• Maintain our trails • Stop using poisons on your yards • Nutrition benefits waiver process streamlined Maintain our trails The Powerline Trail — does the county keep track of its condition? I think it should, as it is currently
• Maintain our trails
• Stop using poisons on your yards
• Nutrition benefits waiver process streamlined
Maintain our trails
The Powerline Trail — does the county keep track of its condition?
I think it should, as it is currently unsafe for most types of use. I would like to advocate for honest representation of this trail in guide books and Web sites; it is in a terrible state.
My partner and I, who are both fit and strong, became inspired to mountain bike the Powerline Trail after reading Web site reviews and guide book descriptions that said Powerlines is awesome.
We went out last week on an overcast but otherwise dry day. The first half of the trail from the arboretum, about five miles worth, is in such wretched condition that we had to hike out our bikes the entire way. Any person on foot would struggle with profuse deep mud, five-foot deep ruts, extreme inclines, treacherous bogs, and water running straight down the trail. We actually used our bikes as climbing supports. After the midway mark, hikers or bikers can expect to face a horribly rutted, uneven, grass-covered and clay-slipppery, un-ridable “trail.”
All in all, the Powerline Trail is not a trail anymore and should not be promoted as safe or usable by any but the most fit, adventurous, and good-natured hikers and bikers. What a shame that this formerly golden path through our high wilderness has not been maintained for the last 13 years.
Kerith G. Edwards, Kapahi
Stop using poisons on your yards
I went to the library today and read some interesting facts.
“Roundup weed killer is associated with an 800 percent increase in multiple myelomas (bone and blood cancers), which are growing like crazy in this country.” (“Breakthrough” by Suzanne Somers.)
Something to think about when you pass the Roundup displayed in the garden shops on Kaua‘i. People are too lazy to pull the weeds or use a hoe these days.
Plant el toro zoysia for a greener, softer lawn, which is way better than manienie Bermuda or paspalum. El toro zoysia grows fast, chokes out weeds and you will enjoy a beautiful, weed-free lawn. El toro zoysia is available at Home Depot or Kaua‘i Nursery and Landscaping.
The rise in the use of toxic poisons, herbicides, pesticides and fungicides parallels the rise in cancer cases worldwide. Residents around corn-growing areas in the Midwest have a higher-than-normal rate of cancer, leukemia and abnormal neurological, blood and bone diseases. Fortunately we can go to the beach and get some sunshine, fresh air and swim in the cool Pacific to wash away the toxic poisons and pollution.
Be healthy, be happy.
Poisons are bad for our health and without our health there is no joy in life. A little serrated sickle available at Kawamura Farm Supply and some effort will rid you of your weeds and you will benefit from the exercise.
Kawika Moke, Kekaha
Nutrition benefits waiver process streamlined
The state Department of Human Services continues to streamline the process for obtaining Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. This program puts food on the table for low-income families and individuals and brings additional federal dollars into Hawai‘i.
Under a federal waiver DHS obtained recently from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which funds SNAP, residents can now mail or fax applications to DHS offices statewide, instead of being required to deliver them in person.
In addition, DHS can and will conduct initial interviews with applicants over the telephone, rather than in person. Recertification interviews for SNAP benefits will now also be conducted by phone. Conducting interviews by phone saves SNAP applicants and recipients from having to come into our office, and it also streamlines the overall process.
Statewide participation in SNAP, previously called the Hawai’i Food Stamp Program, has grown by about 23 percent over the past year, with more than 125,000 residents currently enrolled. The USDA reports that more than 35 million people nationwide receive SNAP benefits each month.
Looking ahead, DHS is working with the USDA to expand eligibility for SNAP and provide transitional SNAP benefits to residents for five months after they exit welfare under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families federal program.
For more information on receiving DHS benefits, residents can call (808) 643-1643.
Linda Tsark, SNAP administrator
