Carolyn Classen

Carolyn Sugiyama Classen, a life long Democrat, was born & raised in the State of Hawaii, was a Legislative Aide for U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye on Capitol Hill, and practiced law for a while. In Tucson she worked as a tribal staff attorney for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and later was the Interim Executive Director of the now defunct Domestic Violence Commission. In 2008 she became a “My Tucson” guest columnist for the Tucson Citizen newspaper, then continued blogging for Tucsoncitizen.com for over four and a half years. Her blogsite was entitled “Carolyn’s Community” about community events and some political news, until Gannett Publishing shut down the site on January 31, 2014. She started with Blog for Arizona on Feb. 11, 2014. Part time she sat as a Hearing Officer in Pima County Consolidated Justice Courts Small Claims Division since April, 2005 for 15 years. She is married to University of Arizona Distinguished Professor Albrecht Classen, a native of Germany. They have one son, who lives in Seattle, WA with his wife and daughter. She is also the Editor of the Southern Arizona Japanese Cultural Coalition website, www.southernazjapan.org (since Jan. 2013).

Dramatic photos of lava flow crossing road on Hawaii Island

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All photos below courtesy of journalist Mileka Lincoln of Hawaii News Now on Oct. 25, taken from a helicopter as the Kilauea lava flow crossed over Apa’a Street mauka (mountainside) of Pahoa Village, near the Pahoa Transfer Station and cemetery.  I reported about this flow yesterday: https://blogforarizona.net/lava-from-kilauea-volcano-heading-to-pahoa-village-on-big-island-of-hawaii/. Evacuation orders have been issued to some families whose … Read more

Lava from Kilauea Volcano heading to Pahoa village on Big Island of Hawaii – updated

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Many of you may be following the recent lava flow from the Pu’u O’o vent of Kilauea volcano on the eastern side of the Big Island of Hawaii.  This has been an active vent in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (HVNP) since 1983 with numerous flows, mostly downhill from the hill (pu’u), over the cliff (pali) towards the Pacific Ocean.  In the 1990’s this same vent caused the destruction of the Royal Gardens Subdivision (over 100 homes) and the village of Kalapana, which had a beautiful, famous black sand beach and warm springs. Back in 1960, this same volcano opened up in a fountaining geyser and destroyed the village of Kapoho, which also had a warm springs.

Kilaueamap

A recent 6/27/14 flow from Pu’u O’o has gone toward the east and northern direction, and is now 12 miles long, approaching the town of Pahoa (population 1,000).  Many of the wooden structures in that town may be destroyed (as the lava approaches the heat of 2,000 degrees F  it causes the buildings to burn and melt), the roads will be covered by lava, power lines may go down and electricity may be cut off. Since this is a slow moving flow (about 200 to 400 yards per day), there is time for people to evacuate their homes, businesses, move livestock, etc.

The lava flow crossed Apa’a Street/cemetery road early this morning and is heading toward the village. This is the back access road to the transfer station and town cemetery, mauka (upslope) from the main village.

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Walk with Mayor Rothschild on Turquoise Trail

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Now that the SW desert weather has cooled down a bit, join me in walking with Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild on a 2.5 mile route around downtown Tucson. Plus there’s refreshments later at the lovely La Cocina, 201 N. Court Ave in the Old Town Artisans building. From the Mayor’s press release: Meeting at the Presidio, … Read more