Jobless pay price for UI office snafus

I watched the online interview with the director of the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, with initial excitement about what she might share (“Hawaii Labor Department brings on 100 adjudicators to help process huge backlog of unemployment claims,” Star-Advertiser, Oct. 21).

Although I was happy to hear that the state is finally hiring 100 new claims examiners starting last week, it’s too little too late for many like myself who’ve been pending our unemployment claims for months without any resolution in sight.

Anne E. Perreira-Eustaquio shared that many of the benefits, such as the restaurant card and additional federal funding, may not be available to me and thousands of others if and when our claims are ever settled, despite filing claims weekly since the beginning of June and contacting the call center hundreds of times to try to resolve any outstanding issues.

Why does our state’s failure to resolve unemployment claims within a reasonable timeframe result in fewer benefits for those who are struggling the most? I would like to see our governor go months on end without a paycheck and then maybe, just maybe, the process might change.

Sharon Walsh

Kailua

Seniors need more affordable housing

One lesson I learned early on is that perceptions can be changed.

I hope that this lesson can be applied to Halewai‘olu Senior Residences (HSR). In response to “Clash in Chinatown” (Star-Advertiser, Oct. 19), it goes without saying: Oahu needs more housing and our kupuna desperately need affordable homes.

The City and County of Honolulu identified this Chinatown site for housing 28 years ago and has worked with the community to build housing that they will support. HSR is the result of those efforts.

Members of the Lum Sai Ho Tong Temple previously gave their support, yet now cite an unsupported perception that emissions from the neighboring crematorium will negatively impact them. Yet, the article clearly states that emissions are clean and harmless, as reported by the Department of Health. Further, the air quality around the site was studied in the most stringent scientific manner with a reduction of impact at some sites and no impacts at others.

Perpetrating misperceptions about the crematorium will only serve to deny 155 elders an affordable home.

So please, let’s move on and build these apartments!

Ann C. Peterson

Chinatown

Senior housing next to a crematory?

The article, “Clash in Chinatown” (Star-Advertiser, Oct. 19), was a very intriguing report showing some concerns about the proposed Halewai‘olu Senior Residences in Chinatown. There seems to be quite a concern by the community and neighbors about the project being built so close to the crematory smokestacks, especially without a proper onsite study.

Without that, why would anyone want to build a senior high-rise building immediately adjacent to the crematory? I would not want my kupuna living there unless it is shown to be a safe environment.

Sharon Ohata

Moanalua

State contribution to DA BUX program

AARP commends the state for its $500,000 match donation toward the DA BUX Food Bucks program that assists low-income individuals and families (“State matches $500,000 donation to SNAP program for purchase of locally grown food,” Star-Advertiser, Oct. 19).

The state’s match increases the program’s amount to $1 million, with the other half already raised by private organizations and donors. This contribution to the food assistance program expands the consumers’ purchasing power and access to healthy, locally grown food, while supporting our local farmers and supermarkets.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the significant food insecurity among our most vulnerable populations such as our kupuna and others on limited incomes. Many kupuna struggle to buy food while covering other basic costs such as medications and rent.

Having access to programs such as DA BUX puts more food on the table. Kudos to the state and the private partners for their collaboration and contribution in helping Hawaii’s residents and families, especially during these challenging times.

Kealii Lopez

State director, AARP Hawaii

Surgeon general badly treated here

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams was in Hawaii helping with surge testing in order to assist the state in reducing the spread of COVID-19. In gratitude, he has a chance of going to jail for a year and paying up to a $5,000 fine for taking a picture at a beach, even though he was social distancing and wore a mask (“U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams to be arraigned for beach park closure violation,” Star- Advertiser, Oct. 29).

Common sense isn’t that common here. When we first opened for people in Hawaii, we had super spreader events with thousands of people biking and walking down a closed Kalakaua Avenue on Sunday. Some wore masks, but most did not.

There were large groups of people in tents on the beaches, without any social distancing or masks, and groups of people got together with friends, once again without masks. And so this is how Hawaii thanks our U.S. surgeon general for doing the right thing.

Andrew Kachiroubas

Moiliili

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