Hawaii had no credible warning of terrorist plot Long-term care plan would be a big help
I strongly support the long-term care financing bill currently being considered by the Legislature now, as it is affordable.My wife and I have long-term care insurance, but the proposed legislation will supplement our own private in- surance. Also my siblings, who are all in their senior years, can't afford private insurance, and I believe this legislation will be welcomed by them.
Robert Y. Masuda
Water and land plans are integrated on Maui
Maui Mayor Arakawa deserves applause for his long-needed move to integrate water planning and land planning. For years there has been a total disconnect between the two, with Water Department managers blandly saying that "water may not be available for this project" to cover their okoles, while never giving the Planning Commission the needed information to judge whether there will in fact be any water.Meanwhile, first come, first served. So the guys with a million dollars to spend can drill a well, turn it over to the county, get water for their projects and build, while the small landowner or builder waits and waits.
Now the mayor is saying we will reserve water for affordable housing projects to make sure it is there when they get built. It's about time that happened!
Right on, Mayor Arakawa!
Sally Raisbeck
Wailuku, MauiTunnel name change unrelated to ethnicity
The March 6 article "Lingle restores name to H-3 Freeway tunnels" said the drive was "led by Kongo Kimura and Yoshie Tanabe, primarily in the Japanese-American community."I have said this before; I will say it again. If the tunnels previously had been named Ching or Palama or Smith or Alejado or whatever, I would have worked just as hard as I did for justice for Tetsuo Harano! The name is an American name, the person is an American, a human being!
The drive was not aimed "primarily in the Japanese-American community." It was aimed to all people who believe in justice, fair play, decency. We cried out to all for help.
The more than 150 people who came out to celebrate with Mr. Harano had names such as Bloom, Espinoza, Goo, Palau, Hipolito, and Motoyama.
Thank you for keeping the issue alive through the long months.
Yoshie Tanabe
Waipahu
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This is in response to your March 4 editorial calling for an explanation of a report published in the Washington Times related to a purported plot on Pearl Harbor. I want to reassure Hawaii residents that my administration is taking the report and the leak of classified information very seriously. Terrorism or the threat of terrorism can never be taken lightly. Hawaii had no credible
warning of terrorist plotFirst of all, I feel it is important for the public to understand that those of us in positions of authority are at a disadvantage when responding to an allegation such as the one reported by the Washington Times. I am just as curious as the next person as to why someone in Washington, D.C., apparently felt it was appropriate to unilaterally and illegally release classified information to a newspaper reporter. Unlike the individual or group who leaked the classified information, my advisors and I play by the rules and agreed to national protocols, which means we can't discuss classified information in a public setting.
Without divulging details, I can state that the source of the leak apparently provided the Washington Times with some partial information and some erroneous information. What the source of the leak apparently did not provide was information stating that the alleged plot against Pearl Harbor was not deemed to be credible. By leaking information that is alarmist in nature, the source of the leak is either knowingly or unknowingly aiding and abetting terrorists, whose aim is to foment uncertainty and panic. Now is the time for calm, not for the irresponsible dissemination of information.
On Feb. 7, when Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced the federal Homeland Security Advisory System would be elevated to "high" (orange), the state of Hawaii remained at "guarded" (blue) based upon our regional threat assessment. I stand by that decision. I said at that time that if we had a specific, credible threat against Hawaii, we would increase our security posture. There was no specific, credible threat and therefor no reason to change Hawaii's security posture.
In the future, if we should receive word of a specific, credible threat, I will not hesitate to inform Hawaii's citizens. Of course, I will not be at liberty to divulge classified information, but I will share as much information with the public as possible and we will use every means available to safeguard Hawaii's people and facilities.
Finally, I would not tell a national television audience, nor would I tell the people of Hawaii, that we live in one of the safest states in the nation if I did not believe it to be so.
Linda Lingle
Governor of Hawaii
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