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Letters for Wednesday, February 2, 2022

Please slow down for litter-pickers

As a Rotary Club of Hanalei Bay member, once a month I help our club remove the trash from the highway from Kilauea to Hanalei. All of us Rotarians derive a great deal of satisfaction from helping the community.

What I do not enjoy is the feeling of cars and trucks whizzing by at 50-60 mph just a few feet from my foraging body.

In many areas the billowing, unmowed grass forces us to stay perilously close to the highway edge, (SLOW DOWN) and in some spots there are sharp, blind curves. The road is well-marked with signs and plastic cones, though, advising motorists to SLOW DOWN, but those are routinely ignored.

Please, if you see the signs and we Rotary folks are along the side of the road, PLEASE SLOW DOWN. Please note…there are subliminal messages in this letter that may make it impossible for you to drive too fast. Mahalo, Kaua‘i.

David Dinner, Kilauea

Dr. Benjamin Cheung and Aleishea saved my eyesight

A week ago tonight, my plan for Tuesday morning was routine: a Kaua‘i North Shore Lions Club meeting and a dental appointment followed by yoga with Nuton. But then my right eye got weird.

I called Dr. Cheung, who immediately offered an emergency appointment Monday night, but a drive after dark from the North Shore to Lihu‘e was not an option. He suggested a before-hours visit last Tuesday morning.

At that appointment within a few minutes, he saw a critical situation. As he continued to take images of my detached retina, his amazing assistant Aleishea called my retinal specialist in Honolulu to arrange the surgery. She also called Hawaiian Air and booked our flights, printing out boarding passes right there in the office.

During my surgery, Dr. Cheung called my wife, Ruth, to make sure I was OK.

Yes, folks, we may not have access to all modern medicine right here on Kaua‘i, but we do have dedicated health-care professionals who perform wonders for us every day.

Ruth and I send all our aloha to Benjamin and Aleishea for saving my eyesight.

Robert Broshears, Princeville

Ban on feeding stray cats could be considered cruelty

Six years ago in 2016 at this same time, the Kaua‘i County Council was trying to get a feeding ban for outdoor/stray/feral cats.

The proposal (bill at the state Legislature) was deferred.

So why would it be acceptable to ban feeding cats on county property?

Is (county contractor) Hallux Ecosystem Restoration still trapping and killing cats? It appears so.

So why is the County Council opposing all other options?

Over the past two years the “Hallux project” has cost taxpayers $230,000. I’ve spent my own money, time and effort in getting cats spayed/neutered, chipped and shots, and they just “disappear.” This is very disheartening.

I’m so tired of “Toxo, toxo, toxo.” What about the unintended consequences of leptospirosis from an explosion of rats? Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that, if left untreated, leads to kidney damage, meningitis, liver failure, respiratory distress and even death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. See the CDC for details.

Dogs carry the bacterium!

The mission of the Animal Welfare Act is intended to ensure the humane treatment of animals.

Is this ban not considered “cruelty?”

The ASPCA, HS-US and Alley CAT Allies condemn this ban as cruel and inhumane.

Do people not understand the importance of treating animals with respect?

1) Loss of habitat and 2) avian malaria are now quoted as the major contributors to birds “disappearing,” more so than predators.

Joyce Ogmundson, Lihu‘e

Agree or disagree?

The news is becoming repetitive, old and quite sickening. They are being mentioned day in and day out, and no one seems to care or matter. And I’d like to point them out, whether you agree or not:

1 TGI 1/13/22 “Kaua‘i home prices highest in the state.” Really? And who gives a damn or really cares whether the costs of homes skyrockets? The poor? No. Must be the rich. Do you really believe that the poors, like me, who have been struggling for years trying to make a living and trying to rent and pay for the high costs of things, care? Do people really care about the poor? No. And when is this a big, front-page story for the poor?

2. Why are the Republicans in Congress doing whatever they can to block and stop people of color, obviously, from voting? Why, again, is this a big issue, and why the big fuss? Isn’t voting our right? And, truthfully, is this really democracy when we should be able to vote and probably won’t? What idiots are doing this to us?

3. And why are we sending people to Washington who won’t do or work for us, and try to make things better for all? When did this all start that now, it seems that we are working for them rather than them working for us? Why, why, why? Our country seems to being going to the dogs, and the other countries are really enjoying it and laughing at us, just sitting on the sidelines watching how corrupt our United States is becoming.

4. And with the viruses and vaccinations situations. Why are the experts, doctors and everyone believing that the vaccinations are good and could get us back to normalcy, wasting their times repeating, telling, believing, hoping that those who are not vaccinated will change their minds? If the unvaxed people won’t and choose to die, so let it be. They think they know better. If you, unvaccinated, don’t care about yourselves, think of those around you. Think about this. You choose not to be vaccinated, but then you’re crowding the hospitals, the intensive-care rooms and the morgues.

I hate it when things don’t seem to be going the way I feel that they should, and I truly believe that things could look better if people do what could be the right thing.

Agrree or not? Your choice.

Ray Domingo, Lihu‘e
Source: The Garden Island

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