Police should enforce use of turn signals
I have a question. Why don't people in Hawaii use signals when they drive a car? I asked someone, and he said they are "just lazy."
I can't believe this! If I don't use a signal, I'm so scared the car behind me will hit me. So I use signals all the time.
I think the Hawaii police departments should work harder. They should catch people who don't use signals.
Yuko Kanedai
Makiki
Surfers could give terrorists ideas
All my life I've been told that the U.S. military occupies these islands to protect and defend the people of Hawaii. Why then, was the mighty U.S. Coast Guard
unable to secure Nawiliwili harbor -- against a band of unarmed, half-naked surfers -- long enough for ONE U.S. ship to make port?
Gee, I sure hope al-Qaida never attacks us on surfboards!
Joseph Kaleo'onalani Aikala
Honolulu
Blocking ferry a mere inconvenience
The opponents of the Hawaii Superferry
who took to the water to prevent its docking may have been vocal, but they surely weren't numerous. Similar, you might say, to a few flies sniffing out Fido's favorite fire hydrant. Pesky, unsightly, but of no real or lasting consequence. After all, it's something for the career-idle to do when all other attempts to discover self-worth have failed. We should be supportive, and encourage them to intercept the ships at mid-channel, five, say 10 miles out.
Steve Mayfield
Honolulu
Selfish protesters embarrass Hawaii
I was appalled and disappointed by the behavior of Superferry protesters at the dock in Kauai. They acted like fanatics. The crowds were filled with activists who protest anything and anyone that suggests change. I agree with Adrienne Wilson-Yamasaki (
Letters, Star Bulletin, Aug. 27) that ships of all sorts and sizes have been coming and going for years and years. Visitors from other states or countries enter our harbors all year round. To do an environmental study on every vessel could kill Hawaii's economy by stopping commerce.
It is the greed and isolationist attitude of the residents there who believe that the ferry business will take business away from them. They really need to be more informed and educated about the use of a ferry system for travel between islands. Ferry systems are used all over the world, they are economical for islanders to get to and from the different islands to visit friends and relatives and do business. The ferry system is an alternative mode of transportation that islanders have wanted for decades.
Gov. Linda Lingle should ask the protesters to calm down and get a grip. Their reaction and behavior are being showcased all over the world. They have displayed their selfish and narrow-minded attitude to the people of Hawaii and the world.
Lee Manfredi
Honolulu
Superferry could have unforeseen costs
In the 1980s, an interisland ferry was proposed. It was required to do an environmental impact statement. If an entirely new type of air travel was proposed to use state facilities, it would need to do the same thing. The Hawaii Superferry
is being asked to follow the same law.
The Superferry has bullied its way past the Legislature, neighbor island councils and lower courts. It dismissed Maui County's pleas for traffic planning, forcing the county to sue. It pretends that the health and safety of neighbor island dockworkers will not be at risk, even though near accidents are already occurring with daily freight operations crammed into one-third less space.
Those five-dollar fares are great, but the unpleasant reality is that no one knows what this PR marvel will really cost the residents of Hawaii.
Lucienne de Naie
Haiku, Maui
Bring on that clean restaurant air
I just read
Tuesday's article about Japanese tourism falling and the blame being put on the new no smoking laws in Hawaii. We have been traveling to Hawaii for 20 years and just returned from our most recent trip, and I have to tell you how pleasant it was to be able to go to restaurants and cocktail lounges and not have to breathe secondhand smoke! We applaud the state of Hawaii's anti-smoking laws.
Lynda Hylander
Manassas, Va.
Make high-rises pay for sewage upgrade
Since all these new high-rise buildings and big-block stores are going to be a large contributor of waste to the sewer system before an "open for business" permit is issued, they all must contribute to cover the entire cost of upgrading our sewer systems to secondary treatment.
Carol Walther
Honolulu