Obama not distracted by birther questions

I am overjoyed that the long hunt for Osama bin Laden is finally over and that it happened on the watch of President Barack Obama.

Our president and native son of Hawaii was not distracted by the questions about his birth or school records. He kept his mind on track and got the job done.

Daci Armstrong
Honolulu

Bin Laden execution another proud moment

Dan K. Thomasson’s commentary was great ("Like Japan, bin Laden erred in ‘waking sleeping giant,’" Star-Advertiser, May 3).

And how timely was his visit to Pearl Harbor on May 1.

It was almost 70 years ago, when I was a young kid growing up in Palama, that we were awakened on Dec. 7, 1941, and headed for the hills of Alewa Heights.

As Japanese Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto prophetically predicted, his country had awakened a sleeping giant. I’m glad to see the USA got Osama bin Laden, and proud that President Barack Obama made the tough but right call.

Clarence Ching
Nuuanu

Some public workers seem to not get it

Kay Sato’s letter criticizing our state leaders’ overspending while she has had to take pay cuts seems odd considering the majority of the budget goes toward state employee pay and benefits ("Public employees are not the problem," Letters, Star-Advertiser, May 3).

For decades, our leaders have created a public workforce that has grown too large with too many benefits. Now they must rein them in or lay off employees en masse, which they are unwilling or unable to do.

Orson Moon
Aiea

Express buses would save taxpayers billions

The H-3 freeway, one of the most expensive highways ever built in the U.S., is 16.25 miles long and cost

$1.3 billion at the time it was completed for $80 million per mile. Rail costs are conservatively estimated at $6 billion for 20 miles, or about

$300 million per mile. Yikes!

Express bus systems from Kapolei and Mililani using freeway zip lanes could take a significant amount of cars off the road. Commuter parking lots could be built by H-1/Kunia Road, Kapolei and in lower Mililani. These terminals also could provide the transit-oriented-development opportunities that heavy rail supporters envision.

Express-only destinations such as Ala Moana Center, downtown, the University of Hawaii and Waikiki could have no stops in between.

Terminals where passengers pay at the entrance versus at the bus door could allow quick entry and exit through all doors of the buses and speed up boarding. This system would cost billions less than rail.

Alan Higashi
Honolulu

Effects of child abuse can never be voided

Gail Breakey repeated pleas for funding assistance for the prevention of child abuse and neglect as a vital cornerstone in building and maintaining a more healthy and crime-free community ("Hawaii Health Start is essential to keiki well-being," Island Voices, Star-Advertiser, April 24).

While great attention is paid to sheltering homeless and battered children — and deservedly so — the truth is that when a child is abused from its time of birth and during early years of development, the damage to the child, and the community as a whole, has been done. You cannot put Humpty Dumpty together again.

Statistics overwhelmingly indicate the huge burden child abuse and neglect places on the community.

Even though current economic conditions are difficult, child abuse and neglect won’t go away on their own. The support of the entire community is required, if we wish to flourish.

Philip Broms
Celebrity Auction for Prevention of Child Abuse

If golf fee is to go up, use it for the courses

The proposed golf fee increase ($45 to $80 a month) generates several questions: Where will the money go? Will it help to balance the city budget? Or will some of it be used to improve conditions at the courses?

I golf almost every day at the Pali Golf Course. The greens are in good condition, thanks primarily to Sean De Mello and his hard-working crew.

At every tee, there should be a ball washer and brush to clean muddy shoes. Some ball washers are missing, and many that are there do not work properly. In fact, some of these damaged ball washers have been in that sad state since I began golfing there 35 years ago.

Raising this fee will hurt many seniors on fixed incomes. However, if the fee is going to be raised, at least some of the money should be used to properly maintain the courses.

Raymond Watanabe
Kaneohe