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According to Ryan Finnerty of Hawaii Public Radio, the MK Access Road bypass is too rough for sensitive equipment:
Improvements made by the state to Old Saddle Road will allow a more normal flow of personnel and equipment, but it sounds like very large and highly sensitive gear, like a new black hole finder, will stay in Hilo for now.
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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Full press release from Maunakea Observatories:
"Existing Maunakea telescopes announce return to work
Maunakea Observatories to resume operations, including scientific observations
HILO, HI - After a four-week suspension of work at the summit of Maunakea, the existing telescopes will attempt a return to operations.
The Maunakea Observatories represent an invaluable sector for Hawai‘i Island and our entire State – the economic impact, intellectual capital, educational resources and community support they provide is irreplaceable,” said Governor David Ige, State of Hawai‘i. “The interim solution for access to the telescopes is a step forward but remains inadequate for the long term. The State remains committed to re-opening the Maunakea Access Road intersection as an immediate priority. The State stands behind the more than 500 employees’ efforts to bring the telescopes back online to begin astronomical observations again.”
The Maunakea Access Road remains blockaded. However, activists agreed, after the Emergency Proclamation was withdrawn, to allow all existing observatory employees, including astronomers, to access Maunakea using the Old Saddle Road and a section of unpaved lava. This route is unimproved and lined with tents, cars and people. However, pursuant to this agreement, on Wednesday, August 7, 2019 the State laid cinder and cones in an attempt to address safety concerns. The people blocking the road also agreed to allow larger vehicles to access Maunakea by going around the tent blockade. This means the vehicles will travel on the road’s shoulder.
The current process of gaining access to Maunakea requires the observatories to provide pre-arranged notification of all vehicles seeking access. To accomplish this, the people blocking the road will be provided a list of which vehicles are going up and when. This requires the observatories to contact the Office of Maunakea Management, which then contacts law enforcement, who then provides the list to the activists. The observatories are also aware that activists have been keeping a log of who goes up and down.
This arrangement -- and the improvements made by the state to address safety concerns and ensure appropriate access for the observatories -- constitutes progress. The observatories hope this process will allow them to return to as close to full operations as possible while the Maunakea Access Road remains blocked. However, the state, county and observatories remain committed to reopening the blocked Maunakea Access Road intersection to vehicular traffic so that access will be unimpeded and prior notification and/or approval by the protesters will no longer be necessary.
“This is what we have all been collectively working on: protecting the rights of the protectors to demonstrate is our responsibility; protecting the rights of the workers at the observatories to go up the mountain to do their work is our responsibility; and protecting the rights of the public to visit the mountain is our responsibility,” said Mayor Harry Kim, County of Hawai‘i. “We’re very appreciative of the efforts by DOCARE to negotiate with the protectors to regain access. This is a step forward, but still my goal is to open the mountain in protection of the rights of all others.”
The Observatories plan to send regular day crews back to the summit to prepare the telescopes to resume operations. During the prolonged shutdown, some instruments and systems were disabled to protect the health of the technology, so the restart process will vary in complexity from telescope to telescope. The Observatories hope to resume scientific observations as soon as possible.
“The Maunakea Observatories thank the state and county for their statements of support for a continued vibrant astronomy sector in Hawai'i,” said Hilton Lewis, director of the W. M. Keck Observatory. “We are deeply committed to our community here on Hawai'i Island and are eager to get back to work at our telescopes as soon as possible, to resume the world-leading astronomy for which Hawai’i is renowned.”
This four-week suspension has been the longest period of time in the five-decade history of Maunakea astronomy that all telescopes have been simultaneously offline. Observatory employees -- technicians, astronomers, instrument scientists and engineers alike -- eagerly anticipate a return to the daily work they love. The international community, of which these telescopes are a part, also eagerly awaits the return of their vital partner."
PS. For the astrologers, note that the Sun, Venus and Mars are all in Leo and Venus is quincunx Saturn.
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The State remains committed to re-opening the Maunakea Access Road intersection as an immediate priority
You keep using that word - I do not think it means what you think it means. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTRKCXC0JFg
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" Maybe TomK can pay a toll to make up for all of Captain Cook's transgressions - those Brits are all alike, bloody w@nker colonists."
Not while he's still alive I won't. He can pay the bloody toll himself.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/con...49819.html
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quote:
Originally posted by SBH
Astrologers will go back to work.
Tom’s going to love this. [ ]
Absolutely. We'll get to do our jobs again and get paid by suckers.
http://apacificview.blogspot.com/2009/04...-life.html
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A coupleof very well-written opinion pieces appeared today at Honolulu Civil Beat. One was written by Don Mitchell who took part in the "Envision Maunakea" project (link in the article) and one by Elijah Lee, a senior at Kamehameha High Schools, Kapalama. It'll be interesting to see if Elijah will be subject to the same threats Mailani Neal received back in 2015 ( https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/2889...book-post/).
" The Soft Voices Of Mauna Kea That Should Be Heard"
https://www.civilbeat.org/2019/08/the-so...-be-heard/
" Thinking Far Beyond The Summit Of Mauna Kea"
https://www.civilbeat.org/2019/08/thinki...mauna-kea/
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It's funny to read about these protest groups receiving funding from corrupt organizations and rich heiresses. The money to protest imagined exploitation coming from the real exploiters. Rallying to a knock-off British flag, a reminder of when the kingdom voluntarily gave itself over to the British for protection in 1843. Protesting the cleanest and least exploitative industry in Hawaii, in favor of old myths used to keep people in line under brutal kapu.
SMH...
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What? Bashing a woman's head in with a shark-tooth embedded club for eating a banana is brutal?
http://kaizenwong.angelfire.com/Kapu_System.pdf
Hi all. I am new to the conversation. First post, I hope I get it right. It sure is a drag they got that road closed. I had visitors and was hoping that my auntie could have gone up and visited the family's burials. She's the last of her generation, and all her siblings are buried on the mountain. But no can. She isn't as young and eager to take the original 4x4 track we used to follow before the access road was put in. And besides, they had to book it back to the mainland. You know, my cousins got work and all that.
We had a lively discussion instead. My auntie, pure Hawaiian, asked why do so many newcomers (she won't use the word "haole" says it's disrespectful) speak disparagingly about the protesters. She pointed out that so many of America's improvements come as a result of civil disobedience. She spoke glowingly of Rosa Parks. I think Rosa is my auntie's hero, being of a similar age and both feel their minorities, and what society's racism has done to them, deeply. But then my uncle, as white as the driven snow, who is as different from auntie as day is different from night, got all in a huff and was pretty loud, going on about the rule of law as if that cancels out all rights to using civil disobedience as a means to facilitate change. Me and my cousins we just shook our heads. Rolled our eyes. No way uncle 'gets it.'
I personally feel for the folks on the road. I hope they can get what they need to put an end to all this. Not just the TMT issue but the whole Hawaiian rights thing. Is there any path forward that would do that? Or, are we destined to repeat this over and over as each new icon of their discontent emerges? Auntie says nothing is going be fixed until the Hawaiian people are respected. Her husband says there is nothing to respect, just get out the national guard and clear the road already. I am still amazed at how much those two love each other. But to see them carry on you'd think they were going to start some kind of international crisis.
So, for auntie, I'll ask, instead of all the disrespect about jacked up trucks and oil leaks and 'don't they have jobs' kine stuff, does anyone here have anything constructive to add to the conversation? Any workable solutions to offer? And, btw, for me, workable means acceptable to all not just the protesters, or the astronomers, everyone.
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workable means acceptable to all not just the protesters
Protestors have made it abundantly clear that they will only accept "TMT is built elsewhere"; refusing to negotiate is somewhat less than constructive.
The whole "no more rule of law" thing is also really unfortunate.
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