Proponents of managed access for Haiku Stairs are conveniently leaving out a large detail: security. Nobody can possibly understand the angst and stress that the residents go through every night. If you don’t live near the stairs, you are not exposed to the countless times we are awakened at 2 a.m. to rustling sounds in our backyards. And these trespassers are persistent. They will do whatever it takes to get to the stairs, and will enter other people’s private property to do so.
Trust me, if your personal space was violated by another disrespectful person for their selfish gain, you know the anger that we experience each and every day.
It is extremely naive to suggest that managed access will resolve the problem of illegal trespassing. In fact, the proposal to limit the number of hikers per day would only make the problem worse. It is illegal to climb Haiku Stairs, yet that doesn’t deter the thousands of people who do it anyway. What makes anyone think that opening it up legally will deter anyone who wants to trespass illegally?
Brent Teraoka
Kaneohe
HMSA’s fee schedule a cause of doctor shortage
After more than 30 years of practicing medicine in Hawaii, it has become almost tedious for me to explain the real reason for our physician shortage.
Here I go again: It is primarily the fault of HMSA (Hawaii Medical Service Association) and allowing it to continue setting the fee schedule here. It is irrefutable that if HMSA was forced to pay physicians at only the same level as in other high cost-of-living areas (Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York), more physicians would migrate to Hawaii and those trained here would stay here.
In the realm of health care, HMSA has been described as the 800-pound gorilla. This description is deserved. All other efforts to solve this problem are Band-Aids. Forcing HMSA to toe the line on reimbursements will force some compromises on overall insurance cost to employers. Nonetheless, it is your only choice if you really want adequate physician coverage.
Dr. Ron Kienitz
Kailua
Don’t underestimate danger of COVID-19
Fact Checker reports that, as president, Donald Trump has surpassed 16,000 false or misleading claims. But perhaps the most harmful is telling Americans that the U.S. is at low risk for the COVID-19 virus.
Forty-four percent of the American workforce earns less than $18,000 per annum. They cannot afford to miss work, cannot afford doctors, and cannot afford to keep sick children home from daycare or school.
The coronavirus spread like wildfire in South Korea, which has a national health service. What kind of president would tell Americans their risk is low for contracting the virus?
Most parents cannot afford to stock up on food and water for a fortnight-or- longer quarantine. If everyone is sick, who will help them?
People need to put on their thinking caps and take immediate action, such as supplying children with alcohol wipes to immediately control possible contamination.
Rico Leffanta
Kakaako
Follow Ala Moana model to achieve good results
After years of community meetings, City Council hearings and media interviews, Ala Moana Regional Park will remain the “People’s Park.” Keeping what’s there, but with better maintenance. This represents what can be achieved by “we the people” using the process religiously.
It should serve as a model for all citizens to follow. Civil disobedience, while effective in grabbing headlines and hype, wastes millions of everyone’s taxpayer dollars. As a result, both sides end up losing.
Michael Woo
Hawaii Kai
APRNs would prescribe end-of-life prescriptions
I am writing to hopefully clarify information in a recent commentary by Dr. Charlotte Charfen (Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Feb. 26). While the headline said, “Let nurses prescribe end-of-life meds,” the intent of current legislation going through the Legislature is to allow Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) to serve as attending and consulting medical providers for the Our Care, Our Choice Act.
These nurses have advanced training, either master’s or doctorate degrees, and can legally practice independently and prescribe Schedule ll narcotics. Their addition would be a godsend for those patients on the neighbor islands and rural areas who are seeking aid in dying under Hawaii’s OCOCA.
Dr. Charles F. Miller
Director, Kaiser aid-in-dying program
Politicians won’t ignore political considerations
In regards to Arthur Mersereau’s disappointment in the Senate voting for acquittal among political lines (“Impeachment verdict lacks any credibility,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Feb. 28), I suggest he read the tale of “The Scorpion and the Frog.”
Expecting a political body to ignore politics is like expecting a medical team to discount scientific research; a pastor to reject the teachings of the Bible; or a newspaper to disregard the needs of its advertisers.
Our best hopes are that politicians’ self-serving actions overlap with our own needs.
Kris Schwengel
Hawaii Kai
Spending decline by Oahu tourists hurts
I just saw the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s visitor spending report for January 2020. Visitors spent $1.71 billion in January 2020, an increase of 5% over January 2019 for most of the state. Good for all of us.
The article goes on to say that Oahu was the only island to register a downturn in visitor spending: down -1.4% to $701.6 million, a loss of $9.96 million. Wow!
Last year, the mayor and City Council forced a decline in Oahu short-term rentals.
According to the HTA, visitors staying at short-term accommodations on Oahu were down to 181,900 visitor nights, down 5.7% from last year.
Ouch! That hurts.
Too bad for all of us.
Will Page
Kailua
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
