LANDFILL

SOME GARBAGE COULD BE SOLD TO RECYCLERS

I recently made a trip to the landfill by Ko Olina, and was shocked at the materials that are going in the landfill.

A lot of the materials could be recycled. Now the city wants to pay to send our garbage to the Mainland? Why not recycle the majority of those materials and sell them to recyclers here or overseas?

When our household was part of the pilot recycling program in Mililani, we decreased the amount of garbage we had picked up every week by 75 percent. I, too, thought that one pickup for garbage a week wasn't going to be enough, but I was proven wrong.

Let's get a little creative, Honolulu, and stop throwing our money away to those off island and keep it here for our benefit.

VETO THREATENED

BILL BENEFITS BUSINESS AND INJURED EMPLOYEES

What's good for the governor, Hawai'i's business community, injured workers and our medical community, and reduces workers' compensation costs in Hawai'i?

If you guessed it was the recently passed and veto-threatened Senate Bill 1060, you were right. This bill requires insurance companies and injured workers to cooperate in picking medical examiners who perform independent medical examinations.

Isn't cooperation a good thing? And isn't this cooperation going to result in quick selection of doctors who are mutually respected by the insurance carriers and the injured workers? Yes indeed.

And if injured workers are examined more rapidly by doctors who are selected by mutual cooperation, won't their medical reports clear up treatment confusion quicker and get those workers back to work faster? Yes, again. And if people go back to work faster doesn't that reduce workers' comp costs for Hawai'i's business community? Right again.

If you want to see more cooperation in our workers' compensation system with less-biased independent medical examinations and reduced workers' comp costs due to workers returning to work quicker, you have to like SB 1060. And if you do like it, demand that this positive proposal becomes law now and then step aside and watch mandated cooperation start to work for all of Hawai'i.

'EXTREME MAKEOVER'

HELP SHOULD HAVE GONE TO FAMILY TRULY IN NEED

When I read the article about the Akana family and their combined income of more than $225,000 a year, I was so upset I could not finish my breakfast.

Theresa Akana and her husband each earn more than most families' combined income.

If the Akana family cannot manage a house on $225,000 a year, then what they need is an "extreme" course in "living within their fiscal means."

The article goes on to state that Ms. Akana is a very giving person. Perhaps she is. However, if she is so giving, then when first offered the "Home Makeover" she should have given or insisted that the "Makeover" be given to some family that really, truly needed the help.

There are thousands of families that really need this type of help. What in the world was the TV network thinking?

MONEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO A CHARITY

I was shocked to read your article on the Akanas ("Recipient of 'Extreme Makeover' home earns $100,000-plus salary," July 2).

It's very disappointing to read that the home wasn't given to someone in real need.

I know it's expensive here, but you can't paint your own house with income over $200,000?

Give me a break. That money would have been better served given to a charity that actually helps the needy.

ALOHA PACIFIC

CREDIT UNION MEMBERS NOT ASKED ABOUT NAME

Your July 3 article, "Credit union gets new name," reports on the Honolulu City & County Employees Federal Credit Union's name change to the Aloha Pacific FCU and mentions that "other local regulatory approvals are expected to be granted shortly."

What is not reported is that credit union officials did not seek the approval of members, who are individual owners of this organization.

Being the third-largest credit union in the state, it has a long tradition of being in the forefront of the credit-union movement in Hawai'i. And now having its identity stolen, auwe.

MEDICALLY FRAGILE

CHILDREN WILL SUFFER WITHOUT CARE CONTRACT

Our medically fragile children, their 40 families, and 60 nurses will suffer if the Department of Human Services and Castle Medical Center are unable to negotiate a new contract for pediatric home nursing care.

Castle Medical, which has provided quality pediatric home nursing care to our community for the past five years without an increase, is finally requesting a rate increase for these services.

The Department of Human Services' apparent unwillingness to consider a rate increase is difficult to understand — especially since the state Legislature passed House Bill 104, which appropriated $7.4 million for Medicaid reimbursements of this type.

The alternative is to move these medically fragile children back into hospital beds that are vastly more expensive, as these children will not survive without adequate nursing care.

As the parent of a medically fragile 3-year-old girl, I hope and pray that DHS and Castle Medical will soon succeed in their efforts to reach an agreement that will provide these much-needed services to these most vulnerable children.