This news is a bit distressing to me, and a side of Hawai’i that the state doesn’t like visitors to hear about. I spent a significant percentage of my youth at this park. Our home was about a half-mile away. I would walk or bike to the park to play basketball or tennis, and stay into the wee hours of the morning.
During my time on MPD (early 80s) I found out that someone who attended Kihei Elementary school around the same time as I did was selling drugs from the park’s parking lot. I had a chat with our vice squad about it. I don’t know if I had anything to do with it, but a few months later his sports car was in police lockup and I was told that it was later auctioned off. Score one for the good guys.
Kihei used to be a great place to live. It isn’t any more.
