Windmill issue divides Lanai
On Lanai, the issue of windmills has divided the island in troubling, visible acrimony, as exemplified in the blitz of signs for and against.
For the residents, is it really an issue only of windmills? Or is it one of preserving the land versus preserving jobs?
Most people who are against windmills object to destroying one-quarter of the island to benefit Oahu. Many of them also are not dependent on jobs or housing from Castle & Cooke.
Many of those who are for windmills have been convinced by Castle & Cooke and the union that they could lose their jobs at the Four Seasons Resorts if the project fails.
Castle & Cooke is Big Brother on Lanai, controlling most land, housing and jobs. I have always thought that created an unhealthy social, economic and political environment. I think that is what’s happening now. It makes me sad.
Kathy Brindo
Lanai City
All teachers deserve praise
I hurriedly jot down the names of some of my teachers from Lincoln Elementary, Stevenson Intermediate, Roosevelt High School, the University of Hawaii, and the UH John A. Burns School of Medicine:
Ms. Murakami, Ms. Uchimura, Peter Treat, Mrs. Katerman, Ms. Huff, Violet Young, Dorothy Goo, Ms. Saito, Ms. Leong, Melvin Maeshiro, Constance Loo, Ms. Lee, Janet Sakai, Libby Lum, Warren Chee, Ethel Ching, Samuel Ono, Ms. Kaito, Mrs. Harada, Mr. Matsueda, Samuel Apo, Neil Winn, Donald Maruyama, Richard Takasaki, Ann Todd, Georgiana Thom, Donald Jensen, Mrs. K, Mr. Vosberg, Coach Vasconcellos, Virginia Takara, Daniel Stemple, Daniel Panisnic, Sidney Townsley, John Hardman, Marita Nelson, Martin Rayner, Bradley Wong, Patricia Blanchette, Charles Judd, and John Melish.
At a time when education is considered more of a problem than an asset, our teachers deserve our support, respect and appreciation. Many decades later, I still remember them and am indebted to them.
Hingson M. Chun
Chief of staff, Straub Clinic and Hospital
Bag studies seem one-sided
Ashley Komoda writes that science supports alternatives to mandatory plastic bag laws, but she cherry-picks scientific studies, presenting only the ones that support her point of view ("Plastic bag laws well-intentioned but cause more harm than good," Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Jan. 3).
Even a cursory Web search will uncover studies showing how serious the problem of plastic consumer waste is, and that volunteer and other non-regulatory efforts have not been effective in reducing the number of bags on our shorelines.
Komoda is presented as a member of the Northwest Economic Policy Seminar, "a nonprofit economics and statistics group." If you visit its website, you will find mention of studies that support only the view that government regulations are bad and merchants should be allowed to do what they want. It makes you wonder if the writer is a mouthpiece for an organization with a political agenda.
Ken Berkun
Kailua
Gym too costly for Pahala
A $17.9 million gymnasium and civil defense shelter in lowly Pahala seems a bit bizarre to me with the tight fiscal budget the state is facing.
In addition to that, Ka’u High School, where the gym is to be built, doesn’t have agriculture, Hawaiian studies, solar technology or band programs.
Furthermore, the Pahala Library is about to close, which makes me wonder about the state’s priorities.
The area below Pahala is a perfect site for solar power plants as long as archaeological studies can prove it doesn’t have sensitive burial sites on which such plants would be built.
Hawaii definitely needs new faces in government.
Dean Nagasako
Pahala
Only Western traditions left
Your editorial marking the end of New Year’s Eve fireworks for fire safety reasons lacked something ("Fireworks ban did bang-up job," Star-Advertiser, Our View, Jan. 11).
Hawaii was the only state that had widely adopted a semi-religious (scaring away bad spirits) Chinese tradition, because of our large Chinese population. Despite the over-hyped "war on Christmas," I can’t help noticing that this unique state’s remaining holiday traditions have a distinctly European character. Who knew that only those traditions were safe for dogs and property owners?
I hope everyone has tossed out their Christmas tree, which about now constitutes a fire hazard. We all know how seriously we take fire-safety in these colonized isles.
Phil Brewbaker
Ala Moana
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