Letters | 5-5-15

New licensing program astounding

An article in the April 30 West Hawaii Today may have taken me to the end of my liberal rope. The article on driver’s licenses floored me.

Let’s start with the law of unintended consequences. Do the Appleseeds really think the people they will aid in getting licenses will go right out and purchase insurance? Or will the state provide that as well?

Moving on, Hawaii state citizens must now present more proof than in the past that they are who they say they are, despite the picture on the expiring license that certainly seems to identify them.

I’m not done yet. A woman who has been divorced must present the divorce decree to substantiate any name change.

And yet this proposal will let people sidestep what most of us go through every few years. The state has a growing homeless problem and if I understand the article correctly, this will only facilitate more homeless relocating here. No one has come up with a humane, workable program to deal with the homeless so why try to exacerbate it by “welcoming” them. Unless of course you are prepared to house them, feed them, counsel them, deal with addiction and alcoholism, find jobs, etc.

Evan Olins

Kailua-Kona

Being at scene makes them appear guilty

All this news about police and young men being caught and detained for whatever reason reminds me of what a wise school counselor once told me a long time ago.

I set a trap for a kid who was stealing wallets out of backpacks during lunch recess. We caught the boy and he was sent to the counselor’s office. The grandmother came in and argued with us, saying her grandson could do no wrong even after he was caught with the evidence. That boy ended up in jail when he got caught committing a crime.

I doubt these young men in custody are innocent. They shouldn’t have been at the scene of a crime to begin with. If by chance they were taken into custody, it was of their own doing. I think the police could have used a bit of excessive force but still, it’s these young men’s fault for being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

And once again, as the woman said, “Where there is smoke, there’s fire.”

Colleen Miyose-Wallis

Kailua-Kona