• Start ‘um young!
• Supplying heaven on earth
• What a pity, what a shame
• Simple suggestion
• Hooser sounds off on nurse negotiation
• Support public broadcasting
Start ‘um young!
This is in response to your Island Album photo published in The Garden Island on Tuesday, June 20.
The photo was cute, but does it ever send the wrong message to parents and grandparents about the safety of lawn mowers.
Manufacturers of lawn mowers caution operators of the equipment about wearing safety shoes when operating the equipment. Any hard object that the blade hits becomes a missile that can cause a painful injury if struck.
(Wednesday morning) on ABC’s “Good Morning America” show, a large segment was devoted to the safety of lawn mowers. They stressed the importance of keeping young children away from mowing operations because of the danger of accidentally injuring a child — sometimes the injuries are life-threatening.
The recommendation was that no child should use a push power mower under the age of 12 or a riding mower under the age of 16.
Please get the message out for the safety of our children and youth!
Supplying heaven on earth
The thought of the Superferry was a romantic one at first, until we started thinking about the cars and hidden critters that could wander among our islands unchecked, a potential disaster.
Now the news that the one company which brings the goods we all need and often have a hard time getting even now (Young Bros.) might be cutting back is stupefying.
We must all pay close attention; living on this island is pure heaven until things like ordering roofing or some such — in some cases goods for our markets — comes into the picture. We must stay on top of this. With the unchecked population growth we could end up “another Maui” sooner than we’d worried we could!
What a pity, what a shame
Our qualified and dedicated nurses have to go on strike for one simple reason: “Safe staffing.”
Money is no doubt what the people in charge of Wilcox Hospital are willing to put ahead of the well-being of the citizens of Kaua‘i.
All the nurses are asking for is to be able to give good care to their patients by having sufficient help, instead of having to work long hours under so much pressure and great fatigue.
Nurses from the Mainland have been hired to “replace” our dedicated nurses. How can we replace Wilcox nurses like it was a replacement of tires for our cars or furniture for our home? How and why could the administration provide a larger salary and even housing for these temporary nurses while our nurses suffer? Where does the money comes from for all those perks? One must wonder…
People of Kaua‘i, let’s wake up, let’s stand firm by not crossing the picket line and by giving all of our support to the wonderful nurses of Kaua‘i. Lets us give our respect, support and recognition to the nurses who deserved all of our aloha.
Simple suggestion
I would like to respond to Mr. Lewis’ letter about escapee trash cans and lids. Seems like every time we have heavy winds, this problem pops up (and out into the streets).
In a perfect world, the trash collector guys would carefully place emptied containers nicely away from traffic, lids replaced securely and cans set in holders. But from the perspective of the collectors, efficiently dumping the trash while keeping to a tight schedule at 5 a.m., well, it’s got to be hard to be perfect. They are getting the job done and, for one, I appreciate them.
While it is completely justified to request that the collectors be asked to be more responsible when leaving empty cans, this still won’t solve the problem of heavy winds blowing the emptied cans in the street. Mr. Lewis asked if any Kauaians had any other ideas. Yesterday I ran into just this problem, heading for Salt Pond, just past the trash collection facility in Hanapepe, where I watched three cars in front of me swerve around a rolling can, causing cars in the opposite lane to pull over to avoid a collision. How simple a solution. I found a safe place to pull over and put the can well onto the owners driveway. I realize not everyone has the time to stop and perform this small task, but there are those who might have a moment or two, and could stop and maybe make a difference. You help a neighbor from getting his trash can destroyed, and maybe prevent an accident. That is my suggestion. That is Aloha.
Hooser sounds off on nurse negotiations
I am writing this letter to publicly urge Hawai‘i Pacific Health to immediately resume negotiations with the Kaua‘i nurses of the Hawai‘i Nurses Association and to do everything possible to end the divisive and negative labor environment now existing at Kaua‘i’s largest medical facility.
Kaua‘i’s people depend on Wilcox Hospital and the fine nurses that work there are our friends and neighbors. Kaua‘i nurses deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, and they also deserve working conditions that will allow them to provide the best treatment possible to Kaua‘i residents.
Wilcox Hospital became part of Hawai‘i Pacific Health in 2001, and since that time the direction of our community hospital has changed. The current owners will claim those changes were required in order for the institution to remain fiscally viable, and perhaps that is an accurate statement. However, the current reality is that our hospital is now directed by a Honolulu-based organization that has become increasingly disconnected from both the doctors and nurses employed at the facility, as well as the residents it is intended to serve.
While hardball strike-breaking strategies might work in Honolulu, this is not an appropriate method of reconciling differences in our community. Importing off-island nurses to take the jobs of our friends and neighbors is not a strategy that will work, and I know in my heart it is not a strategy the “old Wilcox” would have employed.
Please go to the table, sit down with our Kaua‘i nurses as if they were your friends and neighbors also, and negotiate a fair and equitable settlement. They deserve it. We all deserve it. It is the right thing to do.
- Sen. Gary Hooser
7th District Kaua‘i/Ni‘ihau
Support public broadcasting
I wanted to alert people on the island that some of the most popular children shows on National Public Radio, commercial-free children’s shows like “Sesame Street,” “Clifford” and “Maya and Miguel” are about to be terminated unless some action is taken.
Apparently, many Americans trust and rely on public broadcasting. President Bush is pushing to slash NPR and PBS funding, and eliminate it entirely in two years.
This is just a heads up for people to help keep public broadcasting on the air. If you are interested you may want to contact your local representatives and let them know you support public broadcasting.
