• Lottery worth looking into • Short and sweet • Support the Alakai • Stumble stone Lottery worth looking into We Hawaiians (residents of Hawai‘i) will drop $5,000 in Las Vegas and come home saying how much fun we had.
• Lottery worth looking into • Short and sweet • Support the Alakai • Stumble stone
Lottery worth looking into
We Hawaiians (residents of Hawai‘i) will drop $5,000 in Las Vegas and come home saying how much fun we had. Yet any mention of any tax increase will make our blood boil.
Moral of the story: Give us a little fun for our money.
I’m not suggesting casino gambling, but we should research the possibility of a state lottery. It’s been a source of additional revenue for some states, and in others it has not helped avert large deficits.
A study of lotteries in states where they have been successful is a must. Most lotteries cost a dollar a ticket. They are usually sold at various retail establishments such as drug stores and food markets.
In order to keep people from going overboard, a reasonable limit on the number of tickets one can buy should be established. There is usually a big prize and many small ones in the range of $5 to $20. The establishments that sell tickets usually realize a small commission for their participation.
I think that it’s worth looking into.
Harry Boranian, Lihu‘e
Short and sweet
What part of 200 to 300 words don’t people get?
Everyday I read the same hogwash from the same windbags. Are they math teachers who flunked English, or English teachers who flunked math? Say what you gotta say like I just did — short and to the point!
Joseph Lavery, Kapa‘a
Support the Alakai
The purpose of this letter is to inform citizens of an easy way to participate in preserving Kaua‘i’s most important natural treasure. A priceless remnant of ancient fauna and flora survives in the remote, almost inaccessible rainforest of the Alakai.
An organization dedicated to protecting the Alakai is the Koke‘e Resource Conservation Program. The program is supported by various foundations and private donors. The Koke‘e Resource Conservation Program can use all the help possible to save the rarest birds, plants and bugs on Planet Earth.
A newly-published natural history book titled “The Alakai, Kaua‘i’s Unique Rainforest” is now on sale at the Kaua‘i Museum in Lihu‘e. The book was written by Fernando Penalosa, Professor Emeritus from the University of California and is dedicated to the memory of David Boynton. All revenue from sales goes to the Resource Conservation Program.
The book is a superbly-written, beautifully illustrated 200-page study of the geology, history and future of the Alakai. Please buy this fabulous book and help save a national treasure.
Jack Harter, Kilauea
Stumble stone
Thank you, TGI, for the Jan. 17 editorial “A systemic failure.” So many critical points were brought to a forefront.
We must continue to move forward, taking responsibility for all of our community members. Having been employed as a probation officer for our community adult unit, my heart sunk when I read the Jan. 9 Garden Island article about young Ashlee Pasion Rita. I know a bit about this probation case. I, too, believe that we failed this young woman, and others equally.
Sometimes the outcome to these failures is irreparable and tragic, and placed into the hands of KPD and as priority one responses.
No probation officer can be surprised when an offender comes to probation with a long history of high risk behavior, and relapse. Supervision levels are established for the appropriate monitoring of probationers’ activity. This benefits an offender, who may be requiring safety netting, or when there is a need to keep community members safe.
Our judges must insist that our chief court administrator is ensuring that all probation officers are performing the multitude of duties required: assisting probationers to appropriate rehabilitation services, adjusting probation supervision as warranted, modifying and motioning revocations as required, and insisting to all probationers that each can turn a corner to a better life. These are the duties of a probation officer; these duties are active in nature. Our judges must see to it that their officers of the courts are enforcing the sentencing terms and conditions of all probationers.
Kalil Gabran writes to crime and punishment, “You are the way and the wayfarers. And when one of you fall down he falls for those behind him, a caution against the stumbling stone. Ay, and he falls for those ahead of him, who though faster and surer of foot, yet removed not the stumbling stone.
… You cannot separate the just from the unjust and the good from the wicked; for they stand together before the face of the sun even as the black thread and the white are woven together.” It is time that we do a better job of helping those who are stumbling whether believed to be in front or behind us.
Deborah A. Morel, Kapa’a
