XTERRA race should garner more coverage

The XTERRA World Championship Mountain Bike Triathlon will be held this year on Sunday, Oct. 26, at 9 a.m., for the fourth time at the Ritz-Carlton. Over 700 amateur and professional athletes, some Olympians, will start off of Fleming Beach on a one-mile swim, then a grueling, hot, 19-mile mountain bike ride, finishing with a steep, six-mile trail run to the delight of the few that show up to watch.

What I mean by few is compared to other XTERRA races that are held in Europe, as thousands and thousands watch this race. Maui, having the final race of the season, has a very poor showing. To have a race of this caliber right in our backyard with very little of the local media following is a shame. This race is televised by CBS Sports in the middle of the U.S. winter, showcasing the beauty of the Maui shoreline, the green hills of Kapalua and the international field of athletes. These athletes pay thousands of dollars to come from as far away as South Africa, Brazil, Costa Rica and Australia; as many different languages are spoken here.

I have participated in every race, housed athletes, and every year put on a Tuesday (Oct. 28) post-ride for these fantastic, healthy athletes. Last year, I believe nothing or very little local media attention was given to this race. This race is second only to the Maui Marathon in athlete attendance; however, this race has a bigger international media exposure than the Maui Classic or the Mitsubishi Tournament.

For the local residents, the opportunity to see these athletes, for children to be inspired to pursue an active and healthy lifestyle, and for the local businesses to benefit by these athletes and their families, the local Maui media should garner more media exposure for the XTERRA Worlds.

STEVE FISHER, Lahaina

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Can posting photos help the homeless?

Post a picture on Facebook of a homeless person on Maui. Someone, somewhere is bound to know this person. They might even help them to get back into society or at least with their loved ones or families. It’s legal; just do it!

God bless the poor.

ENRIQUE GUZMAN

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Encourage MPD to enforce traffic laws

I have written, as well as others, on the lack of enforcement of laws for public safety on our roads by the Maui Police Department. This letter is directed to the spouses, children, friends and family members of those on the MPD. All officers are sworn to uphold the law for your safety. Illegal tinted windows are often seen with no tickets. There is a reason this is not allowed: for your safety.

Extra wide tires on extra lifted trucks can and do throw stones into your windshields. Drivers of these trucks do not care about your safety.

On any day, just sit and watch all of the yard waste/branches on uncovered vehicles pulling into the Olowalu dump. There is a safety reason for this.

Of course, we have our own Lahaina Raceway, which happens to be in front of the Lahaina Police Department. The MPD should have two radar locations there to get the speeders that thought they did not get caught at the first radar gun.

And shame on those that share DUI checkpoints and radar locations on social media. You do not deserve to live on Maui. How would you feel if a speeder or drunk driver killed your child or family member? Shame on you!

The homeless and their illegal use of shopping carts is a mess. It is MPD’s responsibility to address this eyesore. The majority of us that live on Maui rely on tourism for our income. Shopping carts littered here and there is an embarrassment to our tourists.

Please encourage those that you know on the MPD to do their job. All in all, life as an officer here on Maui is easy. There should be no reason that on-duty police should be at breakfast or lunch at the same time, allowing speeders an open racetrack.

And then the guilty that know it reading this, are you above the law? Just imagine how you would feel if another guilty driver killed someone you cared for?

Just remember, slow down – this ain’t the Mainland.

RON TATE, Lahaina

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Unlimited money distorts Maui election

Buying a Maui County Council seat shouldn’t be so easy.

In the name of free speech, the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed unlimited money to distort our entire election process – even our local county elections.

One candidate for Maui County Council, Ka’ala Buenconsejo, is supported by two Super-PACs: Forward Progress and the Maui Timeshare Ohana PAC. These are registered as Independent Expenditure Committees, which supposedly have no coordination with the candidate.

Before I started receiving expensive mailers about Ka’ala B. from these Super-PACs, I had never heard of him in either politics or in the world of non-profits.

So far I have received eight very expensive brochures claiming near-sainthood for Ka’ala.

Expenditures for Ka’ala from July 17 to Aug. 9: Maui Timeshare Ohana PAC, $116,110; Forward Progress: About a third of $260,000.

Forward Progress is run by John White of Oahu, who has also run the Super-PAC called the Pacific Resource Partnership. That PAC was sued by Ben Cayetano for activities in the 2012 campaign; Google “John White Oahu.”

Maui Timeshare Ohana PAC is run by Grant Gillingham, a Reno attorney who has previously lobbied for tobacco companies and chemical companies. In 2012, the press got hold of his record establishing a fake citizens’ group called Citizens for Fire Safety, funded by chemical companies, that successfully lobbied for the use of a “brominated fire retardant” that caused cancer in firefighters; Google “Grant Gillingham Reno.”

These enormous expenditures for Ka’ala B. have given him name recognition.

Buying a seat on the Maui County Council shouldn’t be so easy.

SALLY RAISBECK, Wailuku