Opposed to proposal to
charge for entry to zoo
I will start by saying that I am a volunteer at the Panaewa Rainforest Zoo and Gardens and a member of Friends of the Zoo. These are my personal opinions.
I am against the proposed fees for zoo admittance mainly because they will be deposited into the county’s General Fund, with no indication of how much, if any, will go back into the operating budget of the zoo.
Currently, donations to the zoo go directly to Friends of the Zoo, and 100% goes back into the zoo for the upkeep and construction of exhibits, purchasing of animals and other expenses. Donations will likely decline if admission is charged.
Also, the proposed fee schedule of $4 for adults 18 to 59, and free for keiki and kupuna are for Hawaii County residents only. Visitors, including our neighbor island residents, will be charged $12 adults, $5 for keiki. I think that is disrespectful and an insult to our fellow residents of this state.
We enjoy kamaaina rates for attractions and hotels when we visit the
other islands. Why can we not offer them the same courtesy for entrance to the zoo?
Jean Jasina
Hilo
Wanted: Administration
with smarter people
Even artificial intelligence says “tariffs generally increase prices,” and “cuts in federal spending, particularly those affecting social programs or research and development, can contribute to a recession.”
Please register to vote, and then vote in all elections for another political party rather than the current administration, which seems to have no intelligence.
Vivian Green
Waikoloa
Donald Trump doesn’t
love the Constitution
Let’s be clear. A president who loves our Constitution does not: try to outsmart it, make end runs around it, or routinely, flagrantly violate it (especially when people’s lives are at stake).
A president who loves our Constitution does not — when asked if he believes he is required to honor, defend or follow it — say “I don’t know.”
A president who loves our Constitution does not make me end up being secretly glad I’m white, so that there’s less chance of the goons coming after me.
And a president who loves our Constitution bloody well does not end up making me worried that The Boss could end up in detention upon re-entry from his European tour for exercising his First Amendment right to speak out.
A president who is a brave patriot does not use ”bone spurs” as an excuse to avoid the military.
A president who is a brave patriot does not hide in a bunker when people are outside exercising their right to peacefully protest.
A president who is a brave patriot does not then ask his advisers, “Can’t we just shoot them in the legs?”
Mary Lee Knapstad
Volcano
