Development
Let’s keep
Honokaa country
After residing in Honokaa for three weeks and listening to the public sentiments of the people there, the majority say there are too many changes taking place in this heavenly area. I, too, have taken on this feeling and say that Honokaa should stay country.
Part of Honokaa includes the pristine and beautiful Waipio Valley. It is definitely a sacred place and should stay that way. Too much of Hawaii has been made concrete jungles and that is no good. Waipio Valley in my mind should not be commercialized. Many would say it has already been given a plastic ambience and that it is not the same.
All in all, Honokaa is a beautiful and heavenly area. Like the song by the Average White Band “If I Ever Lose This Heaven” states, “If I ever lose this heaven, I’ll never be the same. If Honokaa was to lose its God-given ambience, it will never be the same. Like Joni Mitchell’s hit song “Big Yellow Taxi” states, “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s lost.” Please keep Honokaa country.
Dean Nagasako
Honokaa
Legislation
Bill 1171 is an
ill-conceived plan
Gov. Neil Abercrombie is at it again. First, there was the PLDC that citizens forced the Legislature to repeal; now, ignoring our state Supreme Court ruling, the governor’s handiwork, Senate Bill 1171 passed this last Legislature. SB 1171 is a phased review of the impact of development projects on historic preservation and is the wrong way to go.
The governor mouths Hawaiian values, but SB 1171 mocks our strong historic preservation laws and the Supreme Court mandate “to survey the complete project.” Abercrombie disrespects our iwi (ancestral remains), insulting kupuna and Hawaiian practitioners who oppose highway projects and the rail on Oahu. The governor asked “who are these instant Hawaiian environmentalists?”
Are we again forced to repeal another ill-conceived plan by this administration? Must we again resort to the courts for justice?
The Superferry misadventure cost the state taxpayers $68 million for nothing, because environmental laws were ignored.
Moanikeala Akaka
Hilo