Replacement vote on the up and up
In particular, the House District 2, District Council members are committed to transparency, efficiency and accountability. The process to find qualified candidates to fill Rep. Clift Tsuji’s seat was no exception.
Candidates and District Council Officers were free to engage each other prior to the actual selection process. We are confident that Saturday’s process for selecting three names to send to Gov. David Ige was executed transparently and with the utmost integrity. Any disparagement by disgruntled candidates who did not take the time to attend the process and engage the electors is very unfortunate.
Micah K. Alameda
District 2, Chair
TMT ‘end of the line’
Matt Mountain, president of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, says the TMT telescope, if constructed, “may be the end of the line” of ground-based telescopes vs. space telescopes (p.73, The Economist, Nov 26, 2016).
Ground telescopes, even with adaptive optics (AO), are surpassed by space telescopes because the earth’s atmospheric interference with ground telescopes (Space Telescope Science Institute)
http://www.space.com/8286-space-telescopes-earth-based-telescopes.html#sthash.rfFfkUC0.dpuf
Why build the TMT?
Christopher Roehrig
Waimea
Mayor’s view on Mauna Kea encouraging
With the ongoing controversies regarding the use of the mountain, I was very happy to read Mayor Kim’s plea for unity. Being well acquainted with the topic of TMT and having followed the ongoing hearings, it is sad to see some TMT opponents’ unwillingness to compromise, or to acknowledge that others, including Native Hawaiians, may have feelings just as strong as they do regarding the mountain and its use, only for very different reasons. Coming from mixed backgrounds, it is hard for me to understand such a stance based on race, religion or politics.
While some opponents’ concerns are warranted, others seem to be the reflection of very personal views or tremendous effort to find fault in the years of work from scientists, Native Hawaiians and other expert witnesses on the stand. It also has to be noted that Judge Amano has shown to be very accommodating, patient and fair as well as helpful beyond the call to all participants regardless of which side they stand.
Although it is a difficult journey, I hope both parties can come to an agreement that will benefit all of us, here in Hawaii as well as the rest of humanity. Astronomy has a very small footprint while offering opportunities for immense knowledge and discoveries, not only to help us understand our universe but also our planet. This can be shared not only by a few, but by everyone.
I hope to see Mayor Kim’s desire for harmony come to fruition and that we can share and benefit from a greater understanding of the land, Hawaiian traditions, each other and our universe, together.
I.De Groote
Waikoloa
Registry, permit, license acronym not clear
I read the article “Fishing for a solution” about creating an RPL for non-commercial fishermen.
Not being into fishing I have no idea what an RPL is. Please clue me and others who are ignorant of this acronym what it means. Must be important for it to run on the front page of the paper.
Cindy Whitehawk
South Kona
I support Peaman
I want to voice my support for Sean Pagett and all the Peaman events that have been happily going on in Kona for years. These events draw everyone across the board from all walks of life to the pier in a pursuit of fun competition and ohana spirit. DNLR and the County of Hawaii need to give these events their blessing and if need be, provide the necessary permits and sponsorship of liability insurance.
Yasmin Vatter
Kailua-Kona