Author: bigwave

July 20, 2011 General Ag News and Notes, Vegtables Post a Comment

Aloun Farm owners deny threats

The sentencing hearing for the owners of Aloun Farms on forced-labor charges will continue in September because brothers Alec and Mike Sou refused to admit to committing acts to which they had pleaded guilty in January.

Alec Souphone Sou, president and general manager of the Ewa farm, is facing 46 to 57 months in prison for conspiring to commit forced labor in connection with the importation of 44 farmworkers from Thailand in 2004, according to federal sentencing guidelines.

Mike Mankone Sou, vice president and operations manager, is facing 41 to 51 months in prison for the same crime.

The sentencing guidelines are based on a number of factors, including the seriousness of the crime and a defendant’s actions and criminal history. Alec Sou has a higher prison range because he has prior DUI convictions.

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July 19, 2011 General Ag News and Notes, Vegtables Post a Comment

Dozens write to support Aloun leaders

Two former governors and community leaders have submitted letters to a federal judge in support of two brothers facing sentencing today for employing Thai immigrants under forced labor conditions in 2004 and 2005 at the well-known Aloun Farms.

John Waihee and Ben Cayetano, former Land Board Chairman William Paty, Hawaii Foodbank President Richard Grimm and dozens of others sent letters to U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway on behalf of Alec and Mike Sou, who hope to avoid a prison term.

Aloun Farms, a major agricultural business in the state, produces Asian vegetables and other crops on about 3,000 acres in the Kapolei area.

Alec Sou, president and general manager, and Mike Sou, vice president and operations manager, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge after they helped bring in 44 laborers from Thailand in 2003. They admitted they told workers they would be sent back to Thailand if they were disobedient or if they tried to leave.

Federal prosecutors and lawyers for 22 of the workers contend that the immigrants were mistreated and forced to lived in substandard conditions, but the Sous’ lawyers and supporters say the brothers are being unfairly characterized and that their farm operation will suffer if they are sent to prison.

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July 14, 2011 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Accountant behind Ponzi scam gets nearly 12 years

HONOLULU – A Maui accountant who led a long-running Ponzi scheme that cost his investors $8 million was sentenced Wednesday to serve nearly 12 years in federal prison without the possibility of parole.

Lloyd Y. Kimura used his business, Maui Industrial Loan and Finance Co., to attract investments since 1986, taking money collected from later customers to pay initial clients. He pleaded guilty in January.

Dressed in a white prison jumpsuit but without handcuffs, the 61-year-old apologized for his crimes.

“I’m sorry for what I’ve done, and I accept the ruling of the court,” Kimura told U.S. District Judge David Ezra.

Kimura, the brother of Hawaii County Prosecuting Attorney Jay Kimura, was ordered to repay his 50 victims the $8 million they lost.

His assets amount to only a fraction of the amount he owes, so at least 10 percent of his income must be paid to victims after he’s released from prison, Ezra said.

He was given 11 years, eight months in prison, a sentence on the high end of federal guidelines, which called for a prison term of between 10 years and 12.5 years.

Kimura’s sentence may have been higher if he hadn’t cooperated with authorities to repay his victims and accept guilt, Ezra and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson said.

Ezra said Kimura was motivated by “personal greed” when he lost his victims’ life savings and college savings, denying them comfortable retirements and the ability to provide educations for their children.

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July 14, 2011 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

A foundation for outreach

Maui National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters and Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center

CLICK for Kealia Pond bird images.

CLICK image above to view new Gallery

Click for New Kealia Pond bird gallery.

The 7,500-square-foot building currently under construction near the Kihei end of Piilani Highway is scheduled to be completed by early fall. Refuge manager Glynnis Nakai said the $5 million project is federally funded. About half the building will be used for office space and the other half as an exhibit hall, she said. The hall will include interpretive panels and house the facility’s developing education program. Nakai said that in the future she and her staff hope to develop a volunteer program and “Friends of Kealia Pond” group to expand the refuge’s outreach, and perhaps staff the exhibit hall.

A foundation for outreach – Mauinews.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Visitor’s Information – The Maui News

July 14, 2011 Gardening, General Ag News and Notes, Vegtables Post a Comment

Celery root may be daunting, but it can rewarding to have in your garden

Discover celery root in a produce bin and it will not be love at first sight. What, you ponder, would anyone do with these bumpy beige orbs, from which someone has removed the nice green tops?

Pull one out of the ground and you’ll be even more daunted, faced with a tangle of gnarly roots. But persevere. Chop off those tentacles with a large knife or cleaver, and then keep chopping until all the bumps and soil-choked crevices are gone. By now the thing might be half its original weight and size. Scrub it some more, then chop it up, boil it and puree it with a little cream. Then you will see why my friend C.R. Lawn of Fedco Seeds calls it “the frog prince of vegetables.” Imagine a pile of very smooth mashed potatoes with the flavors of celery and parsley and a bit of sweetness — so rich and elegant it doesn’t need butter.

Celery root is a celery plant that’s been bred not for succulent, crunchy stalks, but for its root or, more accurately, a tuberlike enlarged stem base. (Its top growth can be used to season a soup but is not tender enough for nibbling.) Other names for it include celeriac, turnip-rooted celery and knob celery. In Europe, where it is more popular and better known than stem celery, it’s often grated or julienned and used raw in a salad, absorbing the dressing like a sponge.

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July 14, 2011 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Kauai Lagoons has plan to protect endangered species during construction

The federal government is accepting public comment on a plan by Kauai Lagoons to protect endangered and threatened species from harm while it builds nearly 800 new residential units and a new golf clubhouse on its resort property in Lihue.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday it will accept comments through Aug. 26. The plan is available at the agency’s website for the Pacific Islands and through its Honolulu office.

Some of the development will replace structures damaged by Hurricane Iniki in 1992.

Part of the plan calls for the resort to help the state move endangered nene geese from the property to Maui and the Big Island. The state is moving the birds to take them away from the path of airplanes using Lihue airport.

Kauai Lagoons has plan to protect endangered species during construction – Hawaii News – Staradvertiser.com