Abuse of tax dollars
Abuse of tax dollars
Regarding the March 20 story, “AV system not working”: Absolutely ludicrous.
One of sound mind does not buy a system such as this without having the vendor(s) prove first that it works as advertised and is also compatible with another system (different vendors for Kona and Hilo).
Some responsible persons on our County Council should have been appointed to ensure it worked before paying the vendor(s) one dime, not several hundreds of thousands of our taxpayer dollars. A person does not buy a pair of shoes without first trying them on!
Having to purchase new microphones? Weren’t the ones presently installed new when purchased?
Ron Baptista
Mountain View
Picking on homeless
Where is the evidence that homeless people are committing all the crimes cited in Sunday’s “Overrun by homeless” article?
I would guess some homeless people have become desperate enough to commit some of the crimes, but a front-page article implying they are guilty of all the crimes is not responsible journalism.
Kudos to Sita Gonzales, chair of the Hilo Downtown Improvement Association safety committee, quoted as saying, “We really need to step up and see where we can help and not just toss them around.”
Cory (Martha) Harden
Hilo
A ‘win-win’?
I read with interest your report on BioEnergy Hawaii’s plan for a $50 million resource recovery plant for West Hawaii.
In contrast with the county’s earlier plan to take island waste and simply incinerate it, this new plan sounds quite thoughtfully elegant. Recyclables would first be separated, then organic waste would be cooked in an anaerobic digester to create electricity, byproduct gas fuel, organic fertilizer and compost. Residual products would then be processed into compressed fuel briquettes.
To add further elegance to the concept, the plant would encourage haulers to use its gas byproducts in their hauling trucks, reducing the haulers’ cost of fuel and ultimately reducing costs to consumers. Adding to this cost reduction for haulers would be a discount for tipping fees designed to attract waste delivery to the plant in the first place.
It sounds like a win-win proposition: The island makes good use of its waste products in what seems like the greenest possible way. I hope Mayor Billy Kenoi’s endorsement of this proposal improves over time. So far it sounds like his enthusiasm is quite tepid.
It seems to me that he’s ignoring one of the great benefits of this project: It is funded by private investment rather than taxpayer dollars.
Skip Sims
Ninole