My vehicle, wallet thank you
I’d like to thank Sens. Josh Green and Russell Ruderman from our island for standing up for all the vehicle operators on the Big Island and voting no on Senate Bill 2938. This bill would have once again raised our registration fees for the vehicles we drive.
The claim by the bill proponents (Sen. Lorraine Inouye included) was that the state and county need more money to maintain and improve our roads. How can she/they continue to ask for more money when the state is still sitting on $650 million of federal money “given” to us but not yet used?
The sad thing is that there is probably a requirement by the feds to use the funds by a certain date, “use it, or lose it.” Shame on the Department of Transportation if we lose it.
Because it’s not an election year for Inouye, she must feel she can get away with raising our fees and not have her seat threatened in reelection. Hats off to Green and Sen Ruderman for thinking about your constituents and voting no. We’ll have to see who tries to revive this bill next session.
Paul Robinson
Kailua-Kona
Kudos to our midwives
For Mother’s Day, I would like to applaud the Certified Nurse Midwives of North Hawaii Community Hospital: their birth outcomes are excellent. Their 2015 primary cesarean section rate was 9.8 percent while many hospitals in American have close to 35 percent or higher, the preterm delivery rate is greater than 5 percent, the induction of labor rate is low at 10.5 percent, and the postpartum hemorrhage rate (a major cause of maternal deaths worldwide) is very low at 2.6 percent.
NHCH continues to accept transfers from home if a woman has complications. The Centering Pregnancy program is thriving and full of education/support for the birth experience.
As a physician back-up, I worked at NHCH since 2002, and I have been honored to work with the midwives. These numbers are the best in our state and on the mainland.
I also honor the other midwives of our island: Traditional healers, direct entry midwives, and apprentices and doulas. Women have the right to deliver where they choose, how they choose, and with whom they choose.
Thank you, midwives, for helping our moms.
Jade P McGaff, MD
Kamuela
The other shoe
After your front page story on Sunday tells us that West Hawaii County pays 70 percent of the county’s taxes I expected that there would be a follow-up examining how those tax dollars were dolled out thoughout the county. My guess is that you upset enough West Hawaii residents with the first story you didn’t want to risk a revolution when you told us that we also get less that 50 percent of the spending!
It was suggested on Tuesday that we should turn Hawaii Island into the 51st state. That will never happen in my view but dividing the county into two separate counties might. Let’s allow East Hawaii County to support themselves and West Hawaii County to do the same. I’m not asking that we reduce the taxes but that we use some of the money collected in West Hawaii to help solve some of our problems on this side like the lack of affordable housing on the west side and better public school funding.
Don Claeys
Kamuela