Joke got me good
Joke got me good
I must salute the jokesters at WHT for truly getting me with that article in Saturday’s paper, “It pays to be fit.” That article made me so mad that I immediately emailed my thoughts to the paper’s letters to the editor. All the time, I was wondering who Councilman Lected was?
I called the phone number at the end of the article to a dead end and got even madder. Monday, I called the county info to get Councilman Lected’s phone number and the clerk must of thought that I was crazy!
Then it started to dawn on me.
I looked, for the first time, at the article byline “April Fuhl” and realized that I’d been had. I instantly went from mad to wonderfully amused. That was one of the best April Fools’ jokes ever! On me, anyway! Thanks again.
Kim Garcia
Kailua-Kona
Pothole update
Lots of happy faces on the Old Airport walking trail this morning since the potholes were filled in just before the last gate to enter the Old Airport.
A big mahalo!
Paul Prosise
Kailua-Kona
Tax credits for teachers
It was with great interest I read in the April 1 issue of West Hawaii Today an article about the Hawaii legislators report to citizens on current activities of the state Legislature. I am sorry I was unable to attend this meeting.
It appears to me one of the main issues facing the legislators is education in Hawaii and specifically attracting and keeping teachers. Coincidentally, I happened to read another publication about another state that wants to keep it teachers and is looking at ways to do so.
It is being suggested in California by state Sen. Henry Stern (D) that his state address the low wages and high burnout among educators. He is proposing a bill that would give new public school teachers in his state an income tax credit amounting to about a 3.4 percent salary increase. Those teaching for six years or more would see their income tax disappear completely. Teachers, he says, “are the original job creators.” Later in the week I learned that the state of Hawaii expects to receive more than $11 million a year in taxes it will collect from sales in Hawaii at Amazon.
Well now, it seems to me with that added state revenue it would be no hardship at all to make it possible for teachers in this state no longer be required to pay income tax. Read Sen. Stern’s bill then just do it. Don’t wait and discuss the issue until we are sick of hearing about it. Just do it. (To learn more about Sen. Stern’s California bill look at Senate Bill 807.)
Susan T. Wehren
Kailua-Kona