Rapist's deal to go free is an outrage

I am outraged again by the city prosecutor and his office for the agreed-upon probation of Edward Eter, who admitted to sexually assaulting and kidnapping a woman at the state Capitol (”;Newswatch,”; Star-Bulletin, Feb. 28).

This was done, supposedly, to “;spare the victim,”; who didn't want to testify. Pardon me, but no one wants to testify, no one wants to be assaulted or kidnapped, either.

What about the rest of our population? What does this say to criminals, who we all note, upon their arrest, have been arrested/convicted 20, 30 or more times and are still out running around?

No wonder our crime rate in Hawaii is so high. We are about the most liberal state, if you are lucky enough to be a criminal. Our judges are also the problem, agreeing to this travesty and also allowing criminals short sentences, time after time.

We need to boot out the city prosecutor and get in people who are willing to put criminals away for good.

Unfounded suits hurt doctors and patients

Physicians are not just leaving the state of Hawaii. Across the nation, they are “;retiring early.”; How could our entire health care system become so toxic that the ones who were so passionate about caring for you have had to leave to survive themselves?

Tort reform must go through in Hawaii to spare our mental health and to keep us by your side doing what we do best. A malpractice suit can take seven years to complete. That is 2,500 sleepless nights alternately filled with anger, grief, self-doubt and loss of self-esteem. Days filled with extra paperwork, depositions and a sequence of events make physicians feel like criminals with deep pockets. Even if we did nothing wrong and we win the case, the toll is immense.

A few lawyers with the help of TV have made many people “;sue happy”; as a way to their financial jackpot. To those of you I comforted, healed and gave a part of myself to, I am sorry I left but I had to, to survive. Do not let your other physicians leave — pass tort reform, as they did in Texas, so physicians will flood back to Hawaii to take care of you and our tourists.

Rude drivers on cells need to be stopped

On Sunday afternoon, I was almost hit by a car while crossing the pedestrian crossing on the white light with my dog at the Makakilo Drive/Panana Street junction. This was the fifth incident since the pedestrian crossing campaign was launched. The other incidents happened at the junction of Makakilo Drive and Farrington Highway and in downtown area.

All of these incidents happened with female drivers with cell phones on their ears! They did not even bother to stop, but accelerated their speed to avoid me. The police won't help, because their policy is that they should witness the incident, so it is, of course, “;hard to enforce.”; So why is it that the mayor and the City Council refuse to pass the cell-phone ban while driving? It is a lame decision. Do more people have to die before they pass this bill?

Churches, police must deal with homeless

On a recent evening stroll down Kalakaua Avenue, I was shocked at the number of homeless people and vagrants with their garbage and belongings stored in “;stolen”; shopping carts from Safeway, Foodland, Longs and other stores. Since when is it OK to steal property (a recent check has confirmed that each cart costs the merchant around $300)? The problem in general is a eyesore on our visitor industry and recently there have been a lot of letters to the editor by tourists complaining about the situation.

A solution to this whole problem is quite simple — law enforcement should cite and recover these stolen carts and return them to the merchants, and enforce the laws when it comes to camping in Kapiolani Park and elsewhere. We simply should no longer tolerate this inaction by the police department. A further solution would to be to buy one-way tickets for the return of the homeless who were sent here by other states.

For the local homeless and mentally ill, there is also a simple solution: Churches and other religious institutions should offer their grounds and assistance to these economically challenged people. After all, isn't that what religion is about? Some churches have large parcels of land where either transitional housing or tents could be erected with trained counselors and church members who could assist in getting these people back on their feet. Wouldn't that be what God would want? The sad truth, though, is NIMBY — not in my back yard. So much for organized religion!

Mayor makes tough choices with budget

I am fully in support of the mayor's proposed budget. In these tough times, we all have to make tough choices. I think he's done just that by restricting spending in certain areas, yet at the same time focusing on infrastructure improvement projects that will serve Oahu well in the long run. Not to mention that these projects will create jobs right away and help to stimulate the economy.

I'm also happy to see that he and his cabinet are taking voluntary pay cuts. Kudos to them!