Our traditions here
before you were
I have to reply to being called a sadist and a terrorist. Fireworks go back a long way in the local culture of Hawaii. Until the early 2000s, fire crackers were readily available and were the primary means of celebrating the holidays.
I, who grew up in the ’60s and ’70s, have many great memories of celebrating the holidays with family and friends that included fireworks and also the safety instructions that came with it. I’m sorry that T. Tzimeas moved here and now doesn’t like the way the locals celebrate the holidays but that’s just bad research on their part.
Local people celebrate New Year’s with fireworks. Always have and hopefully always will. That doesn’t make them sadists or terrorists, it just means they’re locals. Remember, you moved here. We didn’t move there.
Warren Hahlbeck, Jr.
Waikoloa
New year, more
wasteful spending
The new year, 2019, is here and our state and county representatives continue to irresponsibly spend your and my money! I was having a rather nice holiday season until The West Hawaii Today newspaper decided to run articles on all the new taxes we will be facing this year.
Talk about a buzz kill. Normally that kind of information is welcome but I wish they could have waited until after the holiday.
That being said maybe it is time for everyone on this island to stand up and demand better from our elected officials? How? Maybe start calling, texting, emailing everyone every day and flood them with complaints. Maybe an old fashioned protest in front of their offices?
Every time they spend on stupid wasteful things such as the Alaska Aerospace and Basalt Fabrication study, as covered in the paper, someone needs to be fired! Thank you, Ken, for your My Turn column. As an island economy driven predominantly by tourism, there is no room for this kind of stupid spending, especially since parts of this island have been devastated by both natural and economic disasters that will continue for months.
Our mayor is trying to help fund Hawaii Volcanoes National Park for three days for $38,000. Wow! Just think what he could do with the misspent half million regarding the aforementioned studies. Harry, maybe you should fire the idiot who funded the Alaska deal and use his salary to help? Just a thought from an overtaxed citizen.
Just one more thing to think about Mr. Mayor: The more you tax and spend, the more likely you will push honest taxpayers into another category. That would be called, “tax cheats.” Not a good scenario for helping this island recover.
Bob Johnson
Kailua-Kona
