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TAT fears come true

Maui legislators have warned for years that the Oahu-centric state government was intent on taking away our county’s share of the transient accommodations tax. Tuesday it happened. By overriding Gov. David Ige’s veto of House Bill 862, state lawmakers eliminated the $103 million of TAT usually distributed to the counties. Maui County’s annual share was around $23.5 million. The override was also a rebuke of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, which suddenly finds itself on shaky footing. Imagine our surprise when we learned South Maui State Rep. Tina Wildberger helped introduce the ...

The truth is still out there

When it comes to UFOs, we don’t know the answer. The truth is still out there. And it may be out there for a while. A new federal government report on UFOs couldn’t explain 143 of 144 military aviation encounters, which the government, never one to pass up the opportunity to create a clumsy acronym, now calls UAP, short for Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. The one explainable encounter? A large, deflating balloon. We didn’t expect the brief report to include selfies of a little green guy from another world. Heck, folks are still looking for Sasquatch and Nessie. Good luck with ...

Feeling climate change effects

The record-breaking heat wave baking the West Coast is another painful sign that climate change is here, and we have to adapt. The Pacific Northwest has been sizzling, with conditions forecasters have described as unprecedented and life-threatening. Portland, Ore., hit 113 degrees last week, breaking the previous all-time high of 112 degrees, set June 27. About 100 miles to the south, in Eugene, the U.S. track and field Olympic trials were halted Sunday afternoon, and spectators were asked to evacuate the stadium, due to the extreme heat. Seattle hit 107 degrees, also a record high. ...

Stay safe on the holiday

Last year we were told that if we must celebrate the Fourth of July we should limit contacts to within our close familial pods. Though restrictions have loosened this year, most events across the island are either sold out or once again on hold due to COVID-19. Hunkering down with close family and friends may be the only choice we have. Remember pods? How about daily reminders to wash our hands vigorously for 30 seconds whenever we strayed within six feet of somebody? If one mask was good, two with a visor had to be better, right? A year and four months into the pandemic, some ...

Questions on condo collapse

South Florida’s long and sordid history of shoddy building practices is hard to ignore in the wake of the Surfside building collapse. We don’t know yet what caused the horrific failure on June 24 at the Champlain Towers South Condo. We are not suggesting that any corners were cut during construction, or that insufficient inspections or overdue maintenance played roles. It’s possible that climate change, nearby construction or reported “major structural damage” caused by improper pool-deck drainage affected the integrity of the building. We are holding our elected ...

Tokyo Olympics conundrum

The Olympic Games oath, in which a representative of the host country promises on behalf of all athletes to compete honorably, closes with the aspiration: “To make the world a better place through sport.” There has to be a question whether the Tokyo Games beginning in just 23 days, already put off a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, can live up to that pledge amid fears they could spark a fresh wave of infection and the spread of the resistant Delta variant of the virus. Members of the Japanese public who once anticipated the event with pride before it was put off last year no ...