• Why the brutal beating? • Publishing rumors • Ferry sour • Day tripping • Too much emphasis on poll Why the brutal beating? I am interested to know why the brutal beating of a Kaua‘i resident by other Kaua‘i
• Why the brutal beating?
• Publishing rumors
• Ferry sour
• Day tripping
• Too much emphasis on poll
Why the brutal beating?
I am interested to know why the brutal beating of a Kaua‘i resident by other Kaua‘i residents has not been reported in The Garden Island?
It seems like this would be an important story to report. Residents on the North Shore know the victim well and the family has been around for a long time. How is it that some people feel that it is justifiable to beat someone until they are in a coma? What did this person do to deserve this? How did this happen at a public beach (Lumaha‘i), which is always densely populated? Why did no one step in and help this person? How did the people who were there turn the other cheek? I have read about so much hate and anger towards Joe Brescia — let’s put that same energy into making sure the people who threaten the lives of community members who are (alive) receive the punishment they deserve.
Where are our priorities? Where is our community? Where is the aloha for each other? Why are we so intensely worried about the white people coming to the island and not about the people already here? This is a tragedy and my heart goes out to the victim’s family.
Karri Johnson
Kilauea
Publishing rumors
I attended the very peaceful “Jam the Harbor” celebration on Sunday at Nawiliwili Park. I certainly never witnessed anyone throw rocks at Kimo Rosen.
I did, however, see several police officers patrolling the park over the course of the afternoon, any of whom could easily have responded to such an incident immediately.
They were quite vigilant of the activities of the celebrants, after all, and took plenty of photographs of the event and the people in attendance.
At the very least, an officer could have provided your reporter with some verification of Rosen’s claim.
I am disappointed that The Garden Island chose to publish such an inflammatory rumor without even a minimal attempt to investigate it.
Katy Rose
Hanalei
Ferry sour
I am sure the letter writer could hardly contain himself to lash out at the The Garden Island (“Biased ferry coverage,” Letters, Aug. 27).
Sounds like sour grapes to me for not having his column printed anymore.
Perhaps the police chief heard some of the profanity directed at Kimo Rosen coming out of this delightful celebration. Perhaps he even saw the rocks thrown in his direction. Just maybe, it was to protect the one person standing alone for the people who do want the Superferry. After all, we all have witnessed your gatherings on TV. So we know what some of you happy people are capable of. No one wants to be up against those odds and I applaud Kimo Rosen for doing it.
It seems we only ever see and hear all the negative people on this island. Think about it, peaceful people who are OK with ideas. They don’t need to protest, do they? The poll is just a sampling of people on the island. I myself didn’t even hear about the poll. So I don’t make too much of your lengthy explanation of why the TGI got it wrong.
Just because the paper prints articles that you do not like, does not mean The Garden Island is scripted from some PR firm. I am so tired of hearing that line used by these groups. Do you think only a PR firm can write a letter?
I think you have more than two sour notes. Try writing something positive once in awhile. Maybe then you might have some credibility.
Carrie Lavigne
Kapa‘a
Day tripping
I just made a day trip to Honolulu from Lihu‘e. I had to depart on a 6 a.m. flight and get a 10 p.m. return flight in order to save money and it still cost over $300 for two people, no baggage. We used the bus in Honolulu which was fun and it came every half hour or less (and it works very well).
Whatever you buy in Honolulu you have to bring back home on the plane which will cost an extra baggage fee. Where is the savings for me?
If I had my van, I would have stayed longer. I would have bought some presents and gifts and loaded up my van to the top for no extra charge.
Now that’s a no brainer. I would have done it for less than $250 and had fun, maybe even a dinner. Just in passengers alone the Superferry would replace 10 flights a day. Less noise and fuel when you compare the tonnage in freight the boat can carry. The time parking my car in Lihu‘e two hours before departure, going through security, undressing, dressing — which I find a pain in the you-know-what. The ferry takes less time than the plane and it is a lot more fun.
Now if you want to get this island moved back 50 years, then good luck because that is just not going to happen. You would never survive without your cell phones and all the cars you own. You would never get out to Hanalei or any area farther than a day’s walk. Those days are over. And you may want to remain in the past like that but your children will not.
They demand a ferry for its low cost for school sports and any other general public functions. So let’s get on with it, move on to a new topic.
Keep the military out of it because when it comes to war every vessel including Young Brothers and Matson, even your car, can be commandeered to move the military. The notion that the superferries were built for the military is bull; that rumor was conceived on Kaua‘i to scare the uninformed. Let’s drop that concept because it’s just not true. If you don’t like the ferry don’t use it but we want it sooner rather than later.
Hans Helriegel
Kapa‘a
Too much emphasis on poll
Much emphasis has been placed on the “poll” that The Garden Island conducted about the pros and cons of the ferry returning to Kaua‘i. Superferry CEO Tom Fargo interpreted the results one way, news media had their interpretation, and other people had as many interpretations as there were illogical choices on the poll. There were a total of 2,729 votes in the poll, with an unknown number of multiple votes by single individuals, and no count on where the voters lived. Why should votes from O‘ahu residents count on what happens to our island?
Everybody seems to have forgotten that we obtained over 6,000 signatures from individuals that had one choice; “Should the Superferry be required to get an EIS before being allowed to dock at Nawiliwili?”
The Kauai County Council unanimously passed a resolution requesting an EIS on the Superferry before starting service to Kaua‘i. At a recent candidates night, none of the mayoral or council candidates for Kaua‘i raised their hands when asked if they would vote to allow Superferry’s return to Kaua‘i.
When you can conduct a poll with two choices: No. 1. “Should Superferry be required to obey the law, Hawaii Environmental Protection Act, HRS 343, before resuming service to Kaua‘i;” or No. 2. “Should Superferry be allowed to continue service to Kaua‘i with total disregard for its environmental/cultural impact and welfare on Kaua‘i?” then publish it. If you can find over 6,000 residents of our incredible island to vote for the latter, let me know, let Fargo know, let the Chamber of Commerce know, and let anybody else know who has no consideration for the welfare of our culture, environment, or way of life. My bet is, that will be a long time coming, if ever.
Rich Hoeppner
Kapa‘a
