Is the Lava Flow Problem Causing More Crime To Come To Hilo? (Volcano: section 8, leases)

[smarino]

About 12 years ago, the wife and I left Hilo for the usual reasons. Housing was far too high for what you got, we could get MUCH nicer digs on the mainland for MUCH less money, there is a real economy here, the VOG, etc. We think of going back when my wife retires in 6 years, but what I'm seeing over there is not what I want to move back to, probably because the Hilo that we left is not there anymore. Oh, it LOOKS the same. You don't build any new housing or fix up the existing structures, it will look the same, right? But the recent fatal stabbing in broad daylight in a very exposed area of Hilo has pretty much slammed the door on that idea. The wife's son had his home broken into and robbed recently in broad daylight too. I wonder what would have happened if they had been home instead of out at the time? I know what would have happened over here, I would have shot the perps if I thought for one nano second that we were in danger. But w/ the dumb gun laws on the Islands, that is rarely going to happen. If the only people that have guns are the cops and the criminals....

What is going on over there? It looks like the really bad criminals and hard drug users who were nesting in Pahoa are now being driven out and into Hilo, where the marginal police force is already stretched too thin. I don't think they're up to the job. Combine that w/ the very light, preferential sentences that are handed out by Judge Hara, a really bad economy, ultra tight housing market w/ sky high prices, low paying jobs, a jail that prisoners seem to walk away from w/ alarming regularity, regular early release from prison of violent criminals, etc, and I no longer wish to go back. I agree w/ Thomas Wolfe, you can't go back home again, because it's not there anymore, and you're different as well.

Are others in Hilo (if you live elsewhere on the island, you don't know) seeing what I am? On the surface, things look sorta OK, but dig just a little bit and it looks bad, w/ worse to come. Now I'm not a Hawaii basher, but I'm not a blind fool either. I saw from the moment I stepped off the plane from SFO to the surface of the Hilo airport back in 1990 that this aloha business was as phony as the day was long. Angry, disgruntled, racist locals,,,,well. You either lived w/ blinders on and pretended not to see it (you would not believe how many people we knew who fell into that category), or you dealt w/ it, or you left. But back then things were affordable, the state had money, etc. Now, it's one thing after another it seems, w/ the serious problems w/ competent, quality health care being a big issue as well. What say you folks in Hilo? I ain't going back because it doesn't look like someplace I want to come back to, even though we have a ton of good friends there (all haole of course, because that's just the way it works there). I'd be interested in hearing from people who actually live and work in Hilo, not the trust fund babies, students, or retirees, all of whom are really not plugged into the real world there. We used to live a little bit into the Wainaku area downtown, but the wife's son says it has gotten a lot rougher there compared to when we left, and he personally wouldn't live there. He stays in an area behind the Hilo Shopping Center, and is a lot more cautious than he used to be, although that area looked somewhat OK when we left back in 2003.

[Jonah K]

Originally Posted by smarino

What is going on over there? It looks like the really bad criminals and hard drug users who were nesting in Pahoa are now being driven out and into Hilo, where the marginal police force is already stretched too thin.

Most of the "really bad criminals and hard drug users" left Pāhoa around a decade ago when security cameras funded by the "Weed and Seed" program were installed throughout the town.
StarBulletin.com | News | /2005/12/25/

Undoubtedly, the moratorium on new leases for Section 8 housing recipients lower Puna resulted in some lower-income folks to moving to the sketchy parts of Hilo; however, it's hyperbole to characterize all of them as "really bad criminals and drug users."
http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/news...ers-lower-puna

[hawaiian by heart]

Op,

I think its time to really take a look at how outside influences have effected local life on the islands even in areas that are not Oahu or suppose to be Oahu. Now i know this frustrates some people who have the "we are the world" mentality. But we really need to look at the changes in values and culture brought on by outside influences from the past to the present that has changed things especially in the last 50 years and now we can look at cause and effect. Now looking at the outside influences of the past etc and saying ok i see, won't solve the problems faced now on the islands but it can raise the awareness to maybe live just a little bit differently?

Op, I also lived in Hawai'i and from a different era, so i can relate to missing it. Personally i believe the trick is to not forget that there was once a great way of life on the islands, its not gone if you don't forget. The other trick is to convince others that haven't experienced this reality of a better life that it existed and

Pg 1/2

[hawaiian by heart]

Pg 2/2

Can exist again if we change the way we think and our attitudes collectively. But the saying is always true thou, the reason society illness has remained to exist in our society is because some or alot of people have profited from it. Aloha

[Lodestone]

The culprit has been apprehended.
Man charged in fatal Hilo stabbing | Hawaii Tribune-Herald

[3ToGo]

I am only a visitor of the island but I try to keep up on current events & news there. The one thing I have noticed is in just about all the crimes I see highlighted, it appears they do apprehend the criminal.

[Grassyknoll]

The lava flow is absoloutely bringing crime to Hilo and I have the proof.
I took my family to the lava viewing area and went at least 10 mph over the speed limit the whole way. Wouldn't have made the trip if the lava weren't flowing; the lava brought me, I broke the law, therefore the lava brought crime to Hilo.

[Jonah K]

Originally Posted by Grassyknoll

The lava flow is absoloutely bringing crime to Hilo and I have the proof.
I took my family to the lava viewing area and went at least 10 mph over the speed limit the whole way. Wouldn't have made the trip if the lava weren't flowing; the lava brought me, I broke the law, therefore the lava brought crime to Hilo.

You've got it backwards. Based on your account, it appears that you brought crime from Hilo to Puna.

[Grassyknoll]

Originally Posted by Jonah K

You've got it backwards. Based on your account, it appears that you brought crime from Hilo to Puna.

Nah, I just left out the part where we went to Hilo after Pahoa. Technically, the lava flow brought my lawlessness to every burb between Oceanview and Hilo-Na'alehu, Pahala, Volcano, Pahoa, Hilo, all were negatively impacted (all except the stretch of road around Volcanoes National Park, the dangers run speed traps through there).

[Jonah K]

Originally Posted by Grassyknoll

Nah, I just left out the part where we went to Hilo after Pahoa. Technically, the lava flow brought my lawlessness to every burb between Oceanview and Hilo-Na'alehu, Pahala, Volcano, Pahoa, Hilo, all were negatively impacted (all except the stretch of road around Volcanoes National Park, the dangers run speed traps through there).

Oh, so you brought crime and lawlessness from Kaʻū to Puna and Hilo.