Developers should leave some of the old

It touches me a lot about the International Market Place closing.

Now, I hear it’s the King’s Village "changing of the guards."

I’ve been here since 1990 and seen all kinds of changes only for the tourist, not the community as a whole. Now, it’s out of control.

What has become of Waikiki over the years? It’s becoming like 42nd Street, New York City. It’s nothing but expensive stores, fancy restaurants and luxury hotels that I can’t afford for a night, let alone for the weekend.

Sad to see all the high rollers and outsiders come here and change our community. They’re taking away what little history is left in Waikiki.

They should leave some of that old, because that’s what makes the visitors want to return.

Carolyn Flanders
Waikiki

Cynthia Oi reflected our love for Hawaii

I want to thank Cynthia Oi for her lifelong love of and concern for Hawaii.

Her farewell love letter/parting shot column summed up her and our love for the Islands and fear that overdevelopment spurred by lobbyists, rather than development planned to meet the needs of the people, may overwhelm the land and crush our aloha and whatever other virtues we have to offer the world ("Local sense of community slowly slipping into the past," Star-Advertiser, Under the Sun, Dec. 26).

Her voice will be missed.

Richard Y. Will
Waikiki

Let’s work with DOT to realign highway

A big thank you to the state Department of Transportation for the barriers at Laniakea.

They have provided the needed relief from traffic congestion demanded by residents at initial meetings of the Laniakea Task Force almost two years ago.

As predicted, people are parking along the highway next to the ranch and residents’ homes on either side of Laniakea, but gone are the tour vans that were creating the biggest problem. At DOT’s request, the Hawaii Tourism Authority is working with the tour companies to find safe alternatives for turtle viewing with bona fide parking lots on the makai side of the highway.

Now the DOT and the task force can focus their energy on the permanent mauka realignment of the road for coastal restoration and permanent relief from traffic. This will require additional funding and advocacy on the part of the community.

I urge our community to stay engaged and work positively with the DOT.

Antya Miller
Member, North Shore Neighborhood Board
Haleiwa

Laniakea barrier has worsened area safety

I took a ride out to Haleiwa via Kamehameha Highway recently and got my first experience with the barriers at Laniakea.

While they seem to be helping with the traffic, they are still a horrible solution. I see them as laziness and shortsightedness by the state.

During my trip to Haleiwa in the early morning I saw tourists parking as far as half a mile away on both sides of the road and walking along the narrow, dangerous shoulder and along the beach where the surf was really high and rough, possibly further endangering pedestrians.

On the way back to Kaneohe around noon, I noticed that there was more illegal parking on the makai side of the road and tour buses and private vehicles blatantly parking between "no parking" signs. Again, cars all up and down the highway parking wherever they could find an empty space.

The barriers themselves are already decorated with graffiti.

Michel Grotstein
Kaneohe

Bus ads a good way for city to raise cash

Mayor Kirk Caldwell has an excellent idea to start advertising on the outside of city buses. This would offset expenses for TheBus, a business that continues to lose money.

The objection seems to come from those whom we on Kauai call "the antis." These people are against everything, and most of those doing the complaining are usually from somewhere else.

Hilo Hattie, Sears, DiGiorno pizza trucks and many other businesses are free to drive their commercial vehicles on the islands with their own logos, artwork and verbiage on the outside of their vehicles. Advertising on the outside of vehicles is already rampant.

I believe that advertising on buses is something that is well overdue, not only for Honolulu but for Kauai as well.

James "Kimo" Rosen
Kapaa, Kauai

Westside deaths could have been avoided

The recent accident near Tracks Beach that left three people dead could have been avoided if the state had erected concrete barriers, instead of trying to beautify the medial strip with grass and shrubs ("3 killed in Farrington Highway crash," Star-Advertiser, 911 Report, Dec. 29).

How many more people have to die before the state does something about it?

Just because the highway is a straightaway does not mean that people who are drunk and fall asleep won’t cross the medial strip and kill someone.

Bill Kapaku
Nanakuli

NSA betrayed trust and likely our safety

Milton Allione said that Edward Snowden betrayed his oath "not to reveal the contents of classified information" and should suffer severe penalties ("Snowden broke his oath to hide secrets," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Dec. 30).

What Snowden did, in fact, was courageously reveal that the National Security Agency was conducting mass surveillance not only of our own citizens, but leaders and citizens of other countries.

This spying was done with practically no oversight, no limits and no accountability to anyone.

The information gathered is a threat not only to our citizens but to the very fabric of our democracy.

Allione asserted that what Snowden did "was pure betrayal and may affect the safety of every U.S. citizen."

But the opposite is true.

What the NSA did was a betrayal of our trust and may well affect the safety of every U.S. citizen.

It is time to welcome Edward Snowden back as a genuine hero and defender of democracy.

Noel J. Kent
Kaimuki

Biofuels are low cost only as a byproduct

Thank you for your excellent editorial on green power ("Green power is goal but at sensible cost," Star-Advertiser, Our View, Dec. 29).

Hawaii has an outstanding history of using green power to generate electric energy. Sixty years ago, about 10 percent of the electric

energy consumed by electric utility customers in Hawaii was produced from biofuels.

Before 1946, almost all of the electric energy on Kauai and on Maui came from the sugar plantations. The plantations generated this electric power primarily by burning bagasse.

In addition, the plantation irrigation systems produced a significant amount of hydroelectric power.

The plantation’s power purchase agreements with the utilities covered the delivery of both firm and interruptible surplus electric energy.

Under certain conditions interruptible power was billed at less than one cent per kilowatt hour.

Low-cost green power is only available from biofuels when it is a byproduct.The sugar plantations were built and run to make sugar. The molasses and the electric energy were the byproducts.

Alan S. Lloyd
Kailua

FROM THE FORUM @ STARADVERTISER.COM

Readers of the Star-Advertiser’s online edition can respond to stories posted there. The following are some of those. Instead of names, pseudonyms are generally used online. They have been removed.

"Sea snatches sand, security," Star-Advertiser, Dec.30:

» Those houses have been there a long time, and each year the ocean has crept closer. The people will eventually lose their houses. As for the government helping, there really isn’t much it can do. If you build a seawall in one area, it won’t last long and properties adjacent to the ends of the seawall will then be exposed. So, what needs to take place? First, the people need to move if their homes are exposed. The government isn’t required to buy up properties so the owners will have to suffer the loss. That is what happens when you buy oceanfront property.

» The surfers are lovin’ it, the beach homeowners are not.

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"Drone Test Site," Star-Advertiser, Dec. 31:

» Great news for our engineering school. Perhaps the robotics group will get some new grants and students. Also, perhaps some new startups will be established. Hopefully a plus for our economy.

» Science is good, safety is good, jobs are good, as is research. But with the federal government eroding our civil rights, this news does not bode well for Americans. I’m with state Sen. Sam Slom: Introduce legislation to limit the information- gathering capacity.

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"Tax Foundation chief’s insight valued," Star-Advertiser, Dec. 31:

» Terrible loss for the state of Hawaii. Lowell Kalapa was a clarion voice of fiscal responsibility and reason.

» Very sad loss. Not that I agreed with his opinions a lot, but they were always clearly reasoned and educational.

» The article did not mention that Mr. Kalapa also served on the board of directors of several nonprofit agencies. He was a man generous with his time and knowledge throughout our community. On a personal level, he was always a gentleman, a very kind and sometimes very funny man. He will be missed by many.

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"Elections stand to change political contours," Star-Advertiser, Jan. 1:

» History has shown that Hawaii’s delegates who hold U.S. Senate seats are truly elected for a lifetime. No sitting senator from Hawaii has ever lost an election. As far as Sen. Brian Schatz goes, he wasn’t elected but rather was appointed, so I predict that he will be the exception to this rule and Colleen Hanabusa will beat him in the primary election.

» As far as I’m concerned, I think Hanabusa needs to give up her run to the Senate seat and just concentrate on her work as a U.S. representative.

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"Custom has fish flying out of stores," Star-Advertiser, Jan. 1:

» Miss my ahi onion poke from Tamashiro’s. Happy New Year from Denver!

» Yes, but now you can light one up and dream. Happy New Year!

» Maintaining tradition is very costly. Prices go up during these times even though the supply is plentiful. As long as there is a demand, the sellers are happy to supply the merchandise. Funny thing is, when I was in Los Angeles, some Japanese stores sold Hawaiian ahi at prices lower than here in Hawaii. Figure that one out.

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"New Year’s emergency calls decline," Star-Advertiser, Jan. 2:

» The new fireworks laws do work. The shortage of firecrackers helped, too.

» Slowly but surely what makes Hawaii special is being stripped away. I wonder how many had their hands smashed pounding mochi for New Year’s? Better regulate mallet size, and add poi pounding for safe measure, too. House caught on fire when deep frying turkey? Better ban that practice. Auwe! Accidents due to negligence will always happen, but why do we have to throw the baby out with the bath water? If we can inspect every container with a Christmas tree, why can’t we inspect the containers with fireworks, confiscate the aerials, and let us enjoy novelties and paperless fireworks?

» What a waste of money. You might as well take all the $20 bills out of your wallet and burn them.

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"Oahu roadways win ‘scenic byway’ status," Star-Advertiser, Jan. 2:

» I would like more information on what restrictions, if any, will be put on us if we accept this designation. We need to be made aware before jumping up and down and cheering.

» More information is at www. hawaiiscenicbyways.org. These two applications were in the works for over a year, and many meetings were held.

» I do admit that instead of driving through Hawaii Kai, I take the scenic route and I feel lucky to be able to view the beautiful coastline.