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Weighing all sides

The rutted four-wheel drive dirt road down to Wailea Beach wound through kiawe trees and blue rock boulders to end, if memory serves, near where the Grand Wailea Resort’s Humuhumunukunukuapua‘a restaurant now sits. The access road was soon to be gated off, but we didn’t know that the night we gathered to bid farewell to a friend moving to the Mainland. Like many contemporaries of the time, he was leaving to go where job opportunities and chances of someday owning a home were better. This was back in the 1980s when it was possible to have an entire beach to yourself on a quiet ...

Addressing years of federal neglect

Three times already in his brief tenure, President Biden has rolled out a far-reaching and extraordinarily expensive proposal to address large-scale problems in this country. First there was a $1.9-trillion plan to help individuals and businesses cope with the surging COVID-19 pandemic. Then there was a $2-trillion blueprint to build and repair American infrastructure, defined in unusually broad terms. Now comes a $1.8-trillion boost to programs that help American families, particularly those with low and moderate incomes. The point of these efforts, Biden told a joint session of ...

Gun laws must be tightened

At 19, he already had a gun taken from him by police after his mother told them he might try to commit suicide-by-cop —”to induce a police officer to shoot him. He had been committed briefly to a hospital for mental evaluation. He was questioned by the FBI. Yet this clearly unstable young man had no problem legally purchasing two assault-style rifles —” weapons he used to slaughter eight people and kill himself at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis. Brandon Hole’s ability to acquire guns so easily after he had been deemed by police too dangerous to possess a weapon speaks to ...

Travel plans not in sync

Gov. David Ige announced plans Tuesday to start an intercounty travel program that sounds a lot like a precursor to COVID-19 vaccine passports. Interisland travelers who can prove they are fully vaccinated will get to skip testing and quarantine starting May 11. Also recently, Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino called for all trans-Pacific travelers to be subject to a second COVID-19 test after arrival at Kahului Airport. He said Maui’s recent surge in cases warrants the secondary tests. Not for the first time during this pandemic, our governor and mayor do not appear to be on the ...

Strengthen red flag laws

At 19, he already had a gun taken from him by police after his mother told them he might try to commit suicide-by-cop — to induce a police officer to shoot him. He had been committed briefly to a hospital for mental evaluation. He was questioned by the FBI. Yet this clearly unstable young man had no problem legally purchasing two assault-style rifles — weapons he used to slaughter eight people and kill himself at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis. Brandon Hole’s ability to acquire guns so easily after he had been deemed by police too dangerous to possess a weapon speaks to many ...

Afghanistan exit plan right move

President Biden’s announcement Wednesday that he will begin removing all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of the month and complete the withdrawal by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks that provoked the war, will finally bring to a close direct American military involvement there. But as the administration has said, it will not end the government’s role in trying to broker a lasting peace and regional stability. “What we won’t do is use our troops as a bargaining chip in that process,” a government official told the Washington Post, which first ...