Chang, Manahan just rolled over

There is nothing "vague" about the ethics of elected officials taking sides in a conflict between two entities, when their public statements are scripted by a supporter of their campaigns and aired on TV ("Candidates’ activity with pro-union ads is legal but ethically vague, analyst says," Star-Advertiser, April 9).

Does this mean that City Council members Stanley Chang and Joey Manahan put the importance of union support ahead of the opinions and welfare of the very people who elected them?

According to the article, Local 5 "put a fair amount of effort into getting him (Manahan) elected and he has been responsive to us."

I, for one, will be voting for the Council member who did not roll over just for a little free air time.

Clifton Ziems
Aiea

Rescue deserved more publicity

I wish you would put good-news stories on the front page as well as negative ones.

A most dramatic and newsworthy story, the rescue of the stranded Kauai hikers, was buried inside ("Heroic efforts’ and hard work’ help rescue stranded hikers," Star-Advertiser, April 8).

A front-page banner headline, "Dramatic Rescue of 121 Kauai Hikers," would have sold as many papers as Dave Reardon’s story of Norm Chow barring him from interviews ("Coach’s tantrum adds another loss to bleak record," Star-Advertiser, Further Review, April 2).

Kudos to reporter Rosemarie Bernardo for her graphic account of the Kauai Fire Department’s rescue of a 12-year-old boy, his father, and two young sisters.

If any had drowned, they would have been front-page news.

Paul Lerman
Alewa Heights

Honest people still abound

In the hustle and bustle of daily life, it is not all for self-enrichment but also for serving in honesty and love.

I recently encountered two incidents of honesty and love. One was at the Kaimuki Times supermarket, where the cashier returned to me a $20 bill that was stuck between the others. The other incident was at the 8th Avenue Shell service station: An employee recognized my car and approached me while stopped at traffic to tell me a $20 bill is in the office for me, which I dropped four days ago while making payments.

These incidents tell me people are honest and caring.

Richard Kanno
Palolo

Wasn’t funding for rail planned?

The Star-Advertiser appears to agree that additional funding will be required for operation and maintenance of the rail system ("Rail funding details needed," Star-Advertiser, Our View, April 9).

There must have been some plan to cover these expenses at the outset of the program that did not call for additional or extended taxes.What was that plan and why is it now deemed inadequate?

Mike Spengel
Mililani

More mopeds mean fewer cars

Each year our traffic grows worse with the rising numbers of cars sold on Oahu, but people should know that each moped represents one fewer car on the road.

Most mopeds are quiet. A few irresponsible guys who beef up their engines from 48cc to 72cc are the few rotten apples who spoil it for the other 30,000 riders. These Sunday warriors racing their mopeds with noisy engines should be pulled over and cited.

How about the one Harley-Davidson driver waking up 100,000 people at 3 a.m. driving through Waikiki? The police should concentrate on any noisy engine using public streets.

I have been riding mopeds since 2001, traveling more than 120,000 miles. I have survived thanks to defensive driving. Car owners should be thankful there are 30,000 fewer cars each day in bumper-to-bumper traffic at 4 p.m. on the streets of Honolulu.

Joe Stacy
Aiea

Sick-pay abuse has a solution

How do we solve the ill behavior of prison guards calling in sick?

We do what was suggested by our own government: We privatize the system. Privatizing would allow the immediate firing of any prison guard who abuses sick leave.

The United Public Workers’ union is the problem for the abuse of sick leave because it protects the prison guards’ right to call in sick. Usually these guards will use all 21 days of sick leave for their own personal time off.

Jeffrey Ung
Wilhelmina Rise