Allow DHHL to move forward
State Sens. Kurt Fevella, Laura Acasio, and Rep. Jeanne Kapela recently sent DHHL Chairman William Aila a letter urging him not to remove the Maunakea Access Road TMT protest site. The legislators are advocating granting the remaining protesters a right of entry, and signing a MOA. This would allow them to lawfully stay there.
I believe this a mistake on several levels. Firstly, the Thirty Meter Telescope project likely won’t resume construction anytime soon. They’re seeking additional funding due to project cost overruns. The TMT is banking on receiving funding from the National Science Foundation.
This funding will require additional environmental review on Federal level (Section 106 consultations, NHPA review). There is no guarantee the TMT project would survive another round of public comment. As a result, I believe it would be mistake to allow these protesters to remain at Maunakea Access Road indefinitely.
The ongoing environmental damage to the sensitive environment of Maunakea is another concern with legalizing this encampment In short, this area will never be the same if and when the encampment is removed. There will be long lasting environmental damage, which is pretty ironic. The TMT protesters have done the same damage the environment they allege the existing Maunakea telescopes have done to the summit area.
I strongly the three of you to retract your letter to Aila and allow DHHL to remove the last remnants this eyesore.
Aaron Stene
Kailua-Kona
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What happened to local rule?
If you are not worried about freedom and your civil liberties you should be. On Thursday, over 6,000 testimonies (250-plus in oral testimony) were heard before the Honolulu City Council’s Committee on Transportation, Sustainability and Health. They were overwhelmingly and vehemently against any sort of vaccine passport but the committee passed it anyway. If adopted by the full council, the resolution will urge the city administration and the State of Hawaii to implement a digital COVID-19 passport.
Yes, hospitals are overrun with new cases, but it is very frustrating to see officials continue with the same things that are not working. Japan, India, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Honduras, Greece, Paraguay, Portugal, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Russia and many countries in Africa and other places are using hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin successfully and greatly reducing hospitalizations and deaths. Those treatments are cheap and could be readily available but the drug companies just cannot have that, so the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration with help from big tech censor and demonize these well-known and effective therapies as quackery and unsafe.
What happened to local rule? If you think we have a serious healthcare and first responder worker shortage now, just wait until these unconstitutional forced vaccines mandated by Gov. David Ige kick in. We are supposed to be ruled with the consent of the people and yet our government continually behaves as if it knows what’s best for us and without our consent. Remember that the CDC is an not elected, wholly unaccountable body dictating to us how we must live our lives.
Let’s remember the only body constitutionally authorized to make laws is the legislature. Not governors and not bureaucratic agencies. Our civil liberties are disappearing day by day and it has to stop.
Mikie Kerr
Waikoloa
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Aliyah’s Law needs to be used
Having been a victim of a serial drunken driver who had five convictions with no jail time, but is now serving five years after my incident, I agree that all drunken drivers should have their vehicles towed to make them understand the importance of not drinking and driving. His truck was not registered or insured for all incidents.
David Macdonald
Captain Cook
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Have a little aloha
In Sandra Gray’s Aug. 29 letter to the editor, she states she does not want any more refugees in “her” country. So what makes this “her” country and no one else’s country? How many people came here before her and made this their country and probably did not want anyone else coming in “their” country?
Gray seems ignorant to the fact that we all came from “other places.” Even Hawaiian and native American people came from somewhere else. We all came from somewhere else and once we get here, we think that now that I am here, I don’t want anyone else to come here and spoil it for me. Shut the door and don’t let anyone else in.
We see this same selfish attitude in stores and on the roadway. I was here first and I don’t want you in my way. For centuries the whole world has had people moving from place to place to settle making it their country. Lighten up and have a little aloha. We are all in this together.
Ted Johnson
Kailua-Kona
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