Suspicious slippers catch eye of security

I just returned from the Big Island, where the security at the airport included chemically swiping the rubber slippers I was wearing. When I gave the guard a funny look, she said those were the rules.

When will we be spared of such silliness?

Rick Scudder

Raise qualifications for airport screeners

The other day I read that the U.S. Department of Transportation will not insist that the new federalized security screeners at airports be high school graduates. I am dismayed at this turn of events, especially since a year of work experience can be substituted for a high school diploma. Someone could probably use experience working at McDonald's to fulfill this requirement.

Easing up on the requirements for this mission-critical job to safeguard air travel is a big mistake. Instead of upgrading the workforce and weeding out the 25 percent of the current screeners who haven't graduated from high school, it looks like the U.S. Department of Transportation is going down the "business as usual" path. The difference is that instead of these screeners making minimum wage, they will be making $25,000-$30,000 a year.

As a taxpayer I find this totally unacceptable. I hope the DOT reconsiders its stance in regard to easing the requirements to be a federalized airport security screener.

Aaron M. Stene
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

[Quotables] "Criminals that we know to be active are back on the streets." Letha DeCaires Honolulu police detective, on the increase in property crime in Hawaii during the first half of last year. "I can't believe my mother came all the way from New York to get mugged here." "Karen" A Kailua artist, after a 300-pound mugger snatched her elderly mother's purse Wednesday at Kualoa Regional Park. Her mother is now stranded in Hawaii because airport authorities won't allow her to board a plane without identification. Karen, who drew a detailed picture of the mugger for police, did not want her last name used because the suspect is still at large.

Candidates ignore Ala Wai concerns

None of the 14 or so candidates for Andy Mirikitani's vacant City Council District 5 seat have addressed the issues important to voters living in condos along the Ala Wai Canal. Everyone realizes that the economic vitality of Waikiki is important to the state's overall economic recovery.

However, in the past, certain ideas concerning Waikiki's redevelopment would have lowered the quality of life on our side of the canal. For example, in 1996 Mayor Harris considered building two multilevel parking structures to alleviate parking problems in Waikiki. Such structures would have caused traffic congestion, provided a wonderful target for car vandals and ratcheted up the noise level. Connecting University Avenue to Waikiki via a vehicular bridge would pose a hazard to pedestrians and increase the noise level.

Other issues of concern include maintaining a low property tax; making city services rendered to condo owners the same as those provided to house owners and at the same price, and; using a Council member's influence to ensure that the Bingham Street off-ramp remains open to facilitate the flow of traffic from H-1.

Condo residents along the Ala Wai Canal represent more than 5,000 citizens. Our concerns need to be addressed.

Bill Sharp
Former member, Neighborhood Board No. 8, McCully-Moiliili

Oil suit benefited Cayetano the most

Remember when that $2 billion lawsuit was filed against oil companies in Hawaii? That's right, only a few weeks before the extremely close 1998 gubernatorial election.

How smart Ben Cayetano was to file the suit that certainly swung enough votes to win the election against Linda Lingle. Not one cent of the millions spent to fight the oil companies came from his campaign fund; it came from our pockets. The small settlement proves the state had no case.

It's another election year. Now is our chance. Let's throw everyone associated with this fraudulent scam out of office.

Ross M. Rolirad

Police need to improve accident procedures

Now I know why Honolulu police officers take six to 12 hours to investigate traffic accidents. They don't know what to keep as evidence. They are apparently hoping that more time equals a more thorough investigation.

Was the person found near or in the car that killed Lorrie Ann Wiley alone in the car? If he was, is there any possibility that the car was driving itself?

If he was not alone, it seems to me that it is his responsibility to identify who else was there, and then they can argue about who was driving.

I hope any witness who pulled the drunk out of his car will have the moral integrity to come forward.

Vernon Wong
Waipahu

DOE fiddles while kids idle on playgrounds

The Department of Education is dropping the ball.

Remember the joys of school recess: flying through the air on the swing-set to see how high you could go, scaling the jungle gym, getting dizzy on the merry-go-round?

Well, Hawaii's public school children have been denied this enjoyable, developmentally critical part of their schooling for the last two years, thanks to the ineptitude of the Department of Education (DOE).

In 1999, the Legislature appropriated funds to install safe playground equipment at public schools after state officials removed previous, unsafe equipment (without providing any replacements).

Since that time, even with the prompt submittal of proposals by 85 schools, only a small number of schools have had new equipment installed. The only cause for delay has been the DOE's inability to follow through on its own project deadlines.

The money is there, the children are waiting ... let's stop the excuses and let the kids play.

Rep. Cynthia Thielen
R, 49th District
Kailua-Kaneohe Bay Drive

Stop feeding animals in government zoo

What's all this talk about moving the Honolulu Zoo? Monkey business downtown suggests that the zoo was already moved somewhere between King and Beretania streets on either side of Punchbowl street, to Honolulu Hale and the state Capitol. We need to stop feeding the animals there.

Ron Rhetrik
Mililani

Please, leave the zoo right where it is

Please let the powers that be know that I'd like the Honolulu Zoo to stay in Kapiolani Park.

It has been there for a mighty long time. My mother who was born in 1918 in Honolulu and lived on the "gold coast" would tell me about the zoo. It has a history in the park and for that reason and others, it should stay where it is.

What a lovely zoo it is, one of the nicer zoos I have been to. Change is a good thing, but who said bigger is always better. As a visitor who comes to Honolulu at least once a year, I try always to go to the park for a day and enjoy the zoo.

Pamela Tempel
Sacramento, Calif.

Let's limit casinos to Molokai or Lanai

Hawaii is the ideal location for casino gambling because of its geography. The state should legalize it, but limit it to the less-populated islands, such as Molokai or Lanai.

The advantages of allowing casino gambling to one island have been ignored. Limiting casinos to one island would not interfere with the natural beauty of the others. It would keep mom or dad from gambling away the grocery or rent money on the way to the market or home from work.

To ensure the operation would be first class and run by companies with the knowledge to do so, the law could allow licenses only to hotels with more than 5,000 rooms.

Forty-seven other states allow some sort of gambling. Am I supposed believe the people of Hawaii cannot exercise the restraint and common sense that other Americans can?

John Young

Allow Hawaii's people to gamble at home

Many hotels and casinos in Las Vegas cater to people from Hawaii. Even their menus feature local cuisine.

Almost everyday, flights to Las Vegas are filled to capacity, bringing money from Hawaii to Nevada. Almost every state has legalized gambling and lotteries, but not Hawaii.

Politicians say crime will escalate and Hawaii's people will suffer. They are already suffering. Gambling would mean well-paying jobs, not to mention the boost it would give to tourism. Legalized gambling would keep money in Hawaii.

James Sousa

What would justify gambling in Hawaii?

Senate President Robert Bunda eliminated justification for legalizing gambling this year or any year when he said, "Gambling will not solve our budget problems -- not now, not even in the immediate future."

We have entered a new era. No longer is gambling being sold as a solution to the budget. Gambling proponents apparently no longer plan to promise tons of money for schools, long-term health care or other heart-rending causes. What other reason will Bunda, House Speaker Calvin Say or Gov. Cayetano create now to promote legalized gambling?

Forget about putting this matter on the ballot. We need new leadership.

Jack Karbens

Accusations against mayor are minor

Let me see if I got this right. People should be allowed to break all the speeding laws they want, endangering the lives of other people, as well as engage in countless other traffic offenses without being ticketed.

At the same time, Mayor Jeremy Harris should be tarred and feathered and considered unfit to be governor, despite his obvious qualifications, because of allegations that he may be guilty of a misdemeanor.

A misdemeanor. Harris may be guilty of a misdemeanor and we're not only getting the prosecutor's office, but the FBI involved. There's something wrong with this picture.

Bonita Newland
Kaneohe

Senators ask right questions on merger

I would like to thank state Sens. Sam Slom, Fred Hemmings, J. Kalani English and Ron Menor for seeking answers at a hearing Jan. 22 on the merger of Hawaii's interisland airlines.

I was relieved to hear them voicing the concerns of the citizens. Sen. Slom lent a significant historical perspective with his knowledge of both airlines and past legislation about maintaining two competitive airlines. How embarrassing that the representatives of the airlines were unprepared to participate in the dialogue and avoided past issues as being "before their time."

Unfortunately, avoidance was the strategy used repeatedly by the airlines' representatives and those from TurnWorks Inc., who intends to merge the two. The failure of TurnWorks head Greg Brenneman to appear enabled him to avoid the committee's inquiries altogether. The merger representatives present employed a more shameful tactic than avoidance by using the tragedy of Sept. 11 as an excuse for creating an interisland monopoly. These rationalizations are shortsighted and opportunistic.

Laura Ann Maas

We bear responsibility for our actions

It is in the spirit and memory of Dr. Martin Luther King that I write this letter and urge Americans to think outside of the box. Let's face it, revenge may restore our sense of being mighty and powerful, but it sure doesn't make us any safer.

I can't help but wonder what would it have looked like if America had taken the moral high ground after Sept. 11.

What would have happened if instead of solidifying anti-American sentiments by bombing Afghanistan, the United States had followed the protocol of the International Court of Justice? Or poured its resources into the power of grassroots interfaith coalitions? Or cut its global weapons distribution?

How would the world have reacted if in this war on terrorism, America sought to end its own use of terror as a political tool in Palestine, Colombia, Iraq and Mexico, and in Afghanistan in the 1980s when the CIA trained Osama bin Laden and helped put the Taliban in power when it served our needs during the Cold War?

If Americans want real safety, we must take responsibility for our country's actions. There are other forms of action beyond violent retaliation. It's time to work on our capacity for seeing the truth, and act bravely so we truly can be safe.

Neera A.B. Singh

Smoking bans don't hurt business

With respect to Side Street Inn owner Colin Nishida's comments on the City Council's determination to pass a restaurant smoking ban ("Panel passes revised smoking ban," Star-Bulletin, Jan. 9), we would say that perhaps Mr. Nishida is barking up the wrong tree. Most of us, including those of us who favor stronger tobacco control measures in Honolulu's restaurants, are of course aware of what a terrible blow the Sept. 11 attacks were to business in our state. So no one is going to be too great-guns enthusiastic about any measure that might take away business when we sorely need it.

The fact is, however, that tobacco-control measures don't take away business from restaurants, as proven by the experience of tourism-oriented mainland states such as California, which discovered the economic impact on business was actually positive.

Moreover, the tobacco control measures being put forward in Honolulu and on the neighbor islands are designed as workplace protections. Those ads we see on television hit just the right note -- every worker in a bar or restaurant is forced to breathe environmental tobacco smoke. It's a health matter, with plenty of reliable medical evidence that backs up how dangerous secondary smoke is.

The food's great at Side Street Inn, and that's the main draw, after all -- not whether or not you can smoke.

Benjamin Berg, M.D.
President, Hawaii Thoracic Society

Douglas Q. L. Yee
President, American Lung Association of Hawaii

Enough doubletalk from the DOT

Department of Transportation spokeswoman Marilyn Kali has been quoted as saying, "If you exceed the posted speed limit, then you're subject to a citation. But what people are hearing is zero tolerance. And we have never said that."

What kind of double-talk is that? Subject to a citation if one exceeds the posted speed limit and claiming that that is not zero tolerance? You wonder why we don't trust your words.

I want people to slow down. I want safety on our roads. Please study the matter further, such as increasing the speed limits where it would still be safe but reasonable. Please outlaw cell phones while driving. Also, please pay Affiliated Computer Services a monthly lump sum and not a percentage of the fines. Otherwise, please explain why these three things cannot be done as soon as possible.

Yoshie Tanabe
Waipahu

Signs say 35, but lights say 45

I drive Kalanianaole Highway from Hawaii Kai with thousands of hardened criminals every day. Occasionally I've entered an intersection with the traffic flow at 45 mph as the traffic light turns yellow. Staying at 45 mph, the same thing happens at the next traffic light, and then the next. The lights are timed for 45 mph! I asked the police chief about that once and he just chuckled.

Now that folks are slowing down to the "legal" 35 (or below), there's no more traffic flow -- just stop and go.

Greg Knudsen

Driving in Hawaii isn't fun anymore

Big Brother and Sister are alive and well in Honolulu behind the speeder cameras. I resent this stupid, intrusive policy of ticketing. I have been driving for years and usually maintain my speed limit. Sometimes I may go a bit over, but I do not need some nameless, faceless person in some bureaucratic office telling me how fast I should go.

The laser camera system is definitely "George Orwell, 1984" square in the face of the citizens of Hawaii. As for the cameras, they should all be packed up and shipped back to the makers with a note saying, "Not Wanted."

The purpose of the cameras is not to make us better drivers, but to create and get more income for the City and County and also insurance companies who will raise premiums based on infractions. Truly it is a sad day when one can not enjoy driving without always worrying about your speed. Put this issue to a vote, "Should we have cameras in Hawaii?" I know the answer -- No, No, No!

Jim Delmonte

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Photo Phobia By C. Richard Fassler I was driving 'cross the Pali, As happy as could be, When I saw the photo guy ahead With his gun fixed right on me! He was shooting at my license plate. "Oh, Lord, what have I done?" I stared down at the dashboard -- I was doing sixty-one. "I can't afford the ticket, My insurance rates will climb. With a mortgage, credit cards and bills, I just don't have a dime. There must be something I can do ... Think, think! For goodness sakes!" My foot came quickly off the gas And slammed down on the brakes. That moment on our highways Is still talked about today. How 19 drivers saved their lives Is a miracle, they say. Until the year two thousand two, The folks at Transportation, With H-3, zip and carpool lanes, Had won our admiration. But they got a little greedy, Adding up those photo fines. Told us: "Safety is our first concern." When it was really "dollar signs." Now, road-rage is increasing, Even police are getting mad, 'Cuz camera-cautious cars will creep ... The situation's bad! And we've got another problem, One more "traffic jam" of sorts: An army of angry "speeders" Is marching towards our courts. Those judicial guys are busy Without this added stress. Soon our crowded legal system Will be a bigger mess. Our city and state leaders, Including Mr. Harris, Don't want this turkey 'round their necks, It surely could embarrass. If stupidity won trophies, I know we'd all agree: There are no other candidates, It's you: the DOT! So, help us, Transportation, It's been a dreadful year. Stop acting like Bin Laden, We don't want terror here. Send your hired gun back to Texas, You've stirred an awful fuss. If you want to make some money, Please don't take it out of us!

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