Paper bags were free and later plastic, too. Now we are going to have to pay 15 cents for “reusable” bags (“Plastic ban bill nears mayor’s approval,” Star-Advertiser, July 13).

What’s the motive? The concern for the environment? There is enough evidence to indicate that plastic waste isn’t going to contaminate the ocean or the aina.

The motive is profit. The stores will no longer provide bags that cost money to produce and give away, therefore increasing their profit margin, and more so by charging the consumer for what used to be free.

When the mayor signs the plastic bag ban bill, it only convinces me that business and government are in collusion: One entity taxes us and the other charges us. Who is watching out for the rest us? Apparently, neither one.

Tom Baca

Mililani

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Kauai a good place for Hawaiian crow

Kauai has no mongoose or Hawaiian hawk, two predators of the alala (Hawaiian crow). The alala are raised on Maui, which has temperate weather compared to the sometimes extremely cold Hawaii island.

With this in mind, it would be great if some of the birds are released on Kauai.

Richard Sewake

Wahiawa

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Quit digging hole, stop at Middle Street

There is an old adage that says, “If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.” This certainly fits our original $3.2 billion, now $10 billion-plus, rail transit and development projects.

Panos Prevedouros, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Hawaii, knows more about rail than any member of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation or City Council.

He has spoken of solutions to our traffic nightmare to no avail. The Council always says, “Don’t confuse us with the facts, we know what we know.”

We need to stop at Middle Street and use it as a bus depot to transport riders to town, Ala Moana, UH, Waikiki and other destinations. This will spread the buses out so there is less congestion and take people where they really want to go.

Let’s quit taxing the tourists, homeowners and renters. Don’t extend the general excise tax surcharge, which punishes all.

Keep our picturesque waterfront picturesque. But first of all, let’s quit digging.

Jim Slavish

Kailua

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Homeless get little for recycling bottles

Surely Eric Phillips didn’t just suggest that people are choosing to be homeless because they can make so much money by recycling bottles for the 5-cent redemption (“Bottle law keeps people on streets,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, July 12).

Hawaii is routinely ranked as the No. 1 most unaffordable housing market. Oahu median home prices continue to rise, having just set a new record of $795,000. And there is a growing scarcity of affordable rentals.

But let’s do some math. An average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is a little over $1,700, or 34,000 cans per month, which sounds doable.

The 2017 Point In Time Count (Partners In Care) found more than 2,300 unsheltered individuals on Oahu, so more than 78 million cans would need to be redeemed to cover rent, which seems a lot less doable.

There are many paths to homelessness, but I don’t think any of them lead through the redemption center.

Alika Campbell

Kailua

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Fast food, pharma attack our bodies

The mass media convinces our minds to feed our bodies products of the junk-food industry, which ruin our bodies by age 40, and then hand us over to the big pharma industry to keep us alive for the next 40 years via pills and syrups.

This is the worst terrorist attack in history.

Milton Tashima

Downtown

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Now I’m paying for others’ caregivers

Is there a conspiracy or collusion against death with dignity? If the death-with-dignity bill had been approved by the Legislature, the caregivers problem would be muted.

I always felt safe, knowing I had a safety net from the cost of growing old, but strangers took that away from me.

Now we are faced with more caregivers needed, more support for them, more nursing homes and more medical services — and the trend is expected to continue (“The graying of Hawaii,” Star-Advertiser, July 3).

This Legislature and academics, in their wisdom, have again added another cost to taxpapers in a state already with the highest cost of living.

I can only surmise that it may be another ruse where government and businesses benefit through job creation.

Lawrence Makishima

Pearl City

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Let’s try a lottery to ease money woes

Why doesn’t the state and city reconsider some type of lottery that would solve a lot of Hawaii’s money problems?

At least give it a try at first. Think about it.

Charles Schmucker

Kailua

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Don’t let government control health care

I’m always amazed when I read letters to the editor suggesting that universal health care, or a government-controlled single- payer system, is the answer to America’s health care problems.

Wow! Let the government take control? Have we come to the conclusion that our veterans are properly cared for?

How about our public education system, lagging in all categories behind many countries? Or our rail project and its out-of-control costs?

To paraphrase a socialist leader: If you control your population’s health care, you will control your population. Very scary, but I think he is right.

Norman Fung

Kaneohe