Why does our rail cost more than Phoenix's?

Now let me see if I have this right—Phoenix built a light rail system, the same length as the one from Kapolei would be, at a cost of less than $1.5 billion. Mayor Mufi Hannemann wants to ramrod his system to be built by Parsons Brinckerhoff at a cost of $5.3 billion and counting. Does this sound to you, especially those on the City Council, like the mayor is looking out for the people of Oahu? Think about it. This will affect you for many years to come.

Let's work together to get rid of graffiti

Graffiti is a problem on Oahu. Graffiti is associated with gang activities and defaces public and private properties. We should make Oahu a safer and better place to live by alleviating graffiti. The city sponsors some events and community service groups to combat graffiti. However, graffiti remains a problem as it is visible for weeks or months on public and private properties.

What we can do to combat this problem is to supply groups within our communities around the island with graffiti eradication tools. Each of these groups would then be responsible for their section of the island, their community. This would allow graffiti to be targeted and eradicated as soon as it appears.

An example of a community group graffiti watch is Malama 96744. What Malama 96744 has done is to supply certain groups of their community with graffiti eradication tools. Groups each would be responsible for a certain sector within the community.

To combat graffiti we must band together, and with support from the city, we can eradicate this problem.

The people should be watching our leaders

To our government leaders:

You insult the people with your protestations of constitutional hurdles on the subject of your salary raise. What matters is that you lead. What matters is that you boldly stand before your constituents and set the example for all to follow. What matters is that you get to the front of the line.

Our economy has tanked and projections of revenues are dire. Many are being foreclosed on, losing their homes and jobs, and forgoing retirement. In the next few months, you will be slashing budgets and chopping programs. You will pass laws that will ask your constituents to tighten their belts, forego satisfaction for themselves and loved ones and swallow bitter pills. You will say to your constituents, “;Sorry, but we have no alternative.”;

There are no legal or constitutional constraints on leadership. No laws can force you to accept a salary raise if you elect not to receive one. Nothing can force the peoples' money into your pockets or into your bank accounts if you opt out. The bottom line is: It is your right to reject it. Though trite, the old saying that: “;You can bring a horse to water but you can't make it drink,”; is true here. If you ask your constituents not to drink, it would be unseemly for you to drink and outrageous for you to continue to be a leader.

We can see our leaders clearly in difficult times. These are difficult times. We are watching.

There's nothing quite like a real newspaper

It is disturbing to read about the plight of several respected mainland newspapers. They are suffering layoffs, mergers, reduced printing days or complete shutdowns.

I recognize the economics that dictate their problems. With the advent of the Internet, advertisers now have to split their money over more venues.

But I remain a newspaper devotee. I am not a news junkie, but I do want to be aware of what is happening in the world.

I get the headlines, weather and traffic from the radio in the morning and I watch the TV news at six. But I most enjoy sitting down and reading the local newspaper.

Radio and TV news provide a service, but once spoken their words are gone. And time constraints prevent them from providing much in-depth analysis. But the printed word remains on the paper. I can stop reading if I want and return to where I left off. I can reread something that is especially interesting, and I can save something for future reference.

I know that various news sources are available on the Internet, but I don't enjoy reading one screen at a time, and it is not as comfortable as sitting in my favorite chair.

I fear the worst, but I hope that the two local newspapers can ride out the current economic situation and be around for a long time.