Hawaii County points state in right direction
I would like to praise and thank our Hawaii island County Council for passing Resolution 639-08 regarding depleted uranium at Pohakuloa Training Area. I believe that our council is setting a precedent for the state of Hawaii and leading the way by supporting non-GMO taro, government-funded elections and making sure the military takes care of its kuleana on PTA.
Mahalo, mahalo, mahalo piha to Hawaii's County Council for being the example of service to our people.
Deirdre Moana Tavares
Hilo
It's becoming harder to get to the beach
During the holiday weekend many Hawaii residents headed to the beach. But many found it harder to reach because of barricaded paths; harder to park because there's not enough free parking; and harder to walk along the beach due to overgrown seaside plants. These conditions exist despite shoreline access being a guaranteed right by Hawaii state law. Public access is taken away and threatened across our islands in several ways, and these losses and threats are increasing.
There are many gated access paths in Aina Haina and Kailua, long stretches of inaccessible oceanfront on the North Shore, and little to no beach parking in Waikiki and Ko Olina. The state is even preparing to charge for beach parking in the Ala Wai Harbor area. These conditions are unacceptable!
The recently formed Shoreline Access Coalition of Hawaii, made up of many groups, monitors and seeks to improve beach access through awareness and legislation.
Scott Werny
Co-chairman
Surfrider Foundation Oahu Chapter
Is lack of parking a plot for fixed rail?
Remember the song lyric, "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot"? Well, someone should tell our officials that they paved paradise all right, but forgot to put up the parking lots. Aloha Stadium, the airport, Aloha Tower Marketplace and Blaisdell Center were all built with insufficient parking and still do not meet the public's need on peak days.
Kaimuki town has outgrown its parking and has not added more. Waikiki got rid of most of its on-street parking and lacks sufficient, affordable off-street parking.
When Blaisdell Center has a popular event or most of its venues are booked, the lot is full and latecomers are stuck in traffic searching for nonexistent parking blocks away. Raising the fee ($6) and reserving spaces for valet parking ($20 plus tip) are invalid ways to alleviate the problem. Blaisdell desperately needs another level of parking.
It appears that this conscious effort not to offer adequate, affordable public parking is being orchestrated by fixed guideway vendors and their facilitators.
Richard Y. Will
Honolulu
McCain has proved his strength and character
Gen. Wesley Clark was right, of course, serving as a prisoner of war does not qualify one to be president of the United States. What he seemed to have deliberately omitted, however, was that serving so honorably and so unselfishly as John McCain did, should go a very long way to convincing Americans that he has what it takes to be the president.
We are fortunate to have in John McCain proof positive that he has the courage, the mental toughness and strength, the unselfish love for his country, the heroism, the leadership, the devotion to his fellow Americans, the determination to do what is right, just and noble, and the "right stuff" to lead this country. Most of us can only imagine the deprivations, the loss of liberty, the physical and mental pain and torment, the unpleasant and sub-human conditions McCain had to endure for more than five years in the name of all of us. We can only hope and pray never to be so tested.
When judging the quality of a man for the presidency of the United States, I will take that record over all the stars and all the ribbons on a coat.
Nelson S.W. Chang
Kaneohe
Fee-for-service sounds pretty good
I agree with Tom Sheeran's sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek proposal to fund government via voluntary contributions in exchange for services received (
Letters, June 27). Why should Tom pay for public schools, since he doesn't have kids? Why not have the people whose kids attend schools, public or private, pay for the services their children use? Why should Tom pay for highways he never uses?
Why not instead reduce traffic congestion by having people pay for each trip they make? Why should he pay to support the state office issuing marriage licenses, since he is gay and is prohibited from getting a license?
In fact, why not shut the office down entirely and make marriage a private matter, like it was before racists started demanding government require marriage licenses so they could prevent interracial marriages?
In fact, if we each paid for the services we used, and didn't try to foist the costs off on others, we would have a much less rancorous political system, since it wouldn't be based on the massive theft and coercion that involuntary taxation necessarily entails.
Sheeran inadvertently pointed out the massive flaws in the statist system he inexplicably continues to defend despite the clear harm it has inflicted.
Jim Henshaw
Kailua
Doctor treated some 'hopeless' cases
I was sad to hear the news regarding Barry Odegaard, M.D. ("Doctor convicted on drug charges,"
Star-Bulletin, June 20).
Being in the pharmaceutical business in Honolulu for 28 years, I knew who the "good and bad" were in the world of physicians. Dr. Odegaard was one of the good ones! I know he took care of many patients who were drug dependent in the Waikiki clinic. Treating these types of patients requires skill, patience and allot of aloha. It is not an easy task.
I have known some of Dr. Odegaard's patients, and know of his desire to treat each patient with respect and a great desire to heal. That is a difficult thing to do in some of those patients he treated in the Waikiki clinic. Some of them were hopeless in my humble opinion, but Dr. Odegaard gave his time and money to helping these unfortunate people; and now it is coming back to him in a negative way. I find it unfortunate that he has to put himself on the line for some of these down and out type people. May the truth of Dr. Odegaard and his good works come to light soon.
Gary W. Hibbard
Bend, Ore.