‘Horrifying and heartbreaking’
Friday morning’s paper told the tragic story of the homeless woman giving birth by Pineapples restaurant in Hilo last Tuesday evening.
It is a horrifying and heartbreaking story.
My heart goes out to everyone involved — the woman, the newborn, the witnesses and the first responders. The trauma and PTSD suffered by all, even the readers of this paper, is tremendous.
Unbelievably, the procedures were to arrest this severely mentally ill woman for child abandonment and potential prison time.
I have been watching her for a decade slide into further and deeper insanity/mental illness. I suspected she was pregnant as she limped along (no doubt raped, and even gang raped, over the years), ranting and raving as usual.
To make matters worse, that same evening, a man was murdered in downtown Hilo.
This is the result of a failed society that these things can happen, along with daily school shootings in our nation and other horrors. We must not become hardened.
Somehow, we must live aloha and malama each other.
Ellen Schomer
Hilo
Neglect and tragedy in downtown Hilo
Regarding the article, “Enforcement action conducted,” on Sunday: I feel that it’s a little to late.
Back in June 2023, I had suggested to think about reinstituting some sort of police foot-patrol program in order to combat the homeless, as well as lawlessness, in the Hilo downtown area. This fell on deaf ears.
Then in November 2023, radio station KWXX wanted to host another ho‘olaule‘a concert in the Hilo downtown area again, but I stated that enforcement and clean-up action needed to be initiated before any kind of event could be done, due to the safety and health hazards.
Fast forward. Now in January 2024, a person was killed and a woman was seen dragging her newborn baby on the sidewalk in downtown Hilo, before enforcement and clean-up action was finally taken.
Tell me, Mayor Mitch Roth and police Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz, who do we blame for this neglect and these tragic events happening, when the warning signs were so obvious?
Prentiss Moreno
Hilo