It was saddening, but not surprising, to learn that a belligerent homeless man assaulted a tourist in the heart of Waikiki recently. Since I returned to Honolulu in March, I have witnessed hostile homeless people on the sidewalks of Waikiki almost daily. I have been yelled at and nearly spat on, and worst of all, I have to see the mortified reaction of countless tourists enduring the same assault and intimidation all the time.
Now we have instances of violence, and no one should be surprised. If Waikiki wants to remain a top tourist destination, the neighborhood association and police better get their act together. They need to proactively rid the sidewalks of clearly hostile, aggressive individuals — they are not hard to find as they are often shouting at people wherever they happen to be — or expect more tragedies and a diminishing reputation of a very special place.
Daniel Melmed
Waikiki
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End sloppy AG’s forfeiture asset fund
Regarding the “State Audit of the Attorney General’s Forfeiture Asset Fund,” released in June: Read it and weep.
Thanks to the law enforcement lobby, the Hawaii Legislature has made it super-easy for any person to lose their personal property to law enforcement asset forfeiture. It is stunning that this audit has finally happened, and not surprising, the findings are such that the AG’s office has had no adequate rules or regulations for administering the fund. And since there is no one watching, and no accurate reporting has been done, it is impossible for an auditor to review or reconcile the attorney general’s slush fund; and the police and prosecutors on each island get a chunk of all forfeits, while refusing to promulgate better rules.
Time to end the forfeiture asset fund being the slush fund of law enforcement!
Sara Steiner
Pahoa
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Beach concessionaire oversteps with blight
Dive Oahu, the new beach concession operating on Waikiki’s beach, has violated the Waikiki Special District Guidelines ordinance.
This ordinance was developed to maintain a Hawaiian sense of place within the area. These rules set various limits on building height and orientation, and limit business signage by size, color and placement .
I complained on June 8 about what I see as the largest number of sign violations created by any business in Waikiki in the last 15 years. It generally takes two weeks for the city to view the cited violation and issue a “notice of violation.”
Dive Oahu has around 100-plus signs and banners and portable menu boards placed on its umbrellas, surfboards and concession-stand canopies — creating an ugly Vegas-like blight all along our world famous beautiful beach.
The city had ignored my legitimate complaint and basically is disrespecting all other Waikiki businesses and property owners.
What’s the holdup?
Dave Moskowitz
Waikiki
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Legal immigrants did things by the book
I come from an immigrant mother and grandparents who labored through the application process to legally become an American citizen.
My family and I find it offensive to be preached to by David Ige, and his protege and now political candidate, Doug Chin, about the benefits of undocumented immigrants entering our country. I find it curious that Chin, once a sworn law enforcement bureaucrat, is now eschewing immigration laws on the books.
Art Todd
Kaneohe
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Appalling treatment of migrant children
The story was not that 54 children under age 6 were reunited with their parent(s); the story that needs to be told concerns the 48 under-age-5 children who cannot be restored to their parent(s) because Immigration lost/misfiled information about the child’s parent(s).
Of the 54 restored, one was a boy jerked from his mother’s breast at 11 months, then caged for 85 days. When returned to his mother, the mother said he was covered in dirt and lice, and she doubted that he had a single bath during those 85 days, traumatizing that poor child.
If we do not hold our members of Congress accountable for that betrayal of all that is American, we are just as guilty as Jeff Sessions and Donald Trump.
Rico Leffanta
Kakaako
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Proposed new radar is waste of money
Another war — i.e., defense — department scam.
The radar proposed for Kaena Point is a complete waste of money. North Korea, Russia and Chinese missiles could hit us in 15 minutes. President Dwight Eisenhower warned us about the wasteful power of the military industrial complex, 60-plus years ago.
Please vote for politicians who speak out against this waste. There is no reliable missile defense.
Use our tax dollars to pay our school teachers a living wage and to fix our terrible infrastructure problems.
Keep the multibillion-dollar floating “golf ball” radar at Ford Island as a “President Bush’s folly” tourist attraction.
Fred K. Gamble
Ala Wai
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Mission is Earth and mankind, not Mars
We can talk about ventures into space (Mars, etc.) but wouldn’t it be better to remember our first priority — and that is the world we live in? Our mission is to mankind on Earth and our children.
Before we conquer the unknown, we must concentrate on the problems in this world.
Patrick Carvalho
McCully
