• Say no to GMOs, go organic • Scooters don’t belong on highways • Patience pays off for visitors • Kauai needs a helmet law • Credit on power bill would be nice
Say no to GMOs, go organic
So it looks like the ag companies have decided they don’t want to be good neighbors after all. Our community has spoken. We don’t want pesticides being sprayed near our schools and other places, period. We have a right to know what we are breathing and eating, so yes, for disclosure.
The last thing we want is any more expansion of any chemical companies on our island. The pesticides you are spraying are harmful to adults and have a far greater impact on small children.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of studies on the harmful effects of the chemicals you are using on humans, animals and plants.
I am confident any argument in court for the right to spray poison near our children’s schools and our hospitals will be shot down. Why would you fight for the right to do that? Oh yeah, money. Here are some interesting statistics: 64 other nations label GMOs; 93 percent of Americans want GMO labeling; and 85 percent percent of products on supermarkets shelves contain GMOs. What can we do? Support our County Council for trying to get some control of these dangerous companies. Buy USDA organic, the little circular seal means 95 percent of the product’s ingredients are free of GMOs, chemical fertilizers, growth hormones, sewage sludge and irradiated ingredients. Something else, Kaiser Permanente, the largest healthcare organization in the U.S., advised its members to avoid GMOs.
Linda Bothe
Kalaheo
Scooters don’t belong on highways
Why do we allow scooters on the highway? This is hazardous for both scooter riders and four-wheel vehicles. Can we get them outlawed on highways and just in concentrated beach or in town areas?
Sai Pele
Kealia
Patience pays off for visitors
In regard to a recent letter (TGI, Feb. 19), we have been annual visitors to Kauai for the past 17 years. We have learned to accept the chickens and roosters as I am sure they have learned to tolerate tourists and the residents. Every year we find something new to do on the Garden Isle, whether it be learning about mead on our current visit or taking the Elvis Coco Palms tour. The Anchorage visitor should heed Arnold Glasow’s thoughts: “The key to everything is patience, you get the chicken by hatching the egg — not by smashing it.”
Neil D. Getter
Huntington, New York
Kauai needs a helmet law
People’s safety is very important. The helmet saves people’s lives all around the world. Kauai only has a law that 16 and under has to wear a helmet. Kauai should get a law that every one has to wear them when they ride a bike, motorcycle, scooter or moped.
According to helmetsonheads.org, helmets reduce risk of death when on two-wheeled vehicles by 85 percent. If you get in accident with a helmet and you hit your head you have a better chance of surviving. If you didn’t have a helmet and you hit your head hard, you would likely die.
Helmetonheads.org says over the past years, nine out of 10 deaths on a two-wheeled vehicles don’t have a helmet. If we start wearing a helmet, we can lessen the percent.
We accepted the seat-belt law with very little complaint because we know it’s for our safety and if you get in a car crash the seat belt might save you. A lot of people on Kauai don’t like putting on a helmet when they ride a bike or other things even though it can save their life. We should accept the helmet law that everyone has to wear a helmet, not just 16 and younger. We should accept the law like we accepted the seat-belt law.
After you read this I hope you get a helmet if you don’t have one already have one. Get a helmet, be safe and have fun.
Reece Hamilton, age 10
Hanalei
Credit on power bill would be nice
As one of the minority who, in the name of “fairness” is now being charged extra for not using a smart meter, I will be asking for a huge credit on my bill for the portion of the millions spent on the technology which I did not want and nor am I using. Would it not be “fair” to the 10 percent to be credited for the hardware spent for the 90 percent of the “co-op” who wants this stuff?
No, the “co-op” will spread the costs among all members and the 10 percent will help pay for the other 90 percent. All in the name of “fairness.”
By the way, there is something to be said for so-called inefficiency. The reading of meters creates jobs, taxes and much of the wages paid stay right here on Kauai, supporting small business and local merchants.
The only solution I can see is to go off grid and let the so-called co-op go bankrupt for lack of customers.
Michael Wells
Moloaa
