Tobacco prevention should be a priority

Legislators should not cut tobacco prevention efforts. They prevent sickness and early death.

Secondhand smoke has negatively affected my life. At age 39, I had a heart attack that required open-heart surgery to keep me alive.

As a cardiologist, I know that secondhand smoke was attributable to my heart condition.

As an adult, I do my best to clean up my environment and am working to make my condo smoke-free and safe for all.

Many folks, however, do not have the knowledge or opportunity to stop the exposure for themselves.

Children are often victims of adult decisions. Children are targets of a tobacco industry that needs them to smoke.

Without tobacco prevention efforts, the tobacco industry wins. They profit on the backs of our health. We can stop this.

We need tobacco prevention programs and commercials to get people to quit smoking. We cannot afford another generation of smokers.

Paul C. Ho
Honolulu

Planned Parenthood offers needed services

I am concerned about information that I have been reading in the news about changes to health care that negatively impact funding and lawful decisions about choice.

As a woman, I want the right to choose what is right for me, for my body and for my family. Services such as Planned Parenthood provide education about birth control, health and options.

As a social services professional, I know that taking away this resource will be a catalyst for increased crises, and I worry that people will then take matters into their own hands without adequate information.

It’s time to focus on real priorities like creating jobs and educating our citizens.

Carrie Rosen
Kailua

Vote to let state raid rail funds outrageous

The vote taken at the Honolulu City Council to turn down $16 million a year that belongs to the taxpayers of Oahu who are pitching in for the rail, like it or not, should generate outrage at the six Council members who defended the raid by state lawmakers.

In contrast, the city was tasked by the state years ago to collect an impact fee levied on new home sales within the Ewa Plain and turn that impact fee collected over to the state to dispense for six roadway projects to serve that area.

This impact fee is a tax much more complicated and complex than a straight up 0.5 percent general excise tax surcharge for rail, but the city charged only the state 2 percent to administer the impact fee for the state.

For the state to charge 10 percent and make a profit off of the rail surcharge on Oahu, and then use that profit to spend on neighbor island projects is pure graft.

Leslie Mason
Kapolei

Former palace curator deserves some credit

Congratulations to Iolani Palace on the opening of the Music Room ("Years of work go to restore Iolani Palace ‘Music Room’," Star-Advertiser, April 16).

Although not mentioned by name, former curator Stuart Ching jumpstarted the project years ago with his staff and volunteers. Ching’s tireless research and fundraising has resulted in an historic space that adds new dimension to palace tours.

This was the king’s private drawing room, where family and friends gathered for lively choral evenings.

In 2010, The Friends of Iolani Palace received a national Award for Outstanding Commitment to the Preservation and Care of Collections, from the Heritage Preservation Office and the American Institute for Conservation of Historic Works.

The prestigious award and opening of the Music Room acknowledges homegrown museum professionals as national leaders in the care of Hawaii’s cultural artifacts and historic sites.

Deborah Dunn
Honolulu

Headline could have used different tax facts

The headline, "Tax breaks favor wealthy Americans," (Star-Advertiser, April 18) could have easily said instead: "45 percent of U.S. households pay no federal income tax" or "More than half of the nation’s tax revenues came from the top 10 percent of the earners" or "More than 44 percent of the nation’s tax revenue came from the top 5 percent."

It takes patience and close reading of the article to come away with these facts, but perhaps that was the editor’s intent, since taxing the rich and redistributing income is the progressive thing to do in liberal circles.

Tom Freitas
Hawaii Kai