Much mahalo, HFD
Much mahalo, HFD
Wednesday I came home to the air thick with smoke, plus it was raining down hot ashes from the sky. We live on the lower road of Lako Street, in the Komohana housing area. I could see the flames and thick smoke coming up the hill toward our homes, and I truly thought that we were going to lose our houses.
Then they came, fire trucks, helicopters, tractors, and firemen from everywhere! You always know that our firemen are there, but you don’t appreciate them until there is a disaster, like what occurred on Wednesday.
They concentrated on savings our homes first, and then they fought the fire for the rest of the day. To those professional men and women, and pilots, and operating engineers; thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Without them, our Komohana community would have been devastated by fire.
Again, thank you so much
John Hanson
Kailua-Kona
AARP tax aid a big help
Yesterday at Hale Halawai, the volunteers from AARP provided free tax service to many of the people of Kona.
Not only did these nice folks give freely of their time and service but were nice enough to explain questions about our taxes to us individually. For the first time in years, I was informed that any cash or other donations made to charities do not count toward a tax break unless it amounted to over $10,000.
My CPA never told me this before in all the years that he had been doing my taxes. Not only has the AARP tax preparers helped me save money in doing my taxes, they also gave me insight as to why more people don’t bother to donate to any causes unless it was one that is close to their heart. I just wanted to say a big thank you to these wonderful people. I will be back there again next year during the tax season.
Colleen Wallis
Kailua-Kona
Everyone’s heart is in right place on euthanasia fight
I want to start off by praising both the humane society and the agencies trying to take dogs to the mainland. Clearly everyone’s heart is in the right place, but it seems there are just a few sticking points.
When I first read about this issue, my understanding was that the humane society had stopped adopting dogs out to the other agencies until they could put together some rules for how it was done. Maybe this seems silly to some, but it’s really not. The humane society said it wanted to have some assurances the dogs were being properly placed. Without such assurances, who knows what could happen to them?
Now think about this: Suppose you found out that those dogs had been adopted by someone who used them for target practice, or made them into soup? Then take another minute and think about this: Why are there no dogs to be adopted in those mainland areas? Doesn’t that thought make you wonder?
Again, my understanding was that once the humane society drew up its rules, and those wishing to take dogs to the mainland agreed to abide by them, then the adoptions would continue. So, is the problem that the agencies don’t want to abide by a system of checks to make sure the dogs are well cared for at the other end? There is an answer here somewhere.
Despite what has been said in these letters, I am quite sure the humane society takes no pleasure in having to destroy animals. Please stop the name-calling and start working together for the best outcome for these animals.
Tina Owens
Kailua-Kona