Former Gov. John Burns dreamed of the creation of world-class telescopes. Because of his efforts to make this happen, the road leading up to the telescopes on Mauna Kea is called John A. Burns Way.

What a visionary! Whatever valid issues exist between the supporters and protesters of the Thirty Meter Telescope, I hope that they can be worked out in a fair and honest way, perhaps in the Hawaiian ho‘oponopono way.

I think about the ancient ones — ka po‘e kahiko — robust, curious, hungry to find.

How they would have relished exploring the Milky Way, to watch creation unfold by slicing through time, diving into the waves of the Big Bang.

Jean Toyama

Downtown Honolulu

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