I love this time of year, with the generosity and well wishes for all.

However, this time of year also brings out the proliferation of illegal fireworks and the detonation of extremely loud bombs. As I write this letter at 4:15 a.m. on Dec. 26, my neighbors in Kaneohe, one mile from the police station, have detonated two bombs, causing the neighborhood dogs to create a cacophony of barking, waking the neighborhood.

I fear it will only get worse as the week progresses, culminating with what seems like a war zone at midnight on New Year’s Eve, with stragglers of bombs continuing through the week after New Year’s.

I do not understand the joy in causing such stress and fear in animals, not to mention the many veterans who might be suffering from PTSD.

Please, please go and enjoy a legal fireworks show or at the very least, obey the law and detonate legal fireworks during the legally specified time.

Christina C. Kent

Kaneohe

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President served all Americans well

Aloha to the Barack Obama family and thank you for filling the White House and the whole country with all of the rainbow’s hues, enabling our dreams and ideals to shine through and ring true.

Richard Y. Will

Waikiki

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Obama can help Native Hawaiians

I’d like to thank President Barack Obama for his good service, and for acknowledging the rights of First Americans protecting our water.

Another injustice that he might right: The Kingdom of Hawaii was recognized in 1843 by the United Kingdom, France and a dozen other nations.

The American invasion of the Hawaiian Islands, and detention of its queen in 1893, was exacerbated in the referendum of 1959, when Hawaiians were not offered independence, but only the choice of becoming a U.S. state or remaining a territory.

This disgrace could be corrected by executive order to recognize by treaty the indigenous peoples of the Hawaiian Islands as a tribal nation within the United States.

This would be an enduring legacy of standing with the dispossessed.

Michael Creamer

Isla Mujeres, Mexico

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Looking forward to a better tomorrow

Yes, myself and others did not look forward to Barack Obama becoming president. As it turned out, it was a do-nothing administration without leadership. The blood of Syria is on Obama’s hands.

Although Obama seems like a nice person with a good sense of humor, we need presidential abilities and leadership qualities.

Thankfully, he and Michelle Obama will be gone soon and as our republic moves on, let’s stop the sour grapes.

I wish them well. Let’s turn the page and build a better tomorrow as we encounter a new year.

Betty Berry

Makiki