Think ahead
Soon, the Hilo landfill will shut down and the trash will be taken to the Kona landfill.
Therefore, the most direct routes for these large trash-hauling trucks will be on already heavily used Puainako Street (then right turn onto Komohana Street, then a left turn onto the Puainako Extension).
Those officials responsible for the upkeep of these roadways should begin to make these roads wider and smoother, especially at the intersections of Puainako at Kilauea Avenue and Kinoole Street and at the top of Puainako and Komohana.
Please take a proactive, rather than reactive, approach to upgrading these already heavily used and battered roadways before these large trash trucks add to the current wear and tear of these streets and add to the current traffic congestion.
Rick LaMontagne
Hilo
Pahoa solution
As a result of the eruption that devastated lower Puna, there is now an extraordinary one-half-mile-long black sand beach about a mile from the intersection of Highways 132 and 137, just south of the lighthouse.
This is now the largest black sand beach in East Hawaii by orders of magnitude.
One minor problem: The highways are covered with lava.
The good news is that the road to the lighthouse from the intersection is fully intact, and the distance from clear road on Highway 132 is not far. If the county is serious that it does not want lower Puna to die, then all it has to do is bulldoze a track to this intersection from Highway 132, put a gate on it to keep the crazies out at night, and good times will roll.
Tourists will actually have a destination on the ground to go to in Puna, and a little town called Pahoa to have lunch and dinner, buy a T-shirt or two and maybe even have a beer.
But, I suppose the state must throw a million dollars at the usual suspects and study the situation for several years. Meanwhile, businesses in Pahoa that are taxed are dying, while the tax-free cash registers at the helicopter tourism franchises go KA-CHING straight to mainland banks.
And you call that governance? Hahaha!
John Powers
Pahoa
Where’s my nickel?
I found the recent article about the recycle issues interesting reading about possible fraud taking place. I save several hundred cans and bottles to recycle, and I keep wondering if I’m getting ripped off when I take them in.
I believe I’m paying a nickel deposit per can or bottle when I purchase them from the store. After they weigh them and pay me, I don’t believe I’m getting my nickel back for each one I payed for.
As it’s a “deposit,” shouldn’t I be getting the full nickel back? Isn’t that the reason there’s a deposit on them in the first place — to encourage recycling? On top of that, you now need to take the caps off because the price of that type of plastic is down.
How much are the taxpayers paying for this? Or is the question how much am I loosing on this?
Damon Castor
Keaau