Letters to the Editor: September 24, 2021

Crime pays

Crime does pay in Hawaii. The lady from Illinois that lied on her vaccination card was arrested and was in custody on $2,000 bail until a judge released her at a hearing. She was released without bail. Wow, she is gone from Hawaii and does not appear at her virtual Zoom court hearing Wednesday. She hung up on an Associated Press reporter who asked her to comment on the allegations Wednesday. Let me see, she lives in Illinois, 5,000 miles away. She is wanted on a misdemeanor. You think Hawaii will ever see her again? She must have been quite attractive to get away with no bail. With this in mind, she could probably visit Hawaii again, and not even get caught.

Michael J. Hunt

Captain Cook

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Farewell Ironman

The Ironman triathlon is considering moving out of Kona.

The strain this event causes on our small community has increased year after year. The argument that it brings a huge economic boom to local buisness is no longer valid. Most triathaletes seek accomodations at vacation rentals with out-of-state owners, and do their food shopping at Costco. Less and less money they spend ends up staying in the community.

I could go on and on about the dangers of self-entitled cyclists who do not obey our traffic laws, rampant spray paint graffiti on the lava rocks, or the lack of safe infrastructure i.e. sidewalks and bike lanes to accomodate an influx tens of thousands of people. Our town is just too small to deal with these hordes any longer.

Lastly, the impact that race day has on our local workers and residents is horrendous. Anyone working at a resort up north is made to arrive well before their shift, or stay long after, just because the entire highway is closed. No one who works all week can take their family to the beach that day because of all the closures. That Saturday could be a person’s only day off, and they cannot even get to the dump. How is that fair? Why did we spend hundreds of millions of dollars on highway improvements with medians and multiple lanes just to shut it down completely?

I do not discount the tremendous achevement of these athletes, but I think I speak for the majority of residents when I elatedly say “Farewell Ironman!”

Hana Kealoha

Puuanahulu

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