Other projects not criticized

Rail’s cost overruns resulted from frivolous and delaying lawsuits by rail opponents, which they lost and for which we will pay.

Why all the attention to rail? Honolulu issued $3.4 billion in bonds for wastewater systems since 1998. The 2015 $888 million bond issue lists current bonds for wastewater as $1.63 billion.

There is currently a 3-mile sewer tunnel project being built below Kaneohe and Kailua. That’s longer then the Pali, Likelike and H-3 tunnels combined.

Where were the debates, outrage and lawsuits for this project?

Maybe if we spent as much time stuck on our toilets as in our vehicles, we’d have plenty of debate.

In size and cost, the city’s wastewater projects are on par with the rail project. Let’s stop bickering and leave rail to the experts as we do for other public works projects.

Sam Gillie
Hawaii Kai

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Offer discounts for UH football

If there were a Pulitzer Prize for headlines, you guys would be contenders.

“Chow Is pau” exemplifies the pithy heads on stories which themselves are full of pith and vinegar (Star-Advertiser, Nov. 2). Great headlines state the facts, show the writer’s command of language, and imagine the reader’s feelings.

With the firing of University of Hawaii football coach Norm Chow after another lopsided defeat, the headline reflects the fans’ disgust for the team’s lack of progress.

The athletic director doesn’t have time to rebuild fan support by hiring a promising new coach. He needs to hold a fire sale for the last three games: all seats $5, kids free, and begin to sell next year’s season tickets with very deep discounts.

Stephen Lerman
Liliha

Chow chose not to resign

Michael O’Hara wonders why University of Hawaii football coach Norm Chow was not allowed to resign (“Chow not treated with proper respect,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Nov. 3).

Most coaches have three years to make their mark. Chow had the opportunity to resign at the end of last season. He chose not to. He was not about to do it after the blowout to Air Force, either.

Whoever is the next coach needs to get a commitment from the state and private business for financial support.

At a minimum, this should include paying for travel subsidies for schools traveling to Hawaii and a $5,000 stipend for each UH scholarship athlete in football, basketball, baseball, volleyball and softball.

When other schools, including Boise State, are giving stipends of $5,000, it is hard for an athlete from Hawaii, or anywhere else, to choose a school paying only $1,000.

Peter Chisteckoff
Mililani Mauka

Study impact of sovereignty

On the issue of Hawaiian sovereignty, I am sure that Hawaiians are sick of hearing non-Hawaiians like me tell them what to do.

But I suggest that the federal government needs to do a feasibility study on the jurisdictional issues that can arise if sovereignty doesn’t mean a geographically separate area where Hawaiians would live.

If sovereignty creates long-term costs or losses for other Hawaii taxpayers, will we get reimbursed by the federal government? There are some practical issues here. We need an impact study.

Lloyd Lim
Makiki

Use black flag for shark attacks

When anyone gets bitten by a shark, signs are posted on the beach that read, “Shark Sighting,” with a red flag on top of the sign.

Why not make one sign with a legend that reads “Shark Sighting” with a red flag, and “Shark Attack” with a black flag?

A black flag would alert beachgoers of a shark attack.

Rick Ornellas
Liliha

Kauai whining about air fares

After killing the Superferry, now Kauai is crying about air fares (“Kauai wants state to help make interisland travel cheaper,” Star-Advertiser, Nov. 1). How sad.

Kauai and Maui didn’t want the nasty Oahu people coming to their island on the Superferry, and now they are going to have to pay the price.

Too bad.

It’s really too bad that a few protesters were allowed to kill the most innovative transportation idea in decades, and now the whining starts.

Bob Gould
Kaneohe