[ OUR OPINION ]

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Mililani to take lead
with recycling plan

THE ISSUE The city will test its curbside collection program in the Central Oahu district.

LIGHT-HEARTEDLY labeled "guinea pigs," Mililani residents will have an opportunity -- and a slight burden -- to spur the rest of Honolulu toward a necessary citywide curbside recycling program. As participants in a pilot project, people in the Central Oahu neighborhood can show that with a little effort, residents can do right for Oahu's environment and economy.

To assure success, city officials are obliged to provide ample information to participants and answer all of their questions before the experiment begins and throughout the test period. Mililani residents should be outspoken with their thoughts and suggestions about how the project is working and how to improve the service because their experiences will shape how the recycling program is ultimately set up.

The pilot project, which begins Nov. 3 and continues for four months, is a smart move. It will allow the city to work out the kinks before starting a full recycling service that Mayor Harris had proposed earlier this year, but had been rejected by the City Council.

Instead of spending $1.5 million to launch an untested program, the pilot project will cost a modest $270,000. Officials will be able to gather data about how much recycled material might be collected, whether just one pick-up of regular trash a week would suffice and how much curbside service will cost. The trial run also will help recycling contractors anticipate changes that may be needed in their operations.

Mililani residents will be asked to separate glass, newspaper, aluminum and plastic from general trash and place those recyclable materials together either in their existing garbage bins or in a separate container the city will provide at no cost. Recyclables will be collected twice a month. On alternate weeks, green waste such as grass cuttings will be picked up. Regular trash collections will continue twice a week as usual through half of the trial period, then reduce to once a week because the city expects the second pick-up will become unnecessary.

Recycling will reduce the strain on landfills and the amount of waste sent to HPOWER, which costs taxpayers $44 for each of the 2,000 tons a day taken to the plant. These benefits far outweigh the minor chore of separating the recyclables, and within a few weeks residents probably will get used to the collection schedules.

By participating in the test, Mililani's "guinea pigs" -- as the mayor jovially dubbed residents -- are doing the rest of Oahu a big favor. For that, they deserve our appreciation.

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Anti-terror powers
are strong enough

THE ISSUE President Bush has urged Congress to broaden the power of law-enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute suspected terrorists.

WHILE Congress is having second thoughts about a law that reduced civil liberties in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of two years ago, President Bush has asked that police powers under the USA Patriot Act be expanded. Privacy and defendants' rights don't need to be further eroded in order for the government to fight terrorism.

In a speech at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., the president complained about "unreasonable obstacles to investigating and prosecuting terrorism, obstacles that don't exist when law enforcement officials are going after embezzlers or drug traffickers." He asked that Congress ask expand police powers in three areas:

>> Deny terrorism suspects the presumptive right to bail. The Eighth Amendment forbids excessive bail, but pretrial detention may be imposed in some cases if the prosecutor can establish clear and convincing evidence that the defendant is a flight risk or a danger to public safety. Prosecutors should have no difficulty convincing judges that terrorism suspects are dangerous or likely to flee. A presumption of flight risk or danger is not needed.

>> Allow the government to issue "administrative subpoenas" without judicial approval in terrorism cases to obtain sensitive documents such as library, medical or genetic records. Those subpoenas are now available in medical fraud and other cases, but Bush's proposal to include terrorism cases could be broadly abused, resulting in a wholesale invasion of privacy.

>> Create 15 new areas of capital punishment if death results from an illegal act committed to influence government or the public by intimidation or coercion. For example, if protesters were to trespass into the military area of Makua Valley and one of the protesters were accidentally killed by an explosive, the surviving protesters could face prosecution resulting in their execution. The death penalty should be abolished -- as it has been in most industrialized countries -- not expanded.

President Bush makes his proposal at a time of growing bipartisan opposition to the Patriot Act in Congress. Among the skeptics is Wisconsin Republican James Sensenbrenner, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who has complained that the Justice Department has not shared enough information with lawmakers for them to decide about whether to extend the Patriot Act, much less expand it.