Things Happening in Hawaii

     More Letters From Paradise
     Things Happening in Hawaii

Our mayor has seemed to have spent 1.5 million for some "experts" from New York to tell us what needs to be done to our Ala Moana Beach Park. For any of you who have visited Honolulu, it is the very long park alongside the drive into Waikiki. It is called the "People's Park", by the locals.  It has a beautiful beach, tennis courts, lawn bowling court and a pavilion for events such as the annual Greek and Scottish festivals. Local people come to swim, picnic etc.

I attended a meeting with some 150 others who heard the mayor and his "experts." The mayor wants to build a restaurant. We are strongly opposed, people come here to picnic. These "experts" may have done wonders with Battery Park in N,Y., but their ideas do not relate to Hawaii.

We know what needs to be done. Fix and clean up the restrooms. And that wouldn't cost 1.5 million. We gave them an earful. We will just have to wait and see what happens.

In other news. There is quite some opposition to the building of the 30 meter telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea,on the Big Island of Hawaii. When finished it is supposed to be the largest telescope in the world. But I have also read that there is supposed to be a 31 meter telescope being built in Chile. Some protesters with the Hawaiian flag have halted the start of construction. They claim the mountain is sacred. Some students from the  University of Hawaii have walked out in protest. Our governor has called for a thirty day "cooling off" period. I should also note that there are already several telescopes up there. I saw them myself (altitude 13,400 ft.) The very best answer to the problem came from the master navigator with the Polynesian Voyaging Society, as quoted in the local paper:  "As a Hawaiian, I recognize I am a descendant of some of the best naked-eye astronomers the world has known. It is culturally consistent to advocate for Hawaiian participation in a field of science that continues to enable that tradition and a field in which we ought to lead."
I think the telescope will be built, there is just so much money already invested in the project, as well as cultural preservation studies performed.  Many Hawaiians agree.

And now on a lighter note. Crews are topping the tops of the coconut tree along the Ala Wai Canal. A coconut tree hitting your head could ruin your day. A cop I was talking to as he was merely writing tickets on cars, for not having removed them as requested, said " More people are killed by falling coconuts than die from shark bites."

      Aloha
      Grant