It has been 25 years since my loved one was killed by a red-light and stop-sign runner. How, I ask, can those opposed to this safety effort to slow down these killers justify their opposition (“Red-light-camera bill advances in Legislature,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. 3)?

The only way one can understand the loss will be when it happens to you. Think about it carefully.

Karina Lok

Makiki

Tourists taking over our communities

Lee Cataluna’s column is right on (“State tourism has spun out of control,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. 2). I’ve lived here all my life (72 years) and know from first-hand experience what she said is what many, many of us feel.

We have about half a dozen illegal vacation rentals on our street. Last year’s new city ordinance has not made the homeowners discontinue their illegal businesses. Their visitors ignore private property signs and trespass, looking for a path to the beach. They take our few parking spaces, create unnecessary noise, can be seen walking up and down our streets and, most of all, driving speedily down our streets, endangering our young children.

Our city and state government has lost the respect of many kamaaina. I have had several experiences with the city and state government: the shibai about traffic getting fixed, and illegal vacation rentals thriving after I’ve reported them to the city Department of Planning and Permitting. Shame on our government for making promises it cannot keep.

Tony Suetsugu

Haleiwa

Too many visitors will kill the golden goose

I thoroughly agree with Lee Cataluna’s article on overtourism in Hawaii (“State tourism has spun out of control,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. 2).

Hawaii, especially Oahu, is a far different place than it was before today’s masses of tourists encroached on the once-tranquil island lifestyle. Tourists crowd all the beaches on the island now, not just Waikiki. Even formerly peaceful Waimanalo Beach Park is now overrun with tourists, snapping their selfies so they can say they “were there.”

Is 10 million tourists enough? Or does the short-sighted tourist industry want more in an insane quest for revenues at the expense of destroying our islands? I have nothing against tourists or tourism, and it is the engine that drives our economy and, unfortunately, there are no other viable industries to replace it.

But that does not mean you destroy the goose that laid the golden egg by continuing to deplete our island and its resources with too many visitors.

Steve Cedillos

McCully-Moiliili

Launch rail transit as soon as possible

For those of us who remember, the H-3 freeway was way over budget, decades late and mired in controversy. But no one really complains today or gives it much of a second thought. This change only happened once the highway was opened and people could use it and appreciate its convenience.

The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s main focus should be to open up rail to the public as quickly as possible, so we can all see for ourselves (“Mayor Caldwell warns of another rail delay,” Star-Advertiser, Jan. 31).

Dee Freitas

Makakilo

In coronavirus stories, don’t mix Taiwan, China

Two photographs that accompany recent articles are inappropriate because they confuse Taiwan with China.

“Virus scuttles travel plans” (Star-Advertiser, Jan. 28), used a picture taken at the Chinatown Cultural Plaza in Honolulu. The picture showed a young boy wearing a mask and the plaza decorated with U.S. and Taiwan flags.

“Tourism officials focused on safety” (Star-Advertiser, Feb. 2), used a picture taken at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. The accompanying caption stated, “A worker wearing a face mask walked past the China Airlines counter” and that “that flights to the U.S. from China will be restricted to seven airports, including Honolulu.”

China Airlines does not offer any nonstop flights between China and Honolulu. Neither the Chinatown Cultural Plaza nor China Airlines are owned by China; they are Taiwanese-owned businesses.

It is important that your reporting distinguishes the difference between Taiwan and China.

I-Ling Ogawa

Mililani

If Trump rigs election, voters may be Russian

I keep hearing U.S. senators saying, “Do not convict; let the voters decide.”

What if the next presidential act is a phone call: “Vlad, I hear your guys can now change votes in our machines. Just to let you know, I would not be upset if I won by 5% in blue states, 15% in red/purple states — and if I get a majority in the House and extend my majority in Senate, I will finally be able to remove those sanctions I so dislike.”

In this case, the decision would not be left to U.S. voters, but to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s. So I have a bit of difficulty with the argument that it is OK to let the president rig the election and the voters will decide. They may not be U.S. voters.

Herbert Blann

Waikiki

Hirono shows true colors in vote response

Her hits just keep coming: Lately, U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono has been just dropping some great clues as to how she has been “representing” the people of Hawaii for the past 39 years.

Her response to the U.S. Senate’s vote last week was that she did not “care” about the “legal” and “constitutional defenses” that President Donald Trump’s legal defense used during his Senate impeachment trial. Now that reveals how she feels about “truth, justice, and the American way.”

James Pritchett

McCully-Moiliili

EXPRESS YOURSELF

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser welcomes all opinions. Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor.

>> Write us: We welcome letters up to 150 words, and guest columns of 500-600 words. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. Include your name, address and daytime phone number.

>> Mail: Letters to the Editor, Honolulu Star-Advertiser 7 Waterfront Plaza, 500 Ala Moana, Suite 210 Honolulu, HI 96813

>> Contact: 529-4831 (phone), 529-4750 (fax), letters@staradvertiser.com, staradvertiser.com/editorial/submit-letter