Hawaii has a very long history with fireworks going back to Asian immigrants during the plantation era. I've lived here for 20 years and my family is from here originally. Short story - the police are in on the illegal fireworks trade themselves. Nothing is going to get done about.
This is the same state that budgeted 5.1 billion for Honolulu Area Rapid Transit (HART) and has now spent 12.45 billion on a still incomplete project.
The same state that has multiple wastewater systems that have been threatened with federalization by the EPA for massive environmental violations of the Clean Water Act.
The same state that was warned for 15 years about the fire danger in abandoned sugar cane fields and did nothing (Lahaina).
The same state that inspects, at best, one out of every 10 shipping containers for invasive species and is the species extinction capital of the world.
The same state that has lost 90% of low to mid-elevation Native Hawaiian forests over the last 250 years (the green stuff you see on your vacation at sea level is almost entirely non-native).
I love Hawaii but it's in really bad shape. The tourist money makes the fat cats rich but it doesn't stay in state.
People here are fed up and feel powerless. These way overdone and often deadly celebrations are, in part, a symptom of this (in my opinion). Locals need to blow off steam, badly.
Sources:
The federal agency and state health officials will determine whether the aging facility violated its discharge permit and the Clean Water Act.
www.civilbeat.org
The summer of 2023 marked a milestone for Honolulu. The first phase of its 20-mile light metro system known as the “Rail,” which connects West O‘ahu and urban Honolulu, was approved by the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transit (HART) for interim passenger operations. In many other cities, the app
www.cpreview.org
Most Hawaii vacation costs are controlled by non-Hawaii corporations, which the state has no say in.
beatofhawaii.com
www.hawaiinewsnow.com
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