Breaking News

Letters to the Editor

Liloa Drive extension not waste of public funds

I do not consider the Liloa Drive extension a waste of public funds as noted in opinion May 21. I consider the $25 million (other half of the $50 million awarded to the state as part of the national infrastructure plan), for a pedestrian/bicycle bridge over the Ala Wai a waste. Granted, the Liloa Drive extension may seem decades old, but with all the red tape before fruition is typical of how government works. The Liloa Dive extension will also provide a safe path for students of the new high school once the overpass is completed. Traffic management and safety are priorities over ...

Lose aloha and Hawaii becomes like mainland

Real estate in Hawaii is sky-high expensive. But no matter what the price, people from out of state still buy property in Hawaii. You can buy a home in certain areas in the mainland for one-third the price what you will pay in Hawaii. $1.5 million in the south will buy you a mansion, on at least couple acres of land. My cousin’s kids from Michigan rented a car and asked me what areas on Maui are not safe. I told them just about everywhere is safe, but make sure you don’t leave valuables in your car. Maui is changing, but it is still a great place to live. We still have ...

We all should take care of community

Everyone needs to know the repercussions that have taken place from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA decided to give landlords $5,000 or more for a one-bedroom rental, which led to ohana were being evicted so they could get this money. The state then stepped in and made that illegal, so landlords waited for leases to end and then jumped on the FEMA money train. My ohana and many others have been homeless for months. I have gone to multiple places to get an affordable place or homeless shelter, but the list is so long. I have experienced, rude realtors and management ...

Rather than on mountain, put telescopes in space

The U.S. Air Force is conducting local meetings during which they describe a plan to put six or seven new ground-based telescopes on sacred ground on Haleakala. The objective of the Air Force mission is to use the telescopes to search for objects in space as well as to identify threats to space assets. A National Environmental Policy Act environmental assessment is required to measure the impact of the telescope domes on the site that has the same importance to Hawaiians as Holocaust sites in Europe have to Jews. So, how do you measure the impact of these structures on this ...

Housing needs supported in fiscally responsible way

Here is a potential win-win. Presumably, the county is willing/able to exist without the property tax revenue associated with the higher tax rate for short-term rentals. If so, why not table this entire STR ban concept (which will have untold unintended consequences for the local economy) and instead, leave STR alone but earmark the difference between the long-term and short-term rentals tax revenue for a restricted fund that will service a bond issue floated to building workforce housing. Instead of blowing up the economy with a “solution” that will not satisfy the need for ...

Helpful if article contained direct links to documents

There is an article by Heather Greenwood on May 18 highlighting useful documents for elders. It would be more helpful had the article contained direct links to the various documents. I was unsuccessful in finding the documents she referenced, all of which sounded very useful to older people like myself. Lesley Hargrove Haiku