The Kauai Floods

A land of peace and beauty (April 19, 2018)

I have been traveling to Kauai for over 20 years (“Kauai: The Path To Recovery In Hanalei Will Be A Long One”). I cannot tell you how devastating it was to see my beautiful island under water.

The peace and beauty of the island are unmatched by any other place on earth. I know your place and where it is. I am sorry for your loss and the islands. Please know you all are in my thoughts and my heart.

I will be returning next year to the place that brings me so much peace. It truly does feel like home.

— Deb Kellett, North Charleston, South Carolina

Best wishes for recovery (April 18, 2018)

Having recently vacationed from the mainland to Kapaa, I eagerly read the article written by Allan Parachini. I found it very interesting, informative and it was a compelling read.

Thanks to Allan for his EMS service and his well-written article. Our best wishes for recovery go out to the aloha ohana.

— Ma Dashell, San Diego

Continued excellent coverage (April 19, 2018)

We cannot thank you enough for the continued excellent coverage of the recent Kauai flooding. We here on the mainland can only watch in horror — and send our best wishes (and donations) to the people of beautiful Hawaii.

— Michael Peskura, Seattle

Workers’ Comp Doc

One reader’s experience (April 18, 2018)

When I was in my 25th year of teaching I made a request for a “reasonable accommodation” with the college (my employer). I was a tenured professor.

I went through the process of seeing several doctors (something my employer made me do). The last doctor I saw said to me “you really do want to keep working.” (“Whose Side Is This Workers’ Comp Doctor On?”)

In my mind, his statement implied that I wanted to go out on disability. I made it clear that I want to continue working. I loved my job.

Getting the college to comply with my reasonable accommodation was another issue. Management kept dragging their feet and I suffered physically as a consequence. I ended up going to a federal agency office in San Francisco (can’t remember whether it was a disability agency or a labor agency).

The upshot was, the agency in a letter to the chancellor, told him the college could run the risk of losing federal funding if it did not settle the reasonable accommodation. When we (myself, my dean and the college president) met in the chancellor’s office, he was upset. 

As a result of this action the chancellor told the college president he never wanted to receive a letter like this again and to take care of my reasonable accommodation. I was granted a reasonable accommodation and taught another 10 years.

— Richard Bidleman, Pahoa

Misremembering Barbara Bush

The obit was an epic fail (April 18, 2018)

Does Civil Beat live in a remote cave on an isolated island?

While your article mentioned her looking like George Washington, your article about Barbara Bush entirely ignored her most significant accomplishment which was her tireless effort for literacy (“Former First Lady Barbara Bush Dies At Age 92”).

To paraphrase her comment, “If more people could read, we could solve many of our problems and we would be far better off.”

You ought to do more research when writing an article.

— John Riggins, Kapolei