Should anti-war activist Jim Albertini of Kurtistown be allowed to speak at Hilo High?

Initially Albertini was banned from speaking because Hilo High Principal Bob Dircks believed that Albertini’s speech would prove to be too disruptive to the school. But on Friday Dircks reversed his decision after receiving approximately 50 emails that where just about evenly split between being for and against Albertini speaking.

The initial controversy was sparked when librarian Amy Okuyama wrote a letter protesting teacher Joseph Watts for deciding to invite Albertini.

Source: http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/news/local-news/activist-re-invited-back-hilo-high.html

In a recent article in HTH, Hilo police chief, Harry S. Kubojiri, said:

Homicides doubled over the five-year period from three in 2008 to six last year, and the chief alluded to the spate of six killings already committed in 2013. Most of the murders over the past five years were domestic cases, he noted.

Why do you think our murder rates are going up? And what can we do to reverse this horrible trend?

Here is a list of some of the best and most affordable Hilo Hawaii Resorts that you might enjoy staying at when you are in Hilo. Many of these hotels are located a mile away from  downtown Hilo on the majestic Banyan Drive, overlooking Hilo Bay.

Hilo Hawaiian Hotel

The Hilo Hawaiian is one of the best hotels in east Hawaii, at least according to the readers of the Hawaii Tribune Herald.

The Inn at Kulaniapia Falls

The Inn is located next to a stunning waterfall and is a great place to stay:

Kulaniapia is comprised of a small cluster of buildings…the Residence, Harmony, the Pagoda Guest House, and the Wailani Spa…all situated on 22 lush tropical acres with Waterfalls, Bamboo Gardens, Hiking Trails, and vistas of unrivaled pristine beauty.

Hilo Seaside Hotel

The Hilo Seaside Hotel is situated on Hilo’s famed Banyan Drive along with many of Hilo’s other resorts like the Hilo Hawaiian. Banyan Drive is filled with Banyan Trees planted by famous people like Amelia Earhart.

 Hilo Reeds Bay Hotel

The Hilo Reeds Bay Hotel has some of the best rates in Hilo and if you are lucky it has really stunning ocean views on one side of the hotel. Like many of the others it is located on Banyan Drive in the Waiakea Peninsula.

Here are the results from the latest hilo volleyball tournament at the Hilo Civic, according to West Hawaii Today:

Hilo splits with Ka‘u 25-20, 17-25

St. Joseph def. Waiakea 25-18, 25-8

Upcoming games include my alma mater, Waiakea versus our big cross town rival Hilo High. For the full results see: http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/sections/sports/local-sports/hilo-volleyball-tournament-results.html

A new study by the UH regarding Hawaii County’s level of food self-sufficiency has been unveiled in Hilo at Mayor Billy Kenoi’s office. According to this article we are only self sufficient in milk production and we are woefully deficient in producing the other food groups like meats, fruits, grains and vegetables:

• 17% of the fresh beef sold commercially on the island comes from local ranchers. Hawaiʻi Island ranchers produce roughly twice the number of cattle needed to feed the island’s population but most are shipped to the mainland for fattening and market. Additionally some of Hawaiʻi Island’s beef is shipped to Oahu as hamburger and specialty cuts of grass fed beef.
• Less than 5% of the pork and none of the chick or eggs consumed on the island come from local commercial sources. Informal sources of local eggs are available in neighborhoods and at Farmers Markets. Wild pigs and other game animals account for an estimated 400,000 pounds of meat annually in the informal food supply.
• Base on 2008 numbers, when the State stopped collecting most agricultural statistics, 34% of the State’s vegetables and 32% of its fruits consumption is produced locally. Hawaiʻi Island also exports much of its fruit production and significant amounts of its vegetable and sweet potato production within the state and internationally. There are significant amounts of both vegetables and fruits that are sold at Farmers Markets and other outlets that are no accounted for in these numbers.
• Locally produced vegetable starches like taro, sweet potato, cassava and other crops amount to less than 10% of total starch consumption. Nearly 12 million pounds of sweet potato are exported to the West Coast annually
• None of Hawaiʻi’s grain consumption is produced locally.

What’s worse is that despite the fact that we live in the middle of the biggest ocean on the planet, we only produce 51% of the seafood that we eat:

51% of the fish purchased commercially in the State of Hawaiʻi comes from Hawaiian waters. This number comes from a 2012 CTAHR study that counted commercial and recreation catch numbers statewide. Under reporting and non reported recreational fishing may increase this number on Hawaiʻi Island. Some fish is exported to HNL and other markets as well.

My main hope is that these numbers are due to convenience, not hard limits on the productive capacity of our land and ocean. Perhaps now the relative cost of growing our own food is higher than the cost to import it, so it is simply more efficient to import than to grow our own food. However if the relative costs change, hopefully we have enough resources to produce more of the food that we eat.