“Pele at Pu’u ‘O’o” by Rebecca Rosen Charon is among the art and items to be auctioned at the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Benefit Christmas Party in Hawaiian Beaches on Saturday. Call (808) 965-0234 to RSVP.
“Pele at Pu’u ‘O’o” by Rebecca Rosen Charon is among the art and items to be auctioned at the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Benefit Christmas Party in Hawaiian Beaches on Saturday. Call (808) 965-0234 to RSVP.

Puna Councilwoman Emily Naeole-Beason is depicted in a sculpture painting by Karen Mortensen, which is currently on display in the lobby of the Pahoa Branch of First Hawaiian Bank. Mortensen, a retired fashion designer from Denmark who studied fine art at Chouinard Art Institute [...]
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(Media release) — The Federal Highways Administration and the Hawaii State Department of Transportation have authorized Hawaii County to build the Ane Keohokalole Highway using $35 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Hawaii County now has five years to complete the initial phase of what [...]

Image courtesy of Hawaii Preparatory Academy
(Media release) — Hawaii Preparatory Academy welcomes the holiday season with a concert at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009, at the school’s Davies Chapel, located at the Upper Campus. The concert is free and open to [...]

A Tree For A New Canoe by Herb Kawainui Kane. For more images from Hawaii's foremost artist and historian, click here.
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1958 Thanksgiving Table art courtesy of Squidoo
By Sofia Wilt
I work as a personal cook specializing in whole foods and health supportive cuisine. Over time I’ve come to learn that the context of how we eat is [...]

Image courtesy of macilious
By Brian Jordan
On the afternoon of Nov. 18, early Childhood Education Centers received a stunning message from Department of Human Services (DHS) on Oahu: “Due to budget cuts we are going to increase your co pay from $50 [...]

Former West Hawaii Today Hilo Bureau Chief Jim Quirk, now in Pennsylvania, recently launched www.quirkzone.com.
A growing list of us former staffers at the West Hawaii Today (WHT) have taken to publishing [...]

Nita Pilago with 2009 Miss Pearls of Polynesia Lucie Wilson
Nita Pilago’s Wahine Toa Designs were recently featured at the Miss Pearls of Polynesia scholarship pageant in Las Vegas.
The scholarship pageant took place in Tahiti up until two years [...]

Road Painting III By Nancy Dwyer
By James Weatherford, Ph.D
Inevitably, when discussion turns to what to do to make life better in Puna, the Keaau-Pahoa Road is mentioned. Throughout the Puna Community Development Plan this road has been a point of concern. Rightly so. There is [...]
(Media release) — Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi will meet with members of the press at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009 regarding an important announcement about the Ane Keohokalole Highway, also known as the Mid-Level Road. The press conference will be held at the mayor’s Kona office, 75-5722 Hanama Place. Other state, [...]

Tokyo Rose images courtesy of Radio Heritage Foundation
Tokyo Rose aka Iva Toguri D'Aquino was an American who broadcast as "Orphan Ann" during the Zero Hour program on Radio Tokyo during World War 11. A jury convicted her of treason in 1949, but [...]

Image by STORM at stormantic.com
This week I spent about four hours trying to put together a story about domestic violence, only to scrap the whole project in its finality. Very rarely do I scrap a story like that. The story and my unsuccessful experience trying to [...]

Edward Marion art
(Media release) — Resumption of the County’s Holiday Shared Ride Taxi Program will be announced at a media conference at 2 p.m., Monday, Nov. 23, 2009, in Conference Room 1501 in the recently renovated County building at 25 Aupuni Street, Hilo.
The Holiday Shared Ride [...]

Annetta Lucero courtesy photo
For those who didn’t make “The Masked Ball” at Seaview Performing Arts Center for Education (SPACE) in Puna last night, I urge you to catch tonight’s performance at 7 p.m.
This cirque performance features world champion twirlsport artist Annetta Lucero along with [...]

(The Rev. Nancy Harris, a Rastafarian minister, is charged with promotion of a detrimental drug, namely marijuana, and two counts of paraphernalia. Click here and here and here for background. Email letters to newswoman@mac.com.)
Greetings,
Yesterday was Judge Glenn Hara’s opportunity to serve Truth and show [...]

Uncle George By Ken Charon is among the art and items to be auctioned at the Toys [...]

Carol Marine painting. To see more, click here.
(Media release) — Halau O Ka Ua Kani Lehua will be hosting a holiday rummage sale from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009 at 17 Maka’ala Street Bay 7.Come [...]

Na Leo image courtesy of Kailua Village Business Improvement District
(Media release) — What is red, white and green all over? Kailua Village will soon be transformed for the holidays with the addition of Kailua Kalikimaka banners and holiday [...]

Image courtesy of Vicky Kometani, Current Events
(Media release) — Construction at the Hawai‘i Wildlife Center (HWC) is progressing along with continued fundraising efforts to ensure project completion.
The Center’s foundation was recently poured following installation of plumbing and wastewater systems. Framing begins next [...]

Braiding Sennit by Herb Kawainui Kane. For more images from Hawaii's foremost artist and historian, click here.
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(Media release) — Hawaii County Council Vice Chair Emily I. Naeole-Beason announced this week the Council District 5 office will be moving into the Pahoa Elections Division office in the Pahoa Marketplace in Pahoa on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009.
The Pahoa office of the Elections Division [...]

Image courtesy of the County of Hawaii
(Media release) — The Office of the Mayor, Hawai‘i County Council, Office of the County Clerk and six County departments are moving into the newly renovated Hawai‘i County Building at 25 Aupuni Street this week.
The County building has been out of [...]

Image courtesy of KY3 Political Notebook
By Steven Offenbaker
I have had a difficult time trying to decide exactly how I feel about news from Washington Place in Honolulu that Governor Lingle has found a way to put the Furlough days back [...]

This 1958 Studebaker owned by Scott Owens is depicted at the corner of Mamo and Keawe Streets in Downtown Hilo.
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Fern Forest Car Pile (Photos by Melissa Fletcher)
The county Department of Environmental Management transfer station schedule is expected to change, come Dec. 1, with hours of operation reduced to a few days per week in the more rural areas around [...]
(Editor’s Note: Following is a letter from a prospective candidate for Council District 5. Big Island Chronicle (BIC) will publish/post letters and guest columns from prospective candidates for public office until February 2010, when the campaign season officially begins. Between February and November 2010, BIC will not publish letters and [...]

HawaiiArt.com image
(Media release) — Volcano Art Center’s Annual “Festive Wreath Making” workshop is at 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009 in Volcano Village. Enjoy creating a full size festive wreath designed to last beyond a season using native and non-native foliage gathered by instructor Jelena Clay. [...]
(Media release) — The Konawaena Swimming Pool will be closed from Friday, November 20 until Monday, November 30 for maintenance and repairs. If you have any questions, please call the Aquatics Division at (808) 961-8694.
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(Media release) — The National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) has joined the Thirty Meter Telescope Project (TMT). As an Observer, China will participate in planning the development of what will be the world’s most advanced and capable astronomical observatory.
“The TMT is delighted to [...]

Image courtesy of Attachment Parenting Blog
Aloha Tiffany,
Thank you for your email to Board President Jim Albone requesting information. The rumors that you were inquiring about are just that; rumors. Your blog site has blogs from concerned citizens that are based [...]
Naruto's thumbs up by MCR Lover 1
I appreciate that both Gov. Linda Lingle and Mayor Billy Kenoi announced key compromises in the last week. Yesterday afternoon, Gov. Lingle said she would be willing to tap into the Rainy Day Fund' [...]

I submitted testimony to the Hawaii County Council tonight, regarding Councilman Donald Ikeda’s pitch for the number of Council meetings in Kona to be reduced to four times per year. The rationale is that two-day meetings in Kona cost nearly $8,000.
Keep in mind, folks, the council [...]

(Editor’s Note: Below is an alert sent via email by Debbie Hecht.)
linoleum cut by typesticker
Council meetings 4x per year in Kona- Resolution 267-09 aims to reduce council meetings in Kona to once every 4 months, because the cost is $7,165.00 each time the council [...]

Image courtesy of the Hawaii County Mayor's Office
(Media release) — County of Hawai’i Mayor Billy Kenoi told a community meeting in Honoka’a last week he is committed to making 1,739 acres of county-owned land at Kapulena available for community-based agriculture.
Mayor Kenoi outlined efforts by his [...]

BJs Strum and Scrapbook Studio and Island Edges Beads are hosting a holiday gift fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009 at 190 Keawe St. (upstairs of Bueno Burrito). Crafts, jewelry, cards, scrapbooks and other gifts by approximately 10 vendors will [...]
(media release) — Free food and community resource fairs for the homeless will be held at the large pavilion of the Wailoa State Park in Hilo from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009 and at the Pahoa Neighborhood Facility from 2 p.m. to 5p.m., Friday, Nov. 20, [...]

(Media release) — By popular demand, the Middle School Handbell Choir at Hawaii Preparatory Academy has just released its first CD, A Ka Makani Christmas. The CD features 10 favorite traditional holiday songs, including two foreign traditional melodies, one Russian and one Hebrew.
The handbell choir, under the [...]

Pea Pod #1 By Charlene Rivers
(Media release) — Plans are underway to establish a new farmer’s market in Mountain View at the Hilo Coffee Mill on Saturdays.
The new “Market at the Mill” will be held at the Hilo Coffee Mill farm and is scheduled [...]
(Editor’s Note: 40-year newspaper veteran Hugh Clark, a frequent Big Island Chronicle contributor, wrote the following letter to State Representatives Jerry Chang and Clift Tsuji today. Clark is angry about what he describes as “Furlough Fridays follies for public education,” and has written a few Hugh-isms to express his viewpoint [...]

Image courtesy of Stephen Hicks, Ph.D.
By Curtis Narimatsu
Themistocles
Naval guru Themistocles of Athens 2,500 yrs. ago made sure that land warrior/Spartan Leonidas & his 300 men did not die in vain vs. Xerxes’ 300,000-strong Persian army. Had not Leonidas/Themistocles united [out of separate Greek city-states] vs. Xerxes, democracy as we know [...]

Boukyo_Nostalgia by Hiroko Sakai. For more information, or to see more of his work, click here.
Aloha Tiffany,
During the first year of Big Island Chronicle, you have frequently and generously shared your ideas and dreams about how to do this really fine thing you [...]

(Media release) — Hawaii Island Humane Society presents “Lead the Pack to Dog Day Afternoon” at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., today, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009
Tickets for $45 include heavy pupus, beer, wine, local-style live & silent auctions, live entertainment and [...]

The first person to identify the spelling error in these “Requirements for Operation” posted at the Kilohana Hunter Check-in Station gets 10 percent of his or her next purchase at Jeff Hunt Surfboards in Pahoa.
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Tiffany Edwards Hunt, Bruce Albrecht