Mauna Kea ‘incidents’ don’t look good

A variety of incidents documented by rangers atop Mauna Kea belie protesters’ claims of respectful and peaceful opposition to construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope. Records maintained by rangers at the Maunakea Visitor Information Station and Office of Mauna Kea Management cite bomb threats, threats of violence against TMT workers, harassment of visitors and staff, vandalism of bathrooms and other property, suspected shoplifting in the visitor center gift shop, marijuana use, introduction of invasive species and the all-too-familiar blockage of the summit road.

According to the activity logs, the movement is falling short of the kapu aloha and aloha aina principles its leaders rightly hold up as the appropriate standard.

Buy a building, save money? Let’s hope

With the governor’s OK, it looks like the authorization is set for the state to buy Alii Place downtown.

State officials said the purchase will save money because it won’t be as costly as building a new home for state agencies on a site in Liliha. But that’s a false economy, because that project had never been finalized.

One might argue that it would be smarter to direct any new state offices to Kapolei. But lawmakers seem to have fallen in love with those 25 floors of granite and marble on Richards and Hotel streets. For legislators who adopted a fairly Spartan approach this year, they seemed quite eager to fork over $90 million.

Hey, $90 million there, $90 million there — pretty soon you’re talking about real money.