By CLAUDINE SAN NICOLAS, Staff Writer 

POSTED: April 19, 2010 

KAHULUI – Maui High School’s student auto mechanics kept up a winning tradition this weekend in Honolulu by capturing the top and runner-up spots in state competition. 

This time around, seniors Bryson Higa and Lewis Drapete dominated the field at the 2010 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition by taking home trophies for the highest written exam score and being the first and only team to complete a “perfect” car in the hands-on portion of the contest. 

Higa and Drapete’s instructor is Shannon Rowe, a 1996 Maui High graduate who won the state title in the same contest and went on to take second place on the national level. 

This year in Honolulu, second place went to Maui High seniors Taylor Asato and Joseph Delara. They were led by instructor Neill Nakamura. In third place was a student team from Aiea High School. 

King Kekaulike High School – the only other Maui school to compete – tied for fourth place with Moanalua High School. The Kekaulike team featured seniors Forest Lunstrum and Odmar Gil under the direction of instructor Petar Kovacic. 

A second Kekaulike team picked up fifth place with senior Kealakaimilani Freitas and junior Jonathon Harris. They were advised by instructor Dave Masters. 

The state’s best auto technology students competed Saturday at Leeward Community College, where they were given deliberately “bugged” 2010 Fords to demonstrate skills required of successful automotive technicians. 

On any given day, professional auto technicians would make the same types of repairs to cars and trucks. 

Higa concentrated “under the hood” by fixing the engine starter, while Drapete took charge of the electrical portions of the vehicle, including lights, car locks and accessories. They completed their tasks in 48 minutes, finishing comfortably ahead of their peers. Their closest competitors were Asato and Delara, who submitted their car more than an hour into the contest. 

“It was fun and interesting and exciting,” Higa said Sunday. 

“It was a good experience,” Drapete added. 

Both students said they plan to pursue a career in auto mechanics after high school graduation. 

By winning the contest, Higa and Drapete each received a $10,000 scholarship to attend a technical school on the Mainland and a $3,000 scholarship to participate in the Ford Assets Program at Leeward Community College. But they said they would likely pass those up to attend WyoTech, a tech school for auto and other mechanics in Sacramento, Calif. 

Drapete, 18, of Kihei, and Higa, also 18, of Kahului, credited their win to Rowe for his advice, and to their friendship, which allowed them to easily communicate and work well together. 

“He’s a real good instructor,” Higa said of Rowe. “He’s patient.” 

Drapete said Rowe provided tips about the contest and encouraged them throughout two weeks of six-hour-a-day practices on cars. 

“We worked really hard,” said Drapete, who gave up two weeks of judo to focus on the auto competition. 

Rowe works as a full-time instructor at Maui High and has been supporting the program with his expertise as a former mechanic and supervisor at Valley Isle Ford for 12 years. “It’s something I enjoy a lot,” Rowe said Sunday. “It’s a way for me to give back.” 

Aside from school scholarships, each member of the first-place team received a set of car mechanic tools. 

Their state win earned Higa and Drapete the right to compete at the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills National Championship in Dearborn, Mich., this June. It’ll be the first time they will compete, and the second year in a row that Rowe will accompany students as their instructor. 

Maui High has had at least 15 national final appearances. The Sabers have placed in the top 10 for the past nine years and won national titles in 1995 and 2000. 

In 2009, a Maui High team placed 14th at the national contest – one of the lowest scores ever for a Saber team. 

Both Ford and AAA sponsor the annual state and national contests as a means to attract more young adults to a career in auto mechanics. 

* Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com. 

Title: New Feature to find sold comparables
 

To find sold comparables for a property, simple find the property in question and then scroll down to just below the “Show All Units For Sale” feature.  Click on the “Show Comparable Units Recently Sold” link and it will bring up a popup window that will show all of the comparables. Condos and residential homes find comparables that were sold within the last six months that have a not more that 1 bedroom more or less than the unit being viewed that are also in the same price range of $400,000 more or less. Condos will only bring up units in the same complex.  Vacant Land will find comparables of any price. Homes find comparables nut just in the same neighborhood, but in the general vicinity.
 
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The Hansen Ohana attended the meeting where Dr. Bonham spoke.  It was very good and the summary below is excellent.  We know you would like us to share this info with you. 

Economic Recovery

Pamela Tumpap’s Notes from Who Moved My Recovery? By Dr. Carl Bonham

* Dr. Bonham noted the big question is “what will recovery look like?’
*He said the US reported last summer that the recession is over, but people still wonder what that means.
*He explained that the recovery is likely to e choppy.
*We need to watch consumer confidence and consumption.
*Investment in buildings will likely be subdued.
*We, in our County and State rely on US consumer consumption for travel and tourism and watching these key indicators will give us clues about our recovery.
*Feb. and March, 2010 were good months and we expect things to pick up during the summer.
*Investment in Maui and the State is better than the rest of the country, where lower investments are a drag on the economy.
*A typical recovery shows an increase in consumer consumption, typically followed by a increase in investment in equipment, with increases in structures (buildings) afterwards.
*However, with this recovery, investment in buildings in not expected to come back the same way. 
*With excess inventory in homes, no growth is anticipated in housing construction for a while.
*With respect to total US consumption, expect to see growth of about 3% this year.
*While 162,000 jobs were created last month, much of this was temporary employment and government work.  It was not really driven by a growing economy, however, it helps as more are working.
*It is estimated that $50 trillion in wealth was destroyed during this recession.
*As a result, we still face a reduction in consumer consumption and people are saving more.
*It will be a long recovery for household and business wealth.
*Government policy did help spur consumption, like Cash for Clunkers and the First Time Home Buyers Program, but this is pretty much done now.
*When looking at Hawaii’s recovery, we need to care about our exports (visitor services), investment, consumption and government.
*The visitor section is currently seeing occupancy rise, but room rates are still down.  However, Maui will benefit from increased lift.
*Maui single family residence home sales are up, but what really matters is new construction.  Tax credits help drive this, but the question is what happens after July – September.  Expect Maui home prices to stay in the $500k-$600k rance for a while.
*Jobs and income affect home sales and until unemployment turns around, do not expect a rebound in home prices.
*For Hawaii, we don’t have consumption data.  However looking at the retail tax bases gives us an idea of what consumers are doing.  We saw 15% growth in the fourth quarter of last year, so it is picking up a bit.
*Visit www.uhero.hawaii.edu for additional information.

South Maui Condominium

Best Buy List

As of April 16, 2010

Price                Condominium             Loc      Vac      Comments

$   149,900      Southpointe 21-203 (New)       NK      N         2BR (Short Sale) Nice/Price

$   225,000      Kamoa Views 210                   SK       N         1BR Nice & Price!

$   249,000      Kihei Kai Nani 103                  SK       Y         1BR Nice & Price!

$   249,900      Maui Vista 2217 (New)            SK       Y         1BR Loc, Nice & Price!

$   260,000      Kihei Kai 5                               NK      Y         1BR Oceanfront & Price!

$   264,957      Kauhale Makai 329                  NK      Y         1BR Oceanfront/Oceanviews

$   299,000      Boardwalk G (New)                 SK       N         2BR Loc, Nice, & Price!

$   309,000      Maui Banyan H114                  SK       Y         1BR Location & Price!

$   315,000      Leinaala 203                             NK      Y         1BR Oceanfront, Loc, Price!

$   325,000      Kihei Akahi C307                    SK       Y         1BR Loc, Oceanviews, Price

$   329,900      Kai Ani Village 2-204   SK       N         2BR New & Nice!

$   339,000      Luana Kai A106                       NK      Y         1BR Oceanfront & Price!

$   359,000      Hale Kai O Kihei A217            NK      Y         1BR Nice & Oceanfront!

$   395,000      Hale Kanani 3-106                   SK       N         2BR Price & Nice!

$   390,000      Wailea Fair Villa U202(New)W           N         2BR Wailea at Great Price!

$   399,000      Menehune Shores 225  (New) NK      Y         2BR (Short Sale) Oceanfront!

$   425,000      Sugar Beach 409                      NK      Y         1BR Sandy Bch Oceanfront!

$   489,000     Grand Champions 37                W        Y         2BR Large & Price!

$   495,000      Grand Champions 141 W        Y         1BR Beautiful & on GC!

$   535,000      Wailea Fairway Villa P103       W        N         2BR On GC & Oceanviews!

$   569,000      Kihei Beach 503                       NK      Y         1BR Nice Oceanfront!

$   639,000      Wailea Ekolu 1304                   W        Y         1BR Great Oceanviews!

$   659,000      Ke Alii Oc Villa K101  SK       N         3BR Large & Great Price!

$   729,000      Royal Mauian 508                    SK       Y         1BR Beautiful Oceanfront!

$   750,000      Wailea Ekahi 16E                     W        Y         1BR Beautiful & Oceanviews

$   995,000      Hokulani Golf Villa 10  SK       N         2BR Nice Res Condo on GC!

$   999,000      Mana Kai 409                         SK       Y         2BR Beautiful Oceanfront!

$1,195,000      Royal Mauian 610                    SK       Y         2BR Beautiful Oceanfront!

$1,195,000      Sugar Beach PH 11E                NK      Y         2BR Beautiful Oceanfront!

$1,599,000      Maalaea Surf H5                      NK      Y         2BR Spectacular Oceanfront!

$1,795,000      Hoolei T-1                               W        Y         3BR New, Large, Price!

$2,345,000      Makena Surf B303                   Mak     Y         2BR Spectacular Oceanfront!

$2,395,000      Polo Beach 701                        W        Y         2BR Spectacular Oceanfront!

(New)=New Additions to List,  Vac=Vacation Rentals allowed in project Y=Yes, N=No  Mak=Makena,  W= Wailea,  SK= South Kihei,  NK= North Kihei,  M= Maalaea

Hapa returns to the Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s (MACC) Castle Theater stage on Saturday, April 17. 

The modern Hawaiian music of Hapa founder Barry Flanagan is a cultural melting pot mix of influences ranging from ancient Hawaiian chants to the ballads of Portuguese fisherman and Spanish cowboys. Adding to this stew inspired melodies and harmonies of traditional church choirs of the early missionaries and a healthy dose of American folk-rock arrangements, you get a pretty good description of Hapa’s musical flavor. 

Hapa’s benchmark initial release, which was nominated for six categories by the Hawaiian Academy of Recording Arts, swept the 1994 Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards. 

Produced, composed and arranged by Barry, HAPA to this day remains in the top ten on the Hawaiian music charts. The record’s groundbreaking sales have established it as the No. 1 selling recording by a group or duo in the history of recorded Hawaiian music. 

Although Hapa’s lead singer changed from Keli‘i Kaneali‘i to Nathan Aweau approximately five years ago, the duo’s captivating sound has remained unchanged. Flanagan and Aweau are accompanied on stage by Hawaiian chanter and cultural specialist Charles Ka‘upu. 

One of the best examples of the power of these three artists is Hapa’s rendition of the U2 classic, Pride (In The Name of Love). It will give you chicken skin. 

In concert, Hapa will perform selections from their latest record, It’s A Slack Key World, which is not yet released to stores. 

Enjoy pre-show dining by Aloha Events Catering from 5 p.m. 

Tickets are $12, $28 and $37 for adults; $14 and $18.50 for keiki aged 12 years and younger. 

Call the MACC Box Office at (808) 242-SHOW or visit MauiArts.org