Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Fishermen are being driven out of business

The recent law banning the de-finning of sharks and federal court ruling to halt longline fishing without observers are driving me out of the fish business.

Both the state government and federal court knew Hawaii's longline fishery represented only about 3 percent of the fishing pressure in the area fished by local fishermen, yet the decisions applied only to Hawaii-based fishermen.

It doesn't take a biologist to realize that the decisions do not make biological sense, but perhaps this mistake might be excusable for non-scientists. However, what are the fishery scientists doing? Aren't they being paid by taxpayers like me?

I am going out of business because of their incompetence.

Michael Lau
Ocean Catch Inc.

Local grinds missing from price comparison

What's with your June 26 "What price paradise?" shopping list?

Where are the steaks, hamburger and buns, poke, Diamond G rice, hot dogs, condiments, frozen foods, ribs, bacon, laulau, tako poke, taro chips, Manoa lettuce, spinach, carrots, local kine noodles and poi? Whose list was that?

They had better go to the doctor --they're either malnourished or just not enjoying eating very much. What, with so much ono local food, too. Tch, tch, tch...

Robert Abbett
Kailua

Taxpayers shouldn't pay for Rice's lawsuit

Outrageous! Now Freddy Rice and his mainland anti-affirmative action lawyer expect us to pay for their bigoted, selfish, trouble-making attack against the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the native Hawaiian people. Is there no limit to their white-male arrogance?

Why are we being asked to pay $3.6 million for their problem? I am already paying $6,000 in state income taxes for this year and last, and I'll be damned if a penny of it goes to Rice and his cohorts.

All of us who are not Hawaiian, and are fortunate to live here, should refuse to participate in the OHA elections in November, and allow the Hawaiian people to elect their own representatives. And we should not allow the state to pay a cent for Rice's ugly, mean-spirited attack on our host people.

Nancy Bey Little

Akaka helped expedite long-overdue medals

The family and supporters of Sgt. Andrew Jackson Smith thank Sen. Daniel Akaka for securing rapid passage, in less than a week, of the Medal of Honor legislation that had been pending in Congress.

Senator Akaka graciously included the nominations of Sergeant Smith and Vietnam veteran Ed W. Freeman when he intervened to expedite congressional action on the Medal of Honor bill.

His actions also enabled the awarding of Sergeant Smith's medal to come months sooner than was previously possible. This increases the possibility that his 92-year-old daughter, Caruth Smith Washington, will live to see her father awarded the Medal of Honor, thereby realizing her lifelong dream.

Sergeant Smith, an African-American veteran of the Civil War, was initially denied the Medal of Honor in 1917 because officials from President Wilson's administration falsely claimed the government lacked documentation for Smith's actions.

Therefore, Senator Akaka helped our country to redress racial discrimination by our government against veterans of two wars.

Sharon S. MacDonald
Assistant Professor of History
Illinois State University
Normal, Ill.

Quotables "If you're physically fit, you're more able to adapt to stress." Nathan Kapule HONOLULU FIREFIGHTER AND FATHER TO 19-MONTH-OLD TRIPLETS Coordinator of the Honolulu Fire Department's new physical fitness and wellness program for its 1,129 firefighters "I could tell from looking at the doctors that it was something bad. I kept thinking, it was only a cut and we had it cleaned and stitched. What could it be?" Anthony Shimizu WAHIAWA RESIDENT AND FATHER TO 5-YEAR-OLD ALYSHIA On how a cut on his daughter's knee developed into a case of necrotizing fasciitis, commonly known as "flesh-eating bacteria"

Voters must prove they have long memories

Elsie Hollingsworth was so right in her June 23 letter. The 14 senators who blocked Attorney General Margery Bronster's reconfirmation need to be reminded that the voters haven't forgotten.

By the way, we are still patiently awaiting the report that state Sen. Marshall Ige said he was going to release to explain why he voted against Bronster -- or was that just some small-time bully talk on his part?

Frank McCafferty

State child support agency is unresponsive

We have been attempting to communicate with the state Child Support Enforcement Agency for the last three months about a case opened in September of last year.

Not only is there no way to actually speak to a person at the agency, no one has responded to our email. Only after we carbon copied our correspondence to the federal government and governor's office did we get a response, and it was sarcastic. We still didn't get any answers.

This case involves a delinquent parent who is ex-military drawing retirement and disability pay. You'd think this would make it easy for the child-support people but, after almost a year, no progress has been made.

If the state of Hawaii really cares about its keiki, and wants to cut red tape and waste at the same time, it should just get rid of this department. It is completely useless.

Susan McMillan
Mililani

Charges of election fraud are false

Joanne Bretschneider makes allegations of Democratic "hanky-panky" in her June 24 letter. It is one more viperous stab in the dark in a growing political attack from a cabal of Republicans looking for cheap targets and praying/preying for a cheap win in November.

Bretschneider lauds the false accusations of the Voter Integrity Project (VIP) about fraud in Hawaii elections. VIP, which was brought into Hawaii by the Republican Party at significant cost, refuses to recognize the truth: The audit of the 1998 elections shows absolutely no sign of misdeeds.

Democrats love a good fight and look forward to one in November. However, certain rabid and out-of-control Republicans had best be careful about dirty fighting, for the people are watching!

Patrick Stanley

---

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.