Illegal buildings should be torn down

Regarding “The monster on Date Street” (Star-Advertiser, April 13): The only thing that will get the attention of unscrupulous property owners, contractors and architectural design firms is an order to demolish the illegal structure.

Instead of “finding ways to make a violator come into compliance,” especially one who continues to amass fines, the city should take a hard, proactive approach. This will send a strong message and deter others.

Lynne Matusow

Downtown Honolulu

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Senate would snuff scientific marvel

The bright light of a telescope, so powerful that it would bring much-needed scientific acclaim to the entire world and our state, is flickering, with our state Senate providing the final puff to put out the flame (“Mauna Kea construction ban clears Senate, but House not interested,” Star-Advertiser, April 13).

It is truly unbelievable that this scientific marvel is being shown the door to, of all places, the Canary Islands.

Let’s give our Senate a big hand for a decision that clearly shows a complete disregard for a scientific marvel that could improve Hawaii’s reputation.

Hawaii is not a business- friendly state, and the Senate’s action is a prime example of why. Auwe!

Bob Vieira

Pauoa Valley

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Politicians too weak to handle vandals

No, Mayor Caldwell, Hawaii’s people haven’t deteriorated (“City locking 25 parks at night to deter vandalism,” Star-Advertiser, April 13).

Our politicians have just become weak-willed and self-serving. Therefore, the mayor only closes our parks, only because he sees more political advantage pandering to the politically loudest of three groups ambiguously spun together as the “homeless” which are:

>> Those with serious mental illness, a fixed, not exploding, percentage of our population;

>> Those temporarily down on their luck, a shrinking percentage as the economy improves;

>> Vagrants, exploding in number because of Hawaii’s blessed weather, free food and weak politicians who permit them to avoid work, and the obligation to contribute, by colonizing public land.

And having grown explosively in number and being more aggressively problematic, vagrants monopolize media attention, i.e., monopolize politicians led around by the media, who then shortchange the ill and unlucky; lock citizens out of parks we pay to maintain and tell us it’s our fault. We all deserve better.

George Berish

Kakaako

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Bike riders should pay for bike lanes

Our mayor and his administration keep adding bike lanes all over the island. Where are the funds coming from to plan and build these bike lanes?

I hope it’s not coming from my motor vehicle registration fees. The city started to charge moped riders a yearly registration fee, so why not also charge bike riders a yearly registration fee to maintain the bike lanes?

Have you ever noticed on the homeless sweeps how many bikes are confiscated? That’s a lot of funds to be collected if these bike riders have to register their bikes yearly.

Lester Lee

Kaneohe

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Climate deniers threaten security

There is overwhelming consensus among the world’s scientific experts that global climate change is real and humans are the major cause, as documented by a succession of numerous published reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and even our Pentagon and intelligence agencies.

In spite of this, climate deniers persist at the highest levels of our own government, including people such as the Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt. Such irresponsible government “leaders,” together with executives of fossil-fuel companies, should be put on trial for treason because climate change is the single greatest threat to our national security.

Their actions represent a crime against humanity because their willful gross negligence may be jeopardizing the future of humanity for centuries.

Leslie E. Sponsel

Hawaii Kai

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Syria attack distracts from investigation

Imagine someone cheating on his wife with a porn star and under investigation for illegal activities with Russia while many of his associates are interrogated as accomplices. The Special Counsel is bearing down on him and the press is turning up the heat.

What’s an apprentice president to do?

Would attacking Syria distract the news media and public from Stormy Daniels and other investigations engulfing the White House? After attacking Syria, President Donald Trump announced, “Mission accomplished.” If this has the media and public forgetting the investigation of possible Trump crimes, then Trump’s mission was accomplished.

Remember Trump’s botched raid in Yemen to capture a highly ranked terrorist leader? A Navy Seal was killed and a $75 million Osprey aircraft was destroyed and that terrorist leader escaped. Then Trump called the mission a success.

Is it impeachment time yet? Or do we wait until Trump launches nuclear missiles​?

Ed Stevens

Mililani

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Lawmaker’s insults sound like Trump

Interesting. A sitting state legislator calls the governor of her own party “pathetic” and a “crybaby” (“Ige calls rival’s fundraiser ‘a very concerning event’,” Star-Advertiser, April 15).

Oh, my. Everyone’s beginning to sound a bit Trumpian these days.

Bill Fong

Makiki