Locals should be given more parking access
It seems that the new managers at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel are doing everything they can to keep locals out. The last eight times I’ve gone there I was told that all the public parking spaces were full. When I asked if there was any way I could get in, they said that I could use valet parking but that it would cost $40! Everyone else I know who has tried to go there recently says they have had similar problems.
The hotel claims to have 38 beach access parking spots, but I know that some of those spaces are being used for guests’ cars and restaurant-goers because a hotel worker told me that is a common practice. The state and county have legal agreements with the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel that require them to allow public access to the beach. Those agreements are not being honored by the hotel’s new managers. I hope officials will do something about this.
There is excellent snorkeling on the north side of Mauna Kea beach but I haven’t been able to go there in over a year. They also have a place where mantas feed under a bright light just a few yards from shore. I guess they are trying to keep it all for themselves.
Matt Binder
Waimea
Gabbard right, no more wars
Having been of age to have been drafted in the Vietnam War, I find this recent escalating tension between Iran and Trump’s administration more than alarming.
Our present government is incapable of displaying any integrity with Saudi Arabia’s murder of a U.S. citizen in the Turkish Embassy and throws kisses to the wacko leader of North Korea to stop his nuclear programs. Iran is being provoked.
Hawaii congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard is spot on declaring that the United States is wrong in waging wars on foreign soil. Our Department of Defense has an incorrect title — it should be called the Department of War.
This escalating situation is just another chance for Trump to turn the attention of the American people away from the real threat of our nation — the criminal organization that has control of our highest government office.
Steve Snyder
Kalaoa