Shared sacrifice will defeat COVID-19

We are at war with a lethal virus. Some of our government leaders and unmasked people just don’t get it. During World War II, Americans made tremendous sacrifices for five years. Imagine what Europeans endured to survive the German occupation.

We have to put aside our comfortable lifestyles for a few years. This is no time for pleasure travel or to party. The virus is our enemy and the enemy is in our country and beautiful islands. Quit bellyaching about restrictions and let’s fight this enemy together.

Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono! Let us do the right things!

Cedric Chang

Waialua

Mainland virus surge bodes ill for isle tourism

Two articles in the Oct. 16 Star- Advertiser highlight the pitfalls of the tourism reopening.

The first, “Solid reopening day,” seemed to regard the initial day’s reopening as a success because of the large number of tourists (8,300) entering Hawaii.

This amounts to a considerable jump over recent tourist levels. Included are the ritualistic assurances from the governor and tourism industry lobbyists that the so-called “Safe Travels Hawaii” program will protect us residents from the coronavirus.

But a second article, “Virus surges back across Europe, U.S.,” tells us that on the U.S. continent, where the bulk of our tourists come from, new infections have mounted to an alarming 52,000 a day.

This raises the likely possibility that a new COVID-19 wave is occurring in our major tourism markets.

So reasonable people might ask: Is this the appropriate time to reopen Hawaii to mass tourism?

Surely our health (and the health of tourism industry workers) is of greater importance than the financial health of the tourism industry.

Noel Kent

Manoa

Ko Olina didn’t live up to agreement with city

Ko Olina needs to live up to its agreement with the city. All four parking lots should be open to allow beach access. That was the agreement with the city in exchange for Ko Olina’s initial building permits. Beach access should have been opened when the mayor opened it for all beaches.

Mayor Kirk Caldwell chose to ignore many requests and only took action when the city Department of Planning and Permitting finally advised Ko Olina that it must live up to its agreement and open all parking.

DPP is the hero here. Thank you so much for taking action.

Then our mayor negotiates (there was nothing to negotiate) and proudly announces how he worked things out with Ko Olina management by allowing them to close half of the largest and busiest parking lot (“Ko Olina to open all 4 lagoons to public,” Star-Advertiser, Top News, Oct. 15). And what did the public get in return for this awesome negotiation? Nothing, except a further loss in beach access.

The good ol’ buddy system at work as usual, and the public loses again.

Judith Riley

Kapolei

Choose president who can heal divided nation

The outcome of the November presidential election will determine the fate of American democracy. Instead of governing to protect and improve the well-being of every American, President Donald Trump spent most of his time attacking the institutional pillars of democracy by undercutting the rule of law to advance his political and personal interests, by calling for the incarceration of his political enemies and critics, and by denigrating the free press and calling it the enemy of the people.

Instead of promoting the virtues of democracy, Trump has openly expressed admiration to the concept of authoritarianism. But what is really disturbing is despite Trump’s relentless efforts to dismember the guardrails of democracy, 40% of the electorate still adores and worships him.

But democracy-loving Americans can save democracy by defeating Trump and his cronies in November and putting Democrats in charge of Congress.

America is a deeply and bitterly divided country. We need a compassionate, honest and strong leader who can unite and heal this grief-stricken nation. Joe Biden fits that profile.

Rod B. Catiggay

Mililani

Rail project’s sorry state was entirely predictable

When former Mayor Mufi Hannemann announced the rail project at $5.6 billion and a route from Kapolei to the University of Hawaii-Manoa, I told my wife it will be over $10 billion and downsized to stop short of UH-Manoa. Now the other half of the nightmare is coming true. It’s just a reality of a major construction project.

Delwyn Ching

Mililani

Election laws need to be more representative

More than 230 years ago, the Constitution created the Electoral College for the election of the president. Voters in each state choose electors by casting a vote for the presidential candidate of their choice. The slate winning the most popular votes is the winner.

The Electoral College system is less democratic than a national direct popular vote. A candidate can win the popular vote and still lose the election. This system worked fine for 13 states; not so much for 50 states. The system is archaic and outdated.

State legislatures decide how to allocate Electoral College votes; only Nebraska and Maine vary from the winner-take-all formula. If I vote Republican in Hawaii, my vote is meaningless. If I vote Democratic in Alabama, my vote is meaningless. We can’t change the system on a national basis; that’s up to Congress. We can change it in Hawaii. Let’s make it representative.

Chuck Cohen

Kalama Valley

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