Buy local, it’s good for all
Now more than ever, Hawaii residents need the support of each other; we can start by shopping local.
Our farmers have plenty good produce, better than the mainland, waiting for you at our markets. Those little Hass avocados that you see advertised are not grown here. Beautiful Sharwil avocados are grown here, and they are much better than those grown on the mainland. Why are Hawaiian Sharwil avocados not available in California, but the little tasteless California Hass avocados are on some store shelves here? Did you know that Hawaiian Sharwil avocados are not allowed to be shipped from Hawaii to California or any state that borders California? To add insult to injury you can buy Mexican avocados in California but not Hawaiian. Keep this unfair practice in mind next time you go shopping for produce. Buy local, it’s good for you; it’s good for all.
Tombo Lono
Milolii
Not right or fair
The problem with the Electoral College lies in the fact that the people chosen for that position for each state can vote for a president of their own choice, regardless of who won the popular vote for that state. Most states have declared that their Electoral College vote should go with their state’s popular win. But President Donald Trump and many Republicans are trying to strong arm Republican state legislatures to overturn their state popular vote and go with Republican electoral votes. That’s just not right or fair.
Elizabeth Purse
Waimea
Listen to the professionals
Mrs. Michelle Melendez implies in her Tuesday letter to the editor that it is our God-given and Constitutional right to go without a mask. I don’t know where this notion comes from. We have a variety of laws that one might argue limit our freedoms. For example, we have speed limits and are required to wear seatbelts. These laws are in place to help save lives, just like wearing a mask.
She goes on to state that the requirement to wear a mask creates fear. Personally, I’m much more concerned about the fact that people will not wear a mask and continue the spread of COVID-19. I don’t think anyone likes wearing a mask, I certainly do not, but the alternative is far worse.
Mrs. Melendez does acknowledge that the first emergency proclamation was to prevent our hospitals from being overrun with patients, and as it turns out, this has so far been effective; it does work to have these rules in place. She then cites some of the state’s statistics, and how we have kept our death rate from COVID-19 below that of the common flu. Again, one can take this as proof that the mask wearing, testing, and social distancing are helping, as we can see by taking a look at the bigger picture. In the U.S., there have now been over 263,000 deaths from COVID-19. Flu deaths in the U.S. from last year’s flu season (Oct. 1, 2019 to April 4) were between 24,000 and 62,000.
I would suggest Mrs. Melendez rethink her position, listen to the professionals, and do her part to make our community safe, rather than spout unsupported misinformation.
Kurt Bell
Holualoa
Letters policy
Letters to the editor should be 300 words or less and will be edited for style and grammar. Longer viewpoint guest columns may not exceed 800 words. Submit online at www.westhawaiitoday.com/?p=118321, via email to letters@westhawaiitoday.com or address them to:
Editor | West Hawaii Today
PO Box 789
Kailua-Kona, HI 96745