Education will help kids, especially poor

Recent news about the spike in crime activity among youth in my hometown, Kalihi, made me particularly attentive to what Gov. David Ige said about education. With our youth having the support and guidance in their early years of life, it gives them a foundation upon which they can later thrive.

I hope that this opportunity will be available to all, especially the children struck by poverty. Everyone is capable of having that future, and there should be no form of hindrance. If lawmakers fail to do as promised, they will need to explain what they meant by investing in the youth.

Lindney Acosta

Kalihi-Palama

Bulky pickup fine after all, minus caps

I have written previously to complain about the new bulky trash system. I want to voice my revised opinion.

First, I want to commend the frontline workers from “Opala”; they have always been very easy to work with and thorough in their job. They continue to work hard and help keep the customer satisfied. The drivers and their workers make the system “go.”

The bulky trash collection online reservation system, after I received hand’s-on instructions from Opala personnel, is easy to use. I am able to make a reservation for pickup and without fail, the truck(s) come on the date and they pick up the trash without any problem.

The only remaining complaint is that all condominiums, regardless of the number of units, are limited to 20 items per pickup. Fortunately, we have been able to control the amount of trash, but an allowance by the number of units would be helpful.

Rick Conroy

Resident manager, Regency Park, Waialae

50% postal delivery bodes ill for election

Concerning the impending shift to all mail-in voting for elections, I want to share my recent experience with the U.S. Postal Service.

Eight Christmas cards were mailed to family on the mainland: three were mailed to Washington, one to California, two went to Nevada and two to Arizona. Four of the eight were never received or returned.

Specifically: Two of the three to Washington were not received. The card to California was not received. One of two sent to Nevada wasn’t received even though both were mailed to the same address. Both cards to Arizona were received.

I think it is unlikely that post offices in three different states either lost or stole the cards. More likely the problem was here at the point of origin. A 50% success rate is unacceptable for Christmas cards — and insufferable for ballots.

David Steele

Waipahu

Dems, unions stall on improving schools

Had Democrats and their union allies really wanted a stricter, stronger public school system it would have been in place by now.

Let’s see: Gov. Linda Lingle had Furlough Fridays, and she tried earlier to call out principals, as management, from HGEA — but that went nowhere because the real culprits, those who have been in control and in power for most of statehood, have been too scared to improve.

In the newspaper’s year-end and new-year rundown of issues, public education and the teacher shortage did not even make “A Look Back” (Star-Adertiser, Dec. 31, 2019), or ”Flash Forward” (Star-Advertiser, Jan. 1, 2020).

Peter T. Coleman Jr.

Makiki

Fix mental-health system, for sake of all

How many deaths? How many broken souls? How many shattered families? How many orphaned children?

How long before we fix our dismal mental health services in our communities? The stigma, the fear and the need to self-medicate has driven our mentally ill into homelessness and destructive behavior.

Please, could some medical professionals and some team of legal talents design a system that will help us all provide services for the ill, suffering with diseases attacking their brain tissues? We are Hawaii, the Land of Aloha for all. We can do this, everyone.

Rhonda White

Kaneohe

Help citizens via policy of ownership

The presidential election is underway. We will again hear a debate between those who believe that the market system is messing things up, and those who believe that the problem is the government.

Truth is, almost all developed countries have economies that are a mixture of the government and the market system. Economies are complex systems with many variables and moving parts and it can be difficult to prove causation.

So we end up with a lot of correlations and few solid conclusions about what really causes what. And that is fertile ground for a thousand ideological flowers to bloom.

My suggestion? If we want to reduce income inequality and increase economic mobility, people need to own something, not just make a salary. So find out what is driving the nail into the coffin of small business, reverse- engineer that, and we may have a true policy solution.

Lloyd Lim

Makiki

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