Oahu already has blight from transit

I have lived here all of my life and I find it offensive when groups like The Outdoor Circle use lame arguments to once again block a project that the majority of people support.

They say rail will harm the views. Have they seen the Nimitz Highway mess near the airport? Is that their idea of a pretty transportation system?

People come here from the mainland and want to protect their piece of paradise while we all suffer in traffic. Right now, we have the choice of sitting in traffic in our cars, sitting in traffic in a bus, or sitting in traffic in a cab.

Wake up, Outdoor Circle. We need a better way to get around. I’ll choose sitting in rail, above the congestion.

I better not see Bob Loy on the train. Let him take the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile. No, wait, he opposed that, too.

Jonn Serikawa
Hawaii Kai

School bus service helps reduce traffic

We should applaud the state Department of Education’s attempt to reduce the alarming escalation in school bus costs, but eliminating or reducing school bus service is not the answer.

Canceling transportation for more than 39,000 students will force thousands of parents to drive their kids to school, making our notoriously congested highway system even worse.

The smarter move is to find the money and increase, not decrease, school bus service, thereby reducing the number of parents forced to drive their children back and forth to school.

Bill Oberlin
Aina Haina

Pentagon is where spending can be cut

The war in Iraq has ended, but the budget deficits are bigger than ever.

The budget debate in Congress is an opportunity to be sure that the military budget is scaled down to reflect modern economic realities.

As Hawaii struggles to recover from the recession, economic recovery and the social services "safety net" should be prioritized over military spending.

I hope that my senators and representatives will support cutting the Pentagon budget, which takes up a huge percentage of our federal spending and our tax dollars, yet is full of waste and can’t even pass an audit.

Congress should make some real cuts in Pentagon spending to help bring the budget back under control.

Polly Pool
Kaneohe

Cellphone ban could be modified

Having followed with great interest the discussion of cell-phone use (hands-free or not) while driving, I wonder if a law could be applied only in the event of an accident.

For example, when my wife and I were rear-ended by someone who I’m sure was texting at the time, the responding officer could merely check the cell-phone records of the offending driver and, if he or she was in fact using the device at the time of the accident, tack on a monetary penalty in proportion to his or her income (or perhaps the value of the automobile), which would be paid to all the victims involved.

Bruce Robinson
Haleiwa