By the way...

Because it received $3.3 million in state funds, the YMCA had to conduct an Environmental Assessment on the new Olympic-sized swimming pool it’s building in the urban sprawl of Lihue, next to Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School. But the state waived the EA requirement on $40 million worth of dock construction done to accommodate the Superferry, which speeds through waters inhabited by endangered species.

Contrary to testimony given by a Superferry captain in Maui Circuit Court, boats have killed whales in Alaska’s Glacier Bay National Park. Princess Cruise Lines was fined $750,000 in January for inflicting fatal massive skull fractures on a humpback whale. At least now we know the price of a dead whale.

Court proceedings begin next week for Kauai residents arrested Aug. 26 and 27 during Superferry protests. While some attorneys are predicting the state will have a hard time prosecuting many of the cases, the surfers and boogie boarders who were booked are already being punished —none of their boards have been returned. Presumably, they’re being held as evidence, but some surfers have complained they weren’t given receipts for their seized property.

Gov. Lingle finally admitted yesterday that it makes sense for the Superferry to wait until the court decisions are in before resuming service to Kauai, something we’ve been saying since the cases were filed.

So why didn’t she take that sensible course of action from the start, instead of shoving the boat down our throats and creating the conflict she now claims is “un-Hawaii-like” and giving the state “a very bad reputation?” As attorney Lanny Sinkin observed, somebody needs to give the guv a mirror.