Mahalo nui loa
Please give our first responders a huge mahalo nui loa for always being there when help is needed, especially to Tim Terrazas and his team at Princeville Fire Station and to EMTs Kelly and Patti for their quick response and assistance when we called for assistance.
Thank you to all of our firegighters and emergency medical technicians — you are appreciated and loved!
Leona Blankley, Princeville
Too loud
I was in town Tuesday and had lunch at Kukui Grove. They were having a show for keiki at the food court, Elmo and a friend.
I was sitting as far from the stage as I could, back by Oki’s, and it was so loud I couldn’t believe it! My Apple Watch repeatedly warned me it was hitting 90 decibels.
And there were little kids right down next to the stage in front of the speakers.
Should we be blasting our little kids’ ears like that? Nobody would have the TV that loud. It’s Elmo, not AC/DC. I finally moved; I don’t need my ears ringing any louder than they already do.
Lorelei Armstrong, Princeville
Wow. Fire fighters. There’s something to go on. The only credit I give is their existence. To be a fire fighter you need certain skills. One of them is physical endurance. So training is one aspect of the job. Do they get paid? If u’re smart. Otherwise, there is no pay. So who gets paid? Only those who are fighters. They fight for a job. To get a pay. Truthfully.
I played music professionally for over 2 decades on the island and tried to keep volume levels loud enough to be heard but not disturb. Sometimes people would ask me to turn it down and I always obliged. In the past few years, I have had to walk out of concerts or gigs numerous times because the volume was so loud, my ears were ringing. I have asked some musicians to please turn it down and some, not all of them refused to do it. In many cases, the bass guitar was so loud and distorted, it made it impossible to hear the other musicians and nobody seems to notice or care. I have talked to the sound professionals on several occasions and been told that the room has a natural reverb and echo and there is nothing that can be done. Well how about taking microphones off the drum kit and turning down the reverb and the volume in general? It seems like people want music to be loud no matter what and are not concerned about ear damage or if you can even hear the vocals etc. I carry earplugs now for any show because nine times out of ten, it is going to be ear damaging loud.