disabilities: $29.91 million.
• Improving Teacher Quality State Grants: $7.92 million.
• Career and Technical Education: $3.87 million.

Formula grant programs are noncompetitive awards based on a predetermined formula and provide funding for a variety of programs.

“Formula funding is critically important to every state and school district as we work together to prepare young children to enter school and every student for graduation,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “Federal formula grants combined with Recovery Act funding present an unprecedented opportunity to drive reforms and improvements in our nation’s schools.”

These so-called formula grant programs dispense funds to states on July 1 and Oct. 1 based on congressionally mandated formulas that, depending on the program, take into account such measures as population, poverty rates and enrollment. Formula grants originate from the Education Department’s annual appropriation from Congress and are separate from the $100 billion in stimulus funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Honolulu Marine LLC and Hawaii Stevedores, Inc. to comply with Clean Water Act requirements for stormwater runoff at their facilities.

Hawaii Stevedores, Inc. operates marine cargo handling facilities at Pier 1 and Pier 35 at Honolulu Harbor. EPA inspections found that the Pier 1 facility did not have a permit or a stormwater pollution control plan, and that it lacked controls to prevent pollutants from vehicle repair and maintenance areas from being discharged in the stormwater runoff.

Honolulu Marine LLC operates a boat building and repair facility on Ahui Street that discharges stormwater into Kewalo Basin. EPA inspectors found the company failed to have required stormwater pollution control measures to prevent discharge of pollutants, failed to cover and contain stored materials and barrels, and did not meet stormwater control monitoring and reporting requirements as required by its stormwater permit.

“Both companies must promptly correct the violations and improve pollution controls at their facilities to protect our harbors and coastal waters,” said Alexis Strauss, Water Division director for the EPA’s Pacific Southwest region. “If not managed and controlled, pollutants can contaminate our coastal waters through stormwater runoff.”

The EPA’s order requires Hawaii Stevedores to obtain a stormwater permit and comply with all conditions of the permit. The company also has 30 days to contain all pollutants stored or used at its location from being discharged in stormwater runoff. Once these are complete, a report detailing the work must be submitted to the EPA.

Honolulu Marine needs to inspect its facility to ensure no pollutant sources enter into stormwater discharges. The company has 30 days to correct all stormwater control issues, address discharges at its catch basin and outfall, clean oily stains at the facility, and prevent runoff from the boat repair area. The company must submit to the EPA its stormwater best management plan, all required records and reports required by the discharge permit, and a report of the completed work.

Both companies were inspected in December 2008 as part of an EPA regionwide effort to improve compliance with the Clean Water Act’s stormwater regulations at ports in California and Hawaii.

On Friday, October 9, 2009 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., The Arts District Merchants Association and Honolulu Culture and Arts District present the third annual “Taste of the Arts” Street Festival featuring the food, music and drink of The Arts District, produced by Tim Bostock Productions. This year offers a different slant with a new title: Alternative Taste Street Festival; and a fresh twist for the program.

This Street Festival is a celebration of the alternative styles always present in the Arts District downtown. The Festival is presented in association with the Honolulu GLBT community, and with artists of all persuasions. The GLBT culture has never before been celebrated with a downtown street festival. This event is not exclusively gay but does provide programming for those audiences, especially along Hotel Street, one of the homes of the drag and transgender community for many years.

Alternative Taste will celebrate MANY alternatives, and will provide an exciting and eclectic program for all ages. Over five thousand people are expected to enjoy the Festival through the evening. Nuuanu Avenue will be closed from Chaplain Lane above Marks Garage to King Street, and Hotel Street will be closed from Bethel to Smith. Pauahi Street will be closed from the Marks Garage exit to the Smith -Beretania lot exit. The three music stages and one separate DJ stage will provide continuous entertainment from 6pm to 10pm.

The Main Stage at Pauahi and Nuuanu features hiphop-klezmer-funk mix from Haberdashery, hard local punk from 86List, driving celtic rock from Doolin Rakes and headliners Rolando Sanchez Salsa Band. Next to the main stage will be the ING Direct Café and Otto’s cakes (downtown denizen and cheesecake baker Otto is the mainstay bassist of 86List – also celebrating its CD launch that evening).

The stage at Hotel Street and Smith Street will feature a full Chinatown Follies drag show featuring groups such as Lip Gloss, Paper Dolls and Gender Bender as well as Brandy Lee, Linda Brown, and emcee Raquel (detailed participants to be announced). The Miller Lite DJ Car at the stage will host DJs from Hula’s Bar and Lei Stand. Nearby will be a dedicated wig stand from Roy Venters and LGW Institute of Hair and Design – The Iggy-Box.

At Nuuanu and King Street the Solo Stage will feature Millicent Cummings, Hope Mayo, and others, alongside poets from Youth Speaks Hawaii, improv artists, specialist fire dancers from Hawaii Fire Artists and a large bamboo rig featuring astonishing solo aerial performances from members of Samadhi Hawaii.

Latin DJs including The Lion of Judah will be spinning at Hotel and Nuuanu on the Red Bull DJ stage; mask and stilt walkers from Monkey Waterfall will be moving through the crowd; psychic readers will be setting up folding tables on the sidewalks. The Alternative Market will include information booths on many alternative lifestyle issues, offering activities and sharing materials on cultural and community services. Blue Planet Foundation, Lesbian and Gay Business of Hawaii, Pride Alliance Hawaii, Black Cat Tattoo, Dr. Ray Yoza and Land of Organica Sorbets will be part of the Alternative Market. Temporary tattoos and massages will be provided alongside other alternative healing and alternative energy tents.

Food booths from local restaurants Indigo, Brasserie Du Vin, Murphy’s Bar and Grill, Balé, Café Joy, Tea @ 1024 and Soul de Cuba will be joined by newcomers India Café with vegetarian curries and Hale Kealoha with healthy Hawaiian food, or ai pono. All menu items will be paired with a premium beer, with selections on offer including Blue Moon, Killians, Grolsch, Pilsner Urquell, Miller Chill and Peroni. Draught Miller Lite will be available for $3. Bacardi Mojitos, 1800 Silver T Margaritas, Bombay Sapphire Tom Collins, 42 Below Vodka Bull and other mixed drinks also available from $5.

Alternative Taste Street Festival celebrates the unique character of the Arts District. The street closures will create a large outdoor venue with historic and cultural atmosphere perfect for a community celebration for the whole of Downtown Honolulu. Most of the favorite First Friday galleries will be open. All downtown parking will be open including Marks Garage lot. So stroll through exhibits of fine art, enjoy unique performance and music, taste incredible food and partake in an atmosphere that is part of Honolulu’s trendiest neighborhood.

Alternative Taste 2009 is presented by local nonprofits, the Honolulu Culture & Arts District Association, together with the Arts District Merchants Association, and is sponsored by Miller Lite and Blue Moon Beers, ING Direct Bank, Bacardi, 42 Below, Jack Daniels, 1800 Silver T, Bombay Sapphire, Honolulu Weekly, and Star 101.9 Radio. The City and County of Honolulu and Hawaii Tourism Authority support HCAD. Alternative Taste is produced by Tim Bostock Productions. For more information about the event as it approaches, including program detail, a site map, menus and beer pairing details, please go to www.alternativetaste.com.

ALTERNATIVE TASTE 2009
Live Entertainment

Main Stage—at Nu’uanu Avenue and Pauahi Street

• Haberdashery 6:00 pm
• 86List 7:00 pm
• Doolin Rakes 7:30 pm
• Rolando Sanchez Salsa Band 9:00 pm

Solo Stage—at Nu’uanu and King Street

• Millicent Cummings 7:00 pm
• Samadhi Aerial 7:30 pm
• YSH Poets 7:40 pm
• Millicent Cummings 8:00 pm
• Samadhi Aerial 8:15 pm
• Hawaii Fire Artists 8:25pm
• Samadhi Aerial 9:00 pm
• Hope Mayo 9:10pm
• Samadhi Aerial (Andrea Torres ~ Ring Solo) 9:45 pm

Follies Stage – at Hotel and Smith Streets

• Hula’s DJs 6:00 pm
• Red Carpet Promenade
• Chinatown Follies 6:30pm
• Hula’s DJs 7:30pm
• Red Carpet Promenade
• Chinatown Follies 8:30pm

Parking at:

• Chinatown Gateway Plaza (Bethel Street, turn left from King Street)
• Mark’s Garage (Nu’uanu Avenue, turn left from Beretania)
• Smith and Beretania Lot (Beretania Avenue, turn left after Nuuanu)

The Maui County Fair is proud to again present the RoboTech Maui Expo as part of the Fair’s festivities on Saturday October 3, 2009 in the Baldwin High School Gymnasium. This year, the Expo will feature competitions, exhibits, workshops and more that will highlight this amazing new world of science, recognize our children who are involved, and introduce others to the incredible world of Robotics.

The public is invited to watch teams of middle and high school students challenge each other in the VEX Robotics Competition, as well as fourth and fifth grade students compete in the AIA Maui Lego Building Competition.

For a more hands on experience with robots, Maui students grades 3-8 and their parents can build a robot together using a toothbrush at the BrushBot Robotics Student and Parent Workshop. Preregistration is required and enrollment is limited. To register, email name of student, grade level and school as well as name of accompanying parent, phone number and email address to Art Kimura at art@higp.hawaii.edu or call 808-934-7261.

Winning projects from the Maui Science and Engineering Fair will also be displayed throughout the day at the Expo.

For the RoboTech Maui Expo’s complete schedule visit mauicountyfair.com or call Sherri Grimes at 280-6889.

The 87th Maui County Fair will be “Your Invitation to Fun” and held Thursday, October 1 through Sunday, October 4. The highly anticipated annual event brings the entire community together to enjoy an alcohol-free, smoke-free and drug-free family-oriented educational event with plenty of entertainment, delicious local food, and fun! This year especially, the Fair gives the people of Maui County a well-deserved break from the current economic times and provides priceless quality time for family and friends. The Maui County Fair is the primary source of funding for many of Maui’s nonprofit and community organizations. It relies entirely on corporate or local business sponsorships, local donations, and volunteers for support. Corporate Sponsorship packets are also available online for download.

For information about the Maui County Fair contact Managing Director Sherri Grimes at 280-6889 or visit mauicountyfair.com or twitter.com/mauicountyfair on the web.