Police need to change
Thank you for running John Burnett’s article about how Police Chief Paul Ferreira just doesn’t get it, while Jeurgen Canda, now a private citizen like the rest of us, does.
Chief, we are appalled! We are appalled that your officers caught 22 drunk drivers on a deserted road where they were doing no harm while the drunks in our communities aren’t caught until after they run red lights and kill babies. We are appalled that your officers have issued thousands of speeding citations for people going 65 in the middle of nowhere on a road designed for 75 mph with an artificial 60 mph speed limit while the speeders on the Kona-Kawaihae road kill innocent people routinely. We are appalled that we never see an officer on that road. We are appalled that millions of taxpayer dollars were used in making an obscure artificial intersection in the middle of nowhere the safest spot on the island while victims of violent assaults are left unconscious on our community’s streets because nobody answers 911.
And chief, your rejection of Mr. Canda’s concerns are exactly why there are no complaints filed. Why bother, just to get blown off because you don’t take our concerns seriously?
Who exactly was it, chief, who stated to you to “not go after the people who are flying Hawaiian flags,” in other words, the protesters illegally blocking our public roads, who have now succeeded in convincing the TMT Consortium to put the telescope on “indefinite hold” depriving our contractors, workers, and building supply stores of $1.4 billion — with a B — dollars in salaries and sales and our hard working students untold billions — with an S — of dollars in future scientific and administrative jobs? It was Harry Kim, wasn’t it? The election is here and we citizens deserve to know the answer to that question.
Douglas Drake
Kailua-Kona
TMT honors King Kalakaua’s vision
Last year, I wrote a letter to WHT concerning the ongoing debate upon Maunakea. There is a simple solution to the dispute on whether a large telescope should be placed atop Maunakea.
After doing some research on the development of astronomy in Hawaii, I was drawn to an article titled “Origins of Astronomy in Hawaii”, written by Walter Steiger, Professor Emeritus, University of Hawaii, in 1995.
“Interest in the heavens goes back far into the ancient fabric of Polynesian culture,” he stated.
He goes on to document King David Kalakaua’s own desire to see Hawaii become a hub of astrological study by purchasing the first permanent telescope in Hawaii installed at Punahou School in 1884. King David Kalakaua, Hawaii’s reigning monarch from 1874 to 1891, had a personal interest in astronomy and expressed an interest in having an observatory in Hawaii.
Over the years many small telescopes were located on Oahu and atop Mount Haleakala on Maui, unfortunately, due to fog and clouds these were not ideal. The king looked across the Alenuihaha channel toward Maunakea and said that looks like where the telescope should be!
Why not name the Thirty Meter Telescope atop the world’s tallest mountain after King Kalakaua? It would be symbolic of the “Eyes of Pele.” If the telescope were to be named after King Kalakaua it would honor his vision for his kingdom. Would the people of Hawaii want to deny King Kalakaua’s own wishes by protesting against the development of astronomy in Hawaii?
Jack Ross
Kailua-Kona