Build another lane on Kuhio Highway
Perhaps because he lives in Wailua Homesteads, Paulo Tambolo does not realize the effects of shortening the contraflow hours would have on the traffic heading to Lihu‘e. When the cones are removed after 11 a.m. it creates a backup that can “crawl” through Kapa‘a town for hours.
The best solution is to construct another lane from the Wailua Bridge going south on Kuhio Highway.
Caroline Okasako, Lihu‘e
It’s COVID-19 pneumonia that kills
Addendum to article “Non-maskers risk lives” published June 15, 2021:
My apologies. I failed to mention in my last letter to the editor concerning COVID-19 this week, though the COVID-19 vaccine does not keep one from getting COVID-19 or spreading COVID-19, it does what is the most important: it keeps one from getting the deadly COVID-19 pneumonia. The COVID-19 vaccine keeps the vaccinated out of the ICU, off of the ventilator, out of the hospital, in general.
What the COVID-19 does NOT do is, again, keep the vaccinated from getting COVID-19 and spreading COVID-19…spreading it to someone who cannot receive an effective dose of the vaccine, who may very well die from COVID-19’s pneumonia. It’s COVID-19’s pneumonia that kills people, folks.
I hope I’ve made myself clear on this subject.
Christopher Schaefer, Kapa‘a
Officials should have seen rental-car shortage coming
On 21 May, Honolulu Civil Beat published an article about the rental-car shortage. It quoted a local tourism official who said, “It’s an unexpected consequence of the pandemic that we did not see…” Really? Why not?
Is it not the job of visitor-industry experts to foresee such consequences? It should be a rather simple matter of finding out how many vehicles each rental company has, how many visitors will be arriving each day, and calculating the shortfall. (Since we live on an island in the middle of the ocean, no one is likely to drive in, nor are car-rental agencies able quickly to order in extra vehicles from the next county or state.) If these tourism authorities cannot connect the dots, what are they being paid for?
Meantime, all we hear from people like Kalani Vierra is the usual vapid chirping about how wonderful it is that visitor arrivals have been swelling. Have any of these folks recently driven Kuhio Highway through Wailua? Even without pre-pandamic numbers of rental cars on the road the Kapa‘a Crawl is back. I shudder to think how congested the corridor will become if/when more visitors (and more rental cars) arrive.
Wasn’t it only a few months ago that the industry was promising to become more “sustainable,” “ecofriendly,” “considerate of residents,” “supportive of local culture” and other high-sounding qualities? What happened?
H.M. Wyeth, Anahola
Federal Reserve must help average Americans
I just had a conversation where someone brought up the fact that there seem to be a lot businesses offering sign-on bonuses for taking a job.
This person said it seemed unfair to them that sign-on bonuses should be so common among businesses but pay for workers who have powered it out for these same companies receive no special recognition except maybe a thank-you sign in the window.
The question was asked if this was an issue to be discussed or is it something that is frowned upon.
I think it’s being frowned upon. Very little attention seems directed to the root problems. After a signing bonus is used up workers end up with pay that is sometimes below subsistence. That is why Americans continue working more than one job just to stay alive.
A measurable percentage of Americans live one paycheck away from homelessness. Since wages were uncoupled from national productivity in the 1960s American workers have become wage slaves.
Government programs artificially inflated unemployment and pose problems for the old “normal” system because those workers are earning a higher income than when working.
Here comes a 6-trillion-dollar budget that will worsen this situation and introduce more bizarre inequalities.
Why is the Federal Reserve bailing out banks while borrowing against the GDP to pay Americans to be unproductive? When will the Federal Reserve turn from spoonfeeding huge banks and provide relief to communities struggling to provide public safety and Americans struggling to put food on the table?
Alfred Brock, Wayne, Michigan
