• Bill allows dogs to bark when necessary • Lawsuit could open door to seed demand • Protect the values special to Kauai Bill allows dogs to bark when necessary Mahalo to my friend, Robert Hamada, for expressing his understandable
• Bill allows dogs to bark when necessary • Lawsuit could open door to seed demand • Protect the values special to Kauai
Bill allows dogs to bark when necessary
Mahalo to my friend, Robert Hamada, for expressing his understandable concern about the proposed barking dog bill (TGI, Dec. 30, “Thieves can steal in peace”). He expressed a fear that many share, and I am grateful for the opportunity to address that concern.
Mr. Hamada and others fear that the bill will make dog barking illegal where the barking warns or scares away intruders, trespassers and potential burglars. The barking dog bill does not do this. Section 4 of the proposed law says, “A dog shall not be deemed a barking dog … if at the time the dog is barking or making any other noise, a person is trespassing or threatening to trespass upon private property in or upon which the dog is situated or for any other legitimate cause which teased or provoked the dog.”
The barking dog bill is designed to cover a very limited situation: incessant barking that is not provoked by reasonable and apparent cause. Furthermore, it does not allow any anonymous complaints; complaints must be verifiable. Furthermore, prior to any citations, dog owners will be given information about the many ways they can address a barking dog problem. A large majority of the barking dog cases gets solved at this point and no further intervention is necessary.
Where the problem persists, a fair process and remedies are defined in the bill. Right now, because there is no legal remedy, people have sometimes taken drastic and expensive actions to resolve their barking dog problem, such as moving their bed into their living room, selling their home or sound proofing their home, but not everyone can afford such solutions.
Wherever you may stand on the bill, the council welcomes your testimony and suggestions at the public hearing to be held on Thursday in the Council Chambers at 1:30 p.m. Testimony can also be emailed to CouncilTestimony@kauai.gov. While people may hold strong feelings on this matter, I hope that concerned parties will be able to present their positions with respect, aloha and constructive suggestions.
JoAnn Yukimura
County Council Member
Lawsuit could open door to seed demand
The recent lawsuit initiated by three of the chemical/seed industry players on Kauai against the county came simultaneously with a recent USDA ruling which fast tracks approval for Dow’s 40278-9. This is the latest generation of herbicide resistant corn and soy developed to address the super weeds defying glyphosate (Round-up). The new genetically engineered species work in conjunction with 2,4-D, a proprietary herbicide of Dow’s. If final approval is granted by the USDA, it is estimated that sales of 2,4-D will increase 50 fold in the U.S. We, on Kauai, must assume that the demand for the 2,4-D ready seeds will be huge. Will that mean Dow and other biotech companies will require that much more land area to grow seeds for this windfall? Could the lawsuit they are filing against our county be a posturing move in preparation for this boom in seed demand?
The recent Big Island bill to ban operations like this on their island has drawn criticism from a recent NY times article. The author, Amy Hardin, has depicted the movement on the Big Island as misinformed and naive. Maybe once this next act plays out on Kauai, our BI cousins will look pretty wise.
As a side note to all this, Dow has admitted in their petition for approval of 40278-9 to the USDA that open air testing was used in Hawaii to develop this new 2,4-D ready seed strain, whether or not this was accomplished on our own Westside is still not public knowledge. Until Ordinance 960 (bill 2491) is implemented, tests like this will remain secret.
Robert Brower
Anahola
Protect the values special to Kauai
One year ago I learned that my beautiful island of Kauai was being used as an open air experiment for genetic manipulations and cocktails of restricted and general use pesticides. And for the last 13 years, I too was being used as a biological subject in that experiment — so were my grandchildren and all my neighbors — that includes each of you. So, I did what any sane thinking self-empowered person would do — research. I wanted to know how, what, where and when.
I began attending County Council meetings. The first was the March 2013 “Air Quality Report” which was commissioned in 2008. That alone was an alert. Why had it taken five years for reporting findings on something that was potentially threatening the lives of children? By the end of that meeting I was totally alarmed. There was gross negligence in oversight by the state and federal agencies who had that responsibility. If the County Council hadn’t pressed for an answer, I’m quite sure all would have continued being in the favor of the chemical corporations and swept under the rug.
What I don’t understand is why we are favoring chemical companies who offer very little to our economy and actually threaten all the other economic sources we depend on — like tourism, organic farming and real-estate property tax?
Being a “newcomer” — only 13 years — I have had to learn the ways of my hania home. I have come to cherish the Hawaiian culture and its values of aloha, pono, kuleana and malama the aina, wai, kai and keiki. I respect the people who display these qualities in their lives. Our Kauai County Council and community has done an amazing job of upholding these values.
Please think very carefully when you are presented with bills and legislation that would continue to support this corporate overthrow of our home like — “Sen. Malama Solomon and/or Senate Ag Committee Chair Nishihara who are introducing SB2037 in the 2014 Session. It’s a ‘pre-emption’ bill to try to take away any/all authority the counties may have to regulate the bio-tech industry/GMOs.”
Please, it is your kuleana to ensure the health of the land for all generations now and to come.
Leslie Larsen
Anahola
