Stop burning of cane on Maui

Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. continues to burn more 36,000 acres of sugarcane, sending walls of toxic smoke over Maui’s citizens.

HC&S "apologizes" for ash that covered so much of Maui from this cane burning.And, they thankus for our "patience" and for enduring this "inconvenience."

Toxic cane smoke is poisonous to all living things. The PVC irrigation pipes are also burned with the sugar cane, and we are forced to endure this toxic smoke blanketing our aina and our lungs.

HC&Sknows how to harvest without burning.It just makes less profit that way.

Please remember that HC&S gets huge subsidies from us, the taxpayers. Auwe.

HC&S and parent company Alexander & Baldwin must stop producing this poisonous cane smoke.

Rena Blumberg
Kihei, Maui

Legal pot would help tax coffers

Washington and Colo-rado have legalized the use of pot for recreational purposes.The federal government has decided not to intervene.

In Hawaii, our residents pay millions of dollars in untaxed revenue to the growers, dealers and suppliers of pot.The state also makes these otherwise good citizens targets of crime and criminal prosecution.

If Hawaii legalized marijuana for recreational use, countless millions of dollars in tax revenue would be in the state coffers instead of the pockets of the illegal growers and dealers.Domestic and overseas tourists could enjoy some Hawaii-grown pot along with the sun and surf.

The days of profitable pineapple and sugar cane agriculture are past. Whether for medical or recreational reasons, the cash crop of the future is pot.

Marc Emerson
Hawaii Kai

Shopping center was bad choice

The Sunday Star Advertiser quotes Kamaki Kanaheleas saying, "It’s been impossible at times for us to get answers on why these homes are still empty" ("Broken homes," Star-Advertiser, Oct. 13).

Well, it sure wasn’t hard for Kanahele and other Nanakuli community board members to get the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to build an unnecessaryshopping center in the heart of Nanakuli.

The area of this shopping centerwould have added at least 50 homes for Native Hawaiians. Instead, Kanahele and other community board members, as well as DHHL supporters,pushed for the development of this shopping center and affordable homes, and allowing non-Hawaiians to rent those homes.

Kala Keliinoi
Nanakuli

Let everyone enjoy marriage

Please. "Traditional" marriage is a thing of the past. That was when a man and woman declared themselves wed "till death do us part," babies were born after the ceremony and mothers stayed home to care for them while fathers went out to earn a living.

Banning same-gender marriage will not restore the family of past generations. It has redefined itself and now includes divorce, unwed mothers, single parents and multiple changing of spouses, to name a few.

Let’s extend to same- gender couples the right to join the family, with all the protections granted to other family members. We can then put an end to a 20-year debate that has required attention that could have been focused elsewhere.

Lynne Beckstrom
Ewa Beach

Water sports underplayed

It’s time for the Star-Advertiser to break from the tradition of making Hawaii’s unique water sports like surfing and paddling take second fiddle to the big three — football, baseball and basketball.

Ian Yee hit the nail on the head ("Carissa Moore deserved more," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Oct. 9).

Our own Carissa Moore just took the ASP’s World Title. That’s right, world title. Get it on the front page where it belongs.

Kevin Butterbaugh
Kailua

Help workers at Waioli Tea Room

I am distressed by the approaching closure of the Waioli Tea Room in Manoa Valley.

This restaurant is endowing to Oahu in the old Hawaiian tradition of aloha, thanks to the Salvation Army’s history of compassion in the helping of others.

In the transition from the closing of the current restaurant to the opening of the new, I ask that the Salvation Army’s tradition of social responsibility be exemplified in the preservation of jobs for the current employees.

They love their work and service at Waioli; I know, I asked. They don’t want to leave.

I urge readers who agree with the preservation ofemployment security to contact Major John Chamness, divisional commander of The Salvation Army, (John.Chamness@ usw.salvationarmy.org), and ask him to make secure their employment!

Monte Petersen
Kahala

Cut leaders’ pay during shutdown

One of the first principles for the management of successful business ventures is that everyone critical to the venture — including management — must have a compelling personal stake in the success of the venture.

That is no longer the case for our political leaders, who continue to enjoy their salaries and benefits even as citizens affected by their decisions suffer by their seeming inability to attend to even the simplest tasks of governance.

The obvious solution is for the states to propose and adopt a new amendment to the Constitution that would require the termination of the salaries and benefits of all the country’selected officials — including both the Congress and the president — when they fail to provide for the payment of the salaries and benefits that are due and payable to the government’s employees and contractors.

Let’s get this effort started here in Hawaii. If we can show the way to end this intolerable situation, the rest of the country has a good chance to follow our lead.

John Madey
Manoa

Memorial should be kept open

Auwe to our state government for not working to keep the Arizona Memorial open, even if it excludes the boat rides.

It’s hard to believe that our local visitor industry would not get behind that important effort.

Michael Miller
Niu Valley

Isles don’t need presence in D.C.

From the voting records of our senators and representatives in Washington, it would seem the state could save a lot of money by just not having anyone in Washington and just give the Democratic party in Washington the authority to vote for the state.

Our delegates seem to vote the party line no matter what harm it does the state or the country.

Charles Lewis
Kahala