If only I could read lips
The presidential debate on Tuesday was a total (expletive removed) and barely tolerable to watch. Why not enforce each speaker’s two minutes to talk by alternately shutting off the microphone of the one not speaking? This would prevent one or the other’s rude interruptions and give us a chance to hear what each of them was trying to say. If only I could read lips, I would have left the whole thing on mute.
Dinah Rodgers
Kona
Social distancing just
as important as
wearing a mask
Assuming the COVID-19 virus is actually spread by germs — rather than by 5G, Democratic governors, aliens, etc. — then my recent two-week trip to the U.S. mainland would seem to be instructive empirically as to why so many Americans continue to get sick.
My experiences in a variety of venues with locals and other tourists, showed me that most, by now, have caught on to or at least reluctantly accepted — with some exceptions — wearing masks, especially in interior spaces. Social distancing, on the other hand, was almost universally ignored. Six feet might as well have been 6 inches for most folks. Not sure why this is such a difficult concept for them. Maybe they all flunked math 101?
John Kitchen
Kona
Cents, not percent
A Sept. 25 letter to the editor, “Public needs to push back against proposed water rate increase,” incorrectly states the Department of Water Supply levied an “11 percent increase in our water bill.” It appears the author was referring to an 11-cent increase to the Power Cost Charge (PCC) that took effect Aug. 1. That adjustment to $2.01 per 1,000 gallons of water used followed a 10-cent reduction effective Feb. 1. The PCC is adjusted up or down to reflect fluctuating electricity rates. All other water rates have been unchanged since July 1, 2019.
Please note that the water bill for a typical residential customer using 12,000 gallons per month would increase by approximately $5 per month based on the proposed rate increase. We understand any increase may be a challenge, but it is necessary to continue the Department’s mission of providing safe drinking water to our customers.
Keith Okamoto
Manager-Chief Engineer, DWS
Letters policy
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Editor
West Hawaii Today
PO Box 789
Kailua-Kona, HI 96745
