Letters to the Editor: March 2, 2022

Subscribe Now Choose a package that suits your preferences.
Start Free Account Get access to 7 premium stories every month for FREE!
Already a Subscriber? Current print subscriber? Activate your complimentary Digital account.

Absolutely shameful

This is an open letter to the thieves who stole the garage sale signage from Nani Kailua, Welo and Aloha Kona very early on Saturday morning. It did not take long for us to determine that something was wrong when the stream of Saturday morning garage sale shoppers suddenly stopped for us around 7:15 a.m. On investigation, we found that the signs we had placed along the route were no where to be found. We scrambled and did some homemade signs and once in place, the steady flow of bargain hunters returned.

The fact that you would steal signs is inexcusable. The signage is old and is a well-recognized favorite of the regular travelers on Nani Kailua. I suppose that your conscience got the best of you because after you apparently used the signs, you left them in a rubbish heap at the top of La’aloa to litter that neighborhood.

Have you no respect at all for where you live? Yes, we found the mangled signs and will work to restore them. What a despicable act and so uncharacteristic of aloha. Absolutely shameful.

Cathy Sinclair

Kailua-Kona

^

Quit mopping the floor and turn off the faucet

Fentanyl is not a problem exclusive to Hawaii. It is a scourge on the entire country. West Hawaii Today reports that in 2021, over 100,000 people died of an overdose and 2022 is on track to be even worse.

I commend Mayor Mitch Roth, and Janette Snelling, the West Hawaii Area Complex superintendent for the DOE, Judge Wendy DeWeese who oversees the Big Island Drug Court, and all the others wringing their hands over the problem. All are seemingly committed to more education, more services, testing and more ways to help people — all at no small cost to taxpayer, but I wonder when they will quit mopping the floor and instead turn off the faucet.

For the most part, these drugs are made in China and enter the country, courtesy of the Cartels over our Southern border.

You can talk, talk, talk and spend boatloads of money “wiping the floor,” but until leaders in Hawaii and nationally succeed in getting the Biden administration to close and control our borders, turning off the faucet once and for all, they will never be successful.

Mikie Kerr

Waikoloa

^

Tell us about it

Do you have a story idea or news tip?

Is there a community problem that has not been addressed?

Do you know someone unique, whose story should be shared and enjoyed with the rest of the community?

We want to know.

Call the West Hawaii Today newsroom at (808) 930-8600 or email news@westhawaiitoday.com and share the information with our readers.

It’s our community — and we care.

Letters policy

Letters to the editor should be 300 words or less and will be edited for style and grammar. Longer viewpoint guest columns may not exceed 800 words. Email or address letters to:

Editor

West Hawaii Today

PO Box 789

Kailua-Kona HI 96745

Email: letters@westhawaiitoday.com