Bicyclists taking over pedestrian walkways

Your little pat on the back for the bicycle riders in the Biki program needs a little reality check (“More bicycles put drivers on notice,” Star Advertiser, Our View, Jan. 20). Certainly it is appropriate to caution motorists about more bicycles on the street, and I can understand why bicyclists use the sidewalks, but caution to the bikers about pedestrians is in order where it is legal to ride on a sidewalk (which I don’t believe it is in the Kapiolani business district).

As a pedestrian, I am sick and tired of Biki riders taking over the pedestrian walkways as if they own them. Of course, bicyclists besides Biki riders do the same. As least Biki riders have lights on the bikes at night, which many others do not use.

I have yet to see a police officer ticket bicyclists on the sidewalks along the Kapiolani Boulevard corridor or Keeaumoku or Makaloa streets.

Richard Criley

Piikoi

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Ige hardly Hawaii’s ‘worst governor’

Lee Cataluna’s assessment of Gov. David Ige is stunning when we look quietly at the facts (“Lt. Gov. Tsutsui has left the building for obvious reasons,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. 2).

Ige may have not responded quickly enough to the false ballistic missle alert, but that does not make him “the worst governor Hawaii has ever had.”

Let’s look at what he has done for the state in the last four years:

>> 5,300 low-cost housing units, on target for 10,000 by 2020.

>> Greatest tourism increase in history.

>> Homeless family assistance.

>> Smoking age raised to 21 to help save our young people from a deadly habit.

>> Meeting with and supporting University of Hawaii cancer researchers, including one who isolated a molecule that may prevent cancer from metastasizing.

>> The “Hawaii Promise” program that keeps our poorest students in community colleges.

>> $24 million for Hawaiian homesteads.

>> 100 percent renewable energy for Hawaii by 2045.

Ige works quietly and deliberately, and keeps promises. Are your kids learning better in the 1,300 air-conditioned classrooms? All this and more from Hawaii’s “worst governor”?

John Shockley

Makakilo

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Constituents ignored in vote against tax bill

Members of Congress are there to represent the views of their constituents. At least they say they are. A huge portion of our Hawaii populace is living from paycheck to paycheck. Mortgages are high, rents are ridiculous and food costs much more than on the mainland.

Why then would U.S. Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz vote against a bill to give us all relief from high taxes, a bill that spurred numerous employers to give their employees bonuses of $1,000 or more and many more pay raises? Many corporations are getting tax relief to expand and hire more employees and grant raises.

Then our senators voted to shut the government down and cause great inconvenience to federal employees and contractors, as well as to visitors unable to visit federal tourist sites.

Hirono and Schatz chose to represent illegal aliens instead of those whom they took an oath of office to represent.

I thought we were done with taxation without representation.

Jim Slavish

Kailua

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Involve feds in alert system improvement

Gov. David lge made an unprecedented decision to implement a warning system in case of a ballistic missile attack, in light of the North Korea threats and our vulnerability here in Hawaii. It certainly would have been helpful to have had more federal assistance to implement this system and to train and provide oversight of employees.

The investigations are recommending certain actions to reassure the public that improve- ments are being made to prevent this false alarm from happening again, including immediate- response protocols.

This is a wake-up call. Many states are now learning from this and hoping there will be more federal involvement in their alert systems to better prepare and protect our communities.

Audrey Abe

Kaimuki

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Not just minimum wage would go up

In response to Stephen Hinton (“To ease financial hardship, vote,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Feb. 6), I offer the following:

Businesses only obtain their money from their customers, so any increase in wages will mean higher prices for all, adding to the cost of living.

An increase in the minimum wage will mean everyone above the minimum will also want an increase. If I am a manager already making $15 an hour, am I going to work for the same wage as my employees?

The final result: high wages, job losses and higher prices for all.

What will be gained?

Jon E. Kromroy

Las Vegas

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Emails can’t replace personal postal letter

Having family in Hawaii, I read the Star-Advertiser article, “Pen-pals’ bond still strong after 75 years” (Star-Advertiser, Incidential Lives, Jan. 30).

Since I am only 54, I cannot hold a candle to that record. However, I truly enjoy writing postal letters when time, substance of topics, health and my mood cooperate. It is a bit costlier than e-mail, yet to me it is more personalized.

Due to the cost of postage, I am confining more and more of my letters to cherished relatives. I have one relative in Nebraska who is a great conversationalist and is the pulse of the family. A true gem.

I vividly recall my first letter from the Vatican and a postcard from Hawaii, as well as a handwritten letter from the late actor Ernest Borgnine.

Postal letters give that human touch and literal flair that electronic communiques cannot give.

James A. Marples

Longview, Texas