Bridge repair will take 6 weeks, we hope

If Central Oahu and North Shore folks seem worried about the shutdown of Karsten Thot Bridge for repairs, they may have good reason. Wahiawa does not have happiest memories of bridge projects.

At the other end of town, ushering in travelers exiting from the H-2 Freeway, is Wahiawa Bridge. It looks fairly unremarkable, but the current edition of that structure took a full seven years to build, back in the ’80s. It’s a long story of engineering woes and bureaucratic headaches.

Thot Bridge was named for a pineapple field supervisor, active in the town’s civic affairs, who died the year the bridge was built, 80 years ago. Like most octogenarians, this one needs repairs in a big way. It’s worth the detours for six weeks. This time, if Wahiawa is lucky, the wait won’t be any longer than that.

Kudos to Kamehameha Schools for its Punaluu plan

Most of the recent headlines on agriculture have been about the loss of farmland to housing developments. So it’s refreshing to see a different one in Friday’s paper: "Farming to expand on Punaluu land."

Kamehameha Schools announced plans to expand food production on property it owns in Punaluu, from 80 acres to 220 acres. The new agricultural park, dubbed Punalu‘u Ahupua‘a Farms, will consist of plots from 2 to 10 acres available for rent. It’s not a large part of Kamehameha Schools’ agricultural lands, but every bit helps, especially if the land is actively farmed for local consumers.

The more fresh, healthy, locally grown food we produce, the better.