County-level ag experts a smart move
Maui County has created a Department of Agriculture at the county level, which Mayor Michael Victorino says “will guide Maui County’s agricultural future in collaboration with our farmers and ranchers.”
Creating a county Department of Agriculture is very smart. It would be great to have something like that here in Hawaii County, but in the short term, we should at least start increasing the number of county personnel whose role it is to keep up on and address agricultural issues.
Here on Hawaii Island (which is the same as Hawaii County), we have 4,020 square miles compared to Maui’s 626. The vast majority of the state’s agricultural lands are here on this island, where we have nine climate zones and multiple micro-climates.
It’s because of our state’s reliance on oil that we import most of our food, instead of producing more of it here. Soaring electricity costs impact just about every facet of farming. But having been on the board of the state Department of Agriculture and having farmed on Hawaii Island for 40 years, I know that combined with our extensive, proven geothermal resources, Hawaii Island could easily become the state’s bread basket.
Let’s encourage and support the idea of more ag experts at the county level on Hawaii Island, so we can work together on food security issues and produce more of our food locally and affordably.
Richard Ha
Hilo
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A nice break from the doom and gloom
There was a nice editorial Wednesday about the Webb Telescope aside from the news lately from all of the doom and gloom of today’s world. Probably many of the Thirty Meter Telescope opponents would say, why do we need another powerful telescope when we have the new Webb Telescope in outer space. Unfortunately, outer space is a harsh environment. Already the Webb Telescope has been hit by tiny micrometeoroids the size of a grain of sand, but going at an extremely high velocity, thus causing damage when it hits the telescope. Here on Earth, the Thirty Meter Telescope would not have to deal with the harshness of outer space. Over time, the Webb Telescope will degrade from the harshness of outer space. Chances are far less for the Thirty Meter Telescope degrading from impacts here on Earth. Just imagine seeing the wonders of the universe through the Thirty Meter Telescope that we have just begun to see with the Webb Telescope. The Thirty Meter Telescope will allow us to probe deeper into our wonderful Universe and give us a greater understanding of what is out there.
Sue Konig
Waikoloa
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What’s next Clarence Thomas?
Thanks to Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump we now have a Supreme Court that allows the protesters surrounding abortion clinics to carry concealed weapons. What’s next?
Burt Masters
Kailua-Kona
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