• Strong dog laws are needed • Remember the past when voting • Helicopter tours are an unnecessary burden • Open baseball league up to any race • Remember the Israeli children Strong dog laws are needed Well, here we
• Strong dog laws are needed
• Remember the past when voting
• Helicopter tours are an unnecessary burden
• Open baseball league up to any race
• Remember the Israeli children
Strong dog laws are needed
Well, here we go again. Another newcomer who wants to change our laws.
Yes, I would like to go back and be here on island when we all could romp on the beach and in the ocean with our dogs.
But times have changed. There are a lot more people on this island and we need laws to protect us all.
There have been unleashed dogs attacking monk seals, an endangered species, on a beach.
I have seen big dogs squatting and leaving their business behind and no one picked it up.
Many times I had to watch my step when I went for an early morning swim that I did not step in a pile left behind by probably a big dog. We also had several dog attacks here by unleashed dogs and some caused very severe injuries.
The newcomer who wants to have his dog run unleashed and feels it is important that his dog gets to greet and play with other dogs has opportunities to do so some other ways.
Invite other dog owners to come to your home and the dogs have a party in your fenced yard. You, as the host, can also provide doggie treats and refreshments.
Then go a step further and get dog owners together to push for a regular dog park on island.
I know this is done in many communities on the Mainland and has been very successful.
In the meantime, respect our local laws and abide by them. Or maybe you can find another island where there are no laws and everyone does as they please.
• Sonja King, Kapa‘a
Remember the past when voting
Mr. Hooser has some nerve announcing he’s running for lieutenant governor. It still disgusts me every time I remember he’s been elected our senator.
It must just be that everyone has forgotten what he pulled a few years back. He didn’t pay his taxes; it was something like $80,000.
It was stated in The Garden Island a few years ago that he negotiated a settlement with the state tax department for a fraction of that. What if everyone else did that … didn’t pay and then worked a deal to just pay a portion of what they actually owed?
Maybe we should all try it. After all, you get elected state senator for that and now possibly lieutenant governor. He also supported an increase to our General Excise Tax a while back. Do you really want a man like this to be our senator or lieutenant governor? Remember this the next time you vote.
• Allie Valverde, Kapa‘a
Helicopter tours are an unnecessary burden
I am an owner of a Kaua‘i property who has constant helicopter overflights.
I currently live in Los Angeles, Calif., most of the year. I’m a Los Angeles Police Department command pilot, retired in 2004.
I have first-hand knowledge of how much of a noise signature a helicopter makes over anywhere. Cities, zoos, neighborhoods. I also know that it is an unnecessary burden on the people who hope to live a quiet life.
• John Harrell, Los Angeles, Calif.
Open baseball league up to any race
Thank you, Mr. Chiba, for your kind words about my efforts at trying to further the academic and athletic abilities of any or all our young people on Kaua‘i (“Stop talking, do something,” Letters, Feb. 2).
By the way, Chiba-san was my first manager in Japan when I played for the Kintetsu Buffaloes in 1959 — good manager.
I do admit to being critical of so much waste on this beautiful island of ours but I try hard to be constructive in my criticism.
Whatever subject I pursue it is for the betterment of every person on Kaua‘i and not for any special segment or group. I also try my best to honor and compliment those who do their jobs and push to better this island.
Yes, Mr. Chiba, even though I was only a teenager, I well remember the injustice done to the Japanese-American people who were taken from their homes and businesses and forced to live in the Manzanar Internment camp in Independence, Calif. My family condemned this horrible mistake and I completely agree with what our government did to atone for that wrongful action.
I am not trying to run your fine AJA league. I am simply trying to convince my friend, Tom Shigemoto, and their directors to allow any athlete, with the ability, to compete in their league.
Your closing statement is the one that I take the most exception with. You say, “Since you have been saying something for 10 years, why don’t you stop talking and do something? Start your own league and, again, leave AJA baseball alone.”
Think about it. Were I to start my own league and restrict its players to say, Caucasians only, wouldn’t the justifiable wrath of all those being discriminated against come down on my shoulders?
Again, Mr. Chiba, if my hypothetical case is one of discrimination and bigotry (which it plainly is), then AJA baseball must fall under the same umbrella.
Opening AJA baseball to all qualified participants can only enhance the quality of the league and, in my opinion, will not in any way diminish your proud Japanese cultural heritage.
• Glenn Mickens, Kapa‘a
Remember the Israeli children
Now that rockets and mortars once again rain down on the innocent children of Israel, where are the letters from those who complained so loudly at the ugly and atrocious Israelis who dared to offend the murderous thugs of Hamas by invading their territory?
How many rockets must a country tolerate before initiating a response? Is one not enough? What about 100? Or what if they were launched on the United States from Mexico?
Would there be a response? Where are your letters complaining of those terrorists of Hamas who deliberately threaten the children of Israel with their explosive rockets and mortars? Read the constitution of Hamas. Read how they want to kill every Jew in the world, not just in Israel, and that includes innocent children.
Please, send your letters. Join with the killers of Hamas who broke the truce that probably they never intended to honor in the first place. But please, speak out, reassure me that all those weapons of war launched into Israel by lying treacherous killers of Hamas never happened. And if it did happen, explain to me why there are no consequences when Israeli children are killed. Nor do I see your tears.
• Monroe Richman, Koloa
