New Hanauma Bay not at all improved

I've been going to Hanauma Bay for 50 years. It has become obvious the Harris administration hates people. It publicly thanked a shark a while ago for keeping people out of the bay.

Now we have to stand in line in the hot sun with no shade for as long as an hour to be "instructed" by Big Brother's movie to qualify for entry. Then fight for a little shade on the beach where there are too few trees. Then find no food concession on the beach anymore. Then use dirty smelly restrooms with no changing room. Then, on the way home, get routed an extra half-mile from the bus exit through the Alan Hong entry palace, only to fry without shade standing in line waiting for the bus.

All this after blowing 13 million of our dollars. Thanks a lot! Is it any wonder our old visitors are now vacationing in more user-friendly Mexico?

Jim Beaman

BOE election bodes ill for students

To the 18,000 voters who supported my candidacy for the Board of Education: Thank you. To the teachers who labor quietly, trying to do a difficult job in an impossible bureaucracy: I also thank you. To parents: If this new Legislature and the returning board preserve the current system, homeschool if you can. To students: Study Gandhi's principle of satyagraha. Persevere.

Malcolm Kirkpatrick

Hawaii can't rely on shaky Asian economy

James "Duke" Aiona, Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, has it right when he says that Hawaii needs to focus on fixing our economy from the inside.

We're proud Americans and we've built our nation by taking care of ourselves and by building from our inner strengths. We are resourceful and can adapt to our struggling local economy by directly assisting small businesses in Hawaii. Speculative Asian markets are interesting, but past governors' and senators' visits have reaped only vague, long-range promises.

We've seen what can happen to our economy when Hawaii reacts too quickly to foreign investment bubbles that burst. We've seen that Asian markets are not as stable and do not recover as quickly as we would hope, and we've seen the political problems of trying to deal with certain foreign regimes. How can we lay our economic hopes for the future on the whims of Asian business "contacts"?

In order to build a better economy, we need leaders who will look inward at our strengths and invest in our greatest resource: our people. We need leaders who will empower our work force and provide the educational and business opportunities we know we can create. We need leaders who have local experience and integrity. James "Duke" Aiona is one such leader.

Brandon Yamamoto
Makiki

Price of Paradise on the radio Join the conversation Sunday evenings as "Price of Paradise" takes to the airwaves. Sunday's topic: Should Kamehameha Schools admit non-Hawaiians? Who: Guests: Hamilton McCubbin, Kamehameha Schools CEO; Beadie Kanahele Dawson, attorney; Oswald Stender, former Kamehameha Schools trustee; and Roy Benham, Kamehameha alumnus. Host: John Flanagan. When: 8 p.m. Where: KKEA, 1420-AM Join in: Call 296-1420 or toll-free from the neighbor islands, 1-866-400-1420 during the show. Cell phones: Star-1420 or Pound-1420.

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