There’s actually a seventh option for rail

In regards to the front-page article, “Runaway Train” (Star-Advertiser, June 9), instead of six options for rail, there should be a seventh: Stop rail and rip out what has been installed. It would be far cheaper.

When the rail cost hits $10 billion within the next two years, we all will realize that Ben Cayetano was correct and that “Caldwell’s Folly” should never have been started.

With $10 billion we could have built a bus system that would have solved the transportation problem and been the envy of the world. But the construction industry, politicians and bureaucrats have carefully made rail too big to stop.

When the city runs out of money, the general excise tax will be raised and made permanent, and your property taxes also will be increased.

Sit there, prepare for bankruptcy, and see if my predictions come true.

Gary N. Sparks

Waipahu

Air bags, like seat belts, intended to save lives

Believe it or not, government regulation serves a purpose. Leaving it up to individuals to decide whether or not to have an air bag in their car makes no sense whatsoever (“Mandate caused air bag problems,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, June 7).

What about seat belts? How many lives have been saved since seat belts became mandatory? How many people would pay for these safety features if they thought they could save a few hundred dollars when they purchased a new car?

What about drivers licenses? Maybe we should do away with those, too. Even with the present regulations, tens of thousands of people die each year in automobile accidents in the U.S. Do we want to add to that number?

Many years ago, my 19-year-old brother was in a fatal car accident. He and two of the other three people involved died; the only one to survive was wearing a seat belt.

Thomas Welch

Hawaii Kai

Kudos to company for restoring News Building

I’m so elated that Hawaiian Dredging has taken the leap of faith and started major renovation of that beloved 1929 News Building at 605 Kapiolani Blvd.

I was an employee of the paper for many years and was just heartbroken to see the building so forlornly in disrepair while construction grew around it. Once again, there will be a hubbub of activity for Hawaiian Dredging’s corporate offices and will bring life back into those halls.

The work in progress is now hidden by a caramel-colored sheeting. But every so often the wind plays with it, and I can glimpse what it is hiding. I can’t wait to see the unveiling.

Thank you, Hawaiian Dredging, for saving a piece of architecture and history for generations to come.

Linda Iverson

Moiliili

Writer on rape case a real man who gets it

I’ve never commented on an article before but feel compelled to now.

I want to thank Rex Huppke for his commentary, “What the Stanford University rape case can teach our sons” (Star-Advertiser, June 9).

Finally, something worth reading from a real man who gets it. I truly hope other good fathers will take his advice and teach their sons well about how to treat other living beings and to be responsible for their actions.

Meredith Leigh Kimitsuka

Kailua