• On Koloa mill sewage plant • Education still short-changed • Time to stand with Israel • Questions Po‘ipu developments On Koloa mill sewage plant Get ready folks, something big is stirring in the air. Thank God Leonard Freitas has
• On Koloa mill sewage plant • Education still short-changed • Time to stand with Israel • Questions Po‘ipu developments
On Koloa mill sewage plant
Get ready folks, something big is stirring in the air. Thank God Leonard Freitas has a good sense of smell. There’s a reason “a permit allowing construction and operation of a wastewater-reclamation facility in the old (Koloa) mill” site was approved by the Kaua‘i Planning Commission (“Sewage plant approved at old Koloa mill site,” May 31). My, my, what a surprise, Grove Farm, the anointed one, received another permit approval. Have they ever been denied?
If residents think the “building boom” in the summer of ‘07 was big, wait until Grove Farm builds its new sewer plant. You won’t recognize the South Shore when the billionaire, eco-delinquents, get through with it.
It’s surely not being built for the thousands of acres of agricultural lands in the Koloa/Maha‘ulepu area but more likely for future up-zoned lands. Like open, conservation, ag zonings to resort, residential, commercial, urbanization and golf courses, just like the recent Lagoons $1/2-billion, added-value, up-zoning the county-approved in exchange for a 138-acre sliver of “dubious-valued” land, adjacent to the Lihu‘e Airport runway: and yes appraised, mind you, by the county itself for only $580,000 for 138 acres. Such a deal for “We the Taxpayers!” Maybe we do need a county manager?
The aroma is already getting stronger and kind of reminds this writer of 1974. Better get out your old “‘Ohana Maha‘ulepu” shirts and placards. Smells like another BIG, OVER-DEVELOPMENT coming our way! ALOHA
John Hoff, Lawa‘i
Education still short-changed
Dear Senator Inouye and all those seeking political office now,
Aloha kakou,
I’m sorry, but education trumps both military and visitor concerns when it comes to positive change for island families today. How can we accept all this unbalanced change that is occurring? Is there no other way? You are not doing enough to support children’s success.
I have seen it first hand. Our children are not receiving a balanced education. In terms of our military, the closest war is more than 8,752 miles from here! I would like to see more soldiers around Hanapepe like back in the “days.” I believe we would all feel much safer with real soldiers in and around town than with missile sites ready to launch for our “education” and viewing enjoyment.
In terms of our visitor economics, why are we serving our visitors with a better bill of fare than for our own families with the basics like food, clothing, land, and shelter? What other island communities in the Pacific have such a monstrous gap between rich and poor after their visitors end up moving here, buying the best lands, and demanding government services?
In terms of educational economics, that is a tough one. I have tried counting children, when you get real good at it you end up without anything real good to offer them. I believe you should practice what you preach in terms of excellence in education. Where are the basics for the children everyday?
The joy of reading, counting to the moon, filling the paper with moving color, watching and caring for the seed until it grows, taking it proudly to the people’s market, enjoying the fruits of everyone’s labors, these and more should fill the minds and hearts of the children.
When?
So please, all political practitioners and enthusiasts, take my challenge, bring us a balanced existence so we feel like we are on the same team and on the same planet.
Mark Jeffers, Hanapepe
Time to stand with Israel
The so-called “peace activists” attacked Israeli soldiers with deadly weapons with the intent to kill.
What would American police do if they were mobbed by a murderous crowd, stabbed with knives, beaten with iron rods with some police critically wounded? Certainly they would not wait 40 minutes before using their handguns.
If the Israeli commandos did not open fire, they would have been beaten to death by the violent mob of “peace activists.”
The “peace activists” were members of Insani Yardim Vakfi, an organization with close ties with Muslim Brotherhood and the terrorist groups including Hamas, Al Qaeda.
The “peace activists” refused the Israeli offer to unload the cargo in the Israeli port of Ashdod and having it transferred to Gaza after inspection for military supplies.
The Hamas and other terrorists in Gaza continue to shoot rockets at Israeli civilians and Israel risks allowing more rockets and other military materials entering Gaza.
Now is the time to stand with Israel.
Julian Kess, Kapa‘a
Questions Po‘ipu developments
I have a few questions regarding new commercial-sized residential/timeshare/condo buildings in Po‘ipu. Are the buildings currently being built supposed to be no taller than the height of a coconut tree, and if so how high is that? I thought mega-structures were banned after the Westin or what is now the Marriott was built back in the ‘70s. Are the buildings being built supposed to reflect the “style” of Hawaiian architecture? And by “style” I mean more than just a cheesy, two-dimensional design glued to the side of a big, boxy structure.
Makoto Lane, Pasadena, Calif.
