• Rape sentence is way too short • Da Shadow and The Garden Island make a great team • Sausage is bad for your colon • Hawaiians should get a deal; so should we Rape sentence is way too short
• Rape sentence is way too short • Da Shadow and The Garden Island make a great team • Sausage is bad for your colon • Hawaiians should get a deal; so should we
Rape sentence is way too short
A 69-year-old man, Ernest Johnston of Lihu‘e (“Man sentenced for sexual assault,” Feb. 22), rapes a 28-year-old, a 7-year-old and an 11-year-old, traumatizing them not only physically, but emotionally and psychologically.
He is sentenced to an 18 month jail term, with credit for time served.
What is wrong with Judge Watanabe and the Office of Prosecuting Attorney? It’s OK to rape women and little children?
Justin Kollar, please start prosecuting these rapes that occur far too frequently on Kauai, and I mean really prosecuting, not plea bargaining down.
And Judge Watanabe, your sentencing of such an insignificant jail term reveal that you think this man’s actions have little or no consequence to these precious children. If only you could comprehend the damage he has done.
Karen Young
Lihu‘e
Da Shadow and The Garden Island make a great team
Bravo, Shadow, for your tireless efforts to get our government to take care of things, safety issues in particular.
Your volunteer work that is costing you a lot of money driving all over our Island taking pictures of needed problems and having regular meetings with our administrative heads is greatly appreciated by all our citizens. And a big mahalo to The Garden Island for continually printing your Q’s and A’s so that we can see what is and what is not being taken care of.
So many of the concerns you bring up have lingered for way too long and your questions about repairing or maintaining them are answered with “they will be done soon” (no dates given) or “when funds are available” or some other vague or non answer.
The people want to see action in getting our roads stripped; in repairing or installing guard rails where accidents can happen; cutting foliage away from corners that block vision; and all other issues that Da Shadow has documented that need attention.
Da Shadow’s latest questions (“Da Shadow’s Corner, Feb. 10”) were given typical vaguisms for answers: Q, (asked Nov. 1) Will the county continue to provide free bus fares for county employees? Under the current policy can the county employees ride the bus free any day or only on work days?
A. (Nov. 16).” Other options are being researched that upon implementation should (emphasis added) continue encouraging the use of the bus, yet not have the bus fares ‘free.’ Under the current policy, county employees showing a valid employee ID are able to board any day and any time without paying a fare.”
Thus we only know that county workers can ride our buses free (why not students and everyone else?) but “other options” should encourage the use of buses but not for free.
Where are the real answers? When only a handful of county employees now ride the bus when it is free what other “options” could possibly be available to encourage them or other citizens to abandon their vehicles and ride the bus? If free isn’t the maximum option then what is left? This whole bus issue from skyrocketing subsidization to ridership needs serious investigation.
Da Shadow and The Garden Island make a great informative team so please keep it up.
Glenn Mickens
Kapa‘a
Sausage is bad for your colon
It’s no secret that sausage is made of scraps during the butchering process. So it’s not shocking that Smithfield Packing Company just recalled nearly 40,000 pounds of pork sausage containing plastic from gloves.
The real surprise is that this recall won’t actually protect consumers from the true danger lurking in the millions of pounds of sausage consumed each year: colorectal cancer.
Eating sausage and other processed meats is a key risk factor for colorectal cancer, according to dozens of studies. Just one 50-gram serving of processed meat (about the amount in a sausage link) consumed daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer by about 21 percent.
A study from the Harvard School of Public Health also found that a daily serving of processed meats increases the risk of premature death by 20 percent.
Ditching the sausage links during National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month this March — and beyond — could break your link to colorectal cancer.
Joseph Gonzales, R.D., L.D.
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Washington, D.C.
Hawaiians should get a deal; so should we
The electric company is planning to help the Hawaiian Homes to put solar panels and systems on the houses. In turn, the money saved on electric will go back to the electric company as payment for the solar panels and systems. It’s a plus for the Hawaiians. They deserve all they can get.
I have no problem with the idea. Anything to lessen the use of fossil fuel.
However, why can’t the electric company offer everyone this deal?
Because not everyone can afford solar panels and systems. I’d be happy to have a solar water heater at the same offer mentioned above.
On another thought, did you know that this summer our gas prices will rise to an average of $5 per gallon? Due to the fact that we have to send our oil from the Mainland to be refined to a foreign refinery. Then they send back to us for a higher price. So, look for higher gas prices this summer.
Howard Tolbe
‘Ele‘ele
