WAI'ANAE COAST

APPRECIATIVE OF EFFORTS OF HECO WORKERS

I was up at 3 a.m. on Dec. 5 because of the strong wind and rain. I walked to close my windows and the electricity shut off. I attempted to go back to sleep, but the storm didn't let up.

I decided to get ready for work and leave early, only to be told by HPD to turn back after the Wai'anae Mall. I drove back home and waited until 11 a.m., when the radio announced a lane was open in Nanakuli. It took me two hours to get to downtown.

The next day's commute on the bus took four hours to get to Honolulu.

I'm not complaining, because I shared this torture with thousands of other Wai'anae Coast residents. I'd like to send my appreciation to the Hawaiian Electric Co. workers who worked so hard around the clock and got things back in order.

I hope we won't have to go through this anymore.

ROADBLOCKS

PATROLS WOULD CATCH MORE DRUNKEN DRIVERS

In the fight to get drunken drivers off the roads, Hawai'i law-enforcement agencies likely would make far more arrests if they spent their available time roaming the streets looking for drunken drivers, rather than standing at roadblocks waiting for these drivers to come to them ("Honolulu police kick off traffic safety campaign," Dec. 10).

Because they are highly visible by design and publicized in advance, roadblocks are all too easily avoided by the chronic alcohol-abusers, who are the core of today's drunk-driving problem.

Conversely, the number of DUI arrests made by roving patrol programs is nearly 10 times the average number of DUI arrests made by checkpoint programs, according to testimony by a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation official.

Honolulu residents and taxpayers would benefit from employing the most effective tactics to catch drunken drivers: roving police patrols.

COVERAGE

PAPER SHOULD FOCUS ON FAILURE OF WAR ON DRUGS

Hawai'i has some of the lowest rates of criminal violence in the nation, homicide in the state has declined in recent years, the amount of methamphetamine seized by authorities is down (as is treatment for persons who use this pernicious drug), state and federal officials claim there has been a reduction in Hawai'i's "ice" problem and attribute that "success" to their own law enforcement efforts, and yet The Advertiser sees fit to publish a Page One article titled "State may see jump in drug violence" (Dec. 9).

Exhibit A for this article's "be afraid, be very afraid" message seems to be two killings that occurred seven years ago. In Alabama.

The same article quotes a local "expert" who claims "the drug industry is unregulated capitalism in its purist form."

But the truth is this: illicit drugs are very heavily regulated; the problem is not a lack of regulation, it is the content.

Finally, this article's subtitle panders to readers' insecurities when it declares, "Out-of-state groups could wage war over lucrative Hawai'i turf."

Rather than speculating about the remote possibility of a gang war at some indefinite point in the future — the likes of which has never happened in this state — may I suggest that The Advertiser spend some column inches examining a real war that has been going on for more than three decades, at tremendous human and financial cost, and with almost nothing to show for it?

The real war is the war on drugs, and it has been a colossal failure.

VOTING

HAWAI'I SHOULD GO TO NONPARTISAN ELECTIONS

I found it interesting that the Dec. 12 edition featured an article on the Democrats' desire to close primary elections, as well as another on the lieutenant governor encouraging a constitutional convention.

We should have a constitutional convention and in it resolve the open primary issue for the Democrats by going to nonpartisan elections as the City and County of Honolulu has already done.

Then the Democrats can decide whether to hold their own closed nominating election, at their own expense, to choose their own candidates.

DEMOCRATS SHOULDN'T TAKE AWAY RIGHT TO VOTE

When I read that several Hawai'i Democrats are thinking about suing to exclude certain people from voting in the primaries I had to check the calendar to make sure it wasn't April 1.

Likewise, those Democrats need to check their maps and realize that Hawai'i is in the United States and not located in the former eastern bloc.

Taking away someone's right to vote is expected in totalitarian states and theocracies.

If the Democratic Party of Hawai'i wishes to shake its "old boy network" reputation, this is not the way to do it. Auwe.

PEOPLE'S RACE

HONOLULU MARATHON MARVELOUS EXPERIENCE

My daughter has been a resident of your lovely island for two years. When I speak of the ambiance of Hawai'i, my daughter is quick to tell me that people here have aloha.

Although nearly 30,000 people were registered to run in the Honolulu Marathon, I wasn't prepared for the mass of energized humanity that awaited me.

Despite heavy downpours, there was a carnival atmosphere as runners and spectators headed for the start line.

I saw everything from serious runners to outlandish costumes — hula girls, Santas, warriors, superheros, and some I'm still not sure about.

I saw families standing in the pouring rain, waiting to cheer loved ones as they turned the corner at Pi'ikoi. Spectators balanced umbrellas so that they could clap as runners passed.

The biggest impact of the day, however, was looking at the runners themselves. The wheelchair participants were valiant, and the crowds supported them wholeheartedly.

I saw people of all abilities — many with obvious disabilities — determined to finish.

When I hear that this is the people's race, I know exactly what that means. I don't think that I can put into words the feeling I had when the entire crowd cheered as a runner in great pain crossed the finish line. Everyone there basked in his glory.

What a day! Mahalo!

USS ECHO

WOODEN SAILING SHIP NOW IN NEW ZEALAND

On Tuesday, Dec. 11, The Advertiser ran an obituary for Capt. Meredith "Rip" Riddle that described his first assignment in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was put in charge of a wooden sailing schooner called the Echo.

Sadly, Capt. Riddle died on Nov. 29, but you may be interested to know that the Echo is alive and well.

She is sitting on a cradle near the harbor of Picton, New Zealand, the arrival port for ferry service from the North Island to the South Island. Wouldn't it be interesting to find out how she got there?

SUGAR BOWL

TICKET FIASCO TARNISHES MAGIC OF UH'S SEASON

The magic of the 2007 University of Hawai'i Warrior season made believers out of all of us.

Yet the UH athletic department did not believe in the fans, returning coveted Sugar Bowl tickets, believing that fans would not or could not show up. After we, the people of Hawai'i, cheered them on game after game, selling out the last two games, the athletic department didn't think our belief and dedication to the team would take us to New Orleans.

After all of the Sugar Bowl packages were sold out, I, like most other people, scrambled to find reasonable airfare and hotel. I was lucky, my only worry was finding Sugar Bowl tickets, and that would be no problem because Hawai'i had 17,500. How was I to know that I would be left wondering if my journey to New Orleans would end with my family and I cheering the Warriors on, but outside of the Superdome?

How is it that Panda Travel is still selling ticket packages at obscene rates? Why do they still have tickets, while the rest of us wait in limbo? Who is responsible for a decision like this? Is this another Herman Frazier mess that we will be forced to forgive? Are we revisiting the scalping issues that we faced only two weeks ago?

UH'S AMAZING SEASON TURNS INTO UTTER CHAOS

I was fortunate enough to live in the San Francisco Bay Area when the 49ers had their run of Super Bowls.

Being a season ticket holder back then we were always given priority to all playoff games before tickets went on sale to the general public.

Two glaring things happened in this Sugar Bowl ticket debacle. Who gave Herman Frazier permission to make the choice of giving back part of our ticket allotment to the Sugar Bowl without first polling the fans? The second huge problem is not putting a limit on the number of bowl tickets that fans could buy.

What was supposed to be an end to an amazing season for the team and the fans has turned into utter chaos.

TRANSIT

WE CAN'T LET POLITICS INFLUENCE RAIL DECISION

I've listened to some of the arguments for and against an expert technical panel to provide the city with the choice for fixed guideway technology. Having an independent panel of experienced, highly qualified professionals makes all the sense in the world to me. They would have the hands-on expertise and proven track record to make such a determination.

You wouldn't go to your neighbor for medical advice unless he was a doctor. So why leave it up to the politicians and the vocal minority to make the decision on the most important and largest infrastructure project in the history of Honolulu?

Sifting through tons of engineering specifications, operational and maintenance records is really "rocket science" to the common man, including our elected officials. We cannot afford to let politics influence this decision. Let the experts advise us what will work, and what won't.

The city's transit project will benefit the generations to come, not today. We have to make the right choice. For the sake of our island's future, let's not leave it up to politics or opinion polls to make the best choice on transit technology.

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