• Council made the appropriate choice • A world without bees would leave our planet barren • In support of Bill 2491 • Trash talk and dirty laundry Council made the appropriate choice To letter writers who profess to speak
• Council made the appropriate choice • A world without bees would leave our planet barren • In support of Bill 2491 • Trash talk and dirty laundry
Council made the appropriate choice
To letter writers who profess to speak on behalf of “we the people” and are on the wrong side of the fence, Shakespeare has a bit of advice: “Let it not be said, and say it to your shame, that all was beauty here until you came.”
Deferral of Bill 2491 by the council was a wise move, providing more time for the council to determine whether it was appropriate to impose the conditions mandated by the bill at a time when, purportedly, the council itself, admittedly, doesn’t know what is going on!
The bill, if it is truly a fact-finding initiative, let it be so, and then, based on those findings, the council can make its recommendations on how to best meet the overall problems within an overall context.
Legislation following public comment and input, thereafter, should preserve what will be more acceptable to both sides of the fence. What’s wrong with the color purple?
Alfred Laureta
Kapaa
A world without bees would leave our planet barren
There is one more itty bitty concern that our county council should be aware of when considering their vote of Bill 2491. Bees and pollinators. They are being decimated at an unprecedented rate. Last winter, nearly one third died or disappeared. Pollinators are responsible for over one third of our food sources.
The Aug. 19 front cover article of TIME magazine is “A World Without Bees.” It’s not only thought provoking, but also makes a direct contact between the bee/pollinators decimation and pesticides. In particular, neonicotinoids, a pesticide manufactured by Bayer, Syngenta and a few other chemical giants.
There is an ongoing bill in Europe to ban the use of neonicotinoids until further studies show its effects on pollinators.
In response to the ban, Syngenta released a public service video, Operation Pollinator. The question about this video is, what exactly is Operation Pollinator and where is it being initiated?
In July a bill was introduced in our Senate; HR 2692, Save America’s Pollinators Act of 2013. It would ban the use of neonicotinoids in the USA until further studies by the Environmental Protection Agency. Please read it and contact our representatives to help get this bill passed.
Syngenta is to be commended for its excellent employee benefits and health programs. No one is criticizing the company itself, the concern is; what are they doing to our environment?
The intent of Bill 2491 is not to shut down companies, increase unemployment or bankrupt Kauai. It is about what, where and when chemicals are being sprayed by the seed companies on our aina.
Please do your research and make the right choice for the future of our aina and our children. This is a serious situation and you would think the seed companies would be cooperating in making our world a better place to live, instead of threatening to sue if you don’t agree with them.
A world without bees will be a very sad, silent, barren planet.
Malama i ka aina.
Stuart and Mika Hollinger
Kilauea
In support of Bill 2491
I am writing this letter in support of Bill 2491, which requires disclosure of pesticides being used and buffer zones around the sprayed areas.
Even though I feel the buffer zones are not big enough to handle pollen carried by the wind, I feel this bill is a minimal request from the chemical companies. It is not requesting an end to GMOs — it’s just for our right to know what is being used on our aina and around our schools.
I heard JoAnne Yukimura on KKCR and was so disappointed at her claim that these companies have the right to do whatever they want on their properties, which denies that we are all effected by it.
Please JoAnne, amend this bill in the areas not satisfactory to you. Please don’t kill this bill. We need to begin to stand up for our rights and our health.
Please workers for these companies, do your research.
You are lambs being led to the slaughter and being fed propaganda to make money for the big chemical corporations.
Thanks to Gary Hoser for having the courage to expose the truth, bringing the doctors forward and helping the island to confront the truth.
Jane Winter
Kapaa
Trash talk and dirty laundry
John Stevens’ trash talk about a Kilauea landlord is shallow and incorrect. Without adding juicy gossip that would indeed be more fun to read about than the real issues facing Kauai, the relationship and lease negotiations between a store owner and a landlord are complicated.
What is not complicated is this landlord’s commitment to community. From local issues and events to the statewide health of our economy, Patty Ewing has our backs. Her store and the stores she rents to support employ a good portion of Kilauea. She struggles to find solutions and takes action be it solving a town and island wide potty problem or keeping a vibrant and profitable small business zone where we can all thrive together.
I’m surprised this paper published such slander.
Thomas Pickett
Kilauea
