Why didn't Superferry just do the EIS?

The state Supreme Court might rule that Act 2 (otherwise known as the Superferry Bailout Bill) is unconstitutional and thus the Superferry must cease operations until it complies with the law (Star-Bulletin, Dec. 18).

At any point in the last five years, the Hawaii Superferry could have finished the legally required environmental impact statement. When the Supreme Court agreed to hear the Act 2 challenge well over a year ago, a prudent company would have played it safe and started the EIS process, which could have been finished today. Then when (if) the Supreme Court held Act 2 to be unconstitutional, Superferry would be completely unaffected and still allowed to operate.

Why didn't they do this?

Chicago topper shows Obama's true feelings

If we hadn't had our suspicions confirmed earlier about Barack Obama's ambivalence to Honolulu as his “;hometown,”; they were confirmed when he stepped off the airplane with the Chicago Cubs baseball cap prominently displayed atop the head of our “;native son.”;

We know you are no longer the Barry Obama Hawaii helped raise, but it is hurtful to see you cling to Chicago when you are here and appear to treat Hawaii nei like a mere vacation stop-over. Please allow us to participate and honor you in your great accomplishment. Washington will host the inauguration, Chicago got the election night celebration, can Honolulu hear one speech and have one luau?

Mr. Obama, we are here to embrace you as a favorite son.

Lawmakers should live within our means

The state is deep in the red, but some state legislators, like James Tokioka (D, Lihue-Koloa), won't even consider stopping their own pay increases? Shame on them! Hawaii is in dire economic straits. The least our elected representatives could do is provide some leadership and set an example.

Surfer overcame past, was a model citizen

Saturday's story regarding Lloyd Albino, the Kauai surfer who recently lost his life, was extremely insensitive and borderline defamatory (”;Drowned surfer was Kauai airport shooter,”; Star-Bulletin, Dec. 20). What relevance does a person's past have for people who did not know him, after he is already gone? Did you think of his mother, and the reaction she would have to reading such comments after such a recent loss?

I knew Lloyd for several years, and he was someone that I would trust with my life and the lives of my small children. He was a gentle, loving human being with a meek attitude and a desire to help other people. He volunteered many hours each month in community education work because he wanted to help others. He worked hard, as his employer will attest, to help his mother with her monthly expenses. He had a troubled life, it is true, but he had moved on and made changes and won the respect of many in his community. The deputy chief of the Kauai County Police Department paid a visit after Lloyd died, to comfort his mother.

In your position as a purveyor of “;news”; and information, you have an important responsibility, and in this case, you fell short of the mark. Take care not to trample the good name of a person who had become an exemplary citizen.

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