Keiki exposed to tobacco ads

As a youth in Hawaii I feel strongly that something needs to be done about the amount of tobacco advertising in our local stores that is specifically targeted to Hawaii’s keiki.

Many of Oahu’s convenience stores and supermarkets are covered in tobacco advertisements, which I feel portray tobacco use as the norm here. Additionally, tobacco products are placed in areas, such as along counters, where the candy, chips and ice cream are located.

I strongly believe that the placement of tobacco ads and products is purposeful because it allows people to feel comfortable being around tobacco. Research shows that youth who are exposed to tobacco marketing, even just for a short period time, are more likely to become tobacco users.

Wouldn’t it be empowering for Hawaii to have a generation of keiki who never had to be exposed to a single tobacco ad?

Zipper lane not used efficiently

Why doesn’t the state open the zipper lane to vehicles with two passengers again?

It would relieve some traffic on the freeway — or is it that our government leaders want traffic to be heavy so they can get more support for the elevated rail?

While I’m stuck in traffic I see that only a few cars are using the zipper lane.

I don’t like being stuck in traffic, but at least utilize what we do have, the zipper lane.

Kyo-ya’s project will be win-win

Our fragile economic recovery brings into focus the need for beachfront owners to continue reinvesting in their properties so Hawaii can keep up with competing destinations worldwide and maintain revenues that create and preserve jobs.

Much of Waikiki was developed from the 1950s through the 1970s, but some property owners are looking ahead.

Kyo-ya’s planned redevelopment of the Moana Surfrider’s Diamond Head Tower, approved by the City Council and partially approved by the Department of Planning and Permitting, is a promising start. It will open up ocean views and improve public access to Waikiki Beach for local families as well as visitors, while helping ensure our long-term viability as a premier global destination.

In public hearings and meetings, Kyo-ya explained that the new Diamond Head Tower will be located mauka of the beach and the existing seawall.

The claims of some opponents are mistaken — the project will not conflict at all with the community’s enjoyment of Waikiki Beach.

Reinvestment projects like this are important for our local community and the economy — a win-win.

Lottery could be good for poor

If we are going to have a lottery — and I hope we do — then it should have 100 prizes worth $30,000 each, or 200, depending on the final payout. This amount, after taxes, would reach a lot more people and genuinely help the poor, for whom some people seem to think a lottery would be bad.

Kudos to Leahey and his family

When I left Hawaii in 1966, Jim Leahey was already a sports news icon.

On my recent return, I was happy to see that he was still doing his thing and apparently enjoying it.

Along with the thousands of sports fans and those of us who love lovers, I offer my fond congratulations and wishes to Jim and Toni Leahey for having contributed to the lovers of sports and romance.

I am happy to see that son Kanoa is sharing the torch with his dad. I hope that in the next 40 years or so he will gain a few pounds, lose a lot of hair and grow a white beard.

Policy on iwi is about respect

Gordon Wolfe said that "common sense" should not allow the burial sites of our kupuna to delay the rail ("Don’t let burial sites delay rail," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Feb. 9).

I certainly hope that no graves of his family members are found within these areas.

You can bet that if my kupuna are in the way, I’ll be there to make sure they are treated with the dignity and respect they all lived and died for in my homeland.

Toy gun ban idea lacks clarity

My neighbor’s 7-year-old son came around the corner of my house, pointed his finger at me, cocked his thumb and shouted "Bang! Bang!"

Can he or his parents be arrested under state Sen. Scott Saiki’s new proposed gun law?

LETTERS ON PENSION TAX

Economic effects eyed

What will be the economic impacts of the governer’s plan to tax retirement pensions? I have several questions:

» How many retirees will leave the state with this new policy?

» How many will choose never to move to the state?

» The pension money that retirees bring to the state is new money, often from sources outside the state. What would be the impact of losing this income?

» Retirees purchase many goods and services. What would be the loss in sales and employment?

» We also purchase homes. To what extent will home construction and property values decline?

» Retirees pay substantial excise taxes, property taxes, utility taxes, etc. With fewer retirees, what would be the decline in tax revenues to the state and counties?

» Pensioners pay for many medical services, helping ensure that there is an adequate supply of practitioners and facilities. Will the state have fewer medical capabilities with fewer retirees?

Rich pensioners must help

There should be no such thing as a free ride, but many of our leaders think that refers to only the poor and middle class, who actually contribute a disproportionate percentage of their hard-earned pay in comparison with the percentage paid by the wealthiest among us.

I am glad Gov. Neil Abercrombie wants to tax wealthy pensioners who come to Hawaii to retire. They will surely benefit from the many services facilitated by our state government.

As Abercrombie said, "We are all in the canoe together, and everyone must paddle."

Pensioners misportrayed

Pensioners are not the overpaid greedy geezers Gov. Neil Abercrombie would have people believe ("Pension tax would end preferential treatment," Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Feb. 6).

The vast majority of people who retire here are from the islands and have worked here and paid into the incredibly high taxes that are imposed on working people.

Hawaii’s pensioners still pay some of the highest taxes in the country but do so on a fixed income, not one that has received negotiated increases. Without an increase we have been subject to: a general excise tax increase to pay for rail, property tax increases, vehicle weight fee increases, sewer fee increases, electricity rate hikes, gasoline taxes raised every year, and more is yet to come.

Where would the governor have pensioners cut to include a new tax on our pensions?