Readers of the Star-Advertiser’s online edition can respond to stories posted there. The following are some of those. Instead of names, pseudonyms are generally used online. They have been removed.
"Governor wants all elections conducted via mail," Star-Advertiser, Nov. 27:
» I think voting booths allow voters the independence of voting their conscience without family or workplace interference. I worry that mail-only ballots can be harvested or co-opted. Regardless, mail-in ballots won’t correct the incompetence at the Office of Elections; it will just hide it.
» As a former kamaaina who has lived in Washington for the last 36 years, mail-in is the only way to go. Your ballot arrives in the mail early, you fill it out in the privacy of your home and send it in. It’s so easy a cave man could do it. No hassles, no lines and no traffic.
» Of course, we’re assuming that the Postal Service will still exist after declaring bankruptcy.
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"Ballot shortage spurs panel to form a new subcommittee," Star-Advertiser, Nov. 28:
» Chief elections officer Scott Nago is not being disciplined or relieved of his duties, even though his actions denied access to the voting public as well as affecting the outcome of the election. This is a betrayal of the public trust.
» The only confidence the voting public has in the election process and the election outcome comes from faith in the people who administer the election. Given the shortcomings in the process and the people administering it, it’s easy to imagine that the outcome has been compromised, especially with all the shenanigans in the campaigns.
» This is how the state operates: Whenever something screws up, just form another committee to solve the problem. In the meantime, taxpayers are paying for this newly formed committee which, after months of doing nothing will conclude with no answer to the original problem.
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"Some UH regents look askance at biosafety lab plan," Star-Advertiser, Nov. 29:
» Another project that hasn’t been thought out in great enough detail. We have a state lab now. Maybe it’s on a smaller scale, but it’s all the state can afford.
» The University of Hawaii at Manoa does quite a bit of research and receives a tremendous amount of grants for that research, which helps pay the operating costs for those programs (astronomy, tropical ag, biotech, cancer, etc.). I have no doubt this biosafety lab would attract researchers.
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"Vandals turned off water for plants at transit center," Star-Advertiser, Nov. 29:
» There is no excuse for allowing the plants to die due to lack of watering. There must be someone who watches, maintains and cleans the parking garage and should have noticed that the plants were not being watered!
» Did no worker at the facility notice the sprinklers not turning on and plants looking like they need water?
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"Regents OK West Oahu land sale for $32M," Star-Advertiser, Nov. 29:
» UH-West Oahu owns about 1,400 acres in Kapolei. The land is essentially UH-West Oahu’s endowment. They are land rich, but cash poor. The campus does not need all 1,400 acres for educational uses. The long-term financing plan was always to sell parts of the land to fund the development of the new campus.
» Why not lease? The land is for the entire Hawaiian population, not the Catholic Church.
» The University of Hawaii regents should not have any authority to be involved in the sale of taxpayer-owned land, simple as that.