WE HAVE LOST...

ANOTHER GREAT ONE

Richard Widmark passed, at age 93, on March 24th at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut.

***

The island of Moloka'i is headed for deep trouble. A part of Mau'i County, Moloka'i has a population of about 7,500. In the private sector, it only had one major employer. Molokai Ranch, which owned and operated the hotel, gas station, grocery store, and cattle ranching operations. For years The Ranch has been trying to develop some of its land into more commercially viable use. Some housing sub-divisions, energy and water from the sparsely populated east end of the island to the populous west side. Their efforts have always been thwarted by the native aboriginal population. The terrorists on the island have destroyed the water trannsport system on multiple occasions. The Ranch has complied with every EIS (Enviornmental Impact Statement) that has been requested and modified their plans to accommadate the concerns raised by the population. This week, The Ranch threw in the towel and announced that it will cease all operations on the island next month. I mean ALL operations. The island has the highest unemployment rate, at 7+%, of the entire State. This shutdown will lose another 120 jobs.

Moloka'i has the misnomer of "The Friendly Isle", which is about as far from the truth as utterances from the Oval Office. It is probably the least friendly or socially accepting of any of the islands. Residents want to turn back the clock to the 18th century, before Europeans ever arrived. They may just get their wish.

***

Oh, I am not being reclusive of late. Its just that I haven't found anything worth writing about.

I did talk to Alissa (a/k/a/ "Wiskers") yesterday. She was on a 2 hour drive to see her boyfriend, Joey, up in Brainard, Minnesota. We used up about an hour of her trip just chatting. She'll be here, along with her family, on the 10th of next month. Their arrival will be a bright spot in my meager existence. And I will actually get to met "Queen" Nora for the first time. Oh, she is walking now. If you trick her. She'll hold your finger and trundle along, then remove that finger of support and she'll take 10-15 more steps and realize that her security is gone and immediately plop down. Kids are so much fun.

The weekend approaches and I hope each of you has a great one. See you tomorrow.

Mahalo

Aloha

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THE PICTURE GALLERY

Over The Limit?
UNDER ARREST!
Please don't drink and drive

"Let's all be careful out there!"