• Never forget • Surfrider supports Bill 2491 • Who got us in this mess? • Everyone is entitled to their own opinion Never forget Thank you TGI for printing the story “We will not forget Amber” on June 23,
• Never forget • Surfrider supports Bill 2491 • Who got us in this mess? • Everyone is entitled to their own opinion
Never forget
Thank you TGI for printing the story “We will not forget Amber” on June 23, the third anniversary of Amber Jackson’s murder.
Thank you Kauai residents for keeping Amber’s memory alive.
We want to appeal to you who have information. We know that the information you have is disturbing. You may be putting it out of your mind. You may be afraid to come forward. We can understand why.
But please ask yourself this – what if your wife, girlfriend, sister, mother, aunt were murdered in cold blood, for no reason? How would you feel? What would you do? What would you want people with information to do? How would you feel about the possibility of another woman killed as your loved one was? Would you want the killer to be arrested, prosecuted and locked up, so that he could not do it again?
We hope and pray that in searching your heart, you will know the right thing to do.
Ann Spaulding
Orinda, Calif.
The Amber Jackson Justice Group
Surfrider supports Bill 2491
Surfrider Foundation is a worldwide coastal environmental organization focusing on clean and healthy rivers, streams and oceans with free and easy access to them. The Kauai Chapter was established seven years ago and consists of a seven-member executive committee and hundreds of Kauai Chapter members.
All water flows to sea level. According to the EPA, agricultural run off is the number one cause of water pollution in the United States. It is certainly the number one cause of water pollution on Kauai.
The Surfrider Foundation-Kauai Chapter supports chemical free agriculture and ocean friendly gardens. We support the intent of any bill that safeguards our ocean and marine environment and particularly the current County Bill 2491 co-sponsored by Gary Hooser and Tim Bynum, which will educate the public over what the big chemical companies are spraying.
Thank you Gary Hooser and Tim Bynum! Kauai Surfrider is deeply concerned about the environment legislation that does the same.
Dr. Robert Zelkovsky
Chair, Surfrider Foundation, Kaua’i Chapter
Waimea
Who got us in this mess?
I am opposed to Bill 2491. I can agree that inspecting and examining chemical usage, whether it is agribusiness or other, is important. However, there are tax paid levels of state and federal bureaucracies responsible for this.
Listening to a certain local radio station and opinions on the Internet does not qualify a couple of marginally elected councilmen to be experts in the field of agribusiness. They are playing god with peoples’ livelihoods. Gary Hoosier and Tim Bynum are the minions of an element who oppose seed production research on our island, the same people who constantly protest about one thing after another.
Rants and misinformation have elevated the state of fear to where, in their minds, only our lower level elected officials can save us.
Who got us in this mess? Who was watching out for us when the ADC was granted the master lease? Who endorsed the terms and conditions for the sub-lease of former Kekaha Sugar lands? Who helped draft the PMRF buffer zone? Who supported mandates of the use of ethanol in our fuel?
Our local representatives laid out the red carpet for these corporations. There seems to be a certain amount of selective memory, amongst individuals, who feel they should now be trusted. They are frolicking in political jubilation. You can hear it in their voices, on the radio, as they speak in the vernacular of their peers. And, when the lawyers come marching in, God help us.
William Hartsell
Kekaha
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion
I like to keep an open mind and respect other people’s viewpoints so I’ve been listening deeply to those against Bill 2491. I hope there is room for compromise, for peace, for mutual respect. After closely looking at the bill, I have some important questions and comments.
Will disclosure of restricted use and experimental pesticides and GMOs really cause problems for the seed businesses? What problems? If it gives the competition an advantage so that they can do better, that’s good; if they are doing good we should want them all to do better. If it shows something harmful that’s good; we need to know so we can stop what is harmful.
Details would enable independent parties to make better evaluations of what is going on, both harm and benefits, everything that is scary or valuable or both. Why so secretive?
Is a buffer zone between pesticides and schools, hospitals, residential areas, public roadways, streams, rivers, and shorelines really so bad?
Do experimental pesticides and GMOs really need to be tested in the open?
Everyone knows GMOs are controversial. How better to address the controversy than with an EIS? People from both sides have been selectively citing studies that say different things. Shouldn’t this be done in a thorough, organized and public manner? Don’t we all want the truth to come out?
The proposed moratorium applies to only two types of GMOs, those that are not disclosed (kept secret), and new or expanded production. Do the companies need to keep secrets to stay in business? Do they need free reign to expand while there is so much uncertainty?
Vigil Alkana
Kapaa
