{clipping
service} From
the Aug. 30, The Boston Globe article, "Hawai'i's homeless law fuels tension,"
by Globe correspondent Pat Bigold. From
fabled Waikiki Beach, one of the places where the homeless congregate on O'ahu,
to the neighboring islands that conjure the image of paradise to planeloads of
tourists who arrive daily, there is increasing tension between the thousands of
homeless people, their advocates, and state, city, and county governments. Darlene
Hein, a homeless advocate who works at Waikiki Health Center, said there's an
inevitable tension between homelessness and tourism. "Obviously
if visitors go to the beach and see homeless people, it just doesn't suggest the
image of Hawai'i and aloha," said Hein. Fueling
the ill feelings is a new state law that went into effect in May allowing police
to arrest homeless people if they return within a year to a spot from which they
were rousted. It's
why Hawai'i will make the National Coalition for the Homeless' "Meanest States"
list for the first time next month [September], debuting at No. 3, according to
coalition cofounder Michael Stoops. Meanwhile, Honolulu will jump from No. 19
on the "Meanest Cities" list to No. 9. … [Stoops] cited not only the new state
law, but earlier actions, such as police sweeps of beaches and parks, the removal
of benches where the homeless slept in Waikiki and downtown Honolulu, and the
installation of razor wire under viaducts. |
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