• Electric cars on Kaua‘i • Access issue debated • Bailout a positive opportunity • ‘No-el’ a sinister plot? • Kaua‘i information expressed Electric cars on Kaua‘i What a great idea. I can just picture this. A handful of electric
• Electric cars on Kaua‘i
• Access issue debated
• Bailout a positive opportunity
• ‘No-el’ a sinister plot?
• Kaua‘i information expressed
Electric cars on Kaua‘i
What a great idea. I can just picture this. A handful of electric cars leaving Kapa‘a and going to Wailua Golf Course at 6:30 a.m. going 35 mph.
Right now, when on occasion I have to take my husband to the golf course he gets impatient when I drive 2 mph under the speed limit.
Unfortunately, I am a maybe overly careful driver. Is the county of Kaua‘i going to put in lanes next to Kuhio Highway to accommodate those slow- moving electric cars or are we going to lower the speed limit to 35 mph all over the island?
Actually right now on a very busy day I can beat a car going very slow in heavy traffic when I want to go from Coconut Market Place to Foodland. Only problem is I can’t carry many groceries. Maybe I should go on my broom next time.
We need some serious fixing of our traffic problems.
• Sonja King, Kapa‘a
Access issue debated
Until today, Safeway has been my market of choice for over 20 years.
At least 50 percent of my grocery dollars have been spent there. But not anymore. Representatives of Safeway in conjunction with a quorum of “planning commissioners” have approved zoning in Puhi across the street from Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School, YMCA and Regency Puakea, a retirement community, with two access points along Nuhou Street — one directly across from CKMS’s bus entrance, the other at Kaneka Road. Safeway’s response to mitigate safety concerns along Nuhou is to create two roundabouts at these access points and install flashing lights.
To me, as an employee of CKMS and a father of an attending seventh-grader and simply a rational resident, this result is unacceptable. I proposed to the commission that “no access to the project be allowed at the bus area or Kaneka Road due to the high volume of keiki and kupuna, especially in the light that this project shall allow service of alcoholic beverages.”
Two responses came from the planners: “So where do you want the entrances to the project?” and, “Flashing lights in the pavement will be a first on Kaua‘i.” There was one response from Safeway: “A 4-foot-high hedge is designed between the road and sidewalk.”
Unless this catastrophic decision is changed to protect children and neighbors, I refuse to shop at Safeway. They just aren’t safe.
• Rolf Bieber, Kapa‘a
Bailout a positive opportunity
What a great opportunity to turn the auto industry into something positive. By investing money into the failing auto industry we have the opportunity to force the American auto makers to “green” the industry and benefit all citizens of the planet.
Of course, “Republican’ts” are against this because it does not benefit oil companies.
They line up to bail out corrupt bankers, but they turn their backs on an industry that provides good-paying jobs to union workers.
What I want to know is why anybody cares what the “Republican’t” minority has to say anyway? You lost, go away.
• Jason Nichols, Koloa
‘No-el’ a sinister plot?
With so much grim news these days, I thought I would pass on to the Kaua‘i reading public an amusing oddity that I recently discovered.
My husband and I are license plate readers. We have noticed that the change of letters has accelerated recently.
We started seeing KZA in the summer and we are already up to KZM, with each of the letters between “A” and “M” (except for “I”) representing 999 new cars being registered.
You can do the math, but this increased rate is alarming.
But that’s not what this letter is about.
We have discovered that it seems the letter L has mysteriously been dropped from the license plates. There was KPL, KRL and KSL but then we have not seen KTL, KUL, KVL, KWL, KXL, KYL or KZL.
Is this a sinister plot?
Is the Superferry responsible?
Do I need to get a life?
We may never know, but in the meantime we thought that it was appropriate that we discovered this so close to Christmas, or, umm, “No-el.”
• Elaine LaSota, Princeville
Kaua‘i information expressed
I am a current student attending the Kamehameha Schools Kapalama campus.
Originally I am from Lihu‘e but ever since I gained admission into this institution I have become a boarder. Even though I live most of the year on O‘ahu, I am still connected to Kaua‘i. As part of my moku (district) project for my Hawaiian Culture class I need to express some of my information to the public.
Over the years many changes have developed and places have changed. Fishponds such as ‘Alekoko have become increasingly infested by invasive species. With little care this fishpond has become overgrown with mangrove. According to a legend the menehune were contracted by a princess and her brother to build this fishpond. These menehune worked through the night, but one night curiosity overcame the princess and her brother. They were spotted when they came out of their home and were turned to stone. Two sharp peaks represent the princess and her brother to this day.
Heiau such as Poliahu in Wailua remain in fair condition but are slowly becoming displaced. Little preservation efforts have caused our heiau to become infested by weeds. This heiau was named after the snow goddess Poliahu of Hawai‘i. Wailua contains many different heiau and was home to many of the royal families. Of the heiau on Kaua‘i, this is the largest on the island.
In conclusion, we need to preserve our sacred and cultural sites because they hold our identity and our past history. Our ancestors once thrived and lived upon this land with very little negative effects. As we have become more and more caught up in our lives, we forget what is important to our past and us. We need to remember that the land provides us with our food and that we only work it, so we need to respect and take care of it.
• Micah Chow, Lihu‘e
