Got trucks?
Will Honua Ola’s logging trucks be like the cane trucks we endured for years?
Huge cane trucks would sway through the horseshoe turns in the gulches, more than filling the oncoming lane. We called it “taking their half out of the middle.”
And at some point, on almost every Hamakua drive, we would catch up to a lumbering cane truck. Long lines of exasperated drivers would pile up behind, keeping an eye out for mud and debris falling off the truck.
When we ran out of patience, we would just go ahead and pass, often where it was less than safe, only to get stuck behind the next truck a few miles later.
No need for speed limits, we joked — no one could go faster than the slowest cane truck.
Martha “Cory” Harden
Hilo
Mask debate
Using a mask and social distancing yourself only 90% of the time is like practicing safe sex 90% of the time.
Both could have unintended consequences.
Candace Moore
Hilo
‘Willful ignorance’
Based on the foolish remarks made by Michelle Melendez, organizer of an event during which five people were arrested for defying the mask and distancing orders, it appears that some clarification on COVID-19 and pre-existing conditions is needed.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not say that only 6% of reported COVID-19 deaths were actually caused by COVID-19, as Ms. Melendez claimed.
It said that only 6% of COVID-19 deaths had no other contributing causes. The rest of the fatalities had other conditions as well, such as being older than 60, having asthma, having a heart condition, suffering from diabetes, etc. Those people still died from COVID-19.
If a man with diabetes fell off a ladder and broke his neck, would Ms. Melendez assert that he did not die of a broken neck? If an asthmatic woman suffered a heart attack, would Ms. Melendez deny that she died of a heart condition?
COVID-19 is a deadly disease that has killed more than 187,000 Americans in about six months, while sickening more than 6.2 million. No person with a grain of sense should try to pretend that precautions are unnecessary.
The governor’s orders have the force of law, regardless of what Ms. Melendez chooses to believe. They are designed, not as much to protect the mask wearers, but to protect the people who might be infected by someone not wearing a mask.
As one with a pre-existing condition (I’m 81), I deeply resent people like Ms. Melendez endangering my life by their foolish and willful ignorance.
Dan Lindsay
Hilo
It’s your right to vote
As we enter the November election, please register to vote.
The United States of American is a democratic constitutional republic. The Constitution states in Amendment 15, Section 1: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Section 2: The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Hawaii has mail-in-voting. Please mail your votes in early so they can be counted. Our democratic way of life depends on it.
“Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought” — author Octavia Butler (June 22, 1947-Feb.24, 2006).
Shirley Woods
Hilo