Musings: Snookerferry, Homeless and Settlements

Exquisite is the only word to describe this morning on Kauai.

The sun was rising when Koko and I went walking, and Wailaleale — so clear that every crack and crevice was revealed — was tinted a rosy pink and crowned by a still-bright moon just slightly less than full. Ahhhh.

Ran into my neighbor Andy, whom I hadn’t seen for a while, and Koko was ecstatic to see his dog Momi. During the short time our walks converged, we managed to cover the Kauai caucus — he said Sen. Gary Hooser helped save the day at the Lihue precinct by making suggestions for processing voters more quickly — and early sentiment toward Annexation and Statehood, before moving on to the Superferry, which he has now nicknamed Snookerferry.

Since I posted two pieces yesterday, he (and perhaps others) missed the one about the ferry’s extended stay in dry dock, and Brad’s comments with additional links, which can also be viewed here.

In another post on his own blog on the repairs, Brad notes: “BTW, I don't believe Kauila Clark's blessing worked on the Alakai. If they try to operate again commercially here in Hawaii, I might recommend they seek another blessing.”

As Andy pointed out, the ferry has only been operational a fraction of the time since it began service.

“Why is it still here?” he asked. Good question. How much longer will this charade of it providing the Islands with an alternative source of transportation continue?

Apparently some homeless are still at Hanamaulu Beach Park even though the county has prohibited camping there for a month during a major clean up. In her story, Garden Island reporter Amanda Gregg leads with the observation that those who remained “didn’t typify what some envision when thinking of the homeless.”

It’s good to see the message getting out that with Kauai’s high housing costs and outrageous rents, the homeless no longer fit the stereotype of drunken, drugged derelicts. Instead, they’re regular people who can’t scrape up the big money for security deposits and ongoing rent.

Got an email with a link to the House’s proposed bill (HB 266) on the OHA “ceded lands” revenue settlement issue. It still gives OHA $13 million cash and land, but instead of $15 million per year, it proposes a method for doing a yearly assessment of the revenues collected from ceded lands income, and giving OHA a share of that.

There’s a hearing on the bill on Saturday by the committees on Water, Land, Ocean Resources & Hawaiian Affairs, Judicary, and Finance.

And now it’s time to get to work so I can go outside and play on this absolutely gorgeous day. ☺