Letters to the editor: 03-30-18

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Kids march message deceitful

Endearing, but insincere. These kids have zero knowledge of the Second Amendment and even less about the weapons they seek to ban. It’s cheap pushing young people forward to champion a political cause.

I am against assault weapons for private gun owners, but I do know what they are and I do know the Second Amendment.

Let the kids be kids. Not uninformed messengers of opinionated, politically motivated adults.

Tom Tucker

Kailua-Kona

Doctors force unnecessary trips

I am a resident of the Big Island, living down in South Kona. My wife has kidney issues and lately we have been exposed to the extreme lack of medical services available in West Hawaii.

A recent example is she was admitted to Kona Community Hospital for an infected cyst in her kidney. We have had these treated on the mainland without any issue, usually in an outpatient fashion. Here the doctor has to call Honolulu to speak with a doctor. I figured this was due to the unique case but the ER nurses here tell me that it is an issue with the specialists on the island not always a lack of them.

We are told they will only provide consult or services if they are actively on call at the hospital — and even then they mostly decline new cases, forcing people to be medivac’d to Oahu four to five times per week with easily treatable cases. This causes a massive financial burden on the patients and compromises their care all because they are basically lazy.

Many nurses and doctors on island have confirmed this is a struggle with the few specialists they have here. Why is this tolerated? Has your paper ever looked into this, as it is a massive issue with everyone I speak to? These doctors should be compelled to provide these services as it is a necessity at times.

We have known people who have spent most of their life savings paying for a transport for something they could have treated on island if the doctor would just see the patients. Perhaps the mayor’s office and council should look at regulatory means to help with this problem — perhaps even at a state level as I am sure it affects other islands as well.

Scott Ancheta

South Kona

Bus system willy-nilly to the highest

I totally agree with Wilson pepper. His op-ed piece is right on the mark! I have lived here for four years and volunteer at the West Hawaii Civic Center.

I started tracking the buses coming to the civic center. I have a large supply of the bus schedules. When we compare the times on schedule to arrivals, there is no logic! The schedules are just pretend and the buses come whenever and are almost always empty.

The schedule was last updated in 2015.

I pray that the new boss actually rides the buses and checks the schedule. Some surprise visits are necessary!

I have supervised senior bus services in eight counties in Washington state for aging and adult services in the past.

Please make this an effective service.

Jacque Green

Kona