1,100 on Big Island still without power
Hawaii Electric Light Co. crews restored service to 500 customers Monday, dropping the number of customers still without electricity on Hawaii island following Saturday’s high wind to 1,100.
Crews spent the day in the Puna area, restoring power to customers in portions of Hawaiian Paradise Park, Orchidland, Hawaiian Beaches, Leilani Estates, Lanipuna and Hawaiian Acres.
Power remains out in parts of Ainaloa, Hawaiian Beaches, Nanawale, Leilani Estates, Lanipuna and Hawaiian Acres. According to HELCO, it could take until Wednesday to restore full service to Nanawale, Leilani Estates and Lanipuna due to the amount of damage caused by fallen trees.
Roughly 5,000 customers were initially without service following the high wind.
"We know that being without electricity for an extended period of time is frustrating and difficult," HELCO spokeswoman Kristen Okinaka said in a statement released late Monday. "We want to thank customers for their patience and support."
On Maui about 3,520 customers lost power because of high wind and rain from a passing cold front Friday and Saturday.
Maui Electric Co. said power was restored to all but 20 customers overnight Sunday, and crews were back in the field Monday to restore electricity. Power was restored to all by 7:50 p.m.
Breakout of lava advances 90 yards
A small lava breakout about 600 yards upslope of the stalled flow front advanced about 90 yards over the past two days, officials said after an overflight Monday morning.
The tip of the flow has been stalled for weeks about 550 yards from Highway 130, west of the Pahoa fire and police stations, but upslope breakouts remain active.
The breakout advanced about 50 yards Sunday and an additional 40 yards Monday.
Minor lava activity was also observed over the weekend west of Kaohe Homesteads.
Other breakouts about 2 miles northeast of Puu Oo at the forest boundary sparked small brush fires, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reported.
The lava activity does not pose an immediate threat to residents, Hawaii County Civil Defense said.
Coffee farmers to use beetles against pest
KAILUA-KONA » Some Hawaii island coffee farmers are fighting bugs with bugs. They’re raising an army of defenders to prey on one of the most devastating coffee pests.
Farmers are fighting coffee berry borers, tiny insects that cause damage by boring into and depositing eggs in the berry. When the larvae hatch they feed on the berry and destroy it, reducing the coffee yield and quality, West Hawaii Today reported Monday.
Farmers are raising the small and familiar flat bark beetles, which are known to attack other beetle species. They’re keeping the predators in kits filled with cracked corn and cornmeal to expand the population.
Kits were distributed during a free workshop about the current research efforts pertaining to predators of coffee berry borers in Hawaii. Ninety-five kits were distributed to farmers, each holding 75 to 100 beetles.
The war will likely begin in a few months when participating coffee farmers begin releasing the bugs on their properties. At that time coffee farmers can take the container outside to their field, open it and let the bugs crawl or fly out.
Flat bark beetles have been present in Hawaii for some years, and so the kit users are not introducing a new insect, but rather are augmenting the current population, said Andrea Kawabata, coffee and orchard crop assistant extension agent for the University of Hawaii’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.
