Voters in Hawaii will vote by mail during this year’s elections. However, according to Hawaii election websites, voter service centers will be available to enable voters to vote in person, if they choose to do so (“Not everyone wants to vote by mail only,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Feb. Opens in a new tab18) Opens in a new tab.
Ten business days prior to and including each Election Day, voters may cast a ballot at a voter service center. In Honolulu, voter service centers are located at Honolulu Hale and Kapolei Hale. All voters registered to vote in the City and County of Honolulu may vote at either site, regardless of district assignment.
Traditional Election Day polling places will not be available.
More election-related information is available online at www.honolulu.gov/elections Opens in a new tab and elections.hawaii.gov/ Opens in a new tab or by calling (808) 453-VOTE (8683).
Milton Bell
Ewa Beach
Impeachment trial shows Trump’s invulnerability
During the 2016 political campaign, President Donald Trump boasted that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and his followers would still support him. Judging from the Senate impeachment trial, it appears that this is one time he was probably not lying.
Bob Jacobsen
Makiki
Trump haters should get on with their lives
Ed Steven’s letter is just another sign of the petulance that is so prevalent in the most screeching of Donald Trump haters (“Taxpayers pay millions to Trump’s businesses,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Feb. Opens in a new tab18) Opens in a new tab.
His calling for “Impeachment II” for the president’s golf outings is about as ludicrous as all the other issues combined. It will never stop because their anger is getting in the way of common sense. And if we go ahead and continue to spend taxpayer dollars on another ill-conceived, unnecessary impeachment, while diverting attention from more pressing national issues, it won’t be over because the next time the president does anything they don’t like, they’ll call for another impeachment.
Get over it already. Trump haters should get on with their lives and channel all their energy to better things.
Don Clark
Aiea
Rail cost overruns feed construction industry
David Shapiro is always so on point. He’s one of the reasons I read the Star-Advertiser. His recent column (“The stink of rail will follow Caldwell wherever he goes,” Star-Advertiser, Volcanic Ash, Feb. Opens in a new tab16) Opens in a new tab, recaps the whole reeking story of the rail.
Given the fact that Mayor Kirk Caldwell was elected through the dirty politics of the construction industry’s Pacific Resource Partnership (which backed a smear campaign against Ben Cayetano), and that every over-budget dollar is a boon to the industry that put him in office, one wonders why this doesn’t play out with every announced budget increase and delay.
It’s too late to stop rail, but it’s not too late to end the line when it runs out of money, again.
Pick a stop — Middle Street, for instance. Even losing federal money would still save Hawaii taxpayers billions of dollars in the final equation.
P3 is just a shell game and a way to avoid admitting that rail is going to cost way more than $9 billion in the end. It’s been lie after lie from the start.
Bryan Ho
St. Louis Heights
Honolulu’s homeless problem like Seattle’s
We realize that city and state officials have already heard an earful about the aggressive homeless behavior in Waikiki. Being from Seattle, we also know that Hawaii is liberal, just like Seattle, and avoids the thorny solutions to problems obvious to all except the politicians.
During our four-night stay we witnessed (thankfully from our 14th floor lanai) one brutal beating, obscenity-shouting homeless men, a man exposing himself on Kalakaua Avenue in broad daylight and a frail young woman sitting in a trance on the busy sidewalk, hours at a time.
The stench of pot smoking spoiled the fresh air. It was traumatic to watch one man being kicked by three men on the lovely white sandy beach. Not once did we see a police presence or enforcement. Seattle’s homelessness, misdemeanor crime and open drug use in downtown are well known. Honolulu seems eager to follow.
Steve and Dee Danishek
Seattle
Kakaako ‘housing’ fills foreign investor pockets
Thank you for the front-page article about “troubled towers” in Kakaako (“Investors sue developer of 2 planned Honolulu condo towers,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. Opens in a new tab12) Opens in a new tab. It really brings out the true nature of “housing” in Hawaii — a profit hub for foreign investors.
Regina Gregory
Makiki
Sunscreen study findings aren’t the final word
A recent letter said a study reported that certain chemical sunscreens were safe and zinc oxide was toxic (“Study alters assumptions about sunscreens, reefs,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. Opens in a new tab17) Opens in a new tab.
First, none of the chemical filters mentioned are allowed in the United States because the Food and Drug Administration has found that they lack the required safety testing needed to be considered safe for human use.
Second, it is not clear what type of zinc oxide was tested: nano-particle, micronized or standard size.
This is very important because there are several papers in the scientific literature that have already demonstrated that nano-particle size zinc oxide is toxic to coral — something that consumers have heard for several years.
Lastly, the paper referenced in the letter was written by one of the largest cosmetic sunscreen companies in the world and has been criticized for being biased. Contact your representatives and ask them to ban toxic sunscreens by voting yes on Senate Bill 2778.
Joe DiNardo
Vesuvius, Va.
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