Palolo-Moiliili line would fill HECO needs

In response to your May 16 editorial on Hawaiian Electric Co.'s new transmission line proposal: In 1991, an event on HECO's transmission system triggered an island-wide blackout. As a result, the Public Utilities Commission directed HECO to have a nationally recognized engineering firm conduct an independent review of the Oahu transmission system. The study revealed that the island-wide, 138-kilovolt system needed to be strengthened and that closing the 138kv loop serving East Oahu would accomplish that.

The Pukele substation in Palolo Valley carries the 200,000-kilowatt load of the entire Waikiki-Kapahulu area. This critical load is supplied by only two 138kv lines that extend from the substation in Kaneohe over the Koolau Range and into Palolo Valley. Both of these lines were damaged by Hurricane Iwa.

When one of those lines is taken out for maintenance, all the high-rise hotels and apartment buildings in Waikiki are supplied by one 40-year-old line. Constructing a single 138kv line from the Kamoku substation in the Moiliili-McCully area to the Pukele substation would strengthen the entire Central-East Oahu transmission grid.

Closing the 138kv East Oahu loop will reduce HECO's transmission system losses. This will save about 8,000 barrels of oil per year, which is equivalent to the installation of more than 1,000 new solar water heaters.

Alan S. Lloyd
Licensed professional engineer

Lying reporter just did what everyone does

A New York Times reporter, Jayson Blair, is the cause of a journalism scandal for fabricating stories that were untrue. So what's new? The public has been bombarded with lies from Enron, Wall Street and even President Bush if he can't find the weapons of mass destruction.

The television news outlets are famous for sugar-coating the economic news even when it's in a tailspin, unemployment is higher than reported and the Euro dollars will eventually give us a hernia. Blair is just like the people above who are forced to lie because "we the people" cannot handle the truth.

Fred Young
Keaau, Hawaii

Sailor got off easy in double slaying

In the recent case of the sailor who killed his wife and mother-in-law, the sentence meted out was not strong enough (Star-Bulletin, May 6). The sailor committed unspeakable crimes and should have received the death penalty, or life in prison without the possibility of parole. An agreement to a 30-year sentence is not enough in this case and is an injustice to the victims and to society.

I urge the Navy to reconsider this plea agreement if at all possible.

Ted Duby

Minister's fine record speaks to his qualities

Interesting turn of events for a minister who by all accounts is qualified, but because of various reasons, including his political beliefs and his bearded and long-haired appearance, was rejected by Kawaiahao Church (Star-Bulletin, May 19). Even his arrest record speaks of a man who stands up for what he believes regardless of the consequences.

His role as a Hawaiian sovereignty activist is a commendable strength for a man who is religious, educated and fluent in the Hawaiian language. Kaleo Patterson does not need to apologize for the unfortunate blunder based on hearsay and speculation. His only downfall is he wanted to be considered as the senior kahu for the church.

His experience and qualification as associate pastor with Kaumakapili Church in Kalihi since 1995 and pastor at Ka Hana O Ke Akua Church in Waianae resonate with excellence in the Hawaiian community. These are two respectable churches, giving credence to the level of distinction.

I believe the committee will have difficulty in finding a candidate as well worthy as Kaleo Patterson.

Yvonne C.R. Perkins

City contracts raise questions of fairness

Eugene Lee's May 19 letter to the editor, "Contracting based on merit, not politics," would have us believe that there is no corruption in the awarding of city contracts, that "political considerations" play no part in the process, and that he is "offended" that anyone would criticize the process or doubt its fairness and integrity. If what he says is true, then it raises a host of puzzling questions, such as:

>> Why did a parade of non-bid contractors testify before the Legislature about how they'd like to be prohibited from giving campaign contributions? If these contributions aren't shakedowns and thinly disguised bribes, wouldn't these contractors defend their right to contribute instead of lobby against it?

>> Why is Mayor Harris' list of campaign contributors so top-heavy with engineers, architects and others who received city contracts?

>> Are we to believe that Lee and other city employees, who directly or indirectly report to Harris, will suffer no ill consequences if they don't steer contracts to people who contributed to Harris' campaigns?

>> Are we to believe that a noncompetitive, non-bid contract will be as much of a value to the taxpayers as a competitive, bid contract?

Jim Henshaw
Kailua

Hawaiian trustee needs island attitude

Has anyone really looked into the coincidences of Hawaiian Air's past two bankruptcies? The first occurred in the 1980s when Hawaiian was owned by the crew from Miami. How did that fare? Well, we all took a bath and wallpapered our rooms with worthless stock as the Miami bunch merrily marched out of town with our millions.

After regrouping under the wings of Bruce Nobles, along comes the crew from New York. This time, though, the scenario is different. The climate in the United States has changed. Now we are all focused on corporate corruption and overpaid CEOs.

Did this stop John Adams and his bunch? No. Not until Boeing Capital asked for its money. Then it turns out that the New York crew had taken the $26 million and paid themselves a hefty bonus. Where did that leave us lowly stockholders and employees? With empty 401(k) plans.

Now, for the first time anyone can remember, Hawaiian will be overseen by a trustee. Let's hope that the right person is chosen, someone with an island attitude. Enough already of the New Yorkers and Miami types.

Susanne Dykeman
Aiea

Repair schools instead of building more

Perhaps the state and county should have a moratorium on building new schools and redirect all that money to maintenance and repair of existing facilities.

This will provide work to the people of Hawaii -- smaller contract money stays here -- and help the economy. Our school environments would be more conducive to both learning and teaching.

It seems the current philosophy and priorities are build, build and build, with no rhyme, reason or thought as to how we are going to maintain these facilities in the future.

Henry Pundyke
Kaneohe

City, not business, treated visitors rudely

The Star-Bulletin of May 18 included a column ("Isle tourism business fails aloha test") by Willa Mathison, an up-until-now frequent visitor from Renton, Wash. In it she reported the rude behavior she and her party endured at Hanauma Bay.

Your headline is incorrect. It was not "business" that treated them poorly; it was our city government. Why? Because the city workers have the idea that visitors to the bay are not customers but potential intruders.

How did they get that notion? Here is a guess: There are no rewards to employees for happy visitors, plus the rules are written to imply that every visitor or service vendor is out to cheat and pillage.

The key question is this: Why is the government doing what it can never do well -- operate a business focused on producing happy customers?

Richard O. Rowland
President
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

Roads should be safe but DOT offers beauty

While I support the needed safety improvements to the Pali Highway corridor in Nuuanu, I am appalled that our limited highway funds are being spent in this affluent neighborhood for beautification projects.

While the Department of Transportation is busy building elaborate lava rock walls to the entrances of Nuuanu -- to improve safety, we're told -- we on the less affluent Windward side must navigate a dangerous highway that presents drivers with an obstacle course of potholes and sinking roadway.

The Pali tunnels have chronic potholes that are difficult to see until you hit them. Recently, a pothole on the hairpin turn grew to more than six feet long. Despite calls to DOT, nothing was done for weeks. It took a call to the Governor's Office to get action, and by then the hole was more than 12 feet long.

Parts of the Pali Highway are sinking. Two years ago DOT engineers acknowledged the problem but cited no funds to fix it.

The Pali Highway is used by 20,000 to 30,000 commuters each day. We're not asking for ornate rock walls, just a safe highway for our commute. When can we expect some attention to these serious safety problems?

Stephen T. Molnar

Deer rifles more lethal than 'assault weapons'

In your "Extend, strengthen assault-weapons ban" editorial of May 18, you stated, "Included in the prohibition are military-style guns such as AK-47s, Uzis and other weapons designed with one purpose in mind -- killing people." This is not quite right. Most modern AK-47s are chambered for the 5.56x45 NATO round. This bullet is the diameter of a .22 bullet, but with a large charge. At 200 yards, it is traveling at 2,430 ft/sec and delivers 590 ft/lbs. At this speed, it will punch a small hole going in and a not-much-larger one going out. This is one idea behind using a smaller, high-speed round. If your enemy is wounded instead of killed, then two of his buddies are occupied with helping him. Three soldiers are out of the conflict instead of just one.

On the other hand, a .30-06 round (the quintessential deer round) has a muzzle velocity of 3,140 ft/sec and delivers a walloping punch of 2,736 ft/lbs. That makes it much more deadly than your average AK-47. It is also semi-automatic, but it just doesn't look as evil as an AK.

The assault-weapons ban is based on looks, not lethality, and should be allowed to expire.

Spencer R. Rackley IV
Charlotte, N.C.
Frequent Hawaii visitor

Criminals usually don't abide by gun bans

Your May 18 editorial gave your readers many false impressions. "Assault weapons" like the AR-15 you refer to are semi-automatic weapons, which discharge only one round per trigger pull.

These "assault weapons" are no different in mechanics than some hunting rifles. The differences are cosmetic.

You imply that criminals follow the thousands of firearm laws already on the books. If the government can create laws for criminals to follow, then it can create a murder statute criminals will abide by.

You claim criminals will more easily obtain weapons if the ban is left to expire. Criminals obtain firearms illegally anyway. Do you think they subject themselves to a 14-day waiting period?

The problem with the "assault weapons" ban is that it targets law-abiding citizens rather than criminals. Your editorials should suggest tougher crime control, more prisons to keep criminals from harming the public and more freedom, not less.

Robert Thurston
Haleiwa

Legislators pay selves more, schools less

The Star-Bulletin should do an article about our Legislature's approach to balancing the state budget while providing pay raises for legislators. This pay raise will not take effect until the next election, but since most of the successful candidates will be the incumbents, they are basically giving themselves raises. These "public servants" have the audacity to do this while slashing school funding. For shame!

Stuart N. Taba

Threat level orange? Have a martini

Other than some genius inventing a thermometer that registers the level of terroristic threat or the Civil Defense air raid sirens going off at full blast, depending on the level of terrorism alert, there's not much one can do unless we take it to the extreme, close down everything, keep our eyes open and stay home -- akin to the rules of a tsunami warning, as specified in the phone book.

If the regular thermometer registers 110 degrees and the barometer shows 80 percent humidity, there's not much one can do about that either, except order another drink.

John Leonard Werrill

Lobbyists' spending should be on Internet

I would like to thank the Star-Bulletin for its May 17 editorial urging the State Ethics Commission to put lobbying spending reports online. I have been working with my staff toward this end for some time.

You highlighted a recent report by the Center for Public Integrity that rated states on how well they regulate lobbying activity. The report gave more than half the states in the nation a failing grade, including Hawaii.

I disagree with the CPI's methodology. I believe Hawaii does well in regulating lobbyists and providing disclosure. And the center criticized Hawaii for not requiring annual registration. Our lobbyists register every two years, commensurate with the legislative cycle.

The report ranked Washington state's Public Disclosure Commission No. 1, giving it "full points" in the category of electronic filing for lobbying reports.

In 2000, Washington appropriated $700,000 for staff and equipment for electronic filing. That exceeds the Hawaii Ethics Commission's annual budget. However, because Washington's law is not mandatory, only 12 percent of filers there file electronically. As you said, "the devil is in the details."

Daniel J. Mollway
Executive director
Hawaii State Ethics Commission