Concrete blocks a possible danger

I am not commenting on the wisdom of taking away an entire lane on King Street, one of the busiest streets in Honolulu,and making it a bicyclists’ lane only.

I am sure that brighter minds than mine have already doneall the traffic studies and drawn the logical conclusions that although the ratio of cars versusbicycles may be 100 to 1 and that KingStreet provides an alternative to an already-choked H-1, a cyclist lane is necessary.

What I am wondering about is thedanger those blocksof concrete will pose for drivers, cyclists and yes, pedestrians on the sidewalk. Those blocks of concreteare an accident waiting to happen. They leaveno margin for error. Hit them with a wheel of a car or a pedal of a bicycle and — need I say more?

The only consolation is that, if one has to enter Straub Medical Center and gets rear-ended while abruptly stopping to let acyclist pass, well, they are already at the hospital.

Franco Mancassola
Hawaii Kai

Sometimes aloha has to be earned

Richard Sullivan asks motorists to give more aloha to bicyclists ("Drivers should give bicyclists their aloha," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Nov. 11).

Bicyclists will receive more aloha when they earn it.

Each and every day as I drive and walk around Honolulu, I see bicyclists breaking traffic laws and common-sense courtesy values. From bicyclists illegally riding on sidewalks and peremptorily forcing pedestrians to move aside, to running red lights, to riding in the middle of traffic lanes, to riding against traffic, the list goes on and on. I know there are bicyclists who do obey traffic laws; they are a distinct minority.

An overwhelming majority act as though they are special, and can follow auto, bicycle or pedestrian laws depending on their whim. They break whatever rules and laws inconvenience them. Respect and aloha need to be earned.

The King Street cycle track is an opportunity for bicyclists to help earn that respect and aloha. I hope they use it and don’t abuse it.

David Hamilton
McCully

UH needs better coach contracts

It’s hard to believe that the University of Hawaii can’t come upwith a no buyback/payout clause with its contracts.

UH has the William S. Richardson School of Law, with alumni that include a whole slew of legislators and other government leaders.

There’s no reason a coach or an administrator should be making three or four times the governor and get a bonus for winning.That’s what he or she is hired to do. Surely there is a wealth of local personalities who would do the job willingly and for a lot less. What are these regents thinking?

Lloyd Faulkner
Kailua

Hawaii has become a one-party state

Congratulations to Democrat voters on their clean sweep.

We truly are now a one-party state.

Look at all the one-party countries like Cuba, North Korea and China and think about how unresponsive and unaccountable they are to their people. Power is addictive, and those who have it often do whatever it takes to keep it.

If people are happy with the way things are (the economy, taxes, jobs, schools, health care and traffic), they voted wisely. If their candidate ran on issues that they support and not just on their "deep roots" and family photos, they voted wisely.

However, if a voter is not happy, has no clue how a candidate will vote, and still voted a loyal Democrat ticket, then maybe he or she needs to think more before voting for one-party government.

Bill Follmer
Aiea

Involve our youth to boost voting

Voter turnout is becoming lower with each mid-term election. Here are two ways to reverse the trend:

» Change the voting day to Sunday, as is done in Sweden.

This would eliminate disruption in our government, businesses and schools.

» Allow everyone six years and older to vote.

The present voting age and laws would remain the same; however, there would be two other unofficial voting age categories with results tallied and the results published:high school-age ballots, with the same issues as on the legal ballots, and special grade school/middle school ballotscontaining issues pertinent to these ages.

With this system, families could vote together and children would grow up with the habit of going to the polls on Election Day. Who knows? Perhaps future generations would be as eager to vote as they are to get their driver’s licenses.

Bill Scheerer
Waialae-Kahala

‘Big Q’ callously offers questions

I am so angry and astonished that the Honolulu Star Advertiser would use the "The Big Q" this way.

A "Hawaii Five-0" popularity contest was followed with a vote on whether Micronesians living in Hawaii should have medical care ("How much should the state fund medical aid for noncitizens, such as the COFA Pacific migrants?" Star-Advertiser, The Big Q, Nov. 10).

It is highly irresponsible to throw that question out to a public we know is already antagonistic toward Micronesians.

How about these questions:

» Should weapons made with cancer-causing depleted uranium (DU), easily spread by wind and deadly when inhaled, continue to be used at Hawaii testing ranges?

» Should health care be denied to local victims of DU?

Nancy Aleck
Manoa