Cockfighting must never
be permitted in Hawaii

In response to Doreen Kalama's April 28 letter, the "great industry" of cockfighting desensitizes people to the pain and suffering of animals, simply for entertainment and personal gain. It is cruel and barbaric, and should not be tolerated in our community.

Cockfighting would not be a boon to the economy, as was asserted. On the contrary, it could very well have the opposite effect. There are many people who would boycott our state should cockfighting be legalized.

This activity is illegal in 45 states, and the five states with legalized cockfighting are trying to get it banned. Seventeen states have laws making cockfighting a felony. The trend is toward making the laws stronger and more comprehensive, not weaker.

Let's make sure this blood "sport" remains illegal in Hawaii.

Pamela Burns
President
Hawaiian Humane Society

Mandatory safety checks
motivate most drivers

Do safety checks make streets safer for drivers? I'll use myself as an example. I am the owner of four cars and there are four different drivers in my family. All of the cars are at least 9-13 years old.

There have been times when a car has had a safety check near expiration and there were one or more problems that needed correction. If it wasn't for the required safety check, I probably wouldn't do anything to correct some problems.

For one car, the problem was damaged/unclear window tint that had to be removed or changed. Another had back-up lights that did not work because of a defective part in the transmission. It was later repaired by installing a switch inside the car or the cost would have been prohibitive.

Without a safety check law, can you imagine how many so-called minor repairs would go unrepaired? We are so busy today, and many of us are procrastinators when it comes to maintenance of our cars.

We need mandatory safety checks. It makes for safer streets.

Wendell Lum
Kaneohe

More airlines need to
snuff out smoking flights

The volunteer leadership of the American Lung Association of Hawaii congratulates American Airlines and United Airlines for prohibiting smoking on all flights beginning July 1. The two largest U.S. airlines join others, such as Delta, in going smoke-free on all flights worldwide.

As most readers know, a growing body of medical research has now established the dangers of tobacco smoke for nonsmokers. These dangers are magnified significantly for flight attendants, who must work in the totally enclosed environment of aircraft cabins on long flights. Many have developed chronic respiratory problems .

Hawaii residents who favor smoke-free air travel between Hawaii and Japan should let the other airlines know of their concerns.

We can also voice support to our U.S. senators and representatives for HR 522, the Airliner Cabin Air Quality Act of 1997, which would prohibit smoking on all airline flights between the U.S. and other countries.

Sharon Takiguchi, RN
President,
American Lung Association of Hawaii

Headline was misleading
in wedding chapel story

Your April 10 headline, "Kaleikini and Wong's wedding chapel voted down," is very misleading. One would think the Kahaluu Neighborhood Board was against the project and that our application for a special management area permit to build a small wedding chapel was rejected. The fact is that we received seven votes in favor of the project, one against, and three abstentions.

The article failed to point out that the neighborhood board's action was only advisory, and that the City Council will make the final determination on whether a SMA permit is approved.

Unfortunately, only 11 of the neighborhood board's 15 members were present, and we were happy that 7 members were for our project, with only one member voting against it. Our thanks go out to the many community members who sat through the lengthy meeting just to voice their support.

Also, we are presently marketing 100 pounds of ogo per week, not mullet and moi.

Danny Kaleikini
Linda Wong

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Same-sex archive

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