POLICE POLICY

HIGH-SPEED CHASES OF SPEEDERS FOOLISH

I believe it is time for the police department to install a "no chase" policy regarding speeders. There's no doubt that speeders are a terrible blight on our landscape and in many cases kill innocent people as well as themselves. But a high speed chase by the police endangers the lives of the police, the speeder and many innocent bystanders as well as other drivers, cars and property.

A quick camera shot is possible in most cases and, although it's not foolproof in catching the speeder, it would record the fact and make an arrest possible at a later date.

BLACKOUT

ADDING MORE HOMES TO SAME OLD POWER GRID?

Gee, another power outage for the entire island. And the water pumps do not work so no water.

The reason: a lightning strike! So, the entire island lost power due to a lightning strike? And this after our state's loss of power two years ago due to the earthquake.

As we look towards 2009 and the potential to add upwards of 40,000 homes over the next five to 10 years with no definable /documented upgrade to our power grid/infrastructure, maybe the state and city should use some of their planned "stimulus package" money to make sure we don't become a Third World state.

MIDEAST CONFLICT

OUR BLACKOUT WAS TASTE OF GAZANS' SUFFERING

With our headline-making power outage, we on O'ahu had a minor taste of what it must be like for folks in Third World countries for whom extended and unpredictable power failures are a normal part of life.

Imagine what it has been like for the million-and-a-half people in Gaza living without power in a state of siege, denied fuel to supply even hospital generators. Imagine what it is like when all but three of the bakeries supplying that population have run out of cooking gas, as have the hospitals, and that those hospitals have run out of the most basic medical supplies and drugs. Then send in the American-made and -funded F-16s and Apache helicopters killing 270 Gazans, including 20 children and wounding over 1,000. Is this what you want your taxes to pay for?

THRIVING SCHOOL

KA'A'AWA SHOULDN'T PAY FOR DOE'S MISTAKES

It was with chagrin that I read the quote by DOE assistant superintendent of business services Randy Moore when he said, "Schools where kids aren't doesn't do anyone much good" (Dec. 26 front-page article). His statement related to the "shift of the population from urban areas to rural and suburban neighborhoods" and DOE's emphasis on the importance of "serving areas where children are."

DOE superintendent Pat Hamamoto's recent grab of power away from the elected officials of the school board (and their representation of the people's will) in order to consolidate the power to close schools into her hands may not be criminal, but it should be.

Ka'a'awa School has a 100-year history as the heart of our small community. It has enjoyed vibrant support from an active PTA and an involved community. We are fully enrolled and are one of the few schools on the entire Windward coast that is fully passing the required standards in math, reading and English. This is the school that should be closed?

Pat Hamamoto seems to think it's a done deal because of our facilities upgrade needs. These projects have been requested, funded and then consistently ignored for decades of boom economic years by DOE planners. Now when times are tough DOE targets a successful school because of DOE's own lack of follow-through.

The schools being considered for relocation of Ka'a'awa schoolchildren are OK schools, but none are passing the national education standards or anywhere near full student enrollment due to lower populations in their service areas. Pat Hamamoto would be well served to take these facts into consideration.

RAIL TRANSIT

AFFORDABLE VERSION OF TRAIN CALLED RIDE SHARING

I voted against a rail system for our community. We have so many pressing issues in addition to traffic congestion and so few resources to address them all. How can we justify spending $5 billion to solve a problem that people could handle themselves, immediately, and at little cost to anyone? It's called ride sharing, not something that we really want to do. But what, after all, is the train if not a ride-share, albeit crammed into a rail car with 299 other passengers?

We need to be encouraging and assisting commuters to find just one other person to share the trip into town. A taxpayer-sponsored media campaign could be used to change our one-car/one-occupant mindset. This, with appropriate incentives, could provide congestion relief years before the transit system is running.

My idea for a possible incentive would be to make all morning west-bound lanes HOV for about 90 minutes, allowing vehicles with two or more passengers to ride free. Single-occupant vehicles could enter freeways before HOV hours begin, use surface streets, or pay a fee to use the roadway during HOV hours. There are few freeway on-ramps where toll booths would be required, and I think it is certainly feasible to give this kind of alternative a trial run, as we have done with other proposed changes to our way of doing things.

In the meantime, as the City Council progresses with plans for a fixed-rail transit system, I hope they consider Councilman Djou's proposal for building from town out. This way, if we fall short of money, we will not have a giant white elephant sitting on the 'Ewa plain.