Lawyers covet big Waipahu settlement

Congratulations to the Village Park residents who are skeptical of the motivations of attorneys who swooped to their aid over perceived drinking water and related health problems.

With no factual basis for their claims, it would appear that the lawyers' primary interest is enriching themselves. If they really want to help, they could donate their $10 million lawsuit bankroll to the people of Village Park in an effort to find out what is wrong and to fix it.

How much help would the lawyers be offering if the potential defendants did not have deep pockets?

Kelly Dean
Via the Internet

Concealed weapons could save lives

The number of people killed and injured in the church shootings in Fort Worth, Texas, might have been reduced if only one of the adults had carried a concealed firearm.

Could there have been a person with a legal firearm in that church?

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety's rules and regulations, the answer is yes and no. Yes, if the church did NOT have a sign in both English and Spanish prohibiting it. No, if the church DID have a sign prohibiting guns in church.

If the church did have a sign prohibiting firearms, and did not have armed guards to protect their people, the church automatically became a major target for the killer. He attacked like a wolf attacking unguarded sheep, because he knew that the guard dog wasn't there to stop him.

The attacker of the Jewish school children purposely picked that campus because two other schools had armed guards on duty who might have hurt him.

Vernon Okamura

Don't let splinter parties sway presidential vote

I have never contributed money to a presidential candidate, feeling that it should be "one man, one vote." But this year, I sent $500 to Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

According to the Sept. 8 Wall Street Journal, 80,000 individual donors gave an average of $460 apiece to Bush (well under the post-Watergate limit of $1,000 per contributor).

I am one of those thousands of individual donors, mortified by the Clintons' shameful actions over eight years, and thirsting for an honorable Republican president. I'm also proud of the Bush family name and looking for a winner. George W. is that winner.

Because of splinter parties, Clinton won the last election with only 47 percent of the vote. We must not let that happen again.

Don't be fooled by these splinter parties. They are only distractions.

Virginia S. Brooks

Quotables "We conquered the beast and have an achievement beyond any expectations." Paul Cox DIRECTOR OF "MOLOKAI: THE STORY OF FATHER DAMIEN" As the film on the life of Belgian priest Damien Deveuster debuts in Hawaii "You're right there on the screen, sweetie." Julie Siegler KALAUPAPA NURSE Describing the action in the movie to Catherine Puahala, a blind Kalaupapa resident who had a small part in the film "Maybe some people don't think of it as a sport, but it is one." Nicole Edwards BOWLING STANDOUT AND IOLANI SCHOOL SENIOR Averaging 170 this season and the most experienced bowler on Iolani's varsity team

Crime reporting unfairly taints neighborhoods

Your paper reports crime, or suspected crime, by street address when the suspect is from Kahala, Waikiki or Hawaii Kai. But when a similar suspect is from Ewa Beach, Pearl City or Waianae, you emphasize the area. All crime is not happening on the Leeward coast.

Why not be consistent? Report crime by street address only in all instances.

Case in point: On the front page of your Sept. 14 issue, you reported a suspected child molester by street address (which is in Kalani Valley, north of Kahala). Yet in the same edition, on page two, you reported a similar crime by area: namely, Ewa Beach.

Ted Farm
Ewa Beach

No one person speaks for Legion post

In his Sept. 14 letter, American Legion Post No. 11 Commander James C.F. Chong wrote that the Natatorium "is a memorial to all our World War I comrades."

Not so.

It was built by the state on state land specifically to honor 102 veterans from Hawaii who served in World War I. It was NOT built to honor "the thousands who served and over a hundred who died."

According to state records, of the 102 veterans, 14 died in Europe during World War I. Sixty-seven returned to Hawaii and the U.S. (there is no record of the remaining 13.) One of those veterans, buried at Punchbowl, is Mrs. Frank Fasi's father.

The cost of restoring the state memorial comes to $23-40 million in borrowed money. This includes principal and interest.

There is no city, state or country that has or ever will spend from $1.5-3 million to memorialize each veteran killed in any war.

Chong is right when he says Frank Fasi doesn't speak for the American Legion. But he forgot to add that he doesn't speak for the Legion, either!

Frank F. Fasi

Mayor Fasi misses point of restoration

Former Mayor Frank Fasi contends that the Waikiki Natatorium should not be repaired because, by his count, "only 14" Hawaii residents died in World War I.

When he spells out "cost per death" figures, and distinguished those who died in combat from those who died serving their country behind the lines, Fasi dishonored every person in military service.

It's ironic that Fasi, who spent all of his World War II service as a training officer on Kauai and who never once saw actual combat service, would now show disrespect to those who actually did fight in World War I.

We shouldn't be surprised. Fasi's disrespect started nearly 30 years ago. In 1978, six years after Fasi took office, the war memorial became so run down that it had to be closed. During the following 16 years (12 of which he was mayor), Fasi did not maintain or restore it.

The Natatorium should be demolished and restored as a beach area. Thirty years of deferred maintenance costs and health questions surrounding the pool make restoration a bad idea.

Let's leave the bleachers and the arch, though, as a tribute to those who fought to make it possible for Fasi to make his offensive comments.

Pam Smith
Ewa Beach

Legislature Directory
Hawaii Revised Statutes
UH student news Ka Leo O Hawaii

---

Write a
Letter to the Editor

Want to write a letter to the editor? Let all Star-Bulletin readers know what you think. Please keep your letter to about 200 words. You can send it by e-mail to letters@starbulletin.com or you can fill in the online form for a faster response. Or print it and mail it to: Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802. Or fax it to: 523-8509. Always be sure to include your daytime phone number.