HPD addressing long lines issue

The number of people applying for permits and registering firearms has increased significantly in recent years, and the Honolulu Police Department is doing its best to keep up.

We have added additional staff and taken other measures to shorten the wait.In the future we hope to automate much of the registration process.

The permit and registration line is occasionally long, typically on Mondays or on Tuesdays following a long weekend, and we ask for the public’s patience during these times.Hawaii has strict firearms laws, and ensuring compliance with these laws is a serious responsibility.

Dave Kajihiro
Deputy chief, Honolulu Police Department

Don’t tax septic tanks, cesspools

It seems that our governor and other elected officials have run out of items to tax. The proposed tax on households with cesspools and septic tanks is the most ridiculous idea I have heard of in a long time.

Even worse, some of the Big Island’s elected luminaries (who should know better) support this idea. Our elected officials are literally dredging the bottom (pun intended) in their greed for tax revenue.

Cesspools and septic tanks built in the modern era have been vetted and approved by planning departments and deemed to pose no threat. The remnants of cesspools and septic tanks make excellent fertilizer. Who should know this better than Sen. Russell Ruderman (a passionate advocate for organic farming and products) himself?

What are they going to tax next? Dog poop and cow dung?

Pradeepta Chowdhury
Hilo

House coalition doing good job

Mahalo to the Star-Advertiser for recognizing the success of the Democratic-Republican coalition in the state House of Representatives ("Reduce tax burden on small businesses," Star-Advertiser, Our View, April 2).

This new bipartisan leadership coalition has warded off fears of a tax-and-spend agenda.

Your editorial correctly noted that the bipartisan coalition believes 2009’s temporary increase in the state’s highest income tax rate, originally slated for repeal in 2015, should be repealed a year earlier. This in turn would feed money back into the local economy. The bipartisan coalition also favors shrinking Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s budget by $600 million over two years.

I also appreciate David Shapiro’s acknowledgment of how well things are going in the House ("Souki-led House majority has delivered solid agenda," Volcanic Ash, March 13).

Our House bipartisan coalition, a first for the Hawaii Legislature, better reflects Hawaii’s people. Instead of bickering and partisanship, we put our heads together and focus on solutions.

Rep. Cynthia Thielen
Assistant minority leader and vice-chairwoman of the House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection

Farmed salmon isn’t that great

Anybody who thinks farmed salmon is the best source of omega-3s really needs to read further, from sources such as the Institute for Responsible Technology, Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch and Oceana.org ("Analysis of blood links omega-3s, heart health," Star-Advertiser, April 2).

Wild salmon is the highest in omega-3s. Farmed salmon is one of the lowest, but is high in harmful omega-6s (not to mention the artificial dyes, hormones, antibiotics, sea lice, animal-waste feed, etc.).

Whoever selects these articles has to be a little more watchful. This is our health you’re addressing.

Tom Tizard
Kailua

Frustration behind scuffle

The recent hostile incidents concerning the Public Land Development Corp. and GMO (genetically modified organism) labeling involving Sens. Malama Solomon, Donovan Dela Cruz, Clarence Nishihara and Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation President Dean Okimoto reflect the people’s frustration that this is just another legislative session where the status quo gets to push everyone around, against all common sense and reason.

Fortunately, with the shift in leadership in the House and two new senators, some progress has been made, but politicians fronting corporate bullies need to be voted out in the next election.

Unless good people step up to run and have an opportunity to demonstrate their objectivity and fairness, we will continue to see the same backroom game-playing, to the detriment of the future and well being of the whole state.

Vote the PLDC legislators out. Don’t buy GMO foods.

Melissa L. Yee
Makiki