The meek shall inherit the 'aina

[lurkah]

DLNR Chief says Big Island and Maui conceded to coqui frog infestation (http://starbulletin.com/2005/10/15/news/story09.html).

I had been under the impression that they were getting the problem under control by using hydrated lime and concentrated sprays of caffeine.

[craigwatanabe]

I don't know about Maui but the Big Island's County is so inept it's unreal. I mean look at the Hokulia issue...County says, "go ahead and build" Da Judge says, "I don't tink so braddah".

My 18-year old just got his first parking ticket this past week and did the diligent thing by stuffing a check in the prepaid envelope and sending it off the next day. The filled envelope came back a few days later indicating the pre-paid envelope's postage permit had expired and now he's late in paying his penalty.

That's grounds for going to the traffic division and slapping them on the head, "wassamattah you?" Jeez sending out prepaid deliquent postage seems like writing bad checks. I should contest the ticket on the grounds that the County is too inept to handle these kinds of matters.

I just shake my head whenever the County of Hawaii's name appears in the newspapers and its typically about how the County of Hawaii messed up AGAIN!

[Rickyrab]

Speaking of counties, has Kelawao County Kalawao County done anything of note lately? (I mean that Father Damien colony that somehow wound up as its own county on one side of Molokai.)

[Miulang]

Speaking of counties, has Kelawao County Kalawao County done anything of note lately? (I mean that Father Damien colony that somehow wound up as its own county on one side of Molokai.)
No, because it's a National Historic site and "owned" by the feds. There are still people living there who were exiled there when they were kids. Out of respect to them, very few outsiders are allowed to go down there.

Miulang

[Miulang]

I don't know about Maui but the Big Island's County is so inept it's unreal. I mean look at the Hokulia issue...County says, "go ahead and build" Da Judge says, "I don't tink so braddah".

I just shake my head whenever the County of Hawaii's name appears in the newspapers and its typically about how the County of Hawaii messed up AGAIN!
Heh. If you asked people who voted in a recent Maui News poll that asked readers what kind of report card the County Council and Mayor should receive for their actions over the last year, the answer, Craig, would be that the leadership of Maui County is just as inept as the one on the Big Island.

I think the reason why Maui County people are upset is similar to why other residents of Hawai'i are upset: particularly lack of affordable housing, and high transportation costs (gas historically has always cost more in Maui County than Honolulu). Some residents believe that the Council is controlled by liberal whackos who are putting the environment before the needs of the taxpayers (good case in point: the EIS that the County went to court to try to get the Superferry project to slow down; another case in point: an affordable housing project in Central Maui called Hale Mua that is being slowed down by NIMBYism). The people who rated the County government as failing are the ones who probably would love to see Maui become another Oahu.

Miulang

P.S. Isn't there some sort of popular movement to have Harry Kim run (as a Democrat) against Gov. Lingle next election? That would be an interesting matchup. Isn't/wasn't Harry Kim a Republican when he was elected? Didn't he change party affiliations once before in order to run for Mayor of Hawaii County?

[Rickyrab]

No, because it's a National Historic site and "owned" by the feds. There are still people living there who were exiled there when they were kids. Out of respect to them, very few outsiders are allowed to go down there.

Miulang

Why is it a county if it can't really do anything as a county?

[Rickyrab]

Heh. If you asked people who voted in a recent Maui News poll that asked readers what kind of report card the County Council and Mayor should receive for their actions over the last year, the answer, Craig, would be that the leadership of Maui County is just as inept as the one on the Big Island.

I think the reason why Maui County people are upset is similar to why other residents of Hawai'i are upset: particularly lack of affordable housing, and high transportation costs (gas historically has always cost more in Maui County than Honolulu). Some residents believe that the Council is controlled by liberal whackos who are putting the environment before the needs of the taxpayers (good case in point: the EIS that the County went to court to try to get the Superferry project to slow down; another case in point: an affordable housing project in Central Maui called Hale Mua that is being slowed down by NIMBYism). The people who rated the County government as failing are the ones who probably would love to see Maui become another Oahu.

Miulang

P.S. Isn't there some sort of popular movement to have Harry Kim run (as a Democrat) against Gov. Lingle next election? That would be an interesting matchup. Isn't/wasn't Harry Kim a Republican when he was elected? Didn't he change party affiliations once before in order to run for Mayor of Hawaii County?

Quite a few folks in NJ are upset over affordable housing, too (we're the state that had the infamous Mt. Laurel case a few decades ago, when some folks got a court decision handed down saying that all towns in the state had to provide "affordable housing" - and every chunk of land in New Jersey not overseen by some "commission" is in some town or other, so just about everyone in the state is affected by this law, through taxation and/or the need to decide where to put affordable housing. Plenty folks want to avoid paying for schools, so towns want to rule out having to house a lot of kids in "affordable housing". Upshot? Many of the towns designate all their "affordable housing" for senior citizens, or try to dodge the requirement altogether. So Jamesburg has no land available, Bound Brook already has an existing affordable housing stock, Monroe Township naturally designates senior citizens' homes as "affordable", and so on and so forth.
We're not as upset over transportation costs (which are still a pain in the neck) but we ARE annoyed about heating oil bills (we're not Hawai'i, and it shows, lol).

I doubt that Maui will become another Oahu - worst case scenario is likely that Maui becomes a suburb of Oahu, and I suppose the Superferry debate is really over that. Molokai would be even less inclined than Maui to suburbanize, and Lana'i is out because it's a company town. Kahoolawe is out for obvious reasons. Hawai'i is further away than Maui from Honolulu, and, well, Kauai... I suppose Kauai would have similar NIMBY responses if it were tapped for a Superferry.

[Miulang]

Why is it a county if it can't really do anything as a county?

It has to do with the fact that the settlement at Kalaupapa was specifically built to house (quarantine) victims of Hansen's disease. At the time of Father Damien, there were no cures (sulfa drugs came later), so the patients were exiled to that forsaken peninsula of Moloka'i. To the residents, it might as well have been another country, nevermind county. The stigma associated with the ravages of Hansen's disease at the time meant that no healthy person wanted to be associated with any of those residents; hence a convenient way to "forget" about them was to create a whole different county.

Miulang

[Miulang]

I doubt that Maui will become another Oahu - worst case scenario is likely that Maui becomes a suburb of Oahu, and I suppose the Superferry debate is really over that. Molokai would be even less inclined than Maui to suburbanize, and Lana'i is out because it's a company town. Kahoolawe is out for obvious reasons. Hawai'i is further away than Maui from Honolulu, and, well, Kauai... I suppose Kauai would have similar NIMBY responses if it were tapped for a Superferry.

The Lahaina end of Maui might as well be a suburb of Waikiki. Kahoolawe is out for reasons not obvious to the casual tourist, too. It is sacred land to the kanaka maoli. And Kauai has exactly the same problems with overcrowding that Maui has because Mainland investors have snapped up much of the real estate on both islands.

Miulang

[Rickyrab]

It has to do with the fact that the settlement at Kalaupapa was specifically built to house (quarantine) victims of Hansen's disease. At the time of Father Damien, there were no cures (sulfa drugs came later), so the patients were exiled to that forsaken peninsula of Moloka'i. To the residents, it might as well have been another country, nevermind county. The stigma associated with the ravages of Hansen's disease at the time meant that no healthy person wanted to be associated with any of those residents; hence a convenient way to "forget" about them was to create a whole different county.

Miulang

That wasn't very nice to the inhabitants, was it? Maybe if the inhabitants had the powers of the county they supposedly are, the county would be doing something or other. Other than that, I wouldn't know what to say; I don't know how the economy and taxes of a county consisting of twenty-odd people with Hansen's disease works out. (Even if the disease is factored out of the equation, the county wouldn't be particularly rich, unless the inhabitants were millionaires or something.)

[Rickyrab]

The Lahaina end of Maui might as well be a suburb of Waikiki. Kahoolawe is out for reasons not obvious to the casual tourist, too. It is sacred land to the kanaka maoli. And Kauai has exactly the same problems with overcrowding that Maui has because Mainland investors have snapped up much of the real estate on both islands.

Miulang

Well, of course; Oahu is overcrowded and Maui and Kauai are the next "best" islands for developers (not much chance for lava flows to burn down your condo, closer to Honolulu Airport, etc.) So, of course, there's overcrowding on Maui and Kauai.

How come Kahoolawe is sacred? Wouldn't the Big Island be sacred or something? (after all, the new land is being cranked out on Hawai'i, not Kahoolawe)

[Miulang]

Well, of course; Oahu is overcrowded and Maui and Kauai are the next "best" islands for developers (not much chance for lava flows to burn down your condo, closer to Honolulu Airport, etc.) So, of course, there's overcrowding on Maui and Kauai.

How come Kahoolawe is sacred? Wouldn't the Big Island be sacred or something? (after all, the new land is being cranked out on Hawai'i, not Kahoolawe)
Go read about it for yourself if you're so interested. And parts of the Big Island are EXTREMELY sacred. Go find out where, and why for yourself.

Miulang

[Miulang]

That wasn't very nice to the inhabitants, was it? Maybe if the inhabitants had the powers of the county they supposedly are, the county would be doing something or other. Other than that, I wouldn't know what to say; I don't know how the economy and taxes of a county consisting of twenty-odd people with Hansen's disease works out. (Even if the disease is factored out of the equation, the county wouldn't be particularly rich, unless the inhabitants were millionaires or something.)
Absolutely not. The Feds have declared Kalaupapa a national historic site. Maui County can't touch it.

Miulang

[Rickyrab]

Go read about it for yourself if you're so interested. And parts of the Big Island are EXTREMELY sacred. Go find out where, and why for yourself.

Miulang
ok, I'll google it.

[Jonah K]

Geting back to the coqui frogs..., unless there is a coordinated effort in which all of the coqui are eliminated at once or some sort of coqui "birth control" is developed, we are pretty much stuck with them. Hydrated lime and caffeine sprays are somewhat effective at eliminating them from a particular area; however, the some of the buggahs are smart enough to simply go to an area where spraying is not taking place. :mad:

[Glen Miyashiro]

It's ironic that we here in Hawai‘i are trying to get rid of coqui frogs, when on a global scale scientists are worried about a general decline (http://www.frogweb.gov/) in amphibian populations.

As for Kalawao, I heard that the state health department director is officially the mayor of the county.

[craigwatanabe]

Maybe we need to industrialize the Big Island to start a decline in amphibian species here? :D

One thing I noticed is that when the rains become heavy and our area becomes more wet for a longer period of time, the coquis migrate closer to our home. But when the dry season hits, man it's dead quiet out in them boonies at night.

The lot across the street from my home had a single coqui chirping every night. That is until last week when I heard a duet going on and oh man pretty soon it'll be a racket. I just hope we get a major drought to dry up them buggahs for a while. I'll pay for water haulers to bring in water if it means killing off those frogs for a season or two.

[Stephen]

Can you say, "Stay on Topic?" Just kidding. It doesn't (no) matter to me. Interestingly, while residents of Hawaii have outwardly rejected the coqui frog, the people of the Caribbean have embraced it:
http://welcome.topuertorico.org/coqui.shtml
Is that because it has no natural predators here and is able to thrive as opposed to survive? Just curious. .. .
Stephen

[craigwatanabe]

What does eat the coqui? Even in Puerto Rico where it's embraced, the shrill sound is so persuasive that I can't imagine that place having any natural predators either.

Like I said in my editorial many moons ago, it's tough enough to endure the racket from the Mynah birds in the banyan trees at sunset when they just chatter chatter chatter. But when evening falls and the birds quiet down, the shrill of hundreds of coqui replace the chatter of the Mynah birds and the racket goes on until sunrise when the Mynah birds take over again.

In other words, non-stop noise. We're not talking a few interesting chirping coqui, we're talking hundreds that can get so loud you can't hear your TV set in your living room! IT'S LOUD...imagine a squealling power steering belt on your car's engine and placing your ear about oh let's say 10-inches from the belt making all that noise. That's about the sound and intensity of the coqui, every friggin night!

[sinjin]

What does eat the coqui? Even in Puerto Rico where it's embraced, the shrill sound is so persuasive that I can't imagine that place having any natural predators either.

http://www.wayland.k12.ma.us/claypit_hill/classrooms/grade4/griffin/web/web/animalreports04/coqui.html