• Our alternative transportation • ‘Anything Goes’ is great • Leave comments off Our alternative transportation For those who believe that our alternative and public transportation infrastructure is adequate; please strap on a helmet, dust off your bike and take
• Our alternative transportation • ‘Anything Goes’ is great • Leave comments off
Our alternative transportation
For those who believe that our alternative and public transportation infrastructure is adequate; please strap on a helmet, dust off your bike and take a ride through Kapa‘a town.
You will be riding on a strip of shoulder narrower than your handlebars. To the right is a sidewalk, to the left is traffic.
Because no engineer ever expected a bicyclist to brave Kapa‘a town’s treacherous shoulder, storm drains are spaced at seemingly random intervals. You are continually faced with two options: You can either swerve into traffic or try and ride over the drain. Neither is all that attractive.
If you can ride through Kapa‘a without fearing for your life, you are a braver soul than I. Roads like that are what give Hawai’i the number one ranking in the country for per capita bike deaths.
Once you’re done riding through town, try to catch the underfunded Kaua’i Bus to Lihu‘e.
After waiting for up to an hour in the sun or rain (no shelters), there is a fair chance that the overcrowded bus simply won’t have room for you. If they do have room, the odds are even more slim that there will be an available bike rack for you.
So much for those beautiful new bike lanes through Lihu‘e; unless you wait for the next bus or is crazy enough to ride the death alley on Kuhio Highway, you won’t be able to get your bike to town.
If you survive the trip to Lihu‘e, then you can really put your endurance to the test by attending a Kaua‘i County Council meeting. You will hear unanimous support for public transportation, yet little support for funding it.
New roads and increased bus infrastructure cost money. While it’s easy to say that we need to improve our public transportation, it’s not easy to fund that infrastructure.
Council members, please, if you say that you support the bus, then please fund the bus.
Luke Evslin
Kapahi
‘Anything Goes’ is great
I grew up watching movie musicals. Movie nights were one of the few times we had to stop our busy lives and engage in something as a family.
When I was really young, I sat through movies, I didn’t get the jokes, I didn’t always understand the story, but when those dance numbers came on and Busby Berkeley’s showgirls whirled around or Fred Astaire or Ann Miller tap-danced, it was truly magical for me. I was whisked away to a magical world of musical wonder.
It impacted me so much that I studied dance and theater at my hometown high school. I got a degree in Dance and I moved to New York where I had a career in musical theater.
As one of the choreographers for KPAC’s production of “Anything Goes,” I tried my utmost to bring the spirit of the old movie musical into the production.
As I watched the children of Wilcox Elementary School leave the student show last Thursday, in the middle of a scene, my heart broke not only for the children who were provided the rare opportunity to attend live theater, but also for the students and creative team that have worked so hard on the production.
In my opinion, the teachers who chose to leave did a huge disservice to the children. They reinforced poor theater etiquette by leaving in the middle of a scene, drawing attention to themselves. If they were able to sit through the entire show, it may have inspired at least one of those children to perform.
Theater changes lives. The KPAC program is unique in that it is free for any public high school student to gain the knowledge and skills.
Theater teaches accountability, discipline and hard work. Also, it’s a place to fit in. It’s a family where each individual is appreciated.
Since beginning my involvement with the program this year, I have been approached by former KPAC students and parents of KPAC students who have shared their stories of how KPAC affected their lives in the most positive of ways.
The performers in this show have sacrificed blood, sweat and tears in getting this stellar show up and running. It’s classic, wholesome and family-friendly.
Sarah Smith
Kekaha
Leave comments off
Regarding Lois Benson’s letter “Why no comment?” published Sunday, comments should stay offline.
It is not true that that’s how we communicate to each other on Kaua‘i and/or off-island.
This commenting on authors of the TGI Forum are attacks at most, and the commenter forgets the authors are just voicing their opinions.
In the comments section there are word fights, name calling and anger.
Sometimes commenters call their homes and approach the author or his/her spouse (if known by commenter).
Comments should stay offline. An author’s opinion is his/hers own opinion. Leave it as that!
Howard Tolbe
‘Ele‘ele
