SANDS OF TIME

Don't let funding help for erosion slip away

Beach erosion is a hot topic as coastal states vie for limited federal funds devoted to “;beach replenishment”; projects. Whether to pump fresh sand onto eroding beaches at all is subject to debate, with opponents arguing that taxpayers' money is being misspent on a short-term fix that can adversely affect nearby shorelines and surfbreaks.

But don't tell that to the Kauai residents and tourists who love Poipu Beach, which is disappearing at the rate of about a foot a year. An association of hotels and condos whose guests flock to the popular area is willing to help pay for a beach replenishment project that was stalled three years ago, and given the condition of the federal and state budgets that money should be welcome.

REALITY CHECK

It's tough under a microscope

Wonder what they expected going in.

It's hard enough keeping things together as a couple, let alone with a child or two. Now try eight kids, six of them sextuplets. Now add constant taping of the family's daily moves, which are then broadcast to 3 million TV viewers weekly.

That is, unless it's the season opener amid scandal, and then viewership rockets to 9 million. Poor Jon & Kate, plus their eight.

After two seasons on the TLC network, the couple has hit the tabloids big time with allegations of: His and her infidelities; his irresponsibility; her control-freak ways; their frail marriage, strained to the near-breaking point.

“;Parents of multiples have triple the divorce rate, and (we were) thinking we were gonna beat that,”; a tearful Kate said on TV. “;But I don't know if I can say that anymore.”;

Sad how reality can turn things upside down, especially on a TV reality show.