Hawaii is a state of injustice for Rodrigues
If the people of Hawaii are satisfied with our justice system, then something is awfully wrong with our society. The fact that an innocent person is being incarcerated for a crime he did not do is immoral, and it's terrifying to know that at any moment an innocent man can be taken away. The system fails to abide by its pledge "to protect and serve"; the real criminals are still at large making a mockery of the system that supposedly upholds justice.
The fact that the people in blue and the individual in the black robe go through the motions to prosecute innocent individuals without facts or any evidence is a state of injustice.
The people of Hawaii should really examine the functions of our justice system. Under oath, I told the truth, but the courts still called me a liar. In fact, they said my whole family was lying.
My brother's name is Shaun Rodrigues, and he is a victim of mistaken identity, an innocent person incarcerated for a crime he did not do.
Royce Kurihara
Kailua
Landowner makes it hard to 'Keep it Kailua'
Your story about the pending eviction of Heritage Antiques in Kailua (
Star-Bulletin, March 15) reflects a clash between what's good for Kaneohe Ranch Ltd., the landowner, and what's good for Kailua.
Kaneohe Ranch professes to recognize the community's desire to retain its "small-town" atmosphere and to "Keep it Kailua." Its actions tell a different story. After 40-plus years of common mutuality, where the community embraced the ranch's low-key approach to commercialism and the ranch thrived on it, things changed. The new Kaneohe Ranch:
» Built an unnecessary parking garage in the town's center and uses a large portion of it to store new cars for a dealership.
» Eliminated a complex of affordable housing in the town's center.
Now the ranch is leaning on 30-year tenants for double rent and evicting them when the demand cannot be met.
The discrepancy between what Kaneohe Ranch says and what it actually does, does not augur well for the community's desire to "Keep it Kailua."
Don Bremner
Keep It Kailua
Being American means learning English
The
March 4 edition contained an excellent
letter to the editor by Liane Sato headlined "Don't use tax money for English translators." In it she pointed out the simple truth that the common language of the United States is English and immigrants have a responsibility to master the language. We do not assume an obligation to cater to their language just because they came here. America's strength lies in the melting-pot concept.
"E Pluribus Unum" (out of many, one) is the slogan on the great seal of the United States, and our rule to live by. For a legislator not to know that is appalling but not surprising.
Richard Rowland
Honolulu
How many buildings can Honolulu sustain?
So, I guess the idea is to concrete all of Honolulu? It certainly seems so. I drove down to Ward Centre last week to purchase something and was very surprised to see that my favorite parking area, outside, spacious, was fenced in and another new high-rise is being put there. This in addition to the already multiple high-rise buildings almost complete. What happened to planned sustainability? Open spaces? Green areas and trees? Is this good for our environment? Is this good for the existing businesses? I will think twice before going back to this area, which used to be a favorite.
Liz Nelson
Kaneohe
Dual-flush toilets are wave of the future
Twelve thousand gallons of water can be saved yearly by every household in America by incorporation of a new type of toilet design.
Government currently mandates a 3.5 gallons-per-flush toilet be reduced by half. The conversion from 3.5 GPF to 1.6 GPF toilets is good, but there is a better way: the employment of a dual-flush toilet. It is a two-handle toilet -- one handle controls a low flush for urine, the other a high flush for "bulk waste." Nationwide, millions of gallons of water would be saved; home water bills would be reduced significantly.
Australians and Europeans have used this dual-flush toilet for years; isn't it time for America to incorporate it? Rebates and tax credits would speed up the process. It would be a good use of government money, as people would be saving tons of water.
Peter Erdman
Honolulu