Letters to the Editor | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Letter: Kawainui Marsh better location for new landfill

None — Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Oahu needs a new landfill and it seems the one thing most of us can agree on is that it should not be located above an aquifer. A modest proposal: Designate Kawainui Marsh as the new site.

Letter: Save Manoa, don’t allow Aria Lane development

None — Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

A recent letter correctly warned that Avalon Group’s proposed 158-unit high-density housing project threatens Manoa (“More scrutiny needed for Aria Lane in Manoa,” Star-Advertiser, Dec. 16). During a recent meeting about the archaeology and historic buildings at Saint Francis Manoa, labeled as “Temple Heiau” on a 1910 army map and referred to as the Kauala‘a Heiau by Emma Nakuina in her 1904 book of legends, it was disclosed that Avalon plans no affordable housing on site.

Letter: Take advantage of local kupuna care solutions

None — Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The Dec. 7 article, “Seniors need our support to stay in the homes they love,” by The New York Times’ Michelle Cottle, is especially relevant for Hawaii because of the increasing number of our kupuna who are forced to leave because of the inflated cost of living. This deserves an immediate response. Local solutions to the housing crisis have been available for years. Many nonprofits have offered a variety of services; in addition to the exceptional work done by Habitat for Humanity, Homesharing Hawai‘i (HH) was organized in 2019 as a project of the Hawai‘i Intergenerational Network (HIN), founded in 1995 by Charles Larson — the founder of Seagull Schools.

Letter: Trump to make rich richer, grow inequality

None — Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

“Make America Great Again” is a scam for making President-elect Donald Trump and his close associates even richer.

Letter: Flipping Hawaii red can fix nagging problems

None — Mon, 23 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

To my fellow citizens of the state of Hawaii: After the victory of President-elect Donald Trump in the recent election, I feel hopeful that my children and grandchildren may have a chance to live the American dream.

Letter: Finding justice in Maui wildfire report

Derek Kalani — Sun, 22 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

While the state attorney general seemingly doesn’t consider accountability, justice and compensation for the Lahaina fire survivors important, we do.

Letter: Exempt registration fee for older veterans

Derek Kalani — Sun, 22 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

My sincerest mahalo to City Council members Andria Tupola and Augie Tulba for introducing Bill 62 to exempt vehicle registration fees for U.S. military veterans who are 65 years and older.

Letter: Trump win reveals majority’s problem

Derek Kalani — Sun, 22 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The architect of MAGA 2.0 will soon be returning to the White House, while Democrats convene an inquest to try and answer the eternal question of what went wrong.

Letter: Stop worrying and give Trump a chance

Derek Kalani — Sun, 22 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

In a recent letter, the writer lamented the choice of the majority when they voted, as they said, “between democracy and freedom and anger, fear and hate” (“Trump reign could spell disaster for democracy,” Star- Advertiser, Dec. 18).

Letter: Trash along freeways spoil island paradise

Derek Kalani — Sat, 21 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

I’ve noticed that the accumulation of trash along the H-1 and H-2 freeways has gotten so disgusting and out of control, especially on the H-2 between Mililani and Wahiawa. And on the H-1 after the H-1/H-2 split to Makakilo, the trash there must be the worst on the island.

Letter: Slow down, focus to prevent auto collisions

Derek Kalani — Sat, 21 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Car accidents are becoming more and more common worldwide. Car crashes are very serious and life-threatening. There were more than 23,800 reported motor vehicle collisions in Honolulu so far this year. Many of these car accidents are caused by people speeding.

Letter: Native plants belong in UH-Manoa campus mall

Derek Kalani — Sat, 21 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The plans to improve the campus mall at the University of Hawaii at Manoa seems to have been well thought out and flexible to meet future needs (“Campus Transformation,” Star-Advertiser, Dec. 9).

Letter: Reconsider costly sewer treatment plant upgrade

None — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The Honolulu City Council recently adopted Resolution 287, which urges the city administration to initiate discussions with the Environmental Protection Agency, state Department of Health and pertinent parties on seeking relief from the 2010 consent decree requirement to upgrade the Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant to full secondary treatment.

Letter: Use Superfund to clean up land used by military

None — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Regarding Navy land use at Kalaeloa: Why not use “Superfund” (the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act)? It allows the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up contaminated sites. It also forces the parties responsible for contamination to either perform cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-led cleanup work. Clean up the mess and charge it back to the Navy.

Letter: Teach state’s 2nd official language in schools

None — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Hawaiian is officially Hawaii’s second language. Whenever I go the airport I hear announcements in both English and Hawaiian.

Letter: Was airlift of dog from trail really necessary?

None — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

On Tuesday, 911 received a call about a lost dog on the Wailupe Gulch Trail. Six emergency responder units and 17 personnel were dispatched to the scene. Within two hours the wayward dog, named Tonka, was found. But instead of walking the dog back down the trail, it was airlifted by the Honolulu Fire Department’s Air 1 helicopter to be reunited with its owner.

Letter: Remember WWII impact on Japanese Americans

None — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The 2024 Nobel Peace Prize was presented to Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of Japanese atomic bombing survivors who have worked for nearly 70 years to end all nuclear weapons (“Discrimination haunts atomic bomb survivors,” Star-Advertiser, Focus on Japan, Oct. 31).

Letter: Siting landfill above an aquifer is clear problem

None — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The proposed location for the new solid waste landfill is a terrible choice. I say that as someone who helped develop the pass/no pass line in the 1970s for the Honolulu Board of Water Supply.

Letter: U.S. government upheaval threatens new Dark Age

None — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

I sense full-blown entropy flourishing in our government, as Cabinet nominees issue irrational threats and the chaotic mind of their fearless leader cannot even answer questions clearly. Experienced leaders are being pressured to comply, but with what? There is no plan, just bluster and blurts.

Letter: Stop the fearmongering, switch on nuclear power

None — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The Atlantic magazine recently reported on a 2024 bipartisan congressional effort to rapidly expand nuclear power, recognizing its ability to accelerate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Other efforts are clearly not getting us anywhere, and come with widespread undesirable impacts.

Letter: Go woke and open eyes to victimization, injustice

None — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

In response to the letter, “America threatened by liberal wokeness, hatred” (Star-Advertiser, Nov. 18), the definition of wokeness is the state of being aware, especially of social problems such as racism, inequality and social injustice. Members of the LGBTQ community are often victims of social injustice. There are also underserved communities that are often victimized by Christian zealots aka evangelicals who support the MAGA movement.

Letter: Biden tries to pull fast one on American public

None — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

It’s not over. We still have to worry about the damage the current admiration will do before the inauguration. Examples? Unnoticed by most Americans, the Biden-Harris administration adopted the United Nations “Pact for the Future” to transform global governance, which introduces the foundations of a world government. There was no debate, no media coverage, no press releases, and no interviews about what I believe is the administration’s surrender of United States sovereignty to the U.N.

Letter: Isle exodus is existential threat to all Hawaiians