Restraining vendors at beaches a good call

The Honolulu City Council just passed Bill 5, which would prohibit all commercial activity at Kailua and Kalama beach parks from midday Saturday until 6:30 a.m. Monday.

It is an important step toward leveling the playing field between local residents and commercial interests.

Until now there has been no protection for Hawaii’s people who have been in unequal competition with vendors of many sorts of tour activities and the tourists who patronize them. Seven days a week our parks are crowded with visitors who wish to use all manner of recreational toys, from kayaks to kite boards, stand-up paddling boards to Segways. You name it, they rent it.

Pity the poor local family trying to have a Sunday outing with the children.

Bill 5 does not mean that tourists cannot come and enjoy the same wonderful beaches that we do. It simply means that they do so without the intrusion of commercial activities.

Mollie Foti
Kailua

It seems like there are too many regulations

Are there too many governmental restrictions in Hawaii?

The Honolulu City Council would ban businesses over the weekends at Kailua and Kalama beach parks. Why those beach parks only?

The Council submitted a bill to ban plastic bags. Why? H-POWER loves plastic bags.

The state wants to tax everything in sight. People cannot control their own sugar intake, so we start with taxing soft drinks. Is candy next?

I think the government is going too far.

Harvey Lee
Kailua

Early education must involve the parents

Giving our keiki a solid start in education is long overdue ("Give our keiki a solid start," Star-Advertiser, Our View, Feb. 15).

However, for it to be successful it must include present and future parents.

While parents are naturally aware of a child’s physical needs such as feeding, clothing and keeping them clean, most are unaware of their child’s mental needs and how these needs can be satisfied.

It is this knowledge that can and should be made available to all students while in high school before they become parents.

If a school teacher has to go to college to acquire the knowledge needed to teach, doesn’t it make sense that a child’s first and most important teacher should also acquire knowledge about this critical learning period, up to 5 years old? And with this knowledge, wouldn’t that make our school teachers more successful in educating our keiki?

Bill Punini Prescott
Nanakuli

Rail poll questions should be recrafted

A recent poll by the Star-Advertiser showed that fewer people now support rail ("Rail support falls," Star-Advertiser, Feb. 12).

Another poll showed that former Gov. Ben Cayetano has surprising support in his bid for mayor, probably tied to his stance against the rail ("Cayetano holds off other mayoral hopefuls in poll," Star-Advertiser, Feb. 13).

I think an entirely different survey needs to be taken to gain clarity on the rail issue. Rather than asking people if they "support" rail or think rail will improve traffic, ask people, "Do you currently drive or ride the bus to and from work?" followed by, "Do you intend to ride the rail to and from work instead if it is built?"

I suspect that most of the people who support rail are either bus riders who think rail will be faster or drivers who want other people to ride the rail to make their drive to work faster.

Allison Ikeda
Manoa

Managed lanes are really just toll roads

A recent article on managed lanes contains misinformation on nearly every point ("Managed lanes offer many advantages in solving traffic problems," Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Feb. 13).

In fact, "managed lanes" is simply another term for toll roads. The truth is:

» Buses are not "guaranteed a ride at 55 miles per hour during rush hour." Speed and travel times are subject to traffic conditions and offer no "guaranteed" speed.

» Vehicles on managed lanes are still subject to accidents that can tie up lanes for hours. Elevated rail offers congestion-free commutes.

» Managed lanes for a toll limits access to those who can afford to pay extra for the privilege of driving on them. Public transportation should provide affordable access to all.

» Elevated managed lanes have limited entrances and exits, reducing the number of people who will actually use them.

» Managed lanes can carry "more than 1,000 cars per hour," the author claims. Rail has an initial capacity of 7,200 passengers per hour, per direction.

The bottom line is rail removes cars from congested roads and highways, and offers Oahu residents a reliable transit alternative. That’s the real solution.

Duane Sayers
Rail operations manager, Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation

Allow nuclear power to solve energy woes

The economical solution to our clean electrical problem is two small air-cooled atomic energy installations.

We have enough atomic material not only to blow up the Earth but also power the nation for a hundred years. We have these plants in submarines and aircraft carriers entering Pearl Harbor regularly.

Revisions to our state Constitution took us out of the ball game. Maybe it’s time to rethink this restriction before we cover our landscape with ugly windmills that aren’t as efficient.

The mainland has finally come to its senses after all of these years. Can’t we do the same?

Don Meyers
Ala Moana

Israel-Iran war would be losing proposition

James G. Borden asserts that "Israel has every right to protect itself" (Star-Advertiser, Letters, Feb. 16).

International law as well as common sense sustain that assertion.

However, does the same apply to Iran? Israel has nuclear weapons. Might Iran want to develop them, too, in self-defense? Both governments are suspected by some of being behind actual and attempted murders of the other’s citizens. These as well as other actions repeatedly prove Gandhi right — an eye for an eye leads to blindness.

Isn’t the time long overdue for governments to pursue sensible diplomacy rather than belligerent words and actions leading to military confrontations and the ensuing death and injury of numerous innocent civilians?

Israel and Iran are inescapably part of the international community; thus an attack by either on the other would have serious repercussions for the security and economy of other countries in the region and far beyond.

Leslie E. Sponsel
Hawaii Kai

Ideas about ‘choice’ overlook immaturity

Michelle Baie posits that pregnancy, birth control, abortion and giving birth are "choices" and "options" any young woman could make, and that employers, neighbors, the likely fathers and even legislators ought to stay out of the way ("Choice belongs to the individual," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Feb. 13).

Her views sound great for the self-sufficient and well-functioning mature people; unfortunately, not all of us are there yet.

Many adolescent girls are simply too immature to make "an informed choice." And many adolescent boys are in the same predicament.

Kosta Stojanovich
Moiliili