• O’Hagan account of Pila‘a road wrong • Seeks common ground • Laws are created for minorities • Who’s taking care of business? • Bravo to JoAnn Yukimura O’Hagan account of Pila‘a road wrong As a former resident of Kaua‘i
• O’Hagan account of Pila‘a road wrong
• Seeks common ground
• Laws are created for minorities
• Who’s taking care of business?
• Bravo to JoAnn Yukimura
O’Hagan account of Pila‘a road wrong
As a former resident of Kaua‘i for 23 years I still follow the Kauai news via the Internet.
On April 24 I was amazed to read an interview of Joe O’Hagan by Cynthia Kaneshiro. Mr. O’Hagan gave a detailed but erroneous account of a road at Pila‘a that gives the Marvins access to their property.
The Marvins did not build this road in 2000 as he states. I drove my 1956 Ford convertible on that road in 1965-66. I was part owner of the Pila‘a land, which was later sold to the Marvins. Frank Sinatra shot the movie None But the Brave there in 1965. I still have the contract we signed with the Sinatra group that paid us $100 a day for the use of the land. He brought the fuselage of a WWII plane to the beach via the roadway. He also had built a wooden helicopter-landing pad on the beach site for his private use. I spent an enjoyable day watching Sinatra and cast shooting the movie. Clint Walker was a gracious host over a box lunch that day. I rode down that road in a two-wheel drive sedan as a guest of Sinatra’s crew.
Apparently Mr. O’Hagan was not in the area in 1965. Obviously this road was more than a foot trail as he states. No damage to the reef from run-off occurred prior to 2001 until the land was disturbed from above.
In the interest of accurate news reporting you may wish to share this letter with your readers.
- Jahne Hupy
Rapid River, Mich.
Seeks common ground
Your letter to the editor today from the gentleman who says to either respect the hunters’ ways on our island or leave has not got a clue as to what some of us go through: having to lock our own dogs up even though we have worked hard for decades to build nice places on plenty of land (fenced) for our own dogs only to have them attacked on our own side of our fences, never mind the 24/7 howling we must endure.
Even if hunting dogs are treated decently, which they are often not, it’s not fair to make life horrid for newcomers who are, by the way, paying the county’s bills.
How’s about some common ground here — it is our tax dollars supporting our island and keeping it sane. The hunters are hunting for fun and financial gain, which is fine — just respect your neighbors. And listen to Dr. Becky Rhoades of Kauai Humane Society — she’s full of good ideas and advice. Thanks.
Laws are created for minorities
I’d like to thank all of you who called and left messages in response to the Letter to the Editor I wrote this past week. Nice to know there was so much support and that so many of you were just waiting for someone to speak up.
I can’t help but think of the old fable, “The Emperor Had No Clothes.” Everyone in the kingdom was so afraid to tell the emperor he was naked for fear of repercussion, until an innocent child who hadn’t learned about fear spoke up and told him he was naked. Naked is naked. Speak up and speak out.
While reading Lester Chang’s article regarding the meeting at the Kauai Humane Society on Thursday evening, I was not surprised to hear of how disgruntled people were who raise hunting dogs. I think it’s great they were present at the meeting. Great. I also applaud Danny Smith in his efforts to console the Crawfords for his responsibility in their loss.
What I think is missing here is why we need to create some tangible laws. While those in attendance assure us that these incidences are few and far between, and they are obviously caring and responsible pet owners just for showing up for the meeting, one must remember that laws are made for the majority to protect them from the minority.
If we look back at recent history on our own island, murderers, rapists and drug dealers are in the minority, yet we have laws in place that protect us from them. All I’m saying is that a crime is a crime, is a crime. If there are no laws to protect innocent, law-abiding citizens, what’s the point?
One hunter in Mr. Chang’s article “who wished to remain anonymous said that this incident may have put all Kaua‘i hunters and their hunting dogs in a bad light, but that portrayal is not fair.” I agree. It did put them all in a bad light … primarily because the only repercussion was a citation, and people are outraged that more isn’t being done.
Simply stated, one should never generalize an incident to an entire population, culture, race, religion or gender. A single incident is a single incident. But keep in mind when you argue against enacting laws … they’re there to protect the majority from the minority. I would think the responsible dog owners and hunters would want to be the first in line to argue for a law, not against it. After all, what are we afraid of? Why are we allowing something so simple to be turned into such a complicated issue? A crime, is a crime, is a crime.
Princeville
Who’s taking care of business?
Many people walk, jog and bike along the ‘highway’ in Haena, including women with baby strollers. But there are some cars and pickups that are going way too fast. What’s the hurry, this is Kaua‘i!
Police are scarce. Maybe they’re watching the fiasco of our County Council, Police Commission, mayor and ‘Ethics’ Committee trying to fire the police chief; grandstanding to cover up their own mistakes. Who’s taking care of business?
Bravo to JoAnn Yukimura
In the April 30 issue of The Garden Island a letter writer complained about Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura’s political statements at the Wahine Music Festival. The writer found the statements so offensive that she and her friend walked out of the festival, which further inspired or rather “inflamed” her into writing a letter to our newspaper, with a little twist. In the beginning of her letter she spoke about two derogatory statements about the Bush administration and the Republicans. A few lines later the derogatory statements were changed into political assault, and by the end of the letter they were reclassified as verbal abuse. That’s a big jump, which just undermines the merits of the complaint. Still she claims that she walked out of the festival not because of being subjected to the “crime” of verbal abuse, but because the organizers mixed entertainment with politics. I really wonder if she would have walked out if JoAnn Yukimura had made a positive statement about Bush and the Republicans.
As for the “accused perpetrator” I would like to commend Councilwoman Yukimura for her courage taking a stand for what she believes in. Nowadays too many politicians shy away (or are afraid?) from stating their political conviction publicly. Therefore we should treasure those who dare, like JoAnn Yukimura. If we all had the courage to voice our opinion publicly, either pro or con, this country would not be as divided as it is now.
