12-02-2012, 03:19 AM
That is terrible but all too common. You really need to be careful in Puna. I know everybody is all about all the aloha and peace on earth, good will to all ideasphere but Puna is kind of a mecca for ex-cons, escaped convicts, deserters, dope dealers, some mafia stuff going on. It is well known in crooked circles that the Kalapana and Kau settlements are littered with these guys. Then they have friends, tweekers that don't have any place to live and there are all these foreclosed and abandoned houses. There are squatters all over. Since the houses are usually empty, they go around and burgle to get their furniture, Tv's, tools, whatever. Besides, this is Hawaii where there is no stinking government and everything belongs to everybody else, after all. Some people want to imply that it is all locals, thinking that means natives. There is a big difference between natives and locals, one does not mean the other necessarily. Despite it all, it is still a wonderful place to live, you just have to keep your eyes open. Big open house advertisements of a collectors possessions is like putting a sign on the place saying "ROB ME".
*Japanese tourist on bus through Pahoa, "Is this still America?*