The Hawaii Legislature is considering legalizing assisted suicide (Senate Opens in a new tab Bill 1129  Opens in a new tabSD1 Opens in a new tab). I am a doctor in Oregon, where assisted suicide is legal.

In 2000, I had a cancer patient named Jeanette Hall who was adamant that she was going to use Oregon’s law. Without treatment, she had a prognosis of six months to a year to live, rendering her “eligible.” I convinced her to be treated instead. Today, 16 years later, she is thrilled to be alive.

In Oregon, the Oregon Health Plan (Medicaid) steers patients to suicide in lieu of desired treatments for cure or to extend life. Private insurers have this same ability. Do you want this to be your choice?

Legal assisted suicide encourages people with years to live to throw away their lives and allows providers to steer patients to suicide in lieu of treatment.

Tell your legislators to vote “No” on SB 1129 SD1.

Kenneth Stevens, M.D.

Sherwood, Ore.

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Kincaid’s better than condos

I was very sad to see that Kincaid’s restaurant in Ward Warehouse will be closing with no plans to relocate.

Kincaid’s has been a favorite of mine since I moved here eight years ago. It is a place for local regulars to meet and eat in an atmosphere nearly free of young adults and tourists. And to tear it down so Honolulu can have more ultra-luxury condos is maddening.

Just what we need — more luxury for residents who can’t afford to live there. When will the city start looking out for its residents when it approves these projects? I fear it is more concerned with pleasing rich mainland corporations and foreign investors.

Wake up, Hawaii!

Judith Wright

McCully-Moiliili

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Lawmakers stand up for wildlife

Hawaii’s U.S. representatives continue to do a stand-up job representing Hawaii’s values of caring for others, nature and wildlife.

I am particularly grateful to Reps. Colleen Hanabusa and Tulsi Gabbard for voting against animal cruelty last week.

Wildlife refuges, of all places, should be a safe space for animals — not a place where grizzly bears are lured with rotting meat to get a point-blank kill, or where bear cubs and wolf pups are blasted away in their dens. A House resolution to roll back the Obama-era rule ending these deplorable practices ultimately passed.

When its companion makes its way to the Senate, we’ll be counting on our senators also to take a stand for nature.

Rene Umberger

Kihei, Maui

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Oppose expansion of memorial park

Following the recent City Council decision to withdraw Hawaiian Memorial Park’s proposed expansion until it revises its expansion plan, I am left with one outstanding question: Shouldn’t Council members be stewards of the land and feel a moral obligation to defend Hawaii’s finite and fragile ecosystems against environmentally damaging business proposals (“Kaneohe Opens in a new tab cemetery altering expansion plans,” Star-Advertiser, Feb.  Opens in a new tab25 Opens in a new tab)?

If the Council members truly represent our best interests, they should tell Hawaiian Memorial Park that Hawaii’s environment is not for sale by refusing to introduce any future amendments to bills that are aimed at destroying more land in the Kawa Watershed region.

Shaun McCreedy

Kaneohe

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Why not build a tent-city jail?

As a Democrat who voted for Hillary Clinton, I deplore the Trump administration’s moves toward a police state.

But I must agree with retired Republican state Sen. Sam Slom’s assessment that there is little to counter Democratic incompetence in running our state. Sunday’s two lead stories make the point: If government can’t reduce sexual abuse of prisoners by prison officials in our jails, and can’t cool our classrooms for less than $80,000 per room, how can it effectively build rail, provide affordable housing, or pay teachers sufficiently (“Cooling Opens in a new tab schools,” Opens in a new tab “Staff abuse outnumbers inmates’ for second year,” Opens in a new tab Star-Advertiser, Feb. 26)? Prisons made the first page of the Insight section, too.

Finally, Lee Cataluna’s column about investigative reporting making a huge difference begs the question (“A Opens in a new tab reporter’s work can still move mountains,” Star-Advertiser, Feb.  Opens in a new tab26 Opens in a new tab): Could you report in-depth on why government is not considering an affordable minimum-security tent-city jail (given our friendly climate) at very low cost compared to the cost of developed, hardened jail cells?

Richard Stancliff

Makiki

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Collect taxes on vacation rentals

Instead of worrying about President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, perhaps Hawaii’s attorney general should be working to collect the huge amount of unpaid general excise and transient accommodations taxes due for transient vacation rentals.

That money could be used to shelter the homeless, provide long-term kupuna support, public education, and refresh the state’s underfunded employee pension system.

William F. Crockett

Wailuku, Maui