On the island of Kaua'i, the county (read mayor) sponsored a county Y2K preparedness committee. The committee is checking out preparedness status, raising awareness, etc. It is working...hard. At the upcoming County Farm Bureau Fair, the committee will have a booth and will be handing out posters which say:

"Mayor Kusaka wants you to plant a 'Y2K-GARDEN'
The Y2K computer-bug may affect our imported food supplies, so start a vegetable garden today! Plant fast-producing, long-growing vegetables such as kale, spinach, cherry tomatoes, and sweet potatoes. Plant edible hibiscus--it grows fast and needs no care. Plant lots of banana and papaya trees. Fertilize your soil. Talk to experts."

It shows what at least one local government is doing. The suggestions are all realistic for the Kaua'i climate and the time of year.

The committee has held community meetings and will probably hold another round...as well as a special meeting with churches from the entire island.

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), August 14, 1999

Answers

Mad Monk -

Just wanted to say I lived on Kauai for a year, Poipu. Miss it a lot! It's nice to see the local government seems light years ahead of most parts of the country. Good luck to you.

-- dakota (none@thistime.com), August 14, 1999.

Congratulations, mad Monk.

Heres my counties preparation tips:

"Y2K will not have an effect in Clark County (WI), as Clark County Coop buys its electricity from an out of state producer."

-- Jon Johnson (narnia4@usa.net), August 14, 1999.

Mad Monk, I love hibiscus. I will be in Florida. I didn't know it was edible--tea, yes, but to eat??? When I grew up on Miami Beach, hibiscus was the standard. Nowadays you hardly see it there because there are more Northern plants. People! I will be upstate a ways now though, not Miami. Where will you get your water?

-- Mara Wayne (MaraWAyne@aol.com), August 14, 1999.

Huzzahs for Kuai! Some of my family live on the Big Island. Any of the other islands doing something similar?

-- Sammie (sammie0nospam@hotmail.com), August 14, 1999.

(1) We're also on the south side, in Kalaheo. I walked my dog down in Poipu just the other evening!

(2) I don't know what the other islands are doing. Our mayor is somewhat of a maverick (the highest Republican elected official in the state). The state is not preparing as well (most recently ranked in the lower 9 of the states).

(3) For water, we'll mostly rely on rain and run-off. Mt. Waialeale is reportedly the second wettest place on earth, with over 420 inches per year, on the average. It probably rains 60+ inches at my place. There are well established agricultural water supplies (ditches, some dating back several hundred years) to much of the island, especially the "dry", western end.

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), August 15, 1999.