Secure riders in backs of pickups

The "Click It or Ticket" campaign you see on TV is so ironic. The police officer says, "We’re going to save lives." But how are they going to save all the people who ride in the back of pickup trucks?

Our lawmakers really don’t care, even though many people have died because of this insanity.

A person riding in a closed vehicle has more of a chance of surviving than those riding in pickup beds.

There’s a law that animals should be secured riding in truck beds, yet humans have the liberty to ride unsecured.

Eugene Cordero
Pearl City

Kaneshiro doing much for animals

As pet sitters whose clients love and care for their pets, we want to thank Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro and staff for continuing to pursue charges in the Waimanalo puppy mill case.

People who victimize voiceless and defenseless animals should be held accountable for their actions.

In addition to his office’s commitment to this tragic case and zero-tolerance policy against animal abuse, Kaneshiro has been working to strengthen Hawaii’s animal-cruelty laws and prevent future crimes.

During this past legislative session, he joined many supporting efforts to regulate large-scale dog breeding operations, such as those found in Waimanalo, where the only objective is profit, never animal welfare.

Last year he ensured that we would no longer have the weakest dog-fighting law in the nation, but one of the strongest.

Mahalo to Kaneshiro and his staff for setting an example for others to follow.

Yvonne Abang
Windward Pet Lovers
Judy Mick
Personalized Pet Care

Land-use rulings point to crisis

I do not support the recent state Land Use Commission decision to use farmlands for development.

How much longer can we overdevelop and over-populate, import food and everything else we need to survive before we face a human and environmental crisis?

Steve Tayama
Waimanalo

New projects will worsen traffic

I didn’t believe our leaders could be so short-sighted.

First we are saddledwith thebudget-busting rail transit system, which is supposed to relieve traffic in the Leeward corridor;but then they guarantee that traffic willactually get worse by approving the building of thousands of new homes at Koa Ridge and Ho‘opili.

Imagine what this will do to the H-1/H-2 merge.

Adding insult to injury, these homes will displace acres of prime farmland, thereby destroying much of our major source for food sustainability.

Soon no more local-grown products and bye-bye, farmers markets.

Humbug!

Don Brown
Kapolei

Too bad we don’t have rail already

Does Ben Cayetano not understand that if the city fails to build rail transit now, in 10 years it will have to start all over again?

Had the city built the rail system 20 years ago, when it was easier and less expensive to build, everyone today, including Cayetano, would be enjoying it.

Michael Klimenko
Hawaii Kai

Poll results were not surprising

Apparently 59 percent of citizens who responded to one of your recent "Big Q" questions think that public union retirement benefits are just fine ("What do you think of Hawaii public unions’ retirement benefits?" Star-Advertiser, June 9).

Surprise, surprise!

What would we expect in a state with the highest public-sector employees per capita in the country, and with three out of five people you might run into on any given day either employed by some government agency or retired from one?

One might ask the question: Why does such a small state and population require such a large public worker entity?

Art Todd
Kaneohe