Repaving a success
Thank you to all the wonderful, hardworking road workers who have made it a pleasure to drive on Kaumana Drive.
Drivers, please respect the speed limits and, of course, drive with aloha!
Ken Rosene
Hilo
Gun control
I was dismayed and disgusted to read a recent editorial based on the musings of Adam Kinziger on gun control and the Second Amendment (Tribune-Herald, April 21, “The gun control conversation needs emphatic opponents”).
Kinziger suggests that Second Amendment proponents just need to be asked “in the right way” for their expertise and opinions in order to make progress on gun control.
In all my many years, I have never heard or read of anyone on the gun side of the issue, not one single person, referring to the Second Amendment as anything but a blanket justification to own as many guns as they want with no restrictions.
The people who want real gun control are not asking those Second Amendment “experts” for their opinions, because they are outraged at the fact that there are more guns than people in this country.
The National Institutes of Health and many other sources state that as of 2020, firearm-related injuries surpassed motor vehicle crashes to become the leading cause of death among children and adolescents. A gun in the home is far more likely to be used against a family member or friend than an invading criminal. All excellent reasons to take action on gun control, but nothing happens because of obstruction by legislators resulting from pressure from the NRA and gun owners.
What kind of country lets this happen and does virtually nothing?
Please, contact your representatives, and vote for people who care about and want to work toward gun control.
Karen Cooper
Hilo
Returnable bottles
I was very excited to read about the proposed Hawaiian Kingdom bottling plant on Hawaii Island, especially since they will use bottles instead of plastic.
The next logical step would be to ban the import of water in plastic bottles. I have one proposal which would make it even better for the environment here. Make bottles returnable, as was done in the past in Hawaii.
The bottles could then be sterilized and reused. There could be a hefty deposit, say 50 cents, and there would probably be very little glass litter left behind. Just eliminating the current plastic bottle trash that abounds would be a huge improvement.
After that, perhaps other bottling plants will open to handle soft drinks from the mainland. Beverage companies could ship their products in barrels to be bottled for sale here — in returnable bottles, of course.
Hawaii has done this and can do it again.
Linda Kane
Hilo