From my point of view the graffiti along Queen Kaahumanu highway diminished the thoroughfare’s starkly volcanic Hawaiian landscape significantly and tarnished our status as a community.
Didn’t it look just lovely on broadcasts when the Ironman was being covered domestically and internationally? I can only applaud the hard work of the folks that took the time to clean up the mess which detracted from the experience of the coastal drive from the time it first began to appear in the years after the new highway was completed in the ’70s.
Until I was a teenager, the north Kona and south Kohala coast had been accessible only by trail, four-wheel drive, or boaters. In my view the graffiti along the highway was thoughtlessly placed by individuals apparently in need of attention. Attention they took without leave from a community they made their captive audience.
But the real problem with the graffiti of course was that drivers were tempted to look at it while hurtling down the highway! Queen Kaahumanu is routinely the site of horrific high-speed collisions, many of which have occurred in the blink of an eye when a moment of inattention resulted in a vehicle drifting off course just a little too much. It’s astonishing that anyone might fail to recognize the danger this roadside writing presented to motorists and their passengers and to bicyclists; all of whom use the Queen Kaahumanu highway hoping that drivers are focused on the road.
Michael Helms
Volcano
Selling history outrageous
Having been born and raised in Hawaii, with strong family ties to the land and culture, I believe it’s inappropriate for the Bishop Museum to sell the Greenwell Botanical Garden and the acreage in Waipio Valley.
Both the Greenwell gardens and the Waipio Valley properties have significant historic and cultural importance to Hawaii. As a public charity, the Bishop Museum should not be placing these properties up for sale, but rather should be seeking another charity or charities to appropriately manage them. Selling either is outrageous. It’s a dereliction of the duty to the people of Hawaii, and sullies the name of Bernice Pauahi Bishop. Both properties are cultural treasures for the people of Hawaii and should be preserved as such.
Karen Reppun Foster
Medford, Ore.
Colorado perspective on Hawaii cannabis debate
As a Colorado citizen who helped re-legalize cannabis, Jeffrey K. Coakley’s misinformed letter (Real motivation for marijuana isn’t medicine, Jan. 14,), demands much correction.
Ohio “voted no” regarding cannabis (marijuana) because their specific initiative was flawed and even cannabis activist opposed it and will likely pass it next time. When cannabis is re-legalized, there is not an increase in social services but rather a reduction; it’s one reason law enforcement agencies and their unions consistently oppose ending cannabis prohibition and it’s one of the reasons voters want to end cannabis prohibition.
It’s difficult to criticize Colorado when every subsequent poll indicates Colorado voters continue supporting the end of cannabis prohibition. Now that cannabis is completely re-legalized, citizens continue using it medically but no longer must pay extortion money to government for protection from police.
Further, the majority of Hawaiians want to end cannabis prohibition. Coakley speaks for the minority.
Stan White
Dillon, Colo.