New York City put face masks on the marble lions at the Public Library. We could put a mask on the Duke statue in Waikiki and on King Kamehameha downtown.

Get young people who recovered from COVID-19 to share their experience via social media. It isn’t fun; it’s serious. You will likely recover but your lungs could suffer permanent damage. Wear a face mask, practice social distancing and follow other measures in our fight against COVID-19.

James Arcate

Manoa

People are intelligent enough to guard health

My wife and are considered at high risk for the COVID-19 virus due to our age. Recently, after four months, we went to a restaurant that allowed dine-in service. It was liberating.

The restaurant was appreciative we were there. We bypassed two restaurants that had take-out only. We are like most people in Hawaii: intelligent enough to understand the risks.

To the government officials and those who are so concerned with our health: Please avoid us. We do not need your help. We respect your space. Respect ours and leave us to our lives.

There are more people at risk because of the government than any virus. We will all be better off when the government advises us of the real facts and assumes we are not in need of being their children, in need of constant direction before the government bankrupts everyone financially and mentally.

Brian Benton

Kaneohe

Let’s honor those who died from COVID-19

How can Hawaii honor them?

As of July 24, 26 individuals have died in Hawaii from causes related to COVID-19. The first reported death was on March 31. Their names were not revealed but they were someone’s loved one: a grandfather, a grandmother, a mother, a father, a son, a daughter, an aunt, an uncle, a niece, a nephew, a student, a colleague, a neighbor, a church member, a caregiver, a friend.

This number will never go down, only continue to climb. How can we honor them?

Donna Higashi

Kaimuki

Design of voter ballot needs to be improved

I would like to comment on the design of the voting ballot for our upcoming election. It is too late now, but for the next time around, it should be designed differently.

As it is now, it looks like just another piece of junk mail. The large gray waves on the front envelope almost completely obscure the writing that says, “Official Election Mail.”

The orange color on the left side of the envelope has a strange black and orange logo for HNL. Above the logo it says, “Office of the City Clerk,” and below, “Elections Division,” all in small black print.

On the other side is the Seal of the City and County of Honolulu, so small it can hardly be read.

It will be interesting to see how many people request a new ballot because this one got thrown in the trash. Was there a competition to design this? Who is responsible for such a poor graphic for something for which our state should be so proud?

Barbara Saromines-Ganne

Waikiki

Hawaii Resilience Fund keeps programs running

The Friends of Diamond Head Clubhouse (DHCH) would like to thank the Hawaii Community Foundation (HCF).

DHCH is a psychosocial rehabilitation program for individuals with serious mental illness that seeks to empower participants (members) to live independently and return to work or school.

During the COVID-19 shutdown, members have been unable to attend DHCH, depriving them of needed support services and social connections that are critical in maintaining their stability and well-being.

An HCF Hawaii Resilience Fund grant will allow DHCH to expand online programming to serve members who cannot afford to buy computers or internet service.

This purchase will enable members who had been shut out of services to once again benefit from program participation.

DHCH would like to recognize and thank the HCF and the businesses and individuals who have contributed to the Resilience Fund for their immense contribution to creating and maintaining a healthy, just and sustainable community.

Mark Golden

Waialae Iki

Homeless triage center in the wrong location

Recent news reports said that the Institute for Human Services (IHS) has found a home for its homeless triage center, at 1234 North King St.

The proposed building is in a residential area where kids play and run around, our seniors walk for their daily exercise, and adults walk in the early morning and or late at night.

The IHS plan to purchase the building on Long Lane will have repercussions worse than the benefits for the homeless.

The project has raised fear and anxiety within the community. We are worried for our safety. It can have a multitude of effects to public safety, health, sanitation and emotional stress, especially for residents of the vicinity. We live here, and the community is already struggling to begin with.

We support projects for the homeless, but our neighborhood’s safety comes first.

We never received flyers about the IHS project and the residents didn’t agree to it.

It’s best for the whole community if we continue with the project in a safer area for everyone.

Jane Damo

Kalihi

Let’s stop identifying ourselves by our race

Race matters. Should it? Can we call Barack Obama a hapa haole and be wrong? There might be some minuscule genetic differences among what we call the races, but as Frank Waters, a famous part Native American writer, put it (and I am paraphrasing): “You put us in a sausage grinder and we all come out the same.”

Obama could have chosen to emphasize his being white or haole, but chose to identify himself with the Black American experience — in spite of being raised in the islands by his white mother and white grandmother.

It was white racism that determined that if you were even 1% Black, you were Black.

Race and racism are crazy and distorted concepts that deserve to die. Maybe then when we quit primarily identifying ourselves as one race or another, what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said will start coming true: We can start judging each each other by the content our character and not by the color of our skin.

Roman Leverenz

Aliamanu

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