Cottage farmers face big hurdles

The cultivation of a sustainable Hawaii comes none too soon in light of our state’s reliance on goods shipped in from each side of the Pacific.

Already our farmers markets are bursting with delicious, local produce and fare in many of our islands’ neighborhoods. People are taking to heart the importance of buying local.

A Hawaii Cottage Food Act would further these same goals and promote the creativity and success of Hawaii residents interested in whipping up something scrumptious to share with their communities.

As it currently stands, the burden on those hoping to sell locally crafted products such as breads, jellies, jams or sauces mirrors that of creating a commercial food establishment.

Required are the same insurance, permits, labeling and the biggest financial blow: access to an industrial kitchen.

Most states have already passed Cottage Food Acts that address this stifling indifference toward local entrepreneurship.

Let’s make the next move to further a sustainable and unique Hawaii.

Sydney Morrow
Liliha

B&Bs escaping taxation, too

A recent article, “Internet Taxation,” states that “some estimates have Hawaii foregoing up to $122 million yearly in uncollected taxes from online sales” (Star-Advertiser, Insight, May 26).

One can only wonder how many millions in uncollected taxes there arefrom the years of operation of the cash-only illegal bed-and-breakfast businesses.

In a 2010 article in the Star-Advertiser, state Tax Director Stanley Shiraki said the state was soon going to target bed-and-breakfast operations,especially in Kailua (“State gets tougher on farm, fair taxes,” Star-Advertiser, Nov. 17, 2010). That hasn’t happened to date.

Susan Cummings
Kailua

Educate youth on prostitution

Sunday’s article on prostitution in Hawaii exposed the dark side of life in Hawaii, but didn’t go far enough (“Lawmakers ramp up efforts to halt isles’ trafficking trade,” Star-Advertiser, June 16).

There are real dangers to local youth who are being lured into prostitution by pimps at malls, school areas or the Internet.

Young teens need to learn what to watch for. There is also the problem of where to send victims who are rescued from this lifestyle. These girls have been severely damaged, often with severe cases of post traumatic stress disorder, resulting from years of trauma from the lifestyle forced on them.

The judicial system faces the huge question of where to send these girls for treatment and recovery, and there is no place for these underage girls to go for restoration.

Courage Worldwide Hawaii is working to remedy this situation that requires exposure and statewide support.

Jody Allione
Kailua

Let’s also shutter ‘invaluable’

So, Jack Schmidt Jr. would like to shutter the word shutter (“Please shutter the word shutter,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, June 15).

I nominate a much better candidate: the ambiguous word “invaluable.”

Is it referring to something more valuable or something not valuable, as the prefix “in-” means?

Indubitably, since it is incomprehensible, incongruous and indefinite, it should be invalidated.

Like the word “inflammable,” which was also confusing and fell into disuse, sensibly replaced by only “flammable,” it should be replaced by just valuable and, if desired, accentuated by an adverb such as “especially” or “exceptionally.”

Mark Webster
Waialae-Kahala

Graffiti does not rename a beach

News reports said the truck accident on the west side was located at “Pray for Sex” beach.

What’s wrong with this moniker? The name of the beach is Makua.

Graffiti did not rename the beach. Correct identification of our local geography and locations should be adhered to.

Elaine Nishime
Waialae Iki

Let teachers carry firearms

The Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings brought the vulnerability of school safety to the attention of the world when 26 lives violently came to an end.

After the shooting, President Barack Obama proposed a new gun law that would have restricted purchasing the AR-15 military-style rifle, the same gun used in the Connecticut school shootings. This proposal did not address school shooting issues.

In the Sandy Hook shootings, the gun was not purchased; it was stolen. And the shooter ended up killing himself.

The fact is that our school staff and students, with no means to protect themselves, are sitting ducks.

Guns are part of American society, and it is impossible to eliminate all of them.

If H.R. 35, a federal bill that would allow teachers to carry concealed weapons, were enacted, teachers would have immediate access to a weapon, and would not have to wait for backup while more people died.

Kelly DiGuilio
Pearl City

Rail cars could vary in number

The proposal to halve the number of trains while doubling capacity is ill-conceived and likely to reduce daily ridership because of increased system delays (“Fewer trains pitched for city’s rail system,” Star-Advertiser, June 14).

The two biggest negatives are:

»Train intervals would increase during rush hours.

»During off-peak hours, the four-car trains would surely operate with many empty seats.

A better option would be a flexible number of cars per train whereby additional cars are added during peak hours and removed in off-peak hours.

A lessons-learned assessment of the Metro Rail system servicing Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia shows that rail cars are often empty of riders during the off-peak hours.The Metro Rail system there has flexibility, with its trains having variable numbers of cars during different times of the day.Even with fewer cars during non-rush hour, empty seats are plentiful.

Kay Kimura
Waialae

Greenwood, Kim clash regrettable

I was bothered to read about a dispute between outgoing University of Hawaii President M.R.C. Greenwood and state Senate President Donna Mercado Kim.

A narrow-minded reader could easily infer that there are “strings attached” in being accepted to the UH law school. As a graduate of UH-Manoa, I feel very strongly that such a practice does not exist.

Greenwood has graciously retired. Clearly, she made some mistakes, but her good deeds outweigh those mistakes.

I hope the UH administrators and state legislators will work together to make UH continue to be ranked among the top universities in the nation.

Constante A. Domingo
Salt Lake