Sadness reigned as trees were cut down

As I was walking down Kalakaua Avenue, in front of the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, the buzz of saws caught my attention.

I looked across the street to the boarded-up International Market Place and saw the beautiful trees being cut down.

I stood and watched as the branches fell to the ground, then walked away as my eyes filled with tears.

What a sad day for Waikiki.

Ruth Falter
Waikiki

State should buy Hawaii Kai parcel

A recent article indicated that one of the organizers of the carnival planned on Kalanianaole Highway the next two weekends said that about 90 percent of the community would favor it ("Kaiser High disavows connection to planned carnival," Star-Advertiser, March 8).

If an actual poll were to be taken, I think that just the opposite would be true.

As alongtime resident of Hawaii Kai, Ialready find the traffic and ability to find a parking place at the nearby shopping centers quite daunting, especially on the weekends.

What is really sad is that the location at the entrance to Hawaii Kai has the only green patch of grass that is to be found.With the rain we have had, the trucks and equipment that are being used to set up for the event have turned the ground into one big mud hole. Will it ever be the same?

I suggest the state buy this patch of land from Kamehameha and preserve it as open space.

Judy Muncaster
Hawaii Kai

Neighbors do not support carnival

If Kaiser High School wanted a fundraising carnival, it would be on the Kaiser campus.

The carnival being assembled at the corner of Keahole Street and Kalanianaole Highway, an incredibly busy intersection,is not a Kaiser-sponsored function.

If it benefits anyone, it will be Kaiser’s football team only, as stated by its coach, who also maintains that 90 percent of Hawaii Kai residents want the carnival.Really?

Meanwhile, the E.K. Fernandez trucks are tearing up the rain-softened turf on the site. Who’s going to repair the damage? And what’s with the gaudy lights on the ferris wheel in the early-morning darkness?

This weekend and next, the Town Centre parking lot will be jammed, as usual, with families shopping at Costco, Ross and other stores. Parking will be nonexistent, and most pedestrians attending will have to cross two major dangerous roads. A carnival does not belong on that site.

Robert S. Sandla
Hawaii Kai

Waikiki high-rise will be improvement

I was pleased to see the approval of the second 350-foot high-rise on Kuhio Avenue by the City Council Zoning Committee, especially with the misguided thinking of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board and some of the neighborhood residents who consider the result to be the Great Wall of Waikiki.

What has happened is that some forward thinkers have realized that the rundown corridor known as Kuhio Avenue can be revitalized into a major asset for the neighborhood without the grimy, unsavory characteristics currently existing there.

If Waikiki is the tourist mecca of Oahu, let KuhioAvenue be its prime residential home for investors. Everyone benefits, and thesleaze with disappear.

Gordon Wolfe
Waikiki

Housing First won’t be homeless cure-all

City Council Chairman Ernie Martin’s "Families First" take on getting the most from housing assistance funds is spot on ("Put city’s housing assistance where it can do the most good," Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, March 4).

With the federal government’s "Housing First" program targeting homeless persons with mental illness and/or drug addiction, while reducing support for transitional housing, our nonprofit agency is deeply concerned about the 690 men, women and children we serve each year in our shelters. Transitional housing provides temporary residents with the tools they need to acquire and maintain permanent housing, especially critical for children who are at risk of repeating the cycle of homelessness experienced by their parents.

"Housing First" has its merits, but it is not the overreaching answer its proponents claim. Housing Solutions’ perspective on this issue stems from 25 years providing transitional housing to Oahu’s homeless, and we strongly support a balanced approach to helping the homeless become self-sufficient.

Terry Brooks
President, Housing Solutions Inc.

Honolulu Festival fireworks awesome

I do not know who was responsible for the fireworks show at the Honolulu Festival but it was the best I have ever seen. It had many new dazzling displays and lasted for 20 minutes. Three times the crowd cheered, thinking it was the finale, only to have it continue even better. Awesome!

Mary Dias
Aiea

Health care survey will help all of us

Through April, health insurers are conducting a survey called the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS), which is mailed to select people with health insurance, including those enrolled in an individual plan, an employer-sponsored plan and Medicare.

Responding to the survey by mail or phone is one way people can become part of the broader effort to improve our nation’s health care system. Responses will be kept anonymous.

Survey responses help the government and insurance providers identify ways to better serve people and improve the care they receive. The government and insurers want to make sure that people in Hawaii receive good medical care from doctors they trust. The CAHPS survey is one tool used to achieve this goal.

I encourage Hawaii residents to respond to the survey, as this one simple step can help improve health care for all of us.

Ron Fujimoto
Chief medical officer, UnitedHealthcare’s Community Plan for Hawaii