Honoka'a Business Association Forum

The Honoka'a Business Association held the first of it's "get to know the candidate's" forums at the Honoka'a People's Theatre with the candidates of the First House District. The seat is being vacated by Representative Dwight Takamine who is seeking a seat in the State Senate.

Tonight also marks the debut of our "Issues Piece." We felt it was important to have our position on the record to pass out to the attendees at the forum so that they would have an idea of where we were coming from in the campaign and those things that made up our platform.

Tectococcus ovatus: Biological Control Agent Proposed for Release against Strawberry Guava

I am concerned that the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service has been researching the possibility of releasing the Brazilian scale insect (Tectococcus ovatus) prior to June, 2005 and this fact has not been a matter of education to the general citizenry until very recently.

Of even greater concern is the failure of the Hawai'i Department of Agriculture to bring a policy issue such as this to the attention of the Hawaii Legislature for deliberative consideration and legislative over site of this program.