Plastic bag ban is a ‘joke’
In my opinion, this plastic bag ban is a joke.
As I see it, to protect the enviroment, I cannot get a plastic bag “with handles” to put my groceries in. However, I can use a smaller bag “without handles” to put my lettuce or tomatoes in. My ice still comes in a stout plastic bag “without handles.” I put my trash in a plastic bag “with handles.” The big black yard bags do not have them.
Is the enviroment sensitive to handles perhaps? I never knew.
Who ever thought of and implemented this ban should loose their job. It is inconvenient to everyday society and does nothing to relieve the environment of plastic bags. Just educate people to recycle, not enforce a ban.
David John Hume
Kailua-Kona
Thank goodness someone’s looking out for us and our money
I am responding to the letter by Ralph Morita, Hawaii Planning Branch chief, Hawaii Department of Accounting and General Services. His response on Dec. 24 was to a Nov. 26 letter by Mark Van Pernis criticizing the selection of the Judiciary Complex near the West Hawaii Civic Center.
Thankfully we have some state officials that stay on top of these things especially when it means saving money. There are some in the private sector that really do not care about how much money it will cost especially when it is not their personal money. However, since it is state funds we should all be thankful.
Anita Labertew
Kailua-Kona
Speed limits are for safety?
We are told speed limits are for safety, yet most speed limits in Hawaii seem to be too low.
There are scientific ways to determine speed limits, but Hawaii spurns them in favor of arbitrarily low speed limits. There are two hypotheses as to why. Number one, low speed limits generate speeding ticket revenue. Most people just pay the ticket, without thought to the long term cost until their insurance goes up. Second reason: and I got the director of Transportation to admit this one. It protects the state from liability. If the limit is too low, everyone who crashes can be accused of speeding.
Low speed limits encourage unsafe driving practices like tailgating and passing.
Ken Obenski
Chairman
Kona Traffic
Safety Committee