Hawaii’s last sugar mill wraps up final harvest ADVERTISING Hawaii’s last sugar mill wraps up final harvest WAILUKU, Maui (AP) — The only remaining sugar mill in Hawaii is ending its final harvest. The last cane haul at Hawaiian Commercial
Hawaii’s last sugar mill wraps up final harvest
WAILUKU, Maui (AP) — The only remaining sugar mill in Hawaii is ending its final harvest.
The last cane haul at Hawaiian Commercial &Sugar Company on Maui was expected to happen Monday. Parent company Alexander &Baldwin announced in January that it would phase out sugar production this year.
Sugar farms in Hawaii have closed or consolidated, and competition has increased worldwide. Alexander &Baldwin reported an operating loss of about $30 million in agribusiness in 2015. The company also faced battles about water rights and the public health effects of burning cane leaves.
“The community on Maui has changed quite a bit,” said Rick Volner, general manager at the sugar plantation. “We’ve got a lot more urbanized areas and some of the nuisances that are associated with agriculture, especially sugar cane, definitely contributed to that.”
Many workers at the sugar plantation aren’t sure what they will do next. About half of the 650 employees already were laid off, and more than 140 found other jobs, according to the company. A transition team is helping workers adjust.
Robin Fernandez and Ricky Watimar said their great-grandfather came to Hawaii from Portugal and six generations of their family ended up working in the sugar industry.
“You won’t see sugar anymore, and sugar was all we know,” Fernandez said.
Alexander &Baldwin said it would pursue diversified agriculture for its 36,000-acre plantation on Maui.
Japanese man revisits Guam cave where he hid
HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — A 92-year-old Japanese man returned to Guam to visit a cave where he hid nearly a year during World War II.
Kiichi Kobayashi said through an interpreter Monday that he’s grateful for island residents and the U.S. troops who captured him because both groups helped him survive.
Kobayashi was a 19-year-old aircraft mechanic for the Japanese air force when he was sent to wartime Guam and ended up hiding from U.S. troops in a cave with some 50 fellow soldiers, he said. The number dwindled to about 10 and Kobayashi said he eventually was the only one left living.
Many of the Japanese military men died from complications of gunshot wounds and other injuries, explained Kobayashi. He managed to stay alive by eating wild papayas and stealing food from houses he could walk to secretly, and he said the residents began leaving bananas and other food outside for him.
Kobayashi visited the shoreline closest to the cave, near the University of Guam Marine Laboratory. He was joined by family members and some Guam residents with Japanese ancestry.
