Kahuku Village renters at risk

The families and descendants of Kahuku Sugar Mill workers are up against it.

We belong to the Kahuku Village Association (KVA) but we face heavy-handed demands by landowner Continental Pacific (CP) to find a way to continue living in our homes. Each tenant pays the association, which then pays lease rent to the landowner.

CP wants KVA, which owns most of the homes in the village, to terminate the leases of about 300 adults and children by July 31. Tenants would be on their own to pay or face eviction; the homes face being demolished and the community faces being torn apart.

Continental Pacific hasn’t made clear its long-term intentions to the Kahuku community. What is clear is that 300 people will not be able to afford to stay without KVA negotiating a reasonable offer for them with CP. Maybe the city can encourage a fair deal for both sides? We are hard-working people asking for fairness.

Doris Lagua
Kahuku

Skateboarders should be cited

The recent unfortunate death of a skateboarder emphasizes the risks that pedestrians face on the sidewalks of Waikiki every day. Skateboards — and bicycles — assume the right of way without regard to laws prohibiting their use on sidewalks there.

Narrow walkways seem to provide a challenge for these activities, especially where people are gathered to board a bus. Alighting from a bus poses special hazards because the exiting passenger may not see a fast-moving skateboarder until he or she steps off the bus. On the Ala Wai sidewalk, arrogant skateboarders and bicyclists have unrestricted control.

The number of warnings, rather than citations, indicates that the offenders do not intend to observe the law. It is time that police stop ignoring the dangerous and flagrant disregard for the law. Cite every skateboarder and bicyclist observed on the sidewalks of Waikiki, just as the law intended.

One day, we will be mourning the accidental death of a pedestrian, an elderly person or a child, struck down by these illegal activities.

Roger D. Van Cleve
Honolulu

School shooting was not the first

The spokeswoman for the Department of Education needs to do her homework ("Student suspended after gun discharges," Star-Advertiser, May 25).

The recent shooting incident at Pearl City’s Highlands Intermediate is certainly not the first time a gun has discharged on a public school campus.

In the 1990s, a summer school teacher was shot twice in the chest by her student on the Aiea High School campus. She survived but the trauma kept her away from her profession.

While these beautiful islands may be the closest place we have to paradise, it is not really safe anywhere. School security is an essential part of a safe educational environment for all our children.

Jeanne Higa
Kihei

Roe v. Wade upheld privacy

Referring to Planned Parenthood as a "towering abortion provider," Charles Donovan contends that "millions of Americans" are not persuaded by the "core proposition" behind Roe v. Wade ("Roe v. Wade," Star-Advertiser, May 24).

His inflammatory statements require a response.

First, Planned Parenthood is hardly a "towering" abortion provider. As has repeatedly been stated, only about 3 percent of its services involve abortions. Planned Parenthood is often the only clinic within hundreds of miles because other doctors live in fear of having their patients harassed, their offices firebombed or their own lives jeopardized.

Second, millions of other Americans support a woman’s right to choose. According to the most recent Gallup poll, 49 percent of Americans describe themselves as pro-choice and 45 percent describe themselves as pro-life.

Finally, Mr. Donovan is incorrect about the "core proposition" of Roe v. Wade. If he means the legal principle that shaped the Supreme Court decision, that is the right to privacy.

The court stated that decisions regarding reproduction are among the most private and are best made between a woman and her doctor.

Aren’t individual freedom and freedom from governmental interference "core propositions" of conservatives?

Melinda Wood
Honolulu

Lower crime rate due to abortions

The drop in the crime rate is not a mystery ("U.S. sees unexpected drop in violent crime," Star-Advertiser, May 24).

The legalization of abortion by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade in 1973 resulted in the decline of the potential criminal population. The effect became apparent in the 1990s and continues today.

Richard Baie
Honolulu