Cost of living a factor in ‘monster homes’

“Monster homes” expose some major concerns.

First, someone’s trying to take advantage of our affordable- housing dilemma. Spare rooms within city neighborhoods can easily rent from $400 to $700 a month, which is convenient for a working individual needing a place to sleep, a bathroom and use of a microwave. This has been a hidden source of income for many property owners.

Second, it brings to light the underlying problem of how difficult it is to live in Hawaii because of our high cost of living. That’s why people resort to illegal activities in order to survive. The illegal bed-and-breakfast industry is a prime example.

Meanwhile, many homeowners illegally modify their homes (disregarding city ordinances) in order to accommodate growing families. Are they criminals? Many are just trying to survive.

Clarence Chun

Kalihi

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Traffic on streets near airport risky

Paiea and Koapaka streets by the airport are insane most mornings and anytime after 2 p.m. — actually, all day.

The people who work in the area can’t get to Nimitz Highway because we can’t turn onto Paiea. There’s too much traffic and the lights aren’t synchronized correctly.

It is insane and an accident waiting to happen. You can’t turn left off Koapaka to go east on Paiea from the airport shopping center.

A quick and cheap fix would be to open Koapaka on the Ewa side to the back street by the Airport Honolulu Hotel. Hundreds of cars could access Nimitz that way.

Please fix this before someone gets hurt.

Lizette Haneberg

Hawaii Kai

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Trumps showed aloha, unlike Obama

The Trumps showed great respect and class in their arrival in Hawaii by being seen in Hawaii’s traditional arrival greeting of leis.

The Obamas, however, have shown that they never had any class or respect whatsoever as they were rarely seen in leis in their many arrivals. Barack Obama was never seen in an aloha shirt. What a slap in the face of all who live in Hawaii and respect its culture.

Mike Eberle

Waikiki

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Best protest sign greeted president

I saw hundreds of protest signs and a handful that supported the president.

The best one read, “WELCOME TO KENYA.”

Walter Mahr

Mililani

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Flag shouldn’t be worn as a shawl

The front-page photo in the Star-Advertiser (“Whirlwind tour,” Nov. 4), showed Bruni Bradley, the wife of Adm. Harry Harris, using our American flag as a shawl.

I wouldn’t expect the Trumps (a five-time draft dodger and his foreign-born wife), who were standing next to her, to be familiar with the law, but the admiral or his staff should have been.

Her disrespect of our flag reminds me of the weekly NFL carrying of our flag onto a field horizontally, in direct violation of U.S. Code, Title 4, which says it must be carried “aloft and free.”

Using it as a shawl is not patriotic, and the U.S. Navy should know better.

Keith Haugen

U.S. Army veteran

Nuuanu

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Tax reform built on greed, not good

The GOP tax reform rests on the belief that Big Business in a service-based economy will invest its massive tax cuts to create more jobs and more commercial services. The problem: There is no product, only more employees replicating existing services to the point of gross economic inefficiency.

Consequently, our oligarchs will invest the money only if they can maximize their profits.

In a “free market,” if we shift the criteria to a “fair return on investment,” management has the obligation to ensure that its investments enhance the common good. This requires a more insightful business plan and ethical leadership, not obfuscation and phony theories to preserve the status quo for greater profits.

In short, the GOP is greedy, like its corporate sponsors, and takes pride in its successes.

Robert Tellander

Waikiki

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Hawaii’s attorney general needs to go

We don’t need an activist attorney general. Douglas Chin wasted at least $150,000 in fees to outside counsel in his personal crusade against President Donald Trump’s travel ban. How much more has he wasted in supporting other political pet projects to impress special interests, like the Democratic Attorneys General Association?

If Chin has extra money in his budget, he should use it to help citizens here in Hawaii.

For example, how about improving the safety of Hawaii’s brave corrections officers by putting more cameras in state prisons? There are woefully few now. Or how about finally standing up to the American Civil Liberties Union and taking on the homeless problem?

Chin obviously has aspirations to elected office. His waste of state funds has bought him so much national airtime, he’s been able to delve into the utterly meaningless and brag about having perfect pitch.

Gov. David Ige should replace him. Allowing Chin to continue wasting state funds pursuing notoriety is inappropriate, and will only make it harder for Ige to get reelected.

Joe Patterson

Ewa Beach

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Inattentive drivers endanger walkers

Recently I was almost struck by a truck even though I was in a crosswalk. That’s two just-misses and one hit in 25 years.

I have no serious injuries to report currently, but a friend was killed three years ago when a driver wasn’t paying attention to the right-of-way for people walking.

Doug Maier

Moiliili