State forgets duty to Ala Wai customers

There are about 1,000 boats at the Ala Wai in public slips and at the clubs — customers of the state. In order to properly serve these customers, the state would do well to provide basic services. A clean and modern place to haul boats to paint and repair is a basic service. A place to buy fuel and supplies is a basic service.

The state has forgotten its duty to its customers and has tried to become a big-shot real estate developer with harbor land. That did not turn out so well. Perhaps the state needs to keep it simple and provide haul-out and repair at the haul-out yard and fuel at the fuel dock.

More parking would benefit the harbor and the public, too. So build a nice low-rise parking garage in the big parking lot. Is this too difficult?

Perhaps it is time to turn the harbor over to a professional operator, as has been done at Kewalo Basin.

Jeffry Hossellman

Pacific Heights

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Enforce fire code regulations instead

The fire at Marco Polo condominiums was a very real tragedy. But requiring condos to install sprinkler systems is an unnecessarily extreme knee-jerk reaction.

How many fire code violations contributed to the rapid spread of the flames?

Instead of requiring sprinkler systems that would bankrupt many condo residents, we need to require that all condo associations make sure that all fire code regulations are enforced on a daily basis.

Joy Schoonover

Waipahu

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Reform rules on rabies quarantine

Hawaii is rabies-free and while we all can appreciate that, the state’s 120-day (four-month) quarantine law introduced in 1912 is outdated.

Yes, it is true that it started offering a five-day-or-less quarantine program back in 2003, which allows for pets to be directly released at the airport or soon after their arrival to the islands. However, this is only if the pet owner follows strict procedures prior to the pet’s arrival in Hawaii. And by strict: Your adult pet needs to have had at least one rabies vaccination more than 120 days before its arrival. If you have a puppy or kitten, it will take at least 10 months to qualify for this program. Therefore, if your pet cannot meet the requirements of the five-day-or-less program, then your pet will spend 120 days at the animal quarantine station, which is just as outdated as the law.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, rabies can normally be detected within one to three months, if not sooner. So while I understand the need for strict animal quarantine laws, why is it that Hawaii has not revised its law to represent a shorter quarantine program?

Tiana Dombrowski

Pearl City

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Politicians owned by wealthy donors

Now that the Trump Ranch has all its cattle rounded up in the corral, they are now being herded, branded and led to graze on the pasture that they are busy creating for themselves. Yes, like cattle, all of our politicians are bought and paid for.

It doesn’t matter who raised the cattle (their constituents); what matters is who is willing to pay the most for their hides. Now we know it’s not the people who took time to vote for them. No, it’s the people who backed them up with the almighty dollar.

Claudia Torres

Aiea

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Trump turns U.S. into rogue nation

Donald Trump is not only a rogue president; he is turning the U.S. into a rogue nation.

He withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate accord; we are the only country in the world not participating, despite the reality of global climate change.

He declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel, making the U.S. the only country to do so except Israel, ignoring the consensus of the United Nations and the European Union, agitating Muslims worldwide and fueling violence.

He threatened North Korea with nuclear war, making the U.S. the only country to do so, although North Korea threatened a nuclear attack on some neighbors and the U.S.

He withdrew or threatened to withdraw from various multi- lateral agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Iranian nuclear deal.

Such retrogressive actions fail to recognize the indisputable fact that the contemporary world is increasingly interconnected and interdependent in a multitude of ways. Denying and contravening reality is insanely dangerous for America and the world.

Leslie E. Sponsel

Hawaii Kai

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Kamehameha protected itself

I would like to support Kamuela Kala‘i’s commentary (“Account for abuse of students,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Dec. 20).

I, too, received the bland letter of explanation from Kamehameha Schools CEO Jack Wong regarding the alleged sexual abuse of children by Dr. Robert Browne and had a similar reaction.

Browne is not the only abuser left in place over the years. When my sister attended the school in the late 1960s, there was another abuser, well known to female students who tried to avoid being sent to the infirmary when sick.

Kala‘i bravely addressed the culture of secrecy and cover-up that has always put protection of the image and assets above the welfare of students.

The school’s entrenched bureaucratic system has long encouraged conformity and good behavior from students over questioning and creativity.

It’s high time things changed. I don’t think that’s what Bernice Pauahi Bishop would have wanted in today’s world.

Kaui Philpotts

Makiki