Kahala Hotel backs off; neighbors relieved

Sighs of relief are greeting news that the Kahala Hotel & Resort is withdrawing its request for a nonexclusive easement to use about an acre of public shoreline for commercial purposes.

The plan — which involved the hotel spending $900,000 to improve some leasehold and state beach lands for weddings, torch-lighting ceremonies and canoe sailing — ran into opposition from the area’s neighborhood board and environmental groups. Public beach access was a concern, as was the hotel’s failure to notify key stakeholders before a draft environmental assessment comment period expired and not providing updates at recent neighborhood board meetings.

The hotel told a board rep it wants “to engage in ongoing dialogue.” Vigilant community members will surely be speaking up.

UH notches a win with OHA scholarships

On one level, it’s a shame that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ college scholarship program this year will support only Native Hawaiian students attending the University of Hawaii, not any enrolled in out-of-state colleges. Mainland experience can expand horizons for isle-born students, too.

However, UH leveraged its resources to offer supportive services to the students as well as tuition, and to award more students than its rival applicant for the OHA contract, the Hawaii Community Foundation. On balance, more help for more students is a good deal. And if UH gets a little bump in enrollment, which it needs, that’s a win-win.