More officers needed at critical intersections

On Friday I received a traffic citation for blocking the crosswalk at an intersection. Contrary to the norm, I'm actually glad there was a police officer to watch that particular crosswalk and am more than glad to pay the citation. My only concern is that as far as I know, there was only one officer for that entire intersection. So while one person gets a citation, the guy running the red light, the person across the intersection blocking the crosswalk and the pedestrian jaywalking get off without even so much as a warning.

Perhaps there is a shortage of officers. I just wish there were officers at some of the major intersections along King Street to hand out citations during rush hour. I can't help but wonder how much faster it would be if we didn't have to wait for two or more red/green light cycles to cross one intersection because crossing traffic is blocking the intersection. But I guess one can always hope.

Mayoral hopeful shows ignorance of Kapolei

I attended the mayoral debate and was surprised to hear Panos Prevedouros claim Kapolei is a "partial failure." He obviously has not been to Kapolei recently because all you need is a quick drive around to realize that there is a lot happening in the retail and commercial sector. There are no fewer than six commercial projects actively under construction that will bring 2,300 jobs to Kapolei. The most notable of those projects is Kapolei Commons, the large regional shopping center that will house Target, and the state's Kapolei court complex. There are five other projects close to breaking ground that will bring another 2,500 jobs.

Kapolei has made tremendous strides in the last decade toward becoming a city. Kapolei is now home to 1,200 businesses and 28,000 jobs. In the next 20 years, business interest in Kapolei is expected to bring even more companies with the total number of jobs growing to about 70,000. So Mr. Prevedouros needs to check his facts before he makes statements that demonstrate his ignorance and lack of vision.

Palin can appoint whomever she wants

The Associated Press article "Former Wasilla museum director, now Hilo resident, criticizes Palin" (Star-Bulletin, Sept. 14) is simply a ridiculous news item couched as a story.

Why is it a headline that someone who was let go would be disgruntled? Geez, what about the 45 people the Advertiser recently "let go" ... now I bet they have some good "news stories" to share.

Not only did this former Wasilla resident resign his position in the city government, but he also has fundamental differences with now-Gov. Sarah Palin. Self-described as a "bleeding-heart liberal," it's no surprise that he would criticize the former mayor.

The process of establishing one's own team in any new administration is practiced in local and state governments across the country, as well as in our federal government. It is common practice that any political appointee is aware that his or her position is limited to the terms of their leader as "at-will employees." It would be interesting to see how many of Jeremy Harris' appointees that Mufi Hannemann kept. How many of Steve Yamashiro's appointees did Harry Kim decide to keep? The answer is likely, zero!

Haven't we had enough of this economy yet?

The economic problem was caused by the average person and shall be solved by the average person. We choose in continuing to support companies when they left the United States and cost American jobs. As we replaced these jobs, they are at lower wages and fewer hours. Yet we keep looking to government to fix our problems. NAFTA was created by President Clinton, which allowed our businesses to move to Mexico and other Third World countries and pay lower wages, yet they sell us these products at comparable prices. The government shouldn't have passed NAFTA but we shouldn't have supported these companies that cost American jobs.

All this rolls downhill because these American dollars that have been traded for votes were being spent on vacations and now are being sent to other countries. We all need to say enough is enough.

Gas companies keep gouging isle customers

I've written about this subject before, but it doesn't seem to faze the average Hawaii resident. That subject is the price of gas. Yesterday, according to Yahoo news, the price of a barrel of oil was $98.14, the lowest since February. I did a little research, and the average price of a gallon of gas in February was $3.50 9/10. Will we see that price again any time soon? No! Why? The oil companies here choose not to. They are making ridiculous profits at our expense. They keep the price of gas artificially high so we get accustomed to it. Then, when something happens some where they raise the price nearly overnight.

Case in point. A gas station in Pearl City jacked its price from $4.29 9/10 to $4.35 9/10 based on what hurricane Ike MIGHT do. Hurricane Ike did very little damage to the American oil industry, but the station is keeping its price up.

The oil industry here in Hawaii needs to be investigated NOW. It should be a political issue. We in Hawaii have one of the highest costs of living in the United States, we don't need "legal criminals" ripping us off and making our lives miserable by keeping the price of fuel artificially high.