Kailua sewer repairs are worth the hassle
For too many years now we Kailua residents have had to stay out of the ocean following a heavy rain due to sewage spills. So I am excited that the city is building upon its successful replacement of the Kalaheo Avenue sewer line by initiating $75 million worth of sewer replacements around Kailua. The temporary inconvenience is a small price to pay for a leak-free collection system.
Judith Melvin
Kailua
Strict firearm laws don't keep us safe
The article "Isles lowest in gun deaths" (
Star-Bulletin, April 25) is one of the most irresponsible pieces I have seen published in the Star-Bulletin. The Violence Policy Center is one of the most notorious anti-gun organizations, and our city prosecutor, Peter Carlisle, has been trying for years to strip the people of Hawaii of their Second Amendment rights.
Our "strict gun laws" lauded by the VPC and Carlisle result in more violent deaths in this state, not fewer deaths. The Honolulu chief of police uses our discretionary concealed-carry law to prohibit law-abiding citizens from carrying firearms to protect themselves, not against others with guns, but from the strangulations, beatings and stabbings that are not mentioned in the Star-Bulletin article.
If we had non-discretionary concealed-carry laws in this state, we probably would have a few more gun deaths: We would see more dead violent assailants and more living, innocent, intended victims. If we had our right to bear arms restored, Janel Tupuola might still be alive and her assailant might be dead. Or more likely, the attack would never have taken place because assailants prone to violence tend to avoid attacking victims who might be armed.
Once assailants learn that citizens are armed and prepared to use these weapons, study upon study has shown that violent deaths drop drastically.
Terry Allard
Ewa Beach
Don't wait any longer to thank Filipino vets
It is never too late to say thank you to all of our troops on any given day, but a special thank you should go to all the Filipino veterans who were badly treated by the U.S. Congress in the Rescission Act of 1946.
Those silent veterans waited in the shadows for more than 60 years and now it time to all to honor them all both in the Philippines and the United States, and around the world.
Thank you for your service.
Bill Littell
Vietnam veteran
Waikiki
Don't punish charters for being successful
I am a student at Kihei Charter High School in Maui. I am writing to address a problem in the funding of our school. Department of Education schools receive $10,500 per student. Public charter schools received $8,149, and next year, they are reducing that to $7,100-$7,600 per student.
We deserve the same funding that all other schools get per student. It's not fair that a charter school, which most likely works a lot harder than DOE schools, does not receive an equal amount of money. We are being penalized for being successful. Our families pay taxes just like the families of DOE school students, and there is no reason why any other school should receive more than another.
Mikaela MacDougall
Kihei, Maui
Obama wouldn't protect life, marriage
Barack Obama's political slogan seems to be "Change we can believe in." What does this mean to the conservative Christian on social issues?
» An Obama presidency would repeal all President Bush's protection of the unborn, the "sanctity of human life" laws. He also is against parental notification for underage teenagers having abortions.
» An Obama presidency would attempt to repeal the Defense of Marriage act. DOMA defines marriage as one man and one woman. Obama want to legitimatize same-sex marriage.
» An Obama presidency would nominate far-left liberal judges to the courts. Liberal judges have constantly gone against traditional family values (sanctity of human life and preserve marriage).
The sobering news is that so-called Christians are not taking these biblical values seriously and continue to support the political party that is against those values above.
Melvin Partido Sr.
Pearl City
We can and must wean ourselves from cars
At one time in the mid-'90s I had three automobiles, mainly because my then-wife liked variety and as a real estate agent she certainly needed to get around. With only one parking space at our apartment, the other two cars were parked along the street. They could be as far as two miles away.
Sadly, we parted for reasons beyond our control, and I made a decision to get healthier and start walking, running, bicycling or taking TheBus, and I felt a good deal better. Having three cars on an island was ridiculous, not to mention expensive.
Today, I often wonder if anyone else feels the same way, as we become buried in automobiles -- some almost as big as the buses I choose to ride in and with only one person inside.
I'm not sure if the drivers stuck in gridlock realize they are their own problem.
People simply have to change their habits and catch a bus, ferry and/or train, whether the wheels are metal, rubber, plastic or roller skates. It's doubtful if even any member of the City Council, the state Senate or House rides a bus to their office, or has a difficulty making the decision to do so.
John L. Werrill
Honolulu