Bills would provide needed elderly care

My father needed long-term care at least five years before he passed away. Unfortunately, the family could not afford nursing-home care so my mother took the brunt of caring for him 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This took such a toll on my mother's health that she became ill and ended up in a state nursing home through Medicaid. A long-term care program would have made a big difference in my parents' final years. I am willing to pay a $10 monthly premium as proposed by a state bills SB2416 and HB2638.

Fred Lee

Recycling bill choice is a no-brainer

Our legislators are looking at two recycling choices.

One, supported by the bottling and beverage industry, would cost Hawaii taxpayers $10 million a year, plus nearly $1 a month extra for garbage pick-up.

Another is the bottle bill that will lessen litter and recycle 80 percent or more of the state's 880 million beverage bottles and cans at no cost to taxpayers.

Is this a real difficult decision? Maybe, if you don't like taxpayers.

The bottle bill would provide a 5-cent incentive to recycle and the same penalty for littering, paid by consumers who choose not to redeem their nickels. It has received strong support from the state Department of Health, the City and County of Honolulu, the County of Maui, recycling businesses and many community organizations.

The 10 states with bottle bills average 80 percent recycling of beverage containers. No bottle bill has ever been repealed.

Hesitating legislators, just do it. Enjoy an act of refreshing good taste. Not only will Hawaii look cleaner, so will you.

Daniel Grantham

[Quotables] "It's been a long journey ... but we would just like to thank everyone, the community, for all their support ... He wanted to tell them 'thank you.'" Cynthia Yip Nishimura Wife of Honolulu Police Department Capt. Alvin Nishimura,who died Monday after a two-year battle with leukemia. At one point during his treatment, Nishimura had waged a public effort to find a compatible bone marrow donor in Hawaii. He is pictured at a fund-raiser at the Blaisdell Center on March 26, 2000. -- "We said it would be a success if no one drew a gun. Well, no one drew a gun." Jim Mackin Secret Service spokesman, on the agency's handling of security at Sunday's Super Bowl game in New Orleans, La. The event also was under the watch of the FBI and other federal and local agencies. Mackin said fans were "wonderful" about having to go through extra precautions such as pat-downs and X-ray machines. There were six arrests at the Superdome, four of which involved people allegedly trying to carry drugs through security checkpoints. No major problems were reported.

Comedian got his start in speech class

I am delighted that irrepressible funnyman Mel Cabang is back in town doing what he does best.

I like to think Mel got his jump start as a student in my crazy speech class back in 1960 at Kaimuki High School. As a fledgling teacher, I urged my students to be themselves and encouraged freedom of expression.

My classroom was the perfect forum for Mel's antics, his signature piece being the story of The Three Pigs a la Lisa Matsumoto's local style. It never failed to bring down the house.

Mel went on to win many speech and story-telling awards, bringing our school joy and recognition. I remember the day in class as he performed an original song, "Read Smutty," for his final persuasion speech.

In the midst of this hilarity, the head of secondary school intern teachers at the University of Hawaii walked in unexpectedly. After observing Mel in action, he promptly hired me as the youngest intern supervisor, a promotion I had not even applied for. We shared the same philosophy that learning can be creative, fun and joyous.

I have Mel to thank for these happy memories. Way to go, Mel. Geev 'em.

Wanda Kulamanu Ellis Au

Dems, GOP conspire to bring down Harris

I agree with the rumors that members of the Democratic and Republican parties are probably behind the campaign to destroy Mayor Jeremy Harris's reputation and credibility. I bet I am not the only one who has put two and two together to come up with a plausible explanation.

My theory is that the Mazie Hirono and Linda Lingle camps are probably behind this smear campaign. Hirono wants to be governor and isn't satisfied with running for mayor. She thinks that if she could just get Harris out of the race, then she might have a good chance of beating Lingle.

As for Lingle, she probably thinks that she has a better chance of going head to head with Hirono than she has with Harris.

Pretty good theory for a second-rate political buff, don't you think?

Vanessa Birang

Hurricane fund doesn't belong to homeowners

Drew Kosora (Letters, Jan. 23) criticized the governor's proposal to use money in the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund (HHRF) to carry Hawaii through the temporary economic downturn.

State government stepped forward to cover Hawaii's people during the period when private insurers weren't willing to do so. Homeowners paid into the HHRF, and should a hurricane have occurred during its active period they would have been covered. No hurricane hit, and homeowners aren't entitled to an after-the-fact refund any more than they would be with their auto or other insurance.

Premiums paid by homeowners ($336 million) were insufficient to pay for the reinsurance the state had to purchase to cover them ($385 million) -- and that shortfall ($49 million) had to be made up by assessing the insurance companies and levying fees on the transfer of real property, which is the source of the remaining balance in the fund.

In fact, the majority of this money came from insurance assessments not even related to hurricane coverage.

To give the premium back to each homeowner is unjustified. They received the coverage they paid for. Returning the money would amount to all taxpayers subsidizing the cost of insurance coverage for those who own real estate.

Jackie Kido
Director of Communications
Office of the Governor

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