Genealogy wa’a song offered at La’i’opua 2020
Located on the grounds of La’i’opua 2020, is the first educational canoe built on the island of Hawaii in nearly three decades.
Chadd Paishon, Pwo / Master Navigator and Cultural Advisor for the project, recently offered a wa’a genealogy song, named La’i’opua, ahead of the next community building on July 10.
The song “Au e Ua Hiti E” written in 1995 by Pua Case and Halau Hula Ke’alaonamapua, will be performed by Paishon during the community building in Kealakehe. The July 10 event, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., is open to the public.
Rooting culture deep in the land and supporting the community for growth and expansion are at the heart of La’i’opua 2020, a non-profit organization serving the residents of the Hawaiian lands, the villages of La’i ‘. opua, the Kealakehe ahupua ‘a and its surroundings.
“This canoe belongs to the community, La’i’opua, and beyond; passing knowledge on to future generations, ”said Chairman of the Board Kawehi Inaba.
For more information, visit www.laiopua.org or call Inaba at (808) 937-8907.
HECO to automatically register overdue accounts in payment plans
Hawaiian Electric accounts receivable that would normally be disconnected will instead be put on a 12-month payment plan to keep the lights on.
Affected customers will see higher “ongoing charges” when the first of 12 installments appears on invoices starting in July.
May 31 marked the end of the moratorium on disconnections set by the Public Utilities Commission. Collection activity resumes in July for overdue Hawaiian Electric customers who are not already on a payment plan.
Auto-enrollment affects about 3% of Hawaii Electric’s residential and small business customers whose accounts are at the sign-out threshold – and who have not contacted the company about their overdue balance or are not currently enrolled in a payment plan.
Payment reminder notices have been sent to overdue customers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The reviews urged customers to set up a payment agreement and over the past two months informed customers that their accounts would be placed on a 12-month installment plan to avoid disconnection, avoiding a large one-time payment and leaving time to ask for help.
Customers will receive a notice with their invoice when the payment plan begins, explaining how the arrangement works, including instructions on how to opt out. Invoices from customers on a payment plan – entered automatically or at the customer’s request – will include the current charges, plus the down payment amount. The amount of the deposit will be different for each customer. If a customer’s overdue amount is small, the down payment amount will also be a fraction of the invoice. However, if a customer hasn’t made any payments to their account in the past year, the total invoice amount for the current month could more than double.
Customers with overdue balances can still go to www.hawaiianelectric.com/paymentarrangement to view payment plan options, including an 18 month plan for residential customers, and submit a request. Customers facing challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic are encouraged to seek help from government and non-profit organizations. Hawaiian Electric does not administer these programs, but works with many of these agencies. See a list of resources at hawaiianelectric.com/COVID19.