Yadao will always be associated with estate

Maybe I'm overly idealistic, but aren't journalists supposed to come from unbiased objectivity to simply report the news?

Then how can I take Elisa Yadao seriously as a managing editor of NBC Hawaii News 8 (Nov. 12, "Bishop Estate spokeswoman taking TV job")? After all, she is frequently in the media spotlight as spokeswoman for Bishop Estate, which is under investigation for possible mishandling of estate funds and misuse of power.

Even though Yadao said that "she and the station management agreed that she will not be involved in any coverage of Bishop Estate or Kamehameha Schools," and that she "will rely on professional standards and ethics," I am hard pressed to put aside my suspicions. It's hard enough to trust the press nowadays.

I certainly won't be watching KHNL News any time soon, as I will not be able to get over constantly associating Yadao as the mouthpiece for the Bishop Estate.

Carol Banks Weber
(Via the Internet)

Which legislators will be 'owned' by the bank?

So Larry Johnson, chairman and CEO of Bank of Hawaii, is "tired of sitting around and getting nothing" (Star-Bulletin, Nov. 8). And if our elected senators and representatives just follow the yellow brick road paved by a myopic economic task force, they will get the goodies - campaign contributions - that BOH has to offer.

Too bad if you're just a regular working stiff without all that money and influence. Your family and community will just have to take a back seat to more breaks for the "haves" and the persistent belief that what's good for business alone will somehow benefit us all.

Elected officials: Which of you will Larry Johnson and BOH own?

Sadly, it is unlikely that change for the better will come from inside the system. According to the Campaign Spending Commission, "That's the way the system works."

And apparently the governor has no problem with the idea that we should keep or remove legislators based solely on whether they "support small business."

Voters: Had enough of this yet? Support campaign finance reform and publicly funded elections. Support politicians who support our communities as a whole rather than narrow-minded, self-serving, special-interest groups. We can clean up this mess.

Pat DeBusca Jr.
Waipahu
(Via the Internet)

Johnson was simply making his agenda clear

The League of Women Voters' characterization of Larry Johnson's recent statement as a "threat" to "hold off contributions" shows an apparent lack of common sense. Political candidates are not entitled to campaign contributions, from Bank of Hawaii or from anyone else.

I find it hard to believe that any business or labor union or individual would donate money to a political candidate who did not, at some level, support the agenda of the donor. That's the way the system works.

Johnson simply made his organization's agenda known. Those candidates who disagree don't need to ask Bank of Hawaii's PAC for money.

Maybe they can ask the League of Women Voters.

Keith Hiraoka
(Via the Internet)

Retirees cannot afford to visit Hawaii anymore

I completely agree with Richard Sullivan's Oct. 30 letter on the impact of higher taxes on tourists. I'll probably never visit Hawaii again because the cost has risen so much.

Taxes are not the only culprit, though. Accommodations seem to have risen much faster than the general inflation rate on the mainland, with most other tourism-related prices not so far behind.

I fear that many Hawaii businesses assumed that the golden bubble (maybe it should be referred to as the rainbow bubble) would expand indefinitely. It's too bad that ordinary Hawaii residents should have to bear so much of the economic burden of this unfortunate misjudgment.

George Atwood
Jackson, Ga.
(Via the Internet)

Clarence Thomas has more credibility than Anita Hill

In her Nov. 14 epistle, Diane Chang wrote, "People don't believe Professor (Anita) Hill or they don't want to believe her. They can't. Because if they do, then something must be done." Mea culpa - at least on the not believing part.

I assert that feminists don't believe Judge Clarence Thomas or they don't want to believe him. They can't. Because if they do, then their bandwagon would come to a screeching halt.

It amazes me that feminists don't go after known sexual harassers like Edward Kennedy, Bill Clinton, etc. Maybe they just don't fit the mold of a columnist's definition of "ugly."

R.D. Greenamyer
Mililani

Does Big Isle really need major fix of Saddle Road?

As one who uses the Big Island's Saddle Road quite often, I would enjoy seeing the improvements planned by the state -- although I doubt we can afford the plans designed so far.

Still, I have to weigh my own desire for a faster and safer road with the thought that a trans-island arterial will suck away the traffic from those struggling post-sugar plantation towns along the north coast.

It is easy to see the benefit for Hilo workers who would like a quicker route to the Kona Coast job market. But what about the masses of cane workers who have been left with nothing in the wake of the plantation closures? The traffic now flowing through Honokaa, Paauilo, Laupahoehoe and Ookala represents one of the few hopes those communities have to set up small businesses and tourist attractions.

In all of the clamor of government planning and condemnation of the Saddle Road, those on the other islands may lose sight of the human price to be paid for directing such massive resources to a project with very little economic justification and such radical social consequences.

I can understand one of the state's great newspapers being in favor of this kind of capital improvement project, but urge you to look a little further than the press releases in this particular case.

William N. Jardine
Kamuela, Hawaii
(Via the Internet)

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Bishop Estate Archive

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