Park closures are political overreach
What’s the deal with our parks being closed to families wanting to picnic and celebrate the nation’s biggest holiday of the year? The largest beach park in Kona, the Old Kona Airport Park, along with others including; Kekaha Kai State Park, Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area (including Waialea Bay), Lapakahi, and Kiholo Beach — why?
Because they say they want to protect people and natural resources. Do they expect families to just stay home? More political overreach in Hawaii. Just sounds like an excuse to take away the access to our enjoyment. Thanks Ige. Happy Fourth of July.
John Ross
Kailua-Kona
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How stupid can stupid get?
On July 2, West Hawaii Today carried the headline “Ige signs more laws on guns.” How stupid can stupid get? It’s not laws we need, it is places for gun owners and their families to shoot these many, many guns and not leaving them unattended in drawer or on a shelf where children can get to them. Look at the amount of guns that have been bought by the people of Hawaii in just the last two decades. It’s phenomenal. Yet, there has not even been one determined effort by the political elites to even consider just one gun park (that I am aware of) on any island. Hell, we have skateboard parks for the many skateboarders, bike lanes for the many bikers (both that add to our traffic congestion) and even dog parks for every dog, dick and harry. But for da pooa gun owner no mo noting. … Just bear in mind that, unless you are prepared to surrender everything, don’t surrender anything.
Hugo von Platen Luder
Holualoa
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We are one island with multiple needs
I don’t know if you are aware of it or not but you published an article in the July 1 West Hawaii Today about the Hilo trail and that issue is very much a sore spot to some of us in Waimea. To begin, Waimea began its effort to establish a trail through the community before Hilo decided to do their trail. As a councilman, I worked with the other council members and got $3 million appropriated for the trail in Waimea. That money paid for a consultant who initiated studies, surveys, and with the cooperation of the community, we obtained easements along the Waikoloa Stream for the trail.
Somewhere along the way, our trail priority got lost and Hilo’s trail phase one took precedence. We have a suspicion as to how we lost priority but dare not talk about it. As time marched on, we lost our place on the list to qualify for federal funds. Time continued to march on and all the work that the consultant had done became obsolete. So, after 25 years of our community working on establishing this trail, and the death of three committee members due to old age, and the loss of a few dollars, the Waimea Trail Committee is working with the county to establish a trail along the Waikoloa Stream through the town of Waimea.
West Hawaii generates the most taxes to support the island but sometimes one cannot help but believe that Hilo controls the purse strings and therefore controls what gets done. We are one island with multiple needs but why is it that a simple thing like a trail can make progress in one district but drag its feet to a stop in another? Is it because of the complications involved or the priority of the people involved?
Leningrad Elarionoff
Waimea
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