A note to letter writers who claim that recent volcanic activity on Hawaii island is because the volcano goddess Pele is angry about human activity such as the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope, the Pohakuloa military training area, the now-sealed geothermal plant, and even the number of tourists on the island:

Just stop it already.

Lava was creating the Hawaiian archipelago millions of years before humans arrived here, and would flow regardless of whether we are here or not, or what we may be doing upon the aina. And why would Pele punish the poor folks of Leilani Estates for what happens elsewhere on the island?

In any case, it seems unwise to drag the goddess into personal politics.

Don Chapman

Kaneohe

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The meter is ticking on cab companies

Like many other cities, Honolulu enacted regulations to protect the consumer from unscrupulous cab drivers who might take a passenger three blocks and charge him $40.

The city couldn’t just set flat rates because unexpected heavy traffic would rob drivers of a reasonable wage. The compromise was the traditional taxi meter. It gives a flat rate for each one- eighth mile and accounts for heavy traffic by adding 45 cents for each 45 seconds of “wait time.”

The only difference between Uber’s “surge” rate and a cab’s “wait time” surcharge is that Uber’s rate is transparent and upfront, while the final tab on your taxi meter grows and grows, and where it stops … nobody knows.

If the City Council bans surge rates, then it should also ban the “wait time” surcharge. They are one and the same.

The cab companies are waking up to consumer trust in upfront pricing, and more importantly, to the technology that makes traffic almost predictable. Some are offering flat or “guaranteed” rates.

Cab companies are allowing the marketplace to set prices. Why can’t the City Council?

Patrick Kennedy

McCully-Moiliili

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Help women with programs, policies

We appreciate the spotlight on Aloha United Way’s Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed (ALICE) initiative and the difficulties facing Hawaii’s families (“Too many Hawaii residents struggle with cost of living,” Star-Advertiser, Our View, May 20).

At YWCA Oahu, we see women struggling just to keep from falling behind. We work with women transitioning from incarceration, homelessness, domestic violence situations and unemployment, and help them to improve their employability and job opportunities.

However, programs alone will not get us where we need to go. Reiterating the 2017 ALICE Report for Hawaii, there is still a large gap in key areas for these struggling families. Therefore, programs and policy change must work hand-in-hand.

We support policies that meet the needs of our local families, like raising the minimum wage and adopting a state-paid family leave policy. We believe that through programs and policies we can create a stronger Hawaii for all families.

Kathleen Algire

Director of public policy and advocacy, YWCA

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Other obstructions block city sidewalks

I find it odd and slightly amusing that Lime came in with its scooters, apparently flouted laws or regulations, and the city had the scooters removed from the sidewalks and impounded as unsafe nuisances.

I guess any competition to Biki just isn’t going to fly with the city, as that is its baby. At the same time, an alternate form of transportation is removed from a city that needs all the transportation options it can get.

Meanwhile, those same sidewalks that were “obstructed” by simple, small scooters are littered with tents, people, dogs, debris and school-less children who do obstruct pedestrians and risk collisions and injury by automobiles. The logic is amazing.

Jacob Vinton

Foster Village

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Indictments are not convictions

The writer of the letter, “Evidence mounts against Trump” (Star-Advertiser, May 23), apparently considers an indictment as evidence of breaking the law, and by the end of his imagination’s run, had the president convicted of treason.

In fact, an indictment is simply a formal accusation and nothing more. Who hasn’t heard the old adage, “A good prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich”?

Consider, with the special counsel having now been investigating for more than a year, if there actually was any evidence of wrongdoing, it would have been broadcast far and wide well before this.

Jim Wolery

Kaneohe

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Trump enforcing immigration laws

The author of the letter, “Most undocumented aren’t criminals” (Star-Advertiser, May 22), appears to be grossly mistaken about what President Donald Trump has stated.

Trump was referring to the MS-13 gang members, whom he characterized as criminals and animals. Trump never mentioned Hawaii immigrants. Trump also is enforcing all of the immigration laws already on the books.

Keoni Ronald May

McCully-Moiliili