Foundation appreciates support for beach access project

Napili Bay and Beach Foundation has recently learned of several Maui County grants to help pay for the new public access path, stairs and beach shower at south end of Napili Beach.

We are very appreciative!! This funding, combined with Hawaii State Grant in Aid, and private donations — including a grant from North Beach-West Maui Benefit Fund — will allow us to construct more environmentally friendly structures to replace old public beach access structures that have been destroyed by coastal erosion processes.

We particularly want to acknowledge and thank:

Senator Roz Baker and Representative Angus McKelvey for support obtaining a 2019 State Grant in Aid to construct new stairs.

Chris Salem (Napili resident and Office of the Mayor), Maria Ornellas (Office of the Mayor) and Mayor Victorino for a grant from the Mayor’s Office to cover costs of demolition of all damaged old structures.

Councilmember Tamara Paltin and Jim Buika, Maui County Planning Department, for the SMA Revolving Fund grant that will allow us to install an above-grade path to the top of the stairs, to protect the headland from further erosion.

North Beach-West Maui for a grant to help defray costs of a new public beach shower and rain garden.

And to Councilmember Paltin and JoAnn Inamasu of the Office of Economic Development (OED), for the West Maui Funds OED grant which will close gaps in rest of the project funding.

Both Napili Surf Beach Resort and Napili Shores Resort, NBBF members, contributed funding for plans, permits and project management.

We plan to do this work in late Summer and early Fall, 2021.

To any others we may have overlooked, who contributed to this successful public facilities improvement project, Mahalo Nui Loa! NAPILI BAY AND BEACH FOUNDATION

Politicians shouldn’t brag about vaccinations

Today our politicians are crowing loudly about 55 percent of targeted Americans being partially vaccinated, and maybe 45 percent being fully vaccinated, as if these numbers are the equivalent of summiting Everest.

Am I missing something here? At school, getting it 50 percent right would earn a student a grade of “F.”

I get that most people don’t trust the government, and most never learned much science in school. But these social failures are the fault of leadership.

The founding fathers were clear about what was needed for real political leadership: knowledge, experience and virtue (selfless personality).

The founders wanted leaders who had knowledge of political science, and particularly the difference between republicanism (“democracy”) and elected monarchy.

The founders wanted leaders who entered local public service and stayed there in a variety of capacities for a long time. The founders wanted people who did not care for fame, fortune or control, but merely the opportunity to educate others, serve the majority and preserve the rights of the minority.

Is there one such politician serving anywhere in the United States today?

KIMBALL SHINKOSKEY, Woods Cross, Utah

Preserve fish for the future

This Sunday, while most of the country might be celebrating with baseball and burgers, I’m taking a decidedly different approach.

I’m going “fishing.” But not the kind of fishing you’re thinking of.

Our planet’s oceans and waterways are being stripped through commercial fishing, and even “recreational fishing” takes its toll on the environment, not to mention the trauma to marine life.

At our current rate, we could see fishless oceans by 2048.

This is why, as an ethical vegan and father of two children, I have my own unique approach to “fishing.”

Armed with Google image search and fish identification guides, my kids and I go “fishing” in the same way a birder goes birding.

We “catch” a glimpse of fish, then log it in our Fishing Journal.

As stewards of this planet, we have a unique opportunity to share these moments and nature with the next generation and prove there are more ethical ways to “capture” wildlife.

ERIC C LINDSTROM, Executive Director, Farm Animal Rights Movement

Show respect for our Grand Old Flag

It is said that the flag of the United States was designed by Betsy Ross, a seamstress who lived in Philadelphia during the American Revolution. But, according to PBS, “some historians believe it was designed by New Jersey Congressman Francis Hopkinson and sewn by Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross.”

Whether it was Betsy Ross or Congressman Hopkins who designed the original Stars and Stripes, the Continental Congress, on June 14, 1777, adopted a resolution declaring that “the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate stripes red and white… the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.”

And so, it came to be that our Grand Old Flag became the official emblem of the U.S. — based on the Continental Army’s banner. It was carried into battle for the first time Sept. 11, 1777 in the Revolutionary War battle of Brandywine.

“Today, more than ever, it is important for patriotic Americans to show appropriate reverence for the Flag. We live in an era of unheard of, unexpected disdain for the American way of life — particularly among the younger generations. There are those who would see our Democracy replaced by socialism — even communism among those who do not know of what they speak. Thus, it is important to show them the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ and the reasons we take the time to reflect on and respect Old Glory on June 14,” AMAC’s Rebecca Weber noted.

What better place to learn about the American Flag than at the American Legion Website?

ASSOCIATION OF MATURE AMERICAN CITIZENS