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Contractors are stalling Kuhio Beach project

Mayor Harris is nowhere close to the high-level job performance ratings that Honolulu residents are always being bombarded with in your newspaper.

An excellent case in point is the never-ending construction at Kuhio Beach, the most popular strip of Waikiki for tourists and residents alike.

This is the second summer that Kuhio Beach is unusable. If such an important beachfront project were under way on the mainland, it would have been finished to perfection in half the time.

Send a team of reporters to monitor the daily progress of workers on this project and you'll see what a political fiasco/boondoggle it really is. The contractors on the Kuhio Beach project are milking it for every dollar they can get at taxpayer expense -- just like contractors did in the 1980s.

Remember, the Kuhio Avenue project took more than four years to complete.

Patrick Hill

Note candidates stand on partial birth abortion

How can the U.S. Supreme Court, in the same week, take a moral stand against homosexual Boy Scout leaders, then vote against a state's right to ban partial-birth abortion?

What about the baby in the womb -- a living, breathing, human being at the time of the procedure? Its skull gets crushed and brain is sucked out so the body can fit through the birth canal and the mother can be rid of her "problem."

The Roman, Babylonian and Turkish empires did not last forever, and neither will the United States due to decisions like these.

For those keeping score, Governor Bush calls partial birth abortion "an unnecessary, inhumane and extreme procedure." Vice President Gore refuses to take a moral stand and merely spews out what is fed to him: pro-choice.

Makes the presidential decision easy, doesn't it?

James Roller

Quotables "I saw a preview at the theater and about fell out of my chair." Eric Sandberg 35-YEAR-OLD MARINE BIOLOGIST AND FORMER LONGLINE OBSERVER Describing his reaction to the movie, "The Perfect Storm," months after his own traumatizing ordeal at sea about 800 miles north of Honolulu "Finding something middle-school boys will read is like finding a gold mine." Leslie Evans IOLANI SCHOOL TEACHER WHO DEVELOPED A SUMMER SCHOOL ENRICHMENT CLASS ON THE HARRY POTTER BOOKS Ecstatic about the popularity of the wizard-in-training tomes written by J.K. Rowling. The fourth installment in the series, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," was released this weekend.

Police officers should be stripped of guns

Brutal, violent acts happen throughout this country every day. Killers are getting younger and everyone is pointing fingers at each other, but offering no solutions. Lately, though, if you've been watching the TV news from China, Cuba, Vietnam, etc., did you notice that the police officers in those countries are not carrying firearms?

On the other hand, note our own SWAT teams and police officers. These guys look like they're preparing for World War III.

Why do they have to be armed to teeth against their own people? Let's do the right thing by disarming our police force and copying the law-enforcement style of other countries.

Loi P. Le

Lingle is doing damage to Republicans

One of the great dangers facing the people of Hawaii comes from leaders who encourage others to do wrong.

The chairwoman of Hawaii's Republican Party, Linda Lingle, has directly and indirectly misled the party and our people.

Despite letters, phone calls and conversations, she continues to advocate homosexual rights and abortion on behalf of Hawaii's GOP.

Scandal is an attitude or behavior that leads another to do evil. Instead of teaching and educating others, Lingle is best described as a wolf in sheep's clothing.

She is responsible for the actions of those who have been led astray. Not all Republicans are happy with her leadership.

Harry J. Friel

Why special protection for gay students?

Mike Henrietta's June 28 letter was totally true. There are a lot of kids like me, who have glasses or braces, who get harassed and pushed around in school a lot more than any other students.

So why doesn't the wording of the Board of Education's policy include us? Why doesn't it say that fat kids and skinny kids and kids with braces should also be protected?

If the answer is that we are already protected by the policy, even though we're not specifically mentioned, how can the school board say that homosexual kids are not protected unless specifically referred to in the policy?

Chris Adams

Kailua

McDermott is supposed to defend Constitution

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision on gay Boy Scout leaders has just stolen the thunder from state Rep. Bob McDermott's upcoming re-election campaign. What platform is the representative going to run on now?

In the future when I hear of a "do-nothing Legislature," I'll pull out McDermott's June 19 letter to the editor as a reminder that, apparently, it is not necessary to comprehend or even read our state's Constitution in order to have the privilege and responsibility of taking an oath to defend it.

Martin Rice
Kapaa, Kauai

Moped rider is tempting fate on the roads

While driving home today, I could have killed or badly hurt some smart-aleck kid on his moped. The thought still has me in shivers.

Driving in the Diamond Head direction on King Street, and about to make a right turn with the green light at Isenberg, it was only through God's grace that I barely saw the top of this rider's head.

He was going in the same direction as I was, but he was tearing down the lane reserved for parked vehicles. He was also between my blind spot and the parked cars.

To make matters worse, he was hunkered down very, very low, his eyes barely above his handle bars, I assume to minimize the wind resistance and allowing him to go faster.

Slamming on my brakes almost caused the vehicle behind me to rear-end my car. This moped rider then had the nerve to sit up and flip me the bird as he sped off.

Parents, warn your kids about the responsible usage of any motor vehicle.

And, hey kid, if it was you in front of me and you're reading this: Watch out. The next time you won't be so lucky.

John Kim

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