Kailua-Kona
Laaloa Beach Park
Remove the rocks
It is good to see our council members’ continued advance by approving the purchase of property across from Magic Sands to improve that beach’s parking (however, it should always be noted, in this case Magic’s, that an area has a “carrying capacity” to be considered in the equation as to needed parking spaces).
Now, wouldn’t it be nice if somehow the alien rocks (that have littered the beach since around the time that tropical storms Iwa and Iniki tore down the stone walls in that area) were removed, thus restoring the beach to its one-time pristine condition? It would be kind of like when the beach was primarily used as a canoe landing and fish nets were dried on rock pads, which can be seen, across the street, behind the Kingman house.
Hugo von Platen Luder
Holualoa
Dr. Robert Young
Services will be missed
I read a notice in WHT last week that said Dr. Robert Young was retiring from his ophthalmology practice in Kona as of Jan. 1.
As the first full-time ophthalmologist in West Hawaii since the mid 1970s, Dr. Young has protected, maintained and restored vision to thousands of Kona and Waimea residents. While Dr. Susanna Mistr and her soon-to-arrive colleague will certainly continue to provide the highest quality medical services, the retirement of Dr. Young remains a significant loss to our community.
I know he and his wife, Carol, plan to continue to live in Kona and I wish them the best in the years ahead. But I will definitely miss his medical expertise and professional services.
Play now, Dr. Young, you certainly deserve it.
Robert Laird
Kailua-Kona
Physical education
Spend the money on schools, not studies
Regarding the recent article in WHT about lack of physical education in schools (which is definitely a big problem): One plan by members of Congress would measure schools against a national standard.
Why do we need such a broad statistic? Why not compare kids within one school? Or, measure a child’s individual accomplishments and improvement? That seems more appropriate.
And, why do we need to pay for research into the link between health and academic achievement? Shouldn’t it be obvious? How are they going to pay for these ideas? However they get the funding, spend it in the schools to implement the PE programs, not just study them.
Bekke Hess
Kailua-Kona