Protesters at the Mauna Kea Access Road removed barricades for the first time since July as the demonstrators against a giant telescope project shift their focus away from the construction site.
Friday was moving day at Mauna Kea. Hawaii County trucks brought in heavy equipment. Workers rolled out black ground covering over an old lava road and used gravel material to create a smoother surface for the activists’ kupuna tent.
The Hawaii Police Department has gone $3 million over budget primarily because of the necessity of an increased police presence near the site of demonstrations at the Mauna Kea Access Road, an official said.
In the eyes of government, the protest camp that went up at the base of Mauna Kea is operating outside the law. But for those who at Puuhonua o Puuhuluhulu, the protest is about so much more than a telescope. They camp, day after day, because ― they say ― they have a calling to protect the aina.
The Hawaii County Board of Ethics ruled a prosecutor does not have a conflict of interest in cases involving protesters arrested for blocking a giant telescope’s construction.
With cars traveling at 60 mph along Daniel K. Inouye highway and police reporting near accidents, the private security was hired over the summer to keep motorists and pedestrians safe.
From 6 a.m. to noon, dozens of Thirty Meter Telescope opponents blocked two separate entrances to the parking lot at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation in Palo Alto.
Neil deGrasse Tyson, one of the world’s most well-known astrophysicists, published an opinion piece on the Thirty Meter Telescope controversy on Wednesday, offering another perspective he says “may have been overlooked in the heat of debates.”
To avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, the Hawaii attorney general’s office will take over prosecution of protesters arrested for blocking construction of a giant telescope.
Despite this quiet period, the Kia’i, those who call themselves protectors of Mauna Kea are warning their supporters to expect law enforcement action in the next 30 days.“We are being notified that law enforcement is considering using excessive force by way of chemical dispersants to punish and sup
The man responsible for prosecuting the mostly Native Hawaiian elders arrested for protesting construction of a giant telescope said there is no conflict of interest, even though his son works for one of the embattled project’s partners.
Just days before the planned start of construction for the Thirty Meter Telescope last month, Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim sent a letter to Governor David Ige asking for a 30-day delay.
Thirty Meter Telescope officials acknowledge that their backup site atop a peak on the Spanish Canary island of La Palma is a comparable observatory location, and that it wouldn’t cost more money or take extra time to build it there.
Lawmakers are raising major concerns about the rising costs for law enforcement and first responders at the site of the Thirty Meter Telescope protest on Mauna Kea.
On PBS Insights Thursday night, Mayor Harry Kim described the decision making process on July 17 on Mauna Kea when law enforcement faced off with activists.
The existing telescopes continue to sit idle during this fourth week of the TMT protest on Mauna Kea. The lack of research has frustrated scientists and technicians say getting up to the summit to do maintenance has been a struggle.
“The different approaches to learning and having students be able to be on the mauna and study in many different fields in classes that are offered, I think that is so exciting."
Macfarlane, despite currently residing in San Diego, traveled home to the islands this weekend to join protestors at Mauna Kea on the Big Island in their peaceful protest against the construction of the heavily-debated Thirty-Meter Telescope.
