Hawaiians need to work together

As a full-blooded Hawaiian, I seek the same things that all kanaka maoli have been waiting for, for more than 120 years. Now we are at the threshold of putting our best foot forward, so we must act with civility and careful thought as we proceed.

We are being watched as we respond to suggested processes offered us at this time. Let us move ahead with one heart, one mind and more important, one purpose: our keiki and posterity.

Let’s all work with our selected leaders and be strong. Imua!

Manny Kiaha

Captain Cook, Kona

Take responsibility for pain medication

I am writing in response to Barbara Melamed’s letter about being a pain-pill victim ("Pain killers become a pain themselves," Star-Advertiser, June 26).

First, people need to take responsibility for becoming addicted to pain pills.They can blame the doctor, pharmacy and health care system, but none of these were opening that bottle and putting those pills in their mouths — they were.

Addicts like to blame everyone but themselves.If someone truly had a chronic pain problem, see and be treated by a pain management specialist, where alternatives to narcotics are offered and covered by insurance.

Pain medication, taken as prescribed and monitored, can be a lifesaver for people with chronic pain.

Frankie Ruggles
Makiki

Restrict access to restore marsh

Restoring Kawainui Marsh is a very worthwhile undertaking if that will be the primary purpose of the Kawainui-Hamakua Complex Master Plan.

Public access and infrastructure should be limited.Our population now includes many more tourists looking for outdoor experiences and many homeless looking for safe hideaways.

Keeping that from negatively impacting the marsh would be impossible unless access is restricted.

Wastewater management is a problem and proper facilities to handle more than minimal access is not an option.You know the alternative to no facilities.

The priority should be to get the marsh back to a properly functioning ecological treasure along with the funding and staff to maintain it. Educational, cultural and stewardship access should be allowed with minimal intrusion.

Mary Louise O’Brien
Kaneohe

Cost of housing homeless excessive

Am I reading correctly: $42 million to house 400 homeless people ("$47.2M aims to house 400 homeless," Star-Advertiser, June 19)? That’s more than $100,000 per person.Will they be giving each homeless person a floor at the Hilton Hawaiian Village?This is completely ridiculous.

I work two jobs to pay Oahu’s high rental rates, but it is nowhere near $100,000 a year. This is just another example of the government’s disconnect with reality.

Let the private sector handle this situation.It could accomplish this goal for a tiny fraction of the city’s proposed cost.

Robert Bravieri
Waimanalo

Future is uncertain for PV integration

Everyone talks about sustainability when it comes to PV electricity generation in Hawaii, but the missing element is its economic sustainability.

For example, a homeowner’s PV installation cost is partially based upon Hawaiian Electric Co.’s monthly credit/rebate, which pays part of the homeowner’s initial out-of-pocket expense.

If tomorrow HECO and the state Public Utilities Commission decided it was crediting at the rate of 10 cents versus 30 cents per kilowatt hour, then homeowners may decide not to install the system because the payback would be 15 years instead of five.

The problem now with this model is that HECO is using the exorbitantly high rates paid by its existing customers for oil-based energy to pay PV users. As more homeowners switch to PV, one can imagine sometime in the not-too-distant future when HECO either has to reduce the amount of money they give back to PV users or has to turn to the government for a subsidy or bailout. The people of Hawaii need to be a part of finding a better long-term solution than this.

David Vornholt
Kapahulu

Remember heroes on Pacific islands

As President Barack Obama considers expanding the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, it bears reminding that three of these islands would not be under U.S. jurisdiction were it not for the valiant efforts of largely Native Hawaiian colonists.

From 1935 to 1942, more than 130 young men from Hawaii were sent by the federal government to occupy the islands of Howland, Baker and Jarvis, thus enabling President Franklin D. Roosevelt to claim them.

Three Hawaiians lost their lives, including Dicky Whaley and Joseph Keliihananui, who died on Howland in a Japanese attack the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed.Let us never forget the ultimate price these young men made on behalf of a government who never informed them of their true purpose.

With less than a handful of the colonists surviving to this day, perhaps the time has finally come to confer long-overdue federal recognition for their contributions and sacrifices.

Noelle M.K.Y. Kahanu
Puunui

Spitting in public a disgusting habit

The June 26 "Big Q" question regarding a proposed bill to outlaw urination and defecation on public sidewalks certainly speaks to how civil our society is. Can we add spitting to the bill? So many people spit all over the place here, it’s like we are dealing with a bunch of monkeys in a zoo.It’s totally disgusting.

You can spit all over yourself in your own home, but when you are in public, keep it in your mouth.

Derek Meier
Manoa