Mahalo to Department of Water for hard work My family and I would like to express our sincerest thanks and deepest aloha to the Department of Water and their great people. On Nov. 2 a water main broke on Papalina
Mahalo to Department of Water for hard work
My family and I would like to express our sincerest thanks and deepest aloha to the Department of Water and their great people.
On Nov. 2 a water main broke on Papalina Road at the 3800 block. Of course it occurred in the middle of a Kaua‘i downpour, which continued unabated into the early morning hours and next day.
The crew worked tirelessly through the rain and mud to restore water to the neighborhood. At pau hana time, the men doing the repair discovered the lateral line, providing service to my home had also been damaged.
Five hours later, at 1 a.m., our water service was restored.
What needs to be said is the men did the repair in dark, rainy, muddy and very dangerous traffic conditions. They might of and probably should have called it a day.
They could have gone home to their families, clean dry clothes, a well deserved hot meal and safety. Please note, they could have, but they didn’t.
They had fixed the neighborhood problem. Only one home was without service — returning the next day during daylight and safer working conditions would be totally understandable.
What the men on the repair crew did was extraordinary. They went back to their base yard, acquired the necessary piping and other repair parts and completed the work so my family might wake up to the comfort and convenience of water service in our home.
My family thanks you from the bottom of our hearts.
Gil Scott, Kalaheo
Public service
The purpose of this letter is to pay public tribute to longtime attorney and public service volunteer Paul Weil, whose term as a member and current chairman of the Board of Ethics will soon end.
I attended the Nov. 1 meeting of the Board of Ethics. There I once again observed Mr. Weil’s unwavering practice of welcoming, paying attention to, and taking into account testimony from the public and reminding members of government how important is the public’s perception of their decisions and actions.
I’m sure elected and appointed officials will thank Paul for his service when his term ends. I think we in the public would be remiss if we did not extend our own appreciation and gratitude to him for his unflagging commitment to serving the public interest, and I hope many others will join me in paying well-deserved tribute to him.
Horace Stoessel, Kapa‘a
Too much occupation
Have you ever wondered how the native Hawaiians feel when those who mimic the occupiers of Wall Street set up occupation theme protests on the Hawaiian Islands? About the same as the victim who was stabbed once, gets another knife in his back before he is healed.
You can call it Occupy Hawai‘i or Occupy Movement, the end result is the same. It hurts the nation which has been occupied since 1893. The intention might be noble, but the name here is unfortunate, because it implies that you are reoccupying an already occupied nation instead of liberating it.
If you have a progressive movement why do you have to copy a name that was coined somewhere on the so called mainland, knowing that here it will rather deter than attract the local Hawaiians? Be inventive, use your imagination and come up with something new.
You can occupy Wall Street, you can occupy Boston, you can occupy America, but remember Hawai‘i is not America and it never will be, and one occupation for this island nation was enough.
János Keoni Samu, Kalaheo
Take back this country
for all 100 percent
Many thousands of working and unemployed people in the streets across our country are speaking out for real change to give all Americans a better chance at a decent life. Do you get it?
You must know someone close to you, or it may be you, who has lost a job or had to take two part-time jobs to try and make ends meet. Or know someone who has had their home foreclosed on; or is drowning in debt. This economic crisis is no accident. It is the direct result of the unregulated greed of large banks and other mega-corporations.
Those thousands in the streets are saying “Enough” time to put the needs of the 99 percent first. To create jobs — through investments in infrastructure upgrades and new green economy industries. To pay for those investments the way forward is clear: reinstating the micro-tax on investment transactions, letting the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy expire, abolishing tax loopholes for large corporations, and ending our wars overseas — opening up $500 billion or more annually to invest in upgrading infrastructure; upgrading education — especially at the community college level to provide the technical training needed to equip citizens with the skills needed for 21st Century jobs; aiding those under threat of foreclosure.
We can relight the flame of hope for working people in our country. Stand together, speak out! Take back this country, this democracy, for all the people — all 100 percent of us.
David Thorp, Kalaheo
