Keep Zipper Lane for afternoon drive

I was very upset to read about the state’s plan to kill the PM Zipper Lane project ("State wants to kill plan for Zipper Lane," Star-Advertiser, June 23).

The state has already spent $5 million on the barriers and over one year of planning — for what?

As one of thousands of residents who sit in late-afternoon traffic by the airport daily while the eastbound commuters drive by at 55-plus mph, it makes complete sense to use one of the eastbound lanes in the afternoon, just as the morning zipper lane takes away one westbound lane to accommodate the massive amount of vehicles coming into town.

Michael Beauchemin
Mililani

Homeless in photos should be named

The picture accompanying the article, "Aiona’s homeless plan entails guardsmen, specialized court" (Star-Advertiser, June 17), epitomizes the biggest blind spot lawmakers have when dealing with the homeless.

In every other picture the Star-Advertiser publishes, even ones of criminals, the caption always identifies the subject of the photo by first and last name. In this picture, however, the caption simply read, "a homeless man sat …" The photographer credited with taking the picture apparently did not even ask the subject’s name.

We often fail to remember that the homeless are human beings with names and feelings and are worthy of our respect. If lawmakers and the rest of the public would think of them as valuable human beings instead of nameless bodies, we could find more respectful and effective solutions that would be beneficial for our entire community.

Jonathan Santiago
Kaneohe

Homeless in Waikiki don’t deserve pity

My condominium and others in Waikiki have been forced to spend money because of the homeless.

Examples:

» Locks on dumpstersto keep them out; metal grillwork to keep them out of common areas.

» They have urinated, defecated, defacedand damaged our property.

» We are considering metal gates at our entry and motion-activated lighting.

We, along with other condominiums, have spent thousands of dollars attempting to keep our property vandal free — monies that could have gone for other, more important expenses.

I do not have any sympathy for the homeless.They steal carts, vandalize, defecate, resideand urinate on other people’s property.They do not know the meaning of the words respect, honor, honesty or cleanliness.

No, there is no sympathy here.

Diane Tippett
Waikiki

Column on rail left misimpressions

Reading Richard Borreca’s June 24 column ("Smear campaigns might still be in Hawaii’s future," Star-Advertiser, On Politics), one would draw two wrong conclusions about Honolulu’s rail system.

First, it should be highlighted that the rail system will stop at several higher-education campuses when the 20-mile alignment opens in 2019.

They include four UH system campuses: University of Hawaii-West Oahu, Leeward and Hono-lulu community colleges, and the UH School of Medicine in Kakaako.

Hawaii Pacific University and several private educational institutions in downtown Honolulu will also be served.

In addition, we have actively discussed extending the rail system to the UH-Manoa campus and have made this a top priority as we complete the initial route.

Second, the rail system will be fully integrated with TheBus and serve Waikiki. Students, workers and tourists will ride the train to the Ala Moana Center station, where they will link up to their final destination through circulator bus service.

Dan Grabauskas
Executive director/CEO, Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation

Congress to blame for VA problems

The current Veterans Affairs firestorm is nothing new.

My veteran parents relied on the VA for their care. As caregiver, I found a typical government operation: mindless bureaucracy producing a morass of counter-intuitive rules, duplicate administrative fiefdoms and endless paper shuffling. Little is left in terms of time, budget or energy for the many dedicated and capable medical practitioners.

While U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono and U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa responded like long-time political players, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard needs a reality check. Instead of threatening the Hawaii VA chief, find out why there are only 7.5 full-time doctors staffing that size of a medical facility. Instead of trumpeting blameand punishment, work to find solutions.

Truth to power, the buck stops with Congress, not the agency head or appointees. Veterans are in the care of Congress, whose members should make us as proud of them as we are of our veterans. Now there’s a goal.

Andrea Winter Bell
Kailua

Queen overthrown by Hawaii residents

Current hearings by the U.S. Department of the Interior for a Hawaiian governing entity distort the facts of the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy.

Attending federal representatives as well as participants at the hearings mistakenly indicate that the U.S. government played an active role in the overthrow.

In fact, the overthrow was instigatedby the so-called Committee of Safety, consisting of 13 Hawaii residents, of whom seven were subjects of the queen.

American government officials were not involved in the overthrow,although there was concern about mishandling of the government by the queen and some discussion of annexation over decades at Hawaii’s request.

The U.S. government in Washington was unaware of the overthrow until after it took place.

Frank Scott
Kailua