Honolulu has lost one of its smartest, calmest and most rational voices, and many of us have lost a dear friend and colleague, with the untimely death Sunday of City Councilwoman Barbara Marshall.

Her service to Hawai'i began long before her election to the council in 2002, and her toughness was apparent long before her courageous battles with cancer over the years.

Marshall and I each arrived in Hawai'i in the 1970s to join local news organizations, she at KHON television and I as an investigative reporter at The Advertiser, and I soon came to know her as a formidable competitor.

Sitting side by side with her in one courtroom after another, reporting on the drawn-out epic stories of swindler Ronald Rewald and ousted Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, I came to know her also as a friend, in a relationship based on my admiration not only of her skill as a reporter but of her intelligence, wry sense of humor and high ethical standards.

She fought not only the battles any reporter encounters trying to get news stories, but also fought an entrenched sexist pre-judice against female journalists that persists to this day throughout the country.

Woman reporters can, it is true, use charm to make headway in the male-dominated worlds of business and government that we cover, but even though they are often the sharpest knives in the journalistic drawer, they often are forced to be even tougher than their male counterparts to get equal access, attention, respect — and pay.

H-1 OIL SPILL

KEEP PUBLIC INFORMED DURING EMERGENCIES

Frustration and anger were commonly felt by thousands of Honolulu motorists on Saturday when a fuel truck expelled 2,500 gallons of gas on H-1 Freeway. The response to this mishap by HPD was necessary.

However, being gridlocked for hours is not as bad as not knowing why. No information was forthcoming on five major radio stations I tuned into. Most stations are automated on weekends with only a tech present to handle the EAS. Tom Moffat's "live" morning show was bombarded by callers. There are no traffic reports on weekends nor anyone with a pulse manning the control boards. Fortunately, I got KITV's Paula Akana, who explained the problem. I relayed that to Tom on-air. It is human nature to feel anxiety when no information is forthcoming.

A system needs to be in place so local media gets the information for broadcast. Perhaps (city administration spokesman) Bill Brennan could facilitate that for the city, and corporate media could ensure the stations have someone in-studio who could digest the info and broadcast it.

People would be less anxious and more understanding when they know what is happening to them. Just a thought!

BAILOUT

HOMEOWNERS, NOT BANKS, SHOULD GET FUNDS

Instead of giving monies as bailout directly to all the banks and lenders (it does not trickle down to the consumers, the ones who need it the most and the ones whom the bailout monies were intended to help), let's have a national plan to cut everyone's mortgage in half. This would do the following:

1. Create instant equity in everyone's homes.

2. Be fair to all homeowners, including the ones who have made on-time payments.

3. Allow homeowners to now refinance their homes, lowering their payments and giving business back to the lenders.

This very simple plan is a win-win for all; lenders do not have to worry about the half markdown on principal because they will get that money back from the government (the same bailout monies that the government is going to give them anyway). They will also get new business from all the homeowners who can now refinance.

The government wins because the monies they are giving are now going directly to the American homeowners and not to the CEOs or balancing the books (the accountability problem); homeowners who refinance now have lower payments and extra cash, which they can now spend to help stimulate the economy (the other result the government is seeking).

The consumers win because they get instant equity in their home and can now refinance to lower their payments and even take cash out, which would stave off foreclosures. It is also fair to all homeowners, not just the ones who are in trouble. Why should the rest of the homeowners who have made their payments on time not be able to participate in some relief plan?

GMOS

SEED CONTAMINATION A GREAT RISK FOR ISLANDS

House Bill 1226 is complete nonsense. The goal of genetically modified organisms is to generate seed patents for large corporations and to restrict the seed market to a few branded seeds for which farmers and consumers will pay dearly. This bill must die on arrival.

Being against GMO is not being anti-science; I am all for GMOs (for medicinal purposes) in a controlled, enclosed lab environment. Growing GMO in the open is just too great a contamination risk. Contamination by foreign genes in seeds destroys native seeds, their history and lineage.

And there is something quite unethical and quite frankly abnormal about unnaturally forcing foreign genes into other genes when nature really did not intend for genes to cross species.

Furthermore, growing GMO in Hawai'i and contaminating organic seeding will close most world markets to our products, in particular for coffee, macadamia nuts and so forth, because most European and Asia countries will not buy tainted food.

GMO experimenting should never have started in Hawai'i; we are getting close to the point of no return where no native food will be able to grow naturally, and since we have no label laws, I and my children will be eating god-knows-what.

Please get informed and educated, kill HB 1226 and start passing laws expanding organic farming and laws requiring the labeling of our food products so that we know what we are eating.