Kalama Valley better for new Foodland

Regarding Foodland’s proposal to open a new store fronting Kalanianaole Highway and Hawaii Kai Marina, I urge all residents of Hawaii and also of neighboring communities to start writing their representatives asking them to put a stop to this insane idea.

The city just spent more than a year widening and installing a dedicated lane from Keahole to Kalanianaole Highway at much expense and inconvenience to taxpayers.Allowing Foodland to open in this peaceful area would destroy and compromise the esthetic beauty and tranquility of our community, as well as jeopardize the Hawaii Kai Dog Park, which has been embraced by dog owners islandwide.

The shopping center at Kalama Valley that has been sitting partially empty for years is the only sensible place for Foodland to reopen.

Cristina and Al Andrews
Kuliouou

Rail is pay-as-you-go, not burden on future

Letter writer Arthur Y. Sprague took Brandon Elefante to task on rail ("Young writer seems ignorant of rail costs," Star-Advertiser, Letters, July 17). Unfortunately, it is Sprague who is ignorant of the costs.

Sprague says the cost of construction will be borne by Elefante’s generation. That is incorrect. The local revenue source for construction is the general excise tax, which has been in place for five years. The rail project will be finished in 2019 and fully paid for three years later. For all practical purposes, this is a pay-as-you-go construction program.

Sprague is also unaware that operational costs will be less than those for an equivalent bus system carrying the same ridership. Or perhaps Sprague’s preference is for a scaled-back bus system?

Simon Zweighaf
InfraConsult, senior adviser to HART

Skateboarders court danger on Round Top

I live on Round Top Drive and daily I see kids on skateboards coming down the mountain at high speed.You often see the skateboarders hitching a ride at the bottom of Round Top. They come around corners at high speed and have no way of stopping if a vehicle, like a mail truck, is stopped, or, as often happens, vehicles cross over the center line while going around corners where hikers are walking along the road. Also, a tour group on bicycles comes down the road daily at slow speeds, followed by the vehicle that manages the tour.

If the skateboarder comes around a corner and the tour vehicle is there, they have no chance to stop in time, and crossing over the centerline is just like playing Russian roulette. I know of one incident where one of them fell off the board and was seriously injured.

Fritz M. Amtsberg
Honolulu

Obama remarks were taken out of context

Thomas E. Stuart’s recent letter is clearly based on remarks taken out of context ("Obama insults business people," Star-Advertiser, Letters, July 20).

If you read the full text of President Barack Obama’s speech, he did not denigrate entrepreneurs or businessmen. Rather, he challenged the idea that wealthy and successful individuals have never benefited from government programs. Here’s a direct quote that better sums up what he said: "The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together."

No one with an ounce of appreciation for the things others (parents, friends, teachers, policemen, firefighters, sewer workers, water supply workers, street pavers, government researchers — even government regulators) do for us can reasonably dispute that conclusion. Even the Internet, which has made many entrepreneurs wildly successful, started as a government program. No one did it all by themselves.

So let’s stop taking remarks out of context and looking for reasons to take offense.

James B. Young
St. Louis Heights

Bicycles on sidewalks a recipe for disaster

I’m glad to finally see our paper publishing on this issue ("Bicycles don’t belong on sidewalk," Star-Advertiser, Letters, July 17).

I’ve been a downtown resident since 1971 and, since I’m almost 70, this is a problem for me and other elders.

Tourists rent bikes in Waikiki and ride to downtown, Aloha Tower, Chinatown. Locals commute and couriers zig and zag all over the place.

Riding a bike in a crosswalk is also illegal, as the bike is classified as a vehicle when the rider is astride.

Even when riding illegally on a sidewalk, the rider is required to ring his bell or blow his horn to alert the pedestrian that he or she is passing from behind. I have never heard a warning when I’ve been passed, and I’ve never even seen a bell or a horn on a bicycles handle bars. This careless conduct is dangerous, stupid and a recipe for disaster.

Kedric Dean
Downtown Honolulu