Off hours won't work for all
The high cost of fuel gives us an incentive to limit our commute to just four days a week. State employees are testing this. This might work for the departments that are not in direct contact with the public.
For those sections that do serve the public, what good will starting the day before the other private companies are open, and ending the the day after the other companies close, do to help us? For example, not many law firms are open for business at 6 a.m. The courts are not open at that hour, either. Car owners need to register their vehicles during the conventional times. Companies will not pay overtime to their workers to come in early.
To serve the public most effectively, many offices will have little choice but to retain the 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. schedule.
Michael Nomura
Kailua
Creating beach would enhance hotel, safety
The decision by Kyo-ya Hotel and Resorts to replace the Moana Surfrider's existing Diamond Head Tower, built in 1952, will open up the view from Kalakaua Avenue to the Waikiki shoreline. Save our Surf believes this is a great idea and hopes they take full advantage of this ocean view by creating a beach on the mauka side of their present seawall for recreational sand placement that Kyo-ya claims to be needed for their hotel guests. Experimenting by placing tons of black mountain rocks on the white sand beaches of Waikiki fronting Kyo-ya Hotels in order to hold newly placed sand, seaward of their seawalls is unacceptable to the public and tourist who presently use this safe recreational area for swimming, surfing and canoe and catamaran rides. These rock structures will be a constant liability to the city and the state.
George Downing
Spokesman, Save our Surf
Honolulu
Hawaii gas prices should be lower
I am still confused about the price of gas in Hawaii. The price of a barrel of oil has now dropped to under $110. Two months ago it was almost $150 a barrel. At the high price of $150, gas was nearly $4.50 for midgrade. The price of oil has fallen steadily during the past two months, but there has not been a comparative drop in the price of gas. I purchased gas this morning at a Chevron station and paid $4.389 per gallon for mid-grade. That is only a 10-cent drop during the past two months. A $40 drop in the cost of a barrel of oil should equate to nearly an 80-cent reduction in the price of gas, per an oil industry analyst on CNN a few weeks ago (2-cent price difference in a gallon of gas per dollar difference in the cost of oil).
So what gives? Maybe it's time to reinstate the gas cap. Or investigate the oil companies here in Hawaii. Oh, I forgot. When Gov. Linda Lingle signed the gas cap measure, she agreed not to investigate oil company dealings for x-number of years. We're doomed!
L.M. Fryer
Honolulu
Why can't park crew keep toilets working?
Auwe to the City & County for the care, or lack thereof, at the Patsy Mink Central Oahu Regional Park Softball Complex bathrooms. I was at a softball tournament last weekend, and as usual, the bathrooms were filthy! Again, no hand soap, paper towels or toilet paper in the women's bathroom. I informed the tournament director, and he called the park crew, asking them to please come by and refill the soap and paper towels.
Later, the handicapped stall was backed up, so again I informed the tournament director and he called the park crew again. This time they told him that they are "not plumbers," and they "can't do anything about it, just don't use the toilet."
What kind of response is that? Why couldn't they and check the toilet? Maybe it just needed plunging, and besides, why does somebody need to call? Why can't the park crew check the bathrooms every so often? The same problem with the bathrooms occurred at a previous tournament. The tournament director kept calling the park crew but they didn't answer, so he finally went down to their office and they were playing cards!
When softball tournaments are run, they are always encouraging mainland teams to come down and play. What kind of image are we giving those mainland teams when our City & County can't even keep the park bathrooms clean?
Kaleo Park
Honolulu
Obama's brother lives in dire straits
Barack Obama proclaimed "I am my brother's keeper" in his Democratic presidential nomination acceptance speech in Denver. Odd Obama would say that because Obama's half-brother George Hussein Onyango Obama lives in absolute poverty in a rundown 6-by-9 foot shack in the outskirts of Nairobi. Obama's brother told Vanity Fair he lives in an extremely dangerous area where people are routinely hacked to death with machetes. He said he often has to defend his life with his fists and that his income is $1 a month.
Obama last saw his brother in 2006 on his Africa tour but offered him no help of any kind. Obama has promised to wipe out global poverty, yet he refuses to even help his own brother out of poverty. What is especially heartbreaking is Obama's brother has a cut-out newspaper photograph of Obama on one of the walls of his shack and yet Obama doesn't have any room in his heart for him.
Obama is not the caliber of man I once thought he was. It's now impossible for me to take anything he says seriously. What kind of a man proclaims "I am my brother's keeper" on a $1 million stage to a stadium of 80,000 knowing at that moment that his brother is living in a dilapidated shack in Kenya trying to survive on one dollar a month?
Jim Blum
Kihei, Maui
Didn't need color TV to watch GOP convention
I watched three hours of Republican National Convention last Tuesday on PBS and monitored as closely as possible the TV spanning of the audience and delegates and excluding duplicates, I counted 23 non-Caucasians in the TV audience.
I realize it was only one night - but the audience the next two nights were the same, thus it is reasonably representative of something!
David McEwan
Honolulu
Despite good traits, can't vote for Palin
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has done a terrific job juggling family, career and public service. Her extreme-right views make it impossible for me to vote for a McCain/Palin ticket, however.
Palin believes the Iraq war is "God's task" and humans do not contribute to global warming. Huh? She opposes a woman's right to choose to abort an unwanted pregnancy even in the case of rape. She belittled community organizers during her acceptance speech - a clear swipe at Barack Obama. Such grass-roots organizers provide much-needed help to the underserved in their communities. Shame on you, Sarah.
Donna Ambrose
Kailua