Kahana Valley issue needs trial

A recent story in the other newspaper was headlined “;Kahana Valley residents hail veto override.”;

The headline is misleading; what would have been accurate is “;SOME Kahana Valley residents hail veto override.”;

Many Kahana residents—and I am one of them—do not support the veto override.

The governor has spoken.

The Legislature has spoken.

Time now to take this matter to that third branch of government: the courts, for judicial review.

The Legislature was wrong in the case of Superferry. Similar principles of law are at stake in the case of the Legislature's second round of foolishness with Kahana.

Time to take the Kahana issue to court.

Tax increases serve to bloat government

Thank you to our legislators for having the common sense to not override the veto of the extremely ill-timed oil tax increase.

Citizens of Hawaii and America are being blatantly ripped off with far too many “;feel good”; environmental laws and taxes that are thinly disguised ways to increase the size and scope of government. This was another one of those bills.

The stated purpose of the tax was a giant red flag in itself: “;The tax hike would have generated about $31 million annually for alternative energy projects and food safety programs.”; Alternative energy? Food safety programs? Why not just say government largess?

Leave regulation out of home rental market

I have such a hard time understanding the big fuss about owners renting their homes for less than a month.

I do understand the challenge of legislating and enforcing laws for “;illegal short-term rentals.”; They would be nearly impossible to enforce. Building a case for this sort of “;lawbreaking”; would be much more difficult than catching real criminals.

Most homeowners should be against regulating what someone does with and within their own home. Others who like regulations for home owners form associations to govern a small group of owners. But not for an entire county or state.

We already have adequate laws enforcing behavior that affects other people. Laws about parking and noise and violence and even loitering are enforceable and already exist. Why do we need additional unenforceable laws concerning the duration a person can rent their house? It is beyond me.

Next we will outlaw all rentals of any duration. That way home owners will be the only people who can live or visit here.

Photo sparks thought about disputed islands

I thought it was amusing and somewhat ironic to read the caption in your Island Images feature (Star-Bulletin, July 16), which pictured an orange moon attributed to atmospheric dust and sulfur dioxide from a Russian volcano in the Kuril Islands.

It may not be well known, but Japan and Russia still dispute sovereignty over this territory known as the Kuril Islands to almost everyone except the Japanese. It is ironic that the Russian names were used at a time when the Japanese emperor and his wife were visiting Hawaii.

I would have used the Japanese name Chishima Retto (Thousand Islands Archipelago) in addition to the Russian names. I wonder if the emperor saw it?

Insect insurrection sees cleaner solution

There is a cockroach and mosquito overpopulation where I reside on the cosmic Garden Island.

Bug sprays and insect repellents are ultra-expensive. Even for generic brands you're looking at $5 or more for a 16-ounce or smaller can. I have made a discovery that I would like to share.

I ran out of ant and cockroach spray, so I tried using an inexpensive generic window cleaner. Streak-free glass cleaner killed all my cockroaches on contact and when sprayed into the air kept the mosquitoes away and got rid of the flies, too.

My conclusion is that ants, mosquitoes and cockroaches can't read anyhow, so try generic window cleaner and save some money.