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Letters to the Editor

Stop state from closing access to Little Beach

Covid ended years ago, but the gate at the little beach is still up. The beach closes at 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The gate was put up to control the crowds during Covid. The state Department of Land and Natural Resources has not taken it down and continues to resist taking a down. On Christmas Eve, there were hundreds of tourists including myself at Little Beach. Then, at 4 p.m., the DLNR came and ran them off the beach. They pay $10 a car for parking and $5 a person for entry fees. Where you pay your entry fee, it says the park is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fishermen ...

Fourth month of no deep-water aerobics

Congratulations to all of authority involved in the mess at the Kihei pool. We are now into the fourth month of no deep-water aerobics. Are they any adults in the room? This could be solved in 5 minutes if there was willingness. The only people hurt are kupuna. Memories are long and elections are not far away. Step up, grow up and fix this mess. Doug Monforton Kihei

Who is going to care of all the baby boomers?

When I took zoology in college 40 years ago at University of Hawaii, the professor gave facts on the advancement in technology on human development. During the Roman Empire over 2,000 years ago, armor suits for men measured between the height of 5 feet 4 inches and 5 feet 8 inches. Today the average height for men in America today is between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet 2 inches. Some girls, due to technology, are now menstruating in the fourth grade. Can you imagine a mother explaining to her nine-year-old daughter about changes in her body? In 1840, the average age of menstruation ...

Hawaiian woman warned us of impending disasters

She blew through a Ha‘iku Community Association meeting back in May. She was outraged. She did not care to wait for permission to speak. She said what was on her mind loudly. This Hawaiian woman would not be silenced that night. She had deep grievances and warned us of impending disasters. She wanted to alert us to the dangerously low water table under Maui and how it will affect Kula. She said that Kula was now extremely prone to fire because the trees couldn’t access water with their tap roots due to the scarcity and depletion of our island’s water source. She wanted to ...

Tourism will no longer be growth industry here

Our elected leaders need a wake-up call.   I believe our politicians do not listen in a heartfelt manner or understand what’s about to happen to Hawaii and the ohana that they are supposed to serve and care for.   There is a tsunami of financial devastation and unbearable stress heading our way.   Our imminent catastrophe will be a steep drop in tourism coupled with a mass exodus of our ohana to the mainland.   Let’s be honest, it is already happening. Do our leaders have the skill sets to mitigate the oncoming catastrophe?  History would suggest they do ...

Taxpayers footing bill for units remaining empty?

There are numerous former vacation rental owners who have signed up for the program to convert their units into long-term rentals to help with housing for displaced fire victims. However, some of their units have been empty since Feb. 1 when they joined the program. So, these owners are being paid thousands of dollars a month, and they are exempt from their property taxes, but no one has been placed into their units. What a waste of taxpayer dollars. And what a shame that no fire victims have been helped by being placed into these units. There is an off-island owner of a ...