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The Independent
10 minutes ago
- The Independent
Group tries to stop state from demolishing famed Hawaii staircase that has become popular with influencers
A Hawaii court is being asked to reverse the city of Honolulu's decision to demolish the Haʻikū Stairs, an iconic historical landmark popular among influencers — despite being illegal to hike. A lawsuit was filed in district court on Thursday by the Friends of Haʻikū Stairs, a nonprofit lobbying to retain the 50-year-old mountain path on O'ahu instead of tearing it down, the Honolulu Civil Beat reported. The city of Honolulu has been trying to demolish the scenic structure, also known as the 'Stairway to Heaven,' since 2021 over safety concerns, liability issues and expensive security costs. The famed stairs were built in World War II as part of a top-secret naval radio project, but have since become a contentious issue. While the stairs were closed in 1987 and are considered illegal to climb, countless hikers still flock to them to take in the breathtaking views. The new lawsuit asks the court to permanently halt the decision made by the State Historic Preservation Division, a branch of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, under Hawai'i statutes. The filing claims the state failed to have the city 'conduct adequate historic and archaeological surveys of the full project area' and let the city reject 'a viable alternative to preserve the Stairs.' The lawsuit cites a 2019 letter to the city, in which the historic division said it hoped to preserve and restore the damaged section of the staircase. '[The state's] preferred alternative would be to keep the Haʻikū Stairs and … and restore the damaged section of the stairs,' the letter read. However, years later, in April of 2024, the state changed course, writing to the city that demolition could proceed. The lawsuit argues that the letter didn't adequately explain the change in stance. 'We just think that [the state's] rapid shift from preservation to demolition without explaining or doing any of the steps necessary under state law was fundamentally wrong and voids the whole process,' Justin Scorza, vice president of the Friends of Haʻikū Stairs, said on Monday. The Friends of Haʻikū Stairs previously appealed the letter with the Hawai'i Historic Places Review Board, but it lacked a quorum to rule on the legality of the letter, Scorza said. City spokesperson Ian Scheuring told the outlet the city was confident the Circuit Court didn't have jurisdiction over the case, and expects the lawsuit to be dismissed. The decision to demolish the stairs was officially made in September 2021 by Honolulu city officials. It was expected to take six months and cost $2.6 million, but in August 2023 the Friends of Haʻikū Stairs asked a court to stop the plan. While the nonprofit lost that decision, a temporary injunction was placed on the project in June 2024. In February of this year, Honolulu filed for an expedited appeal decision, claiming it cost nearly $2 million to pay police overtime to guard the steps from June to December last year. Over 120 arrests were made for trespassing during that same time period, according to the report. Despite officials' concerns over the structure's safety, no one has ever died climbing the stairs. About 200 hikers have been rescued off the trail between 2010 and 2022, the report said.
The Independent
15 minutes ago
- The Independent
What is Juneteenth and why is it a holiday?
Celebrated annually on June 19 across the US, Juneteenth commemorates the announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas and the nation's 'second' Independence Day. Juneteenth – which was recognised as a federal holiday in 2021 – now more widely represents the emancipation of enslaved African Americans across the country in the wake of the US Civil War and its violent aftermath. It is the oldest nationally recognised commemoration of slavery's end. Here's a brief history of Juneteenth and how it is recognised today. What happened? On June 19, 1865, roughly 2,000 Union Army soldiers landed at Galveston, Texas, with news that enslaved people were now free. In his order, Union Army Maj Gen Gordon Granger announced that 'the people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free'. 'This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labour,' he continued. But the announcement arrived more than two years following then-president Abraham Lincoln 's Emancipation Proclamation, which signalled the end of slavery in the US but did not end the enslavement of all people in the nation at the time, contrary to its legacy and evocative language. Why was there a delay? Although the proclamation was issued on September 1, 1862, it didn't go into effect until 1 January 1863. The war raged on for more than two more years. The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, which formally abolished slavery in the US, wasn't passed by Congress until January 31, 1865. It was ratified later that year. Meanwhile, roughly 200,000 Black men had enlisted among the Union ranks in the months before Confederate General Robert E Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Virginia on April 9. What was left of local Confederate armies and militia men held out in uprisings as slavers in the southern states migrated west to the Confederacy stronghold of Texas, along with thousands of enslaved people they had taken with them. For the more than 250,000 enslaved people in Texas upon the Union Army's arrival, General Granger's order didn't instantly release them from their chains; many slavers suppressed the news to the people they enslaved. The general's order continues: 'The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.' Slavery's formal end ushered in a decade of Reconstruction, which sought the continued emancipation of Black Americans and inclusion of the secessionist states into the US amid white supremacist paramilitary terror and a devastated post-war economy. While the 13th Amendment prohibited the enslavement of Americans, it exempted slavery for those convicted of a crime. 'Black codes' in economically devastated southern states subjected harsh penalties for newly freed Black Americans for crimes like loitering or breaking curfew, ensuring they would remain in chains for decades to follow. The practice of 'convict leasing' prisoners for labour to build railways and mines, among other private construction projects, became 'slavery by another name' that is echoed in today's mass incarceration that disproportionately impacts Black Americans. Why is it called Juneteenth? The word is a portmanteau of 'June' and 'nineteenth'. How is it celebrated? Parades, festivals, concerts, family gatherings, church services and other community events are hosted across the US. The Fourth of July – which marks the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 – is recognised nationwide just a few weeks later. In his 'What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?' address in 1852, abolitionist Frederick Douglass noted the nation's hypocrisy of celebrating Independence Day while imposing a brutal regime of slavery. Juneteenth was not formally recognised in Texas, where the order was delivered, until 1979. It was the first state to do so. The date is now recognised in nearly all states and was designated a federal holiday in 2021. When did it become a federal holiday? While campaigners led a movement to create a Martin Luther King Jr Day in the wake of his killing, groups across the US also worked to create national days of observance for Juneteenth. Opal Lee – whose home was torched by a white mob on June 19, 1939 – led a national campaign for federal recognition of Juneteenth by walking from her home in Fort Worth, Texas to Washington DC every year. Following an international uprising against police violence and systemic racism after the murder of George Floyd in 2020, the holiday gained larger attention outside African American communities. Donald Trump's decision to host his first campaign rally since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic on Juneteenth in Tulsa, Oklahoma – three weeks after the city recognised the anniversary of a two-day massacre of Black residents by a white mob in 1921 – drew widespread criticism and attracted significant press attention around Juneteenth. The former president then moved the rally to the following day. Several cities and a number of large companies also added the holiday to their list of paid holidays. Democratic US Rep Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas led recent efforts to make Juneteenth a national holiday, adding to the list for the first time since the addition of Martin Luther King Jr Day in 1983. On June 13, the US Senate unanimously approved the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, establishing June 19 as a legal public holiday. Republican Senator Ron Johnson, who blocked its passage in 2020, lifted his opposition in 2021. The measure received overwhelming bipartisan support in the House of Representatives on June 16, though 14 Republicans voted against it. Finally, on June 17, 2021, Joe Biden signed into law a measure creating the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. It is the nation's 11th federal holiday. Ms Lee was present at the White House for the bill signing. As a federal holiday, federal employees receive a paid day off on June 19, or on the nearest Friday or Monday if the holiday falls on a weekend. It joins a list of federal holidays that includes New Year's Day, MLK Jr Day, Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Many private companies also are adding the holiday to their list of paid US holidays, which typically include New Year's Day, MLK Jr Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. This story was initially published in June 2020 and has been updated.
Times
44 minutes ago
- Times
Trump mocks ‘publicity-seeking' Macron as entente cordiale sours
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