Another wall
After President Donald Trump builds his southern border wall to keep out the terrorists, then he needs to also build a northern border wall as some of the 9-11 terrorists entered the United States via the Canadian border and not through Mexico.
Prentiss Moreno
Hilo
Too young to vote
There’s a bill in the Legislature to lower the voting age to 16 for local elections. What a crop of crap.
No doubt, lowering the voting age for state elections will increase voter turnout. Duh; widening the electorate will result in more voters. But, heck, so would decreasing the voting age to 14 or 10 or 8. Go for it!
Do you really think 16-year-olds are mature enough to vote? Well, then, you should also decrease the age for owning a gun or getting a driver’s license or drinking alcohol or smoking or getting married or joining the military, etc.
If the politicians really want to increase voter turnout (rather than simply weigh the scale in their favor), they should make it easier to vote (online comes to mind), impose term limits and put things on the ballot (rather than the same old politicians) that people really want to voice an opinion on — like pay raises for politicians.
Fat chance.
Fred Fogel
Volcano
Bag ban: Who benefits?
It’s been five years since Hawaii County banned plastic bags at grocery and retailer outlets.
How much has the ban cost the consumer? How much is it profiting the merchant? How has the ban actually helped the environment?
What is obvious is life for the everyday shopper is more expensive.
If you want a bag to hold your purchases, prepare to pay anywhere from 3 cents to $1 a bag at your store.
Yes, I know. Carry bags with you, and save the money. But I refuse to do that. I do not want to carry around soiled bags to save some cents. Saying that, I am forced to hand out several dollars a month for bags, depending where I shop.
The law does not dictate the size of the fee a merchant may charge, or where the money goes. Some retailers are charging maximum prices for their premium cloth bags, which were a luxury option in the past.
The idea was to keep plastic bags from going into the ocean and harming marine animals, or filling up landfills. But, for the shopper, plastic bags were ideal for use in the kitchen. They do not leak like paper bags, fit containers better and hold more garbage. They were so good, we still buy them in boxes. Getting them at stores was a bonus.
Also, since shoppers can now carry their goods out of the store without a bag, has shoplifting increased since the ban? Who can tell what is purchased or not?
In conclusion, how much have shoppers spent on bags through the years, and who is actually benefiting from the ban?
David Lewis
Kurtistown