UH Information and Computer Sciences professor Dr. Kim Binsted is  partnering with NASA  to study space food and its importance to astronauts.   Astronauts on moon missions and in the space station tend to lose weight, and the goal is to find food that would be more sustaining for longer space trips.    Applications are due by February 29.  Learn more at the original article, and learn where to learn more.

Original article printed Janary 29, 2012:

http://www.bigislandnewscenter.com/cornell-and-uh-manoa-seek-volunteers-for-food-study/

Cornell and the University of Hawaii are partnering on a study that is aimed at developing foods that astronauts may eat on a mission to Mars–and they’re looking for volunteers to help develop that food.   The study will be conducted on Hawaii Island in early 2013.

The team is looking for six primary and two alternate crew members.  They’ll take part in a four-day workshop at Cornell University in the summer of 2012 where crew members will learn in more detail about the four-month study.  They’ll also take part in a two-week training in late 2012 to simulate the study, which will include living and working together in a small, isolated habitat such as astronauts would experience on Mars.   The two-week training would include limited communication with the outside world, consumption of foods such as would be included in such an environment, and learning to deal with sanitation as would be available in such a mission.

The simulated Mars mission in 2013 would be four months long, during which time the study participants would live in the simulated Mars environment.

Participants must have a Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited institution in engineering, biological or physical sciences, mathematics, or computer sciences, have three years experience in working or graduate school beyond the Bachelor’s Degree,  ability to pass a Class 2 flight physical examination,  good health, be tobacco-free for at least 24 months, and fluency in written and verbal English, among other requirements.

Applications are due no later than February 29.   Those selected will be reimbursed for expenses for the trainings plus $25 a day for time spent in the habitat.    More detailed information about the study and the application information is online at http://manoa.hawaii.edu/hi-seas

Big Island police are asking for the public’s help in locating two individuals who are wanted on outstanding bench warrants.

Dominic Gomes, 41, is known to frequent the H?m?kua and Puna areas. He is described as a local male, 6-feet tall, 200 pounds with a tan complexion, blue eyes and possibly a shaved head. He is believed to be operating a motorcycle or a faded red Mazda pickup truck.

Gomes may be in the company of his girlfriend, 42-year-old Patricia Castro, who is also wanted on a warrant. Castro is described as a local female, 5-foot-1, 150 pounds with a tan complexion.

Police ask that anyone with information on their whereabouts call the Police Department’s non-emergency line at 935-3311.

Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000. Crime Stoppers is a volunteer program run by ordinary citizens who want to keep their community safe. Crime Stoppers doesn’t record calls or subscribe to caller ID. All Crime Stoppers information is kept confidential.

Witnesses told Hawaii News Now she’s been terrorizing the neighborhood for a while, often throwing rocks at cars,  but has remained elusive.     She would tell people in Kalapana, pretty much at the end of the road which is now blocked with lava, to slow down, and wave the weapon at them.  Police have not yet released their official report of any possible charges.

Headmaster  Barnes issued a statement Wednesday saying, “Having a gentleman of John’s stature join our administrative team is not an opportunity that comes around every day.”  He noted that Colson is known and admired by many in the HPA community.

Colson was abruptly terminated from his position as principal of Waimea Middle School February 3 by the charter school’s Oahu-based nonprofit board, Ho’okako’o Corporation.  The board  agreed to meet with community members last Thursday.   They heard heartfelt requests to restore Colson to his job, for the good of the students, from Senator Malama Solomon, Kahu Billy Mitchell, and numerous members of the Waimea community.  But by Saturday, they confirmed, they would not bring Colson back—despite what they said was exemplary performance, role modeling,  and no impropriety.

The Ho’okako’o Board did make one concession:  Colson was invited back to the Waimea Middle School Campus Wednesday, to talk with the kids.  He said his goal was to get the students calmed down and focused on the upcoming all important Hawaii State Assessment Tests.    He also says he will find a way to continue to stay involved with Waimea Middle School.

Colson says he looks forward to rolling up his sleeves and working with everybody at HPA.  He starts his new job March 1.   Some Waimea community members said they still are sad to not have John at Waimea Middle School, but are delighted he will stay in the community he has called home for 35 years.

Big Island police are requesting the public’s help in locating a Kea’au woman wanted for an outstanding bench warrant.

Shayna Michele Piilani Pili, also known as Michele Pili, is 20 years old. She is described as part Hawaiian, approximately 5-foot-5, about 100 pounds, with straight brown hair, brown eyes and a tan complexion.

Pili is also wanted for questioning in connection with an unrelated burglary investigation.

Police ask that anyone with information on her whereabouts call Detective Paul Fukuda at 961-2382, email him at pfukuda@co.hawaii.hi.us,  or call the Police Department’s non-emergency line at 935-3311.

Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000. Crime Stoppers is a volunteer program run by ordinary citizens who want to keep their community safe. Crime Stoppers doesn’t record calls or subscribe to caller ID. All Crime Stoppers information is kept confidential.

Although apparently the staff and faculty were warned not to inform parents ol Colson’s impending appearance, community members got wind of the talk once the students started learning their beloved principal would return to talk to them and started telling their families.  Some community members showed up, including Kahu Billy Mitchell, one of the most ardent testifiers at last Thursday night’s community meeting..

The Ho’okako’o Board apparently made their decision to allow Colson to return to campus following the Thursday night meeting at which more than 300 community members turned out to show their support for Colson.  Although the Ho’okako’o Board said again that Colson’s performance had been exemplary and there was no impropriety, the impassioned pleas of the crowd asking for Mr. Colson’s return fell on deaf ears.   On Sunday, Colson said he’d been told he would not be invited back, but in a concession, the Board would allow him to return to campus and try to calm the students down, get them focused on the upcoming Hawaii State Assessment tests, and say “aloha” to them.

Community members who went to Wednesday’s  talk said they’d never seen the 280 students so quiet, so spellbound.  Colson encouraged them to continue to be respectful, to practice integrity, to be kind, and to help the new Interim Principal, Lydia Trinidad, in her work.  Trinidad has been moved to Waimea Middle School from her position as Principal at Kualapu’u Elementary Charter School on Moloka’i.

Ho’okako’o Board Member Ann Botticelli was at the talk.  As this is one of the very few times Botticelli has ever been to the WMS campus, community members say they assumed  it was to monitor Colson’s talk and make sure he didn’t violate whatever arrangement he reached with Ho’okako’o Corp. when they agreed to let him say goodbye to his students.

Later Wednesday, Hawaii Preparatory Academy announced that Colson will start work there on March 1 as Acting Director of Development.  (http://www.bigislandnewscenter.com/john-colson-returning-to-hawaii-preparatory-academy/)

Big Island police are requesting the public’s help in locating a 25-year-old Laupahoehoe man wanted for questioning in connection with the sexual assault of a minor.

Detectives are seeking Thomas Elijah Cummings IV, who was last known to be living in the Laupahoehoe Point area. He is described as part-Hawaiian, 5-foot-4, 212 pounds with short black hair, brown eyes, a large build and a fair-to-lightly-tanned complexion.

Detectives with the Juvenile Aid Section are continuing this investigation.

Police ask that anyone with information on his whereabouts call Detective James Gusman at 961-2278 or the Police Department’s non-emergency line at 935-3311.

Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000. Crime Stoppers is a volunteer program run by ordinary citizens who want to keep their community safe. Crime Stoppers doesn’t record calls or subscribe to caller ID. All Crime Stoppers information is kept confidential.

The U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) recorded an earthquake swarm that began around 1:17 a.m., HST, on Wednesday, February 22, 2012.

The earthquakes are located about 5 km (3 mi) north-northwest of Kilauea volcano’s summit, near Namakanipaio in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, at depths of 2–5 km (1–3 mi).   The seismic swarm, which continues as of 3:00 p.m., has included more than 60 earthquakes, 14 of which were greater than magnitude-2.

The largest was a magnitude-3.2 earthquake at 6:55 a.m.

These small earthquakes have not been widely felt on the Island of Hawai‘i.  The USGS “Did you feel it?” Web site (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/dyfi/) received less than 10 felt reports in the first12 hours following the onset of the swarm.

The earthquakes are located along the Ka‘oiki Pali, a southeast-dipping normal fault near the boundary between Mauna Loa and Kilauea volcanoes.  This area has experienced episodic seismicity since the magnitude-6.6 Ka‘oiki earthquake that occurred in November 1983.

Previous earthquake swarms have occurred along the Ka‘oiki seismic zone in 1990, 1993, 1997, and, most recently, in February-March 2006.  These swarms lasted from 1 day to several weeks, with earthquakes rarely exceeding magnitude-4.

Seismic swarms in the Ka‘oiki area have sometimes heralded changes in Kilauea’s ongoing east rift zone eruption, but as of this writing, HVO monitoring networks have not detected any apparent changes in Kilauea’s summit or east rift zone eruptions or on Mauna Loa resulting from today’s swarm.

For more information on recent earthquakes in Hawai‘i and eruption updates, visit the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory website at http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov.   USGS provides science for a changing world. For more information, visit www.usgs.gov.

The River Cottage is a fairly large, 12-room home sitting on the bluff overlooking the Wailuku River, just mauka of the upper parking lot at Hilo Medical Center.

How did the River Cottage come to be?  It goes back to 1946 and 1947.  The  Pu’umaile Hospital was a facility at the end of Kalanianaole Avenue in Keaukaha that specialized in treating Tuberculosis patients.  Between the tsunami in 1946 and high waves in 1947, the facility became unusable.  It was torn down,and the TB patients were moved to a temporary Naval Hospital at Hilo Airport, and then to the new Pu’umaile Hospital located where the Otsuka Veterans Home is today on the grounds of Hilo Medical Center. The River Cottage was built as the home for Pu’umaile’s  superintendent—it was a common practice to provide housing for the superintendents at that time.

Eventually, TB was conquered, and the Pu’umaile Hospital was no longer needed.   The old Hilo Memorial Hospital below Rainbow Falls was closed and moved to its new home, fhe former P’umaile,  renamed Hilo Hospital.  The River Cottage was used for a time as a residence for the Hospital Administrator…but about 10 years ago, IRS rules msde it clear that the fair market value of the residence, if added to the Administrator’s compensation, would be unworkable.  So the River Cottage was left empty.

It’s an unfortunate truism that a vacant building deteriorates fairly rapidly, and such was the case with the cottage.  HMC really did not have much use for it, so it sat unused and unloved.  With the advent of the Rural Residency Program, however, it was suggested as a possible place where medical students, family medicine residents, and nurse practitioner students might stay during their training period in Hilo; left to their own devices, they have difficulty in finding available and affordable housing.  With demographic studies showing a critical future shortage of doctors on the Island of Hawaii, any assistance given to medical students, family medicine residents, and nurse practitioner students might make them far more amenable to locating and setting up practices here once their training is completed.  The idea took hold, and HMC started to investigate the idea of renovation and turned to the Foundation for help.  The Foundation’s stated mission is “to support the Hilo Medical Center with projects that benefit the greater community”.  It is to that end that the Foundation has already completed successful projects including renovation of the HMC Emergency Room, assistance in securing location of the Otsuka Veterans’ Home here, furnishing of a new Transport Van for use by the Extended Care Home, re-carpeting of the HMC lobby, as well as various other in-hospital rehabs and refurnishing efforts.  To the Foundation, the project was eminently do-able, and with Community participation could be accomplished at far less cost than otherwise projected.

Inspection showed that the roof was pretty well shot, borne out by very apparent leaks seen on the inside.  Repairing that required professional help as well as money.  Very cost-friendly bids from some building contractors gave a dollar goal in the $50,000 neighborhood.   Funds were provided by some very generous personal Foundations, HMC Foundation Board Members, and individual  private donors.  A significant quantity of the building, roofing, and painting materials were donated by extremely community-minded companies….a look at the list of contributors tells the story and all  are worthy of public thanks and business support.  The building repairs went quickly and efficiently.  Concurrently, some civic organizations were contacted and volunteered their labor to complete the interior and exterior painting.  While foul weather delayed some of that, the interior painting went relatively quickly.  Priming of the exterior was then completed and professional final coating was done on a volunteer basis by a licensed professional painter.  Some “sweat equity” by Foundation Board members, as well as an assist by HMC maintenance personnel, took care of the many minor details involved in making the cottage ready for occupancy.

And that’s where “heart-warming” comes in.  According to the Foundation spokesperson, over 200 individuals, both from community civic organizations and simply on their own have been involved in this project.  “It has truly been a boot-strap effort from start to finish”, according to the spokesperson, and accomplished at less than a fourth of what it would have otherwise have cost.  The Foundation extends thanks to all who helped……by joining together, good people can do great things!  The Foundation will do a blessing of the building March 2, and expect occupancy by medical students and Residents starting in April.

Tickets for the student talk are being distributed at no charge through public and private high schools for the April 14 talk at 1:30 p.m., with tickets available to college and university students for $10 per ticket, limit two tickets per purchase.  The second event is April 15 at 1:45 p.m.  Tickets are $30, $60, and $90, and limited to four tickets per purchase, and are available online at www.pillarsofpeacehawaii.org, starting today, Wednesday, at 6 p.m.  Tickets will also be sold starting Thursday at the Stan Sheriff Center Box Office.

The Dalai Lama’s three day visit will include conversations with local leaders and visits to cultural and historic sites.  Local philanthropists Pierre and Pam Omidyar invited him and are financing his visit with a grant, with other requirements supported by other cash and in-kind donations.  Omidyar was the founder of eBay and now lives in Honolulu.  He supports many good causes on O’ahu and throughout the state.

The Dalai Lama has visited Hawaii Island at least twice.   His Holiness performed the formal consectation and dedication of the Nechung Dorje Drayang Ling Buddhist Temple in Wood Valley, above Pahala,  on October 28, 1980, in an event open to invited guests only due to political pressures of the time.  He returned to the remote temple  in April, 1994, and hundreds gathered to hear him talk and be in his presence–even from a distance.