The media have attempted to place the dismissal of the goat case squarely on the prosecutor’s office ("Justice for goat farmers remains elusive," Star-Advertiser, Off the News, July 2; "Prosecutors take too long on goat theft trial; charges dismissed," June 30).

This is unfair and shortsighted.

The media have inexplicably ignored the simple and significant fact that despite the prosecutor’s office being ready to proceed to trial, on three separate occasions, the court, on its own accord, continued the case because it was unable to conduct the trial. All three court continuances were over the prosecutor’s office’s objection.

Additional delay was caused by five continuances requested by the defendants.

Finally, a contributing factor in the delay was caused by the prosecutor’s office’s not receiving police reports that are necessary to prosecute the case, and which must be provided to the defendants as well.

In the future, the public would be better served if the media made a better effort to obtain all the facts before assigning blame.

Lawrence A. Sousie
Deputy prosecuting attorney, city Department of the Prosecuting Attorney

Industries succumb to new conditions

The local dairy industry is on the brink of extinction because its higher costs leave it unable to compete with milk imported from the mainland, despite state-sponsored price supports ("State drops wholesale milk price 23 percent," Star-Advertiser, July 1).

Meanwhile, the state has given up on efforts to provide a market for island-grown sugar cane through tax credits by repealing the mandate requiring the blending of gasoline with ethanol. This was intended to provide jobs not only in agriculture, but also by encouraging creation of a biofuels industry.

Good riddance to this because ethanol is not really an environmentally friendly fuel. Research has shown it to be a bonanza for corn farmers at the expense of everybody else.

These are current examples of the difficulty the state faces in complying with the mandate to preserve agricultural land in the face of pressure for residential development.

How can you justify preservation if the land isn’t being used for agriculture?

Carl H. Zimmerman
Salt Lake

Jeb Bush wrong to chastise pope

Presidential candidate Jeb Bush said, "I think religion ought to be about making us better as people, less about things [that] end up getting into the political realm."

The issue of climate change is no longer a scientific debate. It is accepted by the vast majority of scientists and by regular citizens who use logic and reason.

It is denied by those who stand to profit financially by denying it (e.g. coal producers), or by those who fear the long arm of government will take away their right to destroy our planet in one way or another.

The pope’s words are, indeed, about making us better as people, and our grandchildren will be the judges of whether we were able to do so.

Some of us thought Jeb Bush was the more thoughtful, moderate Republican candidate.

Apparently, at least on this urgent issue, we were wrong.

Fred Smith
Kailua

Require seat belts for truck-bed riders

On most holidays the state Department of Transportation has a warning about "Click It or Ticket," showing police officers saying, "We’re saving lives, so buckle up." 

How ironic this is when it’s OK to ride unbelted in pickup truck beds. True, seat belts can save lives, but this law is upside down. What justifies this when our so-caring lawmakers don’t even care about our schoolchildren riding school buses without seat belts?

Recently, three grown men on Maui were thrown out of their truck bed and killed. In 2006, four women riding to work were also thrown out on the highway in Kunia and all were killed.

In the last 14 years, 34 people have died from truck beds.

Sure, the Legislature passed a law banning children under 12 from riding in beds. But what is the difference between a 12-year-old and a 51-year-old when the fatalities happen?

There is also a law that animals have to be caged when in the back of pickups.

Funny, they are more protected than humans.

Eugene Cordero
Pearl City

Mauna Kea protest seems hypocritical

Honor the land, protect the land, love the land.

Apparently these are just words to the protesters on Mauna Kea lately. They have moved beyond to their own forms of desecration and dishonor to the aina.

How dare they take the stones of Mauna Kea and throw them all over the aina, with no regard or respect, to stop the work at the Thirty Meter Telescope? How are any of them better than the construction workers when they do something so heinous?

There is no honor to that action, no respect, no love for Mauna Kea.

They should do better than that, or hang their heads in shame and remove themselves from the mountain.

James Fukumoto
Aiea

Dog owners will miss plastic bags

Now that the plastic bag ban is upon us, I’m thinking it may cause a dilemma for some dog owners who have faithfully used the bags to pick up after their dogs. What will they do now?

Perhaps the city should produce a public service announcement for television showing the proper technique for picking up dog poop with a paper bag.

Surely someone there knows the right way.

Jim Slavish
Kailua