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Letters to the Editor

Concerns for Upcountry as water reserves dwindle

I have grave concerns for our Upcountry community as water reserves dwindle. There seems to be little or no conversation about it, just a voluntary reduction in usage. I recognize that we are not a culture that conserves energy. However, conservation, access to other resources and strict enforcement of cutbacks should already be in place. The situation impacts farming, food production and health. Can we come together and discuss resources and options? Where is our leadership when we need it? Kabba Anand Pukalani

Lesson in manners taught by youngster in Japan

A recent opinion about respect on a game field, brings to mind a recent trip to Japan. Our driver allowed a youngster to cross in front of us at a busy driveway, and once across, turned towards us and bowed, like Hideki Matsuyama’s caddie upon winning the Masters. Can we all learn from this? Frank Suda Kihei

Knight remembered for act of disrespect

The Indiana basketball team was invited to a basketball tournament in Hawaii in the 1980s. They didn’t do too well, and coach Bob Knight was upset about the refereeing during the tournament. As a Hawaiian custom, when you leave the islands, you are given a gift. Each team from the tournament received a box of pineapples and Knight was the only coach to throw the gift of pineapples off the bus onto the road when they left for the mainland. Hawaii people never forget how disrespectful he was to the people and state of Hawaii. Terao Nakasone Kihei

When it comes to tax priorities, kids come first

Congress is back to work, with a lot of items on their agenda. One item is taxes. Big corporations are pushing Congress to pass legislation in a matter of weeks to expand corporate tax breaks. With recent U.S. Census data showing that child poverty more than doubled in 2022, it is imperative that any tax package include an expansion of the Child Tax Credit for families with low-income. In 2021, the expanded CTC lifted over 3 million children from poverty. By allowing the CTC expansion to expire, lawmakers have abandoned those children. Here is their chance at redemption. When it ...

Have not yet read description of fire

There have been many images of the Lahaina fire, but I have not yet read a searing and sensuous description of the fire and the flame. So here is such a description partly borrowed from witnesses of a similarly intense fire. By mid-afternoon, winds had dramatically increased to hurricane force and were hurtling down the West Maui Mountains, fanning the flames of grass-fed fires like an enormous bellows, merging everything into one gigantic blaze. Fusillades of ashes began blowing toward wooden structures below. When it grew dark, ash, embers, smoke and panic preceded the ...

Impeaching Hunter Biden may make things easier

Now that we finally have a new Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, I have an idea that may make things easier for everyone: impeach Hunter Biden. This would stop the embarrassing charade of holding major meetings in a fruitless quest for evidence that President Biden may have broken a law, any law, that could be used as an excuse to impeach him. If such evidence existed, it would have surfaced by now. It was the same quest for evidence that got Trump impeached the first time when he leaned on Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to create dirt on Joe. So just impeach Hunter. ...