• Contact your employer for help • Bill 2491 will protect people of Kauai • Light it up • Worried about the effects of Bill 2491 • No more fruit and vegetables Contact your employer for help It is not
• Contact your employer for help • Bill 2491 will protect people of Kauai • Light it up • Worried about the effects of Bill 2491 • No more fruit and vegetables
Contact your employer for help
It is not the insurance company that cancels or establishes your plan, it is your employer. If your insurance plan has been terminated it is because the group you retired from sent the necessary paperwork to your insurance company to terminate it.
In addition to your letter to the editor (July 26) I hope you have reached out to either your insurance company to assist you in working with your employer, if you feel you should have coverage.
Another option is working with your employer directly. If they purposely terminated your insurance plan they would be able to tell you why, if it was an accident or possibly due to changing to a retiree plan that may have generated a membership elsewhere they would be able to assist you as well.
J. Azares
Lihue
Bill 2491 will protect people of Kauai
Hawaii Nurses Association endorses the passage of Bill 2491. As nurses we are concerned about the health of our communities. By mandating the disclosure of pesticide use and the presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and creating buffer zones around sensitive areas, this bill will help improve and protect the health of the people of Kauai.
Joan Kutzer
Kauai representative HNA Board of Directors
Kilauea
Light it up
Halfway Bridge on Kaumualii Highway needs to be lighted up. It poses for many more future accidents at night, especially when entering the bridge traveling east to west. It’s so dark that it makes it hard to see the slow lane from the fast lane. Moreso, when vehicles are approaching from the west traveling east their vehicle lights seem to blind the westbound driver.
Also, some reflectors should be added to the bridge. DOT and Kauai County Transportation personnel, let’s not wait for more future mishap or death in that area (Halfway Bridge) of Kaumualii Highway.
On another thought, if it is Newells that are the concern of not lighting up Halfway Bridge, why not double up and place more reflectors between lanes and shoulders on the highway and bridge.
For goodness sake, DO SOMETHING!
Howard Tolbe
Eleele
Worried about the effects of Bill 2491
As a local business owner, I am concerned about the precedent that County Council Bill 2491 could set.
This proposed ordinance will unfairly and unnecessarily restrict the commercial seed farmers on Kauai farms. These farms are already subject to extensive federal and state regulations for producing their crops. From what I see, they follow these rules and have always been good island citizens.
These farms also provide jobs for hundreds of local people not to mention the jobs held by workers at businesses that supply the seed farms with fertilizer, equipment and other services.
There is no need for Kauai to impose more laws and rules. The regulations proposed in Bill 2491 are unnecessarily restrictive and send a message that Kauai is unfriendly to business and job creation. It does not seem fair to pass rules specific to one segment of one industry.
After the Council targets seed farms, other kinds of businesses, like family farms and golf courses that use products containing the same active ingredients to control pests, could be next. Not to mention homeowners who appreciate lawns and gardens free of weeds, plant diseases and destructive insects.
I’m also worried about the costs to administer Bill 2491. This new ordinance will require our county to set up a new department and establish new permitting procedures that would require more tax dollars to operate.
We should rely on the seed farm regulations already in place and forget about Bill 2491. Please ask our County Council to vote “no.”
Jorienda Johnson
Omao
No more fruit and vegetables
I love my job working in the agricultural industry. It helps the economy and plenty of people.
The world should know that without the seed industry, the fruit and vegetables that billions of people are eating today are gone. That’s why it’s so upsetting to me when I hear all the bad news stories about the seed industry and how the County Council is rashly responding to the loudest voices by trying to pass Bill 2491.
Everyone has a right to their opinion, but the media seems to only play up the negative side. They don’t report on the safety procedures and all that our company does to make sure that we’re safe. My company educates its workers about GMO/pesticides. Thanks to biotechnology, farmers can now selectively apply herbicides as needed after the crop emerges rather than applying herbicide broadly before planting.
I’m upset because the anti-GMO people aren’t educated. To those who say GMO is not good, I say “Educate yourself better.” Strict regulations already apply to the products and farming of agricultural biotechnology, these plants and foods are among the most tested in history.
I choose agriculture because my family has worked here and that’s how I was raised. It’s all I know and, I also want things to be safe to eat, because we all need food. I am committed to Kauai because I have a lot of family and friends and I live here.
I work in a safe place, otherwise I wouldn’t be working for the seed industry.
Maria Lorenzo
Waimea
