Restore the roads
It was June 1, 2018, when Pele decided to visit lower Kapoho, coming around Pu‘u Kapoho (Green Mountain) heading to the sea. From the safety checkpoint, Emily Nae‘ole gave a pule while county officers stood, heads bowed, in respect.
The next day, lava would take out Ka Wai o Pele (Green Lake) and head off, steamrolling into Kapoho Bay.
Now, driving down the beautifully restored Highway 132, the breathtaking raw beauty of Kapoho again fills one’s heart with a sense of wonder. Pele gifted the people amazing resources along the new coastline — a black sand beach stretching nearly a mile south of Cape Kumukahi — yet the people can’t go there! Concrete barriers and boulders block the way.
Some struggle across and walk more than a mile to view this incredible site and fish on the shore. Yet, many, especially our kupuna, are unable to make the journey. Some walk in to tend their homes and farms; the only access they have because after nearly two years since the flow ended, there is still no vehicle access to a place that had been open to the public for decades.
Please, county and state! You have the money. Recover the roads. Support these new resources with services so the area can be used properly and respectfully.
Restore the roads, provide a boat ramp in Pohoiki for the fishermen and give the people the access they deserve to the coastal resources that are an integral part of our island’s lifestyle and very important to our economic revival.
Eileen O’Hara
Pahoa
Offensive cartoon
Your cartoon for May 27, “100,000 and a golfer,” is low class.
Correction: You now have no class.
Jack Stevenson
Hilo
Voting by proxy
The U.S. House of Representatives voted by proxy (Tribune-Herald, May 28). This sets a very bad precedent.
Proxy voting on the floors of both House and Senate will likely become the norm. They will vote while schmoozing with lobbyists on yachts, golf courses and in mansions. They will vote by telephone or email or Donald Trump’s favorite communication channel.
One reason a vote requires a personal appearance is to listen to oral arguments. Also, voting is the one most important thing they do.
In the face of this, “we the people,” feel powerless.
Actually, there is something we can do. Look into TermLimits.com. Article Five of our Constitution permits states to bypass Congress! It is a check on the power of all 535 senators and representatives.
Brian Daniel
Volcano