Restore statue
Restore statue
The King Kamehameha statue is the main attraction on Hilo Bayfront. Imagine the revenue this site generates from the visitors from all over.
It needs to be restored to first-class. So, I call upon the big tour companies, smaller independent tour companies, the taxi tour companies and the Downtown Improvement Association: Please do your part (and contribute) to what needs to be done.
Frank K. Vesperas
Alaka‘i Taxi &Tours, Hilo
‘The Defender’
The Thirty Meter Telescope would today be a nonissue but for America’s armed aggression in 1893 of my internationally affirmed, free, independent and neutral nation, passing beyond the behavior of a truly civilized nation, making a mockery of its claim as “The Defender of Freedom,” with one obvious exception.
Walter Akimo
Hilo
Tale of two dentists
In 2015, one dentist, Dr. Cliff Kopp, (Tribune-Herald, Jan. 2, “Man finishes around-the-island awareness walk”) began a walk of more than 200 miles in an effort to bring hope and life to others.
Another dentist, Dr. Walter Palmer from Minneapolis, flew thousands of miles so he could claim the life of one of God’s most majestic creatures, a Southwest African lion.
While Dr. Kopp raised money to help the homeless, the other dentist spent thousands of travel dollars to ambush a defenseless lion — just for the sport of it.
What a wonder it is to see how humans derive their pleasures. One squeezes a trigger and snuffs out a life, while another shows his true humanity and finds a way to improve life — not take one.
As I begin this new year, I applaud Dr. Kopp for his humanitarianism, and using his example, I hope I can offer service to others — even in some small way — each day of 2016.
Bravo, to the Big Island’s Dr. Kopp.
Richard Dinges
Hilo