Cats indeed are part of the problem
Susan Campbell (TGI Forum, July 7) has accurately stated some Mayo Clinic facts on toxoplasma gondii, the brain-invading parasite that pregnant women fear and that is implicated in schizophrenia, dementia, fetal deformity and death, and the death of many other animals from zoo wallabies to dolphins.
But Ms. Campbell has only told part of the story by incorrectly stating that “eliminating feral cats (is) not solution to toxoplasmosis.”
Google “CDC toxoplasma gondii biology” and learn that the only known definitive hosts for toxoplasma gondii are members of family Felidae (domestic cats and their relatives).
The parasite can only reproduce in the guts of Felidae, and there are a lot more domestic cats than lions, tigers and cougars in Hawaii. The evidence is very clear, to NOAA scientists as well, that without cats to spread toxoplasmosis oocysts into your soil and streams, Hawaii would not be losing monk seals at the present rate.
Page Williams, Houston
Keep water options open
Once again I find myself writing a letter of support for Kauai Springs. Our island’s Planning Commission is about to issue a cease-and-desist order for the shutdown of Kauai Springs Water. The commission has decided not to issue permits to this company after 15 years of loyal service to our Kauai community.
Educated individuals clearly understand the importance of drinking water. More than just drinking water, the water that you choose to drink matters.
Spring water is the highest quality water that can be consumed. My family actually uses Kauai Spring Water for cooking and freezing into ice cubes. Tap water is used only for showering and watering the vegetation. The benefits of switching to only spring water are endless.
Spring water is not only pure, but it is untouched by man. Only a very small percentage of the water produced by springs is actually bottled. The majority of the water runs off into the ocean.
Please call Mayor Carvalho as well as the County Council as I did to voice your support for this company and this very important matter.
The bottom line is that the people of Kauai want to and deserve to have the ability to drink their own spring water.
Like all customers of Kauai Springs Water, we collectively find comfort in knowing where our water comes from and that we have been supporting a local family business.
Lana Lopez-Lono, Koloa
In the last dozen years:
More seals were killed by sharks than TOXO,
More seals were deliberately killed than by TOXO,
More seals were accidentally killed (boat strikes, nets etc) than by TOXO,
Who or what are you gonna kill over those?
Compared to that collective,, TOXO isn’t even a primary threat!
Go down to Costco and get the Jumbo, 24 unit, box of perspective!
educated individuals recognize this water is a public resource not a private entities meal ticket. that the permit was ever issued was wrong. cry me a river…or a spring…
Why should this family be the only one to use the spring for profit? Take away the permit and leave the spring for anyone passing through to enjoy drinking, Like the one we had on Hanakapi Trail .
Do you not see how loaded the questions are in your polls? The most recent one asks if the public schools are doing a good job teaching, but one has to choose an A or B answer that makes the respondent have to qualify his or her answer. I don’t think the public schools are doing a good job, but it’s not because ‘it’s hard to recruit great teachers to Kauai’. It’s because the DOE is so bloated in its bureaucracy that the teachers they have now are overburdened with bullshit paperwork and ‘accountability exercises’ to the point that they don’t have time for actual teaching. I know you won’t print this, hence the profanity. The Garden Island is part of the problem, since it tries to put a veneer of ‘aloha’ on everything without even attempting to seriously address the problems this island faces. Complete irresponsibility in the name of ‘going along to get along’. Shame on you.
Lana Lopez-Lono, from Koloa , please read the Supreme Court’s decision and order!!!