Swimmers disappoint
Swimmers disappoint
Vocabulary should be a requirement for all Olympic athletes as it is apparent some of them do not know the difference between an exaggeration and a lie. We were stoked with the U.S. athletes until the four swimmers embarrassed us all. Brazil should have locked them up.
Joseph P. Maria
Kapaau
Trump signs a ripoff anyway
I was very curious to read the article in Sunday’s paper about the north Kohala couple that were having their Trump 2016 signs taken from their yard. While I agree with them that people should not be trespassing to destroy or steal their property, something else really got my attention in the article.
Apparently, Trump supporters are required to pay $20 each for cardboard signs that he undoubtedly has produced in Guatemala or Honduras for pennies. I wonder how much of the fee goes directly into The Donald’s pocket?
And people really think that he wants to help America?
David Janeway
Kailua-Kona
Don’t leave out eruption update
I’ve appreciated for many years your inclusion of HVO’s “Volcano Watch” in the Sunday paper. It appears that today you omitted the “Eruption Update” portion of that column.
Though I realize that your daily news coverage includes most of the information contained in the update, I find the update to be a helpful summary of the week’s events, which provdes needed continuity to those of us trying to follow the vagaries of our erupting volcano.
Please include the eruption update with future Volcano Watch columns.
Mahalo.
Tom Daniel
Kailua-Kona
Don’t give DOE administrators
a pay raise
No to higher salaries for Department of Education administrators. Why? Let’s see. A couple of years ago the goal, as reported in West Hawaii Today, was to get all third graders reading at the third-grade level so many years in the future that a generation of children would be lost. Why not have all third-graders read at a third-grade level this year? In the 2016 overall school ranking, the state of Hawaii comes in 39th. This number drops to a dismal 42nd in the quality of education ranking. We scored high in safety but certainly lack in the reason for schools … educating.
Several months ago the state was looking to hire 1,600 teachers. Why the lack of teachers? Even those who move here from the mainland leave shortly. Why? The pay. Hawaii has a high cost of living. Teachers lack enough pay to actually live here. If the Department of Education has money, it should go to teachers. The administrators got a 4.5 percent pay increase last year and want more? I say a resounding ‘no.’ They certainly lack skill as evidenced by our low educational rankings. Without quality teachers, this will never change. Let’s put the money where it will make a difference to our children … get quality teachers and keep them!
Cindy Whitehawk
South Kona