The odoriferous Salt Lake waterway certainly sounds like a nuisance worth fixing, and it is interesting to learn the history of the problem and suggested solutions (“In Salt Lake, residents cry foul”, Star-Advertiser, April 18). However, no mention is made of the most likely reason for the green algal blooms fueling the stink: nutrients (fertilizers) entering the water from the adjacent land. The fact that the waterway is adjacent to a golf course with lots of green grass offers a strong suggestion where to look first for nutrient inputs.

However, just stopping the input of nutrients will likely not lead to a rapid cleanup of the problem, as the nutrients in the algae will be recycled and re-released to the waterway when the algae die, sink to the bottom, and rot.

Only the removal of the algae, typically done with a floating mechanical skimmer, and disposal outside of the watershed will keep the algae (and the smell) from returning. Environmental scientists figured out this relationship many decades ago.

Frank Sansone

St. Louis Heights

‘Smart grid’ won’t help most people

Before Hawaiian Electric gives us a “smart grid,” it needs a smarter company.

I have to believe that most people use a minimum amount of power to keep the costs down; very few are wasting power.

There are few who can shift usage from night to day with cheaper rates. We have to have lights on, take showers and cook at night when we are at home — a no-brainer.

We are given a choice of paying for an expensive meter, or paying for meter readings with no real way to reduce costs.

Then there is the issue of the outrageous salaries paid to the executives to run a monopoly with a guaranteed profit by our Public Utilities Commission. They are sounding like NextEra with their no-facts, no-details, feel-good statements.

They are brainwashing us into accepting higher power costs.

Fred Metcalf

Kalihi-Palama

State should buy Dole farmlands

We have an opportunity to protect 8,000 acres of farmland that Dole is currently selling by having the state purchase these lands.

The Senate has included in its version of the state budget a $107 million appropriation to purchase the acreage. If agriculture is to reach its full potential, land availability and long-term leases at affordable rates are critical. The acquisition of the Dole lands will increase the available agricultural land under the state’s control and will provide farmers with long-term leases that will enhance the economic viability of Hawaii’s agriculture industry.

If we do not purchase these lands now, developers will, potentially turning these productive agricultural lands into “gentlemen farms” or subdivisions.

The state has a responsibility to protect valuable agricultural lands from development and to preserve it for future agricultural production. This purchase will help move Hawaii closer to its goal of increasing self-sufficiency and sustainability.

Randy Cabral

President, Hawaii Farm Bureau

Criticism of HART doesn’t make sense

I don’t see why the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation is being criticized for not having adequate contingency funds (“Audit describes financial train wreck,” Star-Advertiser, April 16).

The reason why HART doesn’t have, say, a 20 percent contingency fund, is because taxpayers like me have not paid for such a contingency fund. Until that changes, should we expect HART to have adequate contingency funds in its budget?

Puzzling, too, is the criticism of HART’s budgeting for large new expenditures without complete documentation. If it knows that something expensive will be added, then it should budget for it, even without complete documentation. Otherwise, it would be misrepresenting the costs.

Since the economy has greatly improved since the early project estimates were prepared, I did expect cost escalation. If the economy improves further, I expect costs to increase further. It is hard to predict precisely the future construction market.

When the overall project is considered, the HART team is doing a good job managing the project.

Jon Yanagida

Mililani

Buddhists celebrate full moon in April

On the first full moon of April, many Buddhists celebrate the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death.

There are many reasons these events are celebrated by Buddhists. The Buddha’s discovery of the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, the “Middle Way,” is a major one.

A reason the Noble Eightfold Path is called the “Middle Way” is that it provides an alternative, an option for those who do not find satisfaction in any one of the thousands upon thousands of transcendental beliefs available in the world. At the same time it provides an alternative, an option for all those who are not completely satisfied with the many technological, scientific and material accomplishments of our modern world.

Buddhism’s middle way between these worldviews of eternalism and annihilationism is characterized by impermanence, change and becoming. It is the Buddha’s refutation of the ancient Indian dualities of existence and non-existence.

Koji Takakuwa

Waikiki

Motorcycles much louder than mopeds

About all the hubbub over moped noise — are you serious?

I own a moped and cannot believe people in McCully don’t complain more about the modified motorcycles.

They make 10 times the noise of any moped. Riders pull out the baffles (which quiet the mufflers) and then race up and down Ala Moana with ear-splitting sound, trying to set off car alarms.

Don’t take away the ease of owning a moped. Focus more on those who don’t care about anyone but themselves — motorcyclists.

Bill Fuson

Ala Moana