Difficult to trade up in housing market

My wife and I have been looking to purchase a bigger home for our expanding family. Like many on Oahu, we are current homeowners who need to sell first in order to afford a down payment and purchase a new home.

In home-buying terms, we are contingent buyers. We have placed several offers for pre-owned homes and have been rejected mostly because of foreign investors. These investors pay cash and offer short closing times and at least $50,000 over the asking price.

We also have looked into new developments in our area, including projects by D.R. Horton and Gentry. These projects are geared to first-time home buyers and foreign investors. The requirements for these projects include no contingency clauses and a minimum 5% down payment ($45,000) on hand during the initial application process.

It is almost impossible to afford to live in Hawaii in the current market. I’m afraid that this will contribute to more locals moving to the mainland, where the market is more reasonable.

Jason Ono

Ewa Beach

Case works hard to represent all of us

There has been criticism of U.S. Rep. Ed Case from some of your readers because he voted against the $1 trillion-plus House “relief bill.”

The bill is so full of issues that have nothing to do with COVID relief that it should be voted down. Sadly, many members of Congress, on both sides of the aisle, cast their votes to satisfy their donors’ organizations and other lobbyists rather than legislate for the citizens of this country.

We should be glad that we have someone in the House who really believes in representing us instead of kowtowing to special- interest groups.

The imposition of a national $15 minimum wage is one of many items included that have nothing to do with pandemic relief. In fact, it is the opposite of relief.

I wish there were more legislators like Case in the halls of Congress, as such people are more likely to bring both sides together.

Diane VanderZanden

Hawaii Kai

HPD officer stopped dangerous speeder

Whoa, man! Last week, while driving with the 55-mph flow of traffic on Moanalua Freeway toward Honolulu, motorists probably were shocked and dismayed to notice a white truck flying past everyone (no blinkers, traversing through all lanes), going double the speed limit as if the traffic was at a slow crawl.

I was in the Mililani area at 7 p.m. when I was passed. One alert driver noticed this situation: a fearless Honolulu police officer, who pulled the white truck over.

I awoke the next morning and thought about how many drivers’ lives were in danger at that very moment. I salute and thank the officer for patrolling the roadways. Mahalo!

Kuumomi Ho

Downtown Honolulu

Now is the time to raise minimum wage

Christian Self’s commentary struck a chord in me (“There’s a cost to raising minimum wage, and it’s too high,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Feb. 22).

Self agreed with the sentiment for raising the minimum wage to provide a livable wage. But he added, “Now is not the time.”

Every time there is a horrific school shooting and an immediate clamor for some kind of gun control, we are told that our “thoughts and prayers” are with the victims, but as for taking concrete action? Now is not the time.

In fact, in almost every circumstance when some hard political change is needed, we are told, “Now is not the time.”

This leads me to conclude there must never be a time. A time to do what is right. A time to tackle hard political problems and do something, anything, that moves our society forward.

Labor costs are simply one of many costs that keep a business operating and rewarding. When costs rise, the price of the products also rise. That is a fact of business and of life.

Now is the time!

Arnold Warshawsky

Kailua

Photo showed how wildlife are abused

I was appalled by the “Back in the Day” feature, which showed a diapered baby ape hanging precariously out of a moving vehicle in 1982 while the driver laughed in glee (Star-Advertiser, Feb. 23).

The caption described the ape as “enjoying a ride on Waialae Avenue.” I wouldn’t have been surprised at such casual disregard in 1982, but it’s shocking to find the same “wink-nod-smile” attitude today in a place that prides itself for being connected to the land and to the creatures that inhabit it.

Poachers who supply the pet trade with baby primates stolen from their families are a global problem, especially with so many species facing extinction. These creatures are almost always abused, often through ignorance, and rarely survive once owners discover that they’ve purchased an intelligent but wild animal that needs to be among its own kind.

Aloha, indeed.

Don Labriola

Waikiki

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