Great Aloha Run lives up to its name

Having participated in the Great Aloha Run for the past five years as a runner, volunteer and member of a nonprofit organization that receives aid from Carole Kai Charities, I was angered by the comments made by Pat Bigold in his Feb. 16 column.

Bigold shows little knowledge of what the Great Aloha Run is all about and the spirit of aloha that it truly portrays. His complaints on the delays in getting statistical data out is so manini, because most participants don't really care if we get the race results the next day, or if the event is the 10th largest or the 100th largest.

For most of us, it is an event that brings together family and friends. At the same time, it raises money for so many organizations in our state.

Hawaii is very fortunate to have such a caring person as Carole Kai, who has done so much to help those in need. If there is anyone who truly abides by the motto, "Live aloha," it is Carole and her volunteers.

Melvin Nakamura

There's nothing wrong with Hawaii's GOP

It was the Democratic cause that revolutionized local politics in 1954 and it is the same thread that holds the incumbent in power today.

A successful campaign is based on its cause, and Hawaii's economic plight desperately calls for the GOP's core values -- faith in individual initiative and the abhorrence of oversized government and its pernicious taxes.

There is no need to "re-package" the GOP. The public already has strong sentiments for these basic principals, and all that's needed is a crusade articulating their causes.

The GOP cannot be faulted for the last election; much of the Lingle campaign was run by non-Republicans.

Good politics is genuinely addressing a social problem, and this can only come from a guiding set of principals.

Gene J. Dumaran
Waipahu

Redevelopment project will block view of Koolaus

Please save the view of the Koolau mountains up Bishop Street from the Block J Redevelopment Project. To lose the view will visually cage thousands of downtown workers and declare that mediocrity or worse is acceptable for Honolulu.

The Final EIS shows that both the proposed northwest tower and Ewa side retail structure will largely destroy the mauka view. For the EIS to say that that tower will "partially block" the view is a gross understatement.

The two-story retail proposal may also shut off much of the Beretania Street level gateway view of Nuuanu Valley.

The project should be redesigned or relocated. If there must be development at all, limit it to the Diamond Head side and insist on a park at street level on the Ewa side.

Affordable housing for seniors and families is a noble goal, but surely there must be other ways to advance it. It is a sad system if affordable housing must compete with natural beauty.

Laurence K. Lau

QUOTABLE "He told me he was a hit man, but he really wasn't. He just wanted to rob her." -- Myla Soleta, whose boyfriend, Jefferson Solomon Kauilani Pau, is a murder suspect in the stabbing death of 72-year-old Itsuko Ito on the Big Island. "This is an age-old ploy: Blame it on a whispering campaign. This is reverse English on a dirty trick." -- Walter Heen, Hawaii Democratic Party chairman, denying the claim made by a National Republican Party representative that the state's Democrats ran an anti-Semitic smear campaign against GOP gubernatorial candidate Linda Lingle, including spreading the rumor that she would cancel Christmas if elected. "The serious ones she did, but we don't think all was caused by Kimberly." -- Defense attorney Helen Wong, on her client, Kimberly Pada, charged with beating and shaking her son, Reubyne Buentipo Jr., so violently that he ended up in a coma.

The old-fashioned ways are answer to Y2K fears

In articles about Y2K fear, the suggestion is made to stock up on groceries and withdraw from the bank large sums of money to prepare for any "catastrophe." Don't despair! Here is the real solution: Go back to the good old days of the 1920s and '30s.

During those periods, grocery stores operated with hand-push cash registers. Banks used hand-adding machines. Paper and pen recorded transactions. Electric power plant generators were started by hand. Water was controlled by hand-operated valves.

In other words, bypass the computers and do things manually.

Bill Wong

Tourists should help keep Hawaii beautiful

Your Feb. 20 editorial, "Hawaii's environment," rightly recognizes that visitors come to Hawaii to experience the natural beauty and recreational resources of our islands.

Thus, it only makes sense that the tourism industry, as the largest sector of our economy, should invest in and sustain our natural capital base -- the product being sold to millions of visitors every year.

Recognizing the nexus between the visitor industry and the environment, Governor Cayetano -- in his State of the State address -- proposed that "a portion of the Transient Accommodation Tax (TAT) be earmarked to preserve, protect and sustain Hawaii's natural resources."

To accomplish this, the administration introduced legislation this session (SB 1333 and HB 1190) to enable the Hawaii Tourism Authority to make grants for natural resource protection.

The intent is to use a portion of the TAT as leverage to attract additional contributions from private organizations and individuals, and to direct this money to environmental projects selected by tourism officials.

There is a direct link between the health of our natural environment and the health of a vibrant visitor industry. It's because state financial resources are tight that we believe an innovative partnership needs to be forged with the visitor industry now, to invest in the beaches, waterfalls, coral reefs and fish that make Hawaii the world-famous tropical destination that it is.

Timothy E. Johns
Chairperson
Department of Land and
Natural Resources

Fireworks keep drinkers safely at home on Dec. 31

New Year's Eve has been marked by heavy alcoholic consumption. Fireworks have kept a large portion of our population at home during the celebration, as we consume foods and drinks with our fireworks displays. This wonderful island celebration has kept our roadways safe from many DUI cases during the holiday.

The banning of fireworks will change the way islanders observe the New Year's Eve celebration. Many will now drive to their favorite bars and beaches to binge drink all night. This heavy drinking will turn our roads and freeways into slaughter alleys, taxing our hospital emergency wards, flooding our courts with litigation cases, and prompting an increase in our auto insurance premiums.

The best solution to our island tradition is to limit the amount of imported fireworks and limit sales of these fireworks to small and medium-sized packages, while banning those huge rolls of fireworks hung from poles.

These controls will reduce the amount of smoke and noise produced and allow us all to enjoy the celebration with moderation.

Stanton T. Gaza
Waipahu

Fireworks Scientific Poll Results Fireworks Online Survey Results Hawaii Revised Statutes on Fireworks

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