Hello? Hello? Can you hear me now?

To say that our government isn’t listening to the people isn’t quite right anymore — considering all that we know now about spying by the NSA, CIA, FBI, DEA and other government agencies. But in terms of community issues and local politics, it remains so too often.

The latest example: The state Department of Transportation failed to send a representative to a public meeting Thursday night on the North Shore at which more than 200 people showed up to talk and gripe about the growing Laniakea Beach traffic woes. The meeting was organized by Rep. Richard Fale, who says he specifically invited the department to attend.

It might be that the state DOT had a good reason for not attending, but so far nobody has offered one.

Sharks: They do it for the children?

The spate of shark attacks around the islands recently has marine scientists studying hard to figure out the cause. And now there’s some evidence that it might be related to the pupping season of tiger sharks, which are the main species involved in the attacks.

A new study found that female tiger sharks migrate from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to the main Hawaiian islands during the fall to have their babies — which historically also coincides with a higher incidence of shark attacks. The link is not solid, however, so the scientists don’t want to jump to any conclusions.

But, preliminarily, could we at least say maybe fall is not the time to be swimming in the ocean? Or maybe that’s when culling of tiger sharks should occur?

We eagerly await further scientific investigation.