TRANSIT

HONOLULU AIRPORT STOP CRITICAL PART OF ROUTE

I was returning from a trip to Atlanta, and as we drove home from the airport I described to my wife how impressed I was with Atlanta's MARTA user-friendly rail system with its very convenient airport connection.

She reminded me that it was looking as though our long-awaited rail system was not going to be routed through the airport.

I just shook my head in disbelief. An airport connection is a virtual no-brainer. Atlanta's trains benefit visitors and residents alike, and are clean, frequent and inexpensive ($1.75 for a basic one-way fare). A number of stations have free and long-term parking.

On O'ahu, ridership through the airport clearly would be higher and more useful for both visitors and residents than a Salt Lake route.

We badly need common sense and not petty politics to prevail in this important decision.

JAYWALKING

HPD OFFICERS SHOULD BE PUT TO BETTER USE

The Honolulu Police Department says that undercover officers will be watching for jaywalkers. Is this really the best use of our officers?

I would prefer that they spend more time on copper thieves.

They also could do stakeouts at tourist sites to catch people breaking into cars.

Our police officers are paid too much money to be standing around and watching for jaywalkers. They need to be put to better use.

UNDERCOVER PROGRAM WASTE OF TAX MONEY

This new Honolulu Police Department undercover jaywalking program is ridiculous, and should be terminated immediately.

What a waste of taxpayers' money.

MAKAHA

STATE SHOULD REALIGN HIGHWAY AT BEACH PARK

It is a disgrace that the state reneged on the plan to realign Farrington Highway around the back of the comfort station on the mauka side of the highway.

Further, it is incomprehensible that the state denied the city Department of Parks and Recreation director's request to install a crosswalk light next to Makaha Beach Park, saying it was not necessary.

The makai makeshift station was removed by the city because it would have cost more than $100,000 to fix.

How much would it cost the state to re-loop the highway behind the mauka comfort station?

How many lives will be injured and/or killed while crossing the highway before this is remedied?

Now is the time, without delays, to make this right for our Wai'anae 'ohana.

WAIKIKI

UNFAIR TO CHARACTERIZE LEWERS ST. AS 'DINGY'

I have lived and worked in Waikiki for more than 30 years.

I don't know how well staff writer Andrew Gomes knows Waikiki, but the old Lewers Street was not the "armpit of Waikiki," nor was it a "dingy alley."

I would not want to say what street or streets would have that dubious distinction because real people live, work and vacation on all streets of Waikiki.

For example, I never saw prostitutes plying their trade on the old Lewers Street. I never saw garbage piled up.

The old Lewers Street (makai) had its own special charm in the day.

It was unjust for Mr. Gomes to characterize it this way.

SEARCH AND RESCUE

TWO PILOT CLUBS OFFER LIFESAVER PROJECT HELP

A three-day search involving 50 police, fire and volunteer searchers for Mr. Tevita Mohetau, who has Alzheimer's disease, may have been shortened by almost three days if Mr. Mohetau and his family had had the opportunity to participate in Project Lifesaver International, a nonprofit dedicated to locating and rescuing missing persons through specially trained teams using reliable radio technology.

To date, Project Lifesaver is in 40 states and has had 1,473 successful rescues, with no failures. The four most-recent rescues, which occurred between March 27 and April 3, averaged just 11 minutes each, with time frames ranging from 4 to 20 minutes.

The Pilot Club of Honolulu and the Leeward Pilot Club, two volunteer service organizations dedicated to promoting awareness of brain-related disorders, have offered to fund the start-up costs for the City and County of Honolulu to institute a one-year Project Lifesaver pilot program in Honolulu.

Although it has been almost a year since the gift was offered, neither Honolulu's law enforcement department nor fire department has stepped up to the plate to accept this gift.

Let us hope that the City and County of Honolulu will soon find a way to give Project Lifesaver a chance before one of our vulnerable community members is lost and not found until it is too late.

KAILUA

COMMUNITY NEEDS TO BE BROUGHT TOGETHER

Kailua may be at a crossroads, as Ursula Retherford suggested in her April 1 letter, but it isn't the crossroads of residential vs. resort town that she claims.

Ultimately, it is whether the community works together to find common solutions, or we continue down a path of fighting and alienation.

Dividing the community and fighting residents and businesses you don't see eye-to-eye with is more destructive to our town than any commercial beach usage or transient vacation rental ever could be.

I'm positive you'd even find that commercial beach users and transient vacation rental owners would be a much stronger ally than foe in building the town's residential character and preserving its natural beauty. They have both personal and business interests in doing so.

All residents have a voice in the public debate of their community, regardless of how long they have lived here or if they are the ones whose actions are in question.

I hope that the residents of Kailua vote for new Neighborhood Board candidates who have a desire to listen to all residents, and have a vision for bringing the community together.

SEWAGE TREATMENT

INFRASTRUCTURE ISSUES REQUIRE JOINT SOLUTIONS

Gov. Linda Lingle's criticism of the way Mayor Mufi Hannemann is dealing with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the issue of sewage treatment appears a little hollow given her own dealings with EPA back when she was mayor of Maui.

When she was mayor, Lingle withdrew from negotiations with the EPA and the state Department of Health to address Maui's long-standing sewage spill problems.

At that time, the EPA claimed Maui had more than 300 spills during the prior five-year period. It was a serious environmental problem, and she walked away from the table.

This may seem like ancient history, but it is worth noting the past attitudes and actions of Gov. Lingle, when she wore shoes similar to those of Mayor Hannemann, especially when she chooses to throw darts at City Hall.

A better approach might be for the governor to get fully briefed by the county and then consider approaches to addressing the problem.

The state and counties face enormous infrastructure issues that require joint problem-solving and marshaling resources as collaboratively as possible.

Let's put our collective governmental energies in the right place.

PSYCHOLOGISTS

RESEARCH SHOWS SAFETY OF PRESCRIPTIVE RIGHTS

Opponents of HB1456 and SB1004 falsely claim that Hawai'i is taking a risk in giving medically trained psychologists the right to prescribe psychological medications.

This is not the case. The U.S. Department of Defense has given psychologists prescriptive rights for more than a decade, and two states have followed suit.

Medical psychologists across the country have written tens of thousands of prescriptions in the past 10 years with no adverse events.

With no evidence to the contrary, Hawai'i legislators have more than a decade of research showing psychologists can safely prescribe.

Many opponents of increasing patient access to care are using fear tactics, not for the benefit of patients, but to protect their own bottom lines.

Hawai'i residents who do not have access to these services cannot afford to wait another year for this bill to pass. Let's do the right thing, and pass HB1456 and SB1004 now.

MIDEAST

WAR NURTURING DREAM OF JIHAD AGAINST WEST

The longer we dedicate ever-expanding resources of people and money to a war against Muslims — lumping them all into one evil mass and refusing to even talk with some of the main players — the more we nurture Osama bin Laden's dream of a jihad against the West.

Bin Laden could not have hoped for a better ally in his cause than President Bush, who has arrogantly squandered lives while ransoming our children's and grandchildren's future.

His actions not only perpetuate anti-American hatred and fear, but actually nurture terrorism worldwide and threaten to make certain even more dire consequences for this war than were ever imagined for Vietnam.

Support the troops. Bring them home now.

CONSIDER CONSEQUENCE IF U.S. LEAVES FROM IRAQ

I hope those in Congress who voted to leave Iraq have considered the consequences of that action.

Most likely, there will be a civil war.

If either side is losing it will ask ally nations for military support — Iran will back the Iraqi Shias and Sunni Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, the Gulf emirates, etc., will support the Iraqi Sunnis.

Will the U.S. remain neutral? If the Iranian side wins, Iran would be the dominant power in the Middle East. The defeated Sunni nations would either become Iranian puppets or their present regimes would be overthrown by pro-Iranians.

Iran will dictate oil prices. Are Americans willing to accept gas prices at $5 or $6 a gallon?

Or what happens if Iran decides on an oil embargo against America and the West?