HB1286 is not our friend
All of us have been struggling with COVID for nearly a year. But the vaccination program is finally giving us a very good chance at victory over this silent killer.
But before we can complete the vaccinations, the Hawai‘i state Legislature would strip us of one of our best protections, the mandatory quarantine. HB1286 mandates that we have to return to the single-test system for tourists and prohibit the counties from mandating a quarantine. This is a guarantee that contagious tourists would travel freely in our community. It’s a guarantee that some of them will be exposing us to the new, more-contagious COVID variant. The result will be a loss of loved ones and a further blow to our economy.
We need to wait until the vaccine is throughly distributed before we take our guard down. HB1286 is not our friend.
John Patt, Koloa
Fight against glamping
The recent guest column by Mary Paterson regarding glamping was thoughtful and historically mindful to the present.
Most compelling to me was the importance of recognizing and celebrating Princeville’s legacy as the state of Hawai‘i’s first pre-planned community: everything from water/sewer capacity to housing locations and lot sizes to community open space.
I grew up in a mainland small village which was one of America’s first pre-planned communities. Ground was broken there nearly 100 years ago. The original open spaces dedicated to parks and woodlands have stood the test of time.
Here on Kaua‘i historic lands are valued, not just for the past but for the present and future. Preserving the Alekoko Fishpond was a front-page TGI article on 2/12. A week earlier there was a good column on ridding the Coco Palms eyesore. Both of these speak to necessities.
The glamping intrusion in Princeville threatens the very integrity and principals of the community’s origins. To this reader, intrusions that tilt common sense, heritage and sense of place create permanent scars and distrust. Glamping should be fought against with islandwide fervor.
Bill Schilling, Princeville
Polihale speed bumps not necessary
Rarely do I go out to Polihale beach because the road is so atrocious, but yesterday I made the drive out there with a friend and found the road has been made even more horrible by the addition of an inordinate number of speed bumps. The road is already so bad that it’s impossible to go very fast upon it, so I fail to see the need for placing speed bumps.
Furthermore, these were so huge that even though I brought my car to a complete halt before ascending each of these, many times I still scraped bottom. If there must be speed bumps, then at least reduce them several inches.
Or, better yet, simply remove them. I was stationed a Barbers Point on O‘ahu back in the ‘80s, and the Navy went through a speed-bump fling, placing them all over the base.
Not many years later they removed them all, and I heard the reason why was that studies showed the things caused accidents. Drivers either maneuvered their cars to avoid them, causing accidents, or often the cars suffered damage that led to accidents later on from vehicle malfunctions.
Cmdr. Ken Fasig, U.S. Navy (ret.), Kalaheo
Bill, you say :The glamping intrusion in Princeville threatens the very integrity and principals of the community’s origins. To this reader, intrusions that tilt common sense, heritage and sense of place create permanent scars and distrust. Glamping should be fought against with islandwide fervor.
I twist it to this: The missionary mans intrusion into Hawaii STOLE the very integrity and principals of the Hawaiians land and culture . To this reader, THEFT that tilts common sense, heritage and sense of place create permanent scars and distrust. The missionary mans ways should be fought against with islandwide fervor. Princeville first or Hawaiian soviernity? you be the judge
Dear Bill Schilling,
“Glamping should be fought against with islandwide fervor”???
Do not hold your breath. Princeville is an enigma to the majority of residents on Kauai. Mostly white and lots of rules, rules, rules and lack of empathy toward those who occasionally step out of line, all in the name of maintaining property values.
I doubt you will engender allies from North Shore small business owners, who are starving on the vine and who welcome deep pocketed tourists to help save their businesses.
Why fight the idea? So that you can save some more open space to view and enhance your property values? Perhaps you might be more interested in having a local farm owner till up the couple of fairways involved and planting hemp so that we can create a local added- value industry right in the middle of a “pre-planned” community…
Update KAUAI’S standards. A pretest and proof of vaccination should be adequate. Help KAUAI recover. We are property owners and hv received our vaccinations. Keep up with the times to allow Kauai to recover.
Bring Kauai to the state standards just like HB 1286 is designed to do. All of the opposition I heard during the testimonies is coming from gray/white haired people who are retired and well to do. What right do they have to deny tourism income that businesses and residents who do not work for the county need. If they are so afraid they should hide and protect themselves until they get their vaccines rather than forcing every one to suffer so that they can go around.