Investing in the Bus, Investing in Our Island Ohana...

Bus ridership on Kauai has grown roughly 25% per year for the past three consecutive years! The bus is needed by workers, students, kupuna accessing medical services, and our disabled community, and it has been one important way for families and individuals to weather the economic storm. The bus helps to keep our hard-earned and limited dollars on island AND reduced traffic and carbon emissions.

A broad coalition of over 30 organizations, government agencies, and institutions have come together to ask our Mayor and County Council to increase the operating budget for the Kauai Bus. Our elected officials understand the importance of the bus, but they are faced with very difficult budget choices and need to know that the community supports increasing bus services.

The Council will make preliminary decisions about this year's budget on May 10 and 11. You can email council members at counciltestimony@kauai.gov

A Note from Karen Tang:
As many of you know, Mike and I have been working on the building plans for the Kilauea Pavilion for quite some years now.  To summarize, the Pavilion is a multi-use complex that will be located on the bottom portion of the highway-fronting property that the mini golf & gardens are now being constructed on.  It will encompass an indoor theater that will be a single-screen movie house (replacing the much-missed Kilauea Movie Theater) and double as performance or meeting space and a conference room with high-tech AV capacity.  In addition to these two functions, though, the two most important components for Kilauea, we think, will be the certified kitchen and the outdoor amphitheater.

The certified kitchen will be used for concessions during events, and when not being used for concerts or theater productions, it will be available for rent by farmers and local producers to make value-added products, currently a much-needed part of completing the agricultural sustainability circle that is hard to find on the north shore.  The outdoor amphitheater will feature a stage with proper sound system for concerts, dance shows, plays, etc, and utilize the grassy hillside as outdoor seating with some bench areas cut into the hill up front.  Not only have north shore residents been seeking a professional performance art space in our own neighborhood for years, but an outdoor venue speaks so much more to the Hawaiian spirit of performing in nature, under the stars or over sunset. 

After years of research, design, rezoning (actually down-zoning to reflect the intention of the Kilauea Town Plan, instead of up-zoning like many developers), and clearing up past ordinances, we are now at the crucial stage of getting the Use Permit.

1. Intro to Permaculture
2. Fruit tree grafting/ air-layering, planting, pruning, care
3. Soil science, analysis, & remediation
4. Composting & beneficial micro-organisms
5. Cover crops, nitrogen fixing trees, & planting strategies
6. Saving Seed
7. Papayas & bananas
8. Plant propagation basics
9. Polynesian plants for food and medicine
10. Native plants
11. Gardens as an educational tool for children
12. Water catchment for gardens

Special thanks to Kathy Saindon, Ray Maki, Paul Massey, Matt Field, Mel Drisko, Joe Riordan, Robin Torquati, Makana Martin and all the other hard-workers who are making it a COMMUNITY garden! Also mahalo to Bill and Joan Porter, Atherton Family Foundation, Foundation for Sustainability and Innovation, Falko Partners and the County of Kauai for making it all possible.