The Honolulu Police Commission found eight police officers guilty of conduct unbecoming officers, and two of the eight were also found to have used unnecessary and excessive force (“Suit filed by 2 men accusing 8 officers is settled,” Star-Advertiser, July 29), but none of them was disciplined or even retrained. And, according to the article, all eight are still active officers.

After allegedly assaulting two hikers the officers mistook for two armed robbery suspects, the officers dumped the injured hikers in Palolo without any explanation, according to a lawsuit.

HPD Chief Louis Kealoha’s failure to discipline these officers sends a clear message: This sort of behavior is acceptable. I disagree. It is not acceptable.

Some important questions must be answered. For starters, why were the officers not disciplined or at least retrained despite their being found guilty of these infractions? Additionally, why has Mayor Kirk Caldwell not spoken out about this? Finally, why has the Star-Advertiser not called for an investigation?

Tony Turbeville
Makiki

Legislature takes rail transit funds

I am not happy that the rail project is projected to be $900 million over budget. However, I find it abhorrent that the state has skimmed over $200 million, and counting, from the 0.5 percent increase in the general excise tax.

Where did that money go? State-run hospitals are laying off people. Our children are sweltering in this summer heat while attending school. Yet our governor wants to purchase a downtown office building. Hello? Priorities?

House Speaker Joe Souki said that Mayor Kirk Caldwell owes the Legislature an apology regarding the situation for financing the rail system. If the Legislature did not extend the general excise tax increase, it could possibly force an increase in property taxes.

Maybe the state should apologize to the city for stealing all that money.

Robert K. Soberano
Moiliili

Kakaako sewers are overloaded

The odor of raw sewage has pervaded Kakaako for years, yet more than 30 new highrises are planned there. Cranes are rising like phoenixes from the ashes. Pylons are being pounded. We see fences with pictures of trees replacing the magnificent monkeypod trees that once provided shade.

What we don’t see are signs of addressing the anticipated volume of wastewater once these new condos are occupied by people who — we can assume — have the same human needs as the rest of us.

In 2010, Honolulu reached a comprehensive settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency, the state and other groups to fix the city’s aging sewer collection system by 2020, with a roughly $5 billion price tag.

How are we going to pay for and tackle that and our many other obligations, incuding $6 billion for rail and uncalculated billions for homeless?

Rike Weiss
Niu Valley

Hawaii doesn’t need NextEra

Gov. David Ige is now steering the canoe, so to speak, which is not an easy thing to do with many noisy ideas about what, when, where and how to do almost everything.

One of these noisy issues is our plan for an energy future.

Do we trust our state’s leader when he says not to rely on NextEra’s proposals? I believe Ige is confident that we who make Hawaii our home can come up with the plans it will take to succeed at meeting our future energy needs.

Do we have the courage to provide for our future energy needs in a clean, cheap and renewable way? Our new governor believes that we do.

Me too.

Dave Baumgartner
Moiliili

Videos reveal abortion horror

In reply to “Planned Parenthood portrayed unfairly” (Star-Advertiser, Letters, July 27), simply watch the subject videos posted on YouTube. You will see that this abortion giant has not been treated unfairly. But, more important, the videos are much more sinister and evil than simply people haggling over money for body parts of aborted fetuses.

The videos show how far we have sunk as a country. We can say we were blind but now we see our inhumanity. Our hearts can no longer bear killing these little humans in the womb. Nor can we believe any longer the lies that the fetuses are just tissue and body parts.

We can feel pain at the injustice being done by abortionists and by our country to the least of these, the child in the womb, who is unable to defend himself or herself.

Robert R. Taylor
Nuuanu