Federal study refutes pesticide foes’ claims

Misinformed people have spread a great deal of unwarranted fear in Hawaii around agricultural pesticides. So it’s disappointing the findings were not better reported by Hawaii media when a federal agency last week released the results of surface water testing on Oahu and Kauai.

For those who missed it, all the results were well within state and federal regulatory water quality standards. Sadly, even this good news has been rejected by the groups that are seeking to harm agriculture in Hawaii with their false claims about “poisoning paradise.”

I can only hope that lawmakers who are dealing with this issue took the time to review the report so they can separate facts from fear.

Joan Conrow

Santa Fe, N.M.

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Sprinklers for houses make more sense

The City Council will meet on Bill 69, which would require fire sprinklers to be installed in older apartment buildings.

The city is pushing for retrofit in high-rises, which are made of steel and concrete, yet completely disregarding mandating sprinklers in single-family residential units, which are usually constructed of wood.

The National Fire Data Center’s most recent publication, “Fire in the United States,” says that one- and two-family structures experience 2 1/2 times the number of fires than high-rises.

An elderly woman died from a kitchen fire last November in an Ewa Beach house. Two people died in a Pearl City house fire last month.

Officials have not clamored to require sprinkler retrofits to houses.

The decision by the City Council, the mayor and Honolulu Fire Department to advocate extremely expensive sprinkler retrofits to high-rises while being silent on residential units demonstrates inconsistent logic.

Or do house-owner voters outnumber high-rise voters?

Guy Pasco

McCully-Moiliili

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Bike lane proposal doesn’t make sense

More bike lanes (“More bike lanes proposed for Ward and Pensacola,” Star-Advertiser, March 16). Really?

We took arguably the best working road in the state, King Street, and transformed it into a mine-laden obstacle course. I think bike lanes are a great idea where they make sense.

It just knocks me back every time I see the people who are supposed to be leading us spend time and tax dollars on projects that serve the few at the cost of the many (read: rail). They seem to focus on keeping the paint shiny while the wheels are falling off.

Squeeze another several thousand vehicles into an already tight main thoroughfare so we can be sensitive to the needs of the 4.7 people per hour who use these bike lanes? How about we hand out slingshots to our citizens in an effort to combat gun violence?

Rex Cornair

Kaneohe

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We need parking spaces, good roads

With the worst roads in the nation, a critical and very severe lack of available street parking, on a small island where our automobiles are certainly the main mode of transportation to work, schools or shopping, the city’s Complete Streets program sees a need for bike lanes on Ward Avenue. Are you kidding?

Where are the projected 1,000 riders a day on what very sadly is left of a narrowed and now dangerous King Street — our very best east-west alternative to a busy H-1?

And now our esteemed city leaders want to narrow our best mauka-makai route, Ward Avenue, and shockingly plunk bike lanes directly in front of the Blaisdell Civic Center.

We pay property taxes to have parking spaces, decent roads and safe streets. All these taxpayer- funded and expected privileges are rapidly disappearing.

By the way, should I mention how well the city is doing on another alternate mode of transportation — rail? Enough said.

Bob Vieira

Pauoa Valley

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Young people do Hawaii proud

Aloha. I have never been so proud of the young people in our Hawaii nei as I was on Wednesday (“For 17 minutes, thousands of Hawaii students walk out to honor Florida’s 17 dead,” Star-Advertiser, March 15).

I watched them speak (as their elders should be speaking) about the horrors of gun violence in schools around our country and how our state should enact a law making it a crime to bring any type of gun or violent weapon on school grounds.

I heard them show respect and honor for those young people who died in Florida on school grounds, displaying a lei for each person slain, singing chants, honoring them for 17 minutes for each one of the lives lost that fateful day.

Mahalo nui loa, young people of Hawaii. You do your state and your country proud, along with the other students around our country. You are great models for those of us elders who need to make the necessary changes in our country so that these horrors never happen again.

Marie J. Scott

Makakilo

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In real life, teachers won’t kill gunmen

I respectfully disagree with Albert Miral (“Trained teacher can take down rifleman,” Star Advertiser, Letters, March 15). He said he is “distinguished in pistol and rifle by the National Rifle Association.” Does that mean that he’s well adept at active-shooter scenarios? Does he expect that teachers will have the ability, guts and bravery to take out an assailant with one shot like Dirty Harry?

The problem with bravado is this: You don’t know how people will react when chaos swirls around them. Bullets are flying, blood splatters everywhere. People are dead or dying. Others are screaming and crying. Lights are turned off. People are hiding, and he expects a teacher will see and kill the shooter? Sounds good in the movies. But not in real life.

Mike Tyson said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” That’s the cold slap of reality.

Robert K Soberano

Moiliili