The Falls of Clyde has been stationed out of Honolulu since 1899. It has been all over the world in a service spanning two centuries, now well into its third.

It is the last four-mast, iron-hulled freighter/tanker in the world. There are no others left. Anywhere.

This majestic and historic ship has been docked for more than 120 years in Hawaii without issue. For Harbors Division Deputy Director Derek Chow to say that this ship must be scuttled prior to this year’s hurricane season because it could capsize and sink in its slip is simply misguided and not realistic (“Hawaii officials ask for bids to dispose of historic Falls of Clyde,” Star-Advertiser, Top News, May 17).

For years the handling of this ship and the Maritime Museum has been a disaster, with nobody held accountable. To have an agency with no accountability scuttle and destroy an irreplaceable piece of history that belongs to us and future generations is downright criminal.

Please don’t destroy history and walk away because it’s the easy thing to do. Preserve history. Preserve the Falls of Clyde.

Jeff Vietzke

Fresno, Calif.

Be more cautious than CDC guidelines require

With 40% of the U.S. population fully vaccinated, with 80% needed for herd immunity, many in the scientific community are uncomfortable with the latest recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Equally important: There is very limited data on many emerging strains circulating in the U.S. and around the world. There is not enough data on the biology, virulence and response to treatment for these strains. The list of variants keeps growing, and is almost like an alphabet soup.

Additionally, most scientific literature on COVID-19 in the last 18 months has been published in a hurry and is not well peer-reviewed.

I would take the recommendations of the CDC with a grain of salt and not jump onto the bandwagon of “go bare” yet.

Birendra Huja, M.D.

Waialae Iki

Vaccinated people have done their civic duty

Those who support keeping the mask mandate want to stay safe by forcing everyone to continue to mask.

Those who are vaccinated are truly the ones concerned about public safety by doing their civic duty and protecting themselves as well as society.

Those not vaccinated or those who wish to continue to mask may do so, but do not hold vaccinated people hostage to those who refuse or cannot get vaccinated whether because of ignorance, fear or necessity.

James Roller

Mililani

Why do fully vaccinated need a COVID-19 test?

I wish the state Department of Health would provide a logical explanation on why visitors and returning Hawaii residents who have been fully vaccinated need to be tested for COVID-19 when entering the state. Such policies are hurting our economy and creating confusion among our visitors and residents. Am I missing the obvious?

Jonathan Cho

Kailua

Law enforcement should hit fireworks suppliers

It is comforting to see the Honolulu Police Department cracking down on gambling houses (“Honolulu police crack down on illegal gambling houses,” Star-Advertiser, May 20).

HPD’s success stopping gambling houses is attributed to accurate intelligence, seasoned detectives and close cooperation with the Prosecutor’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies.

Now, could this formula for successful law enforcement be used to stop illegal aerial fireworks that plague Honolulu every New Year’s eve and day? These fireworks are not manufactured in Honolulu. They are smuggled into Oahu by sea.

Am I the only one who wonders why the intelligence sections of HPD, FBI, ATF and ICE have not yet identified and arrested these scofflaws who smuggle these bombs into our community?

Oahu is a small island. How is it that our police are helpless to learn who is importing these fireworks and where they are stored? Maybe HPD should go undercover with a sting operation with the cooperation of the stevedores.

Focus the effort to arrest the importers and not the individual end user who lights the fuse on New Year’s Eve.

Stephen Tom

Alewa Heights

Keeping the pigs out of the rail transit trough

The rail disaster has been perpetrated by feckless city officials and the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation. Now they have formed a commission, the permitted interaction group or PIG, to audit the project (“Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board begins taking steps to curb fraud and abuse,” Star-Advertiser, May 22). The question is, who will keep the pigs from the constantly growing trough?

Richard Ames

Haleiwa

Time to stand up to lies from Trump, GOP

It is amazing that so many people in the U.S. have chosen to believe Donald’s Trump’s big lie that the election was stolen from him. In this alternate-reality world we now live in, facts and the truth mean nothing, and Joe Biden’s decisive victory is completely rationalized as a “steal.”

Heaven forbid Trumpers and misguided Republicans have their way and manage to alter voting rights laws to the extent that eligible voters cannot participate in the next major election. Enough is enough. Responsible citizens must call this dangerous nonsense out.

Steve Cedillos

McCully-Moiliili

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