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The Hawaii Tourism Authority is charged with managing tourism for the benefit of the Hawaiian Islands. According to its web site, it also provides assistance for tourists who have critical needs because of illness or crime, through the Visitor Assistance Program, which is nonexistent. Instead the Hawaii Tourism Authority logo appears on the site of VASH, the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii, a nonprofit agency.
VASH seems to be doing the work originally intended for the Visitor Assistance Program. And now the Legislature wants to defund VASH, too (“Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii faces shutdown as tourism rebound brings more visitors, risks,” Star-Advertiser, April 18). Then who will assist tourists who are in desperate need of assistance?
How can we so blatantly encourage tourists to come and then not help them if they become seriously ill or victims of criminals? It seems to be time to either reestablish and fund the Visitor Assistance Program or provide adequate state funding for VASH.
Eileen Glaholt
Kaneohe
Make sure Teslas have front license plates
With the recent acquisition of Teslas in the fleet operated by the state Department of Transportation (“Hawaii Department of Transportation begins electrification with Tesla delivery,” Star-Advertiser, April 14), can we assume that these vehicles will have front license plates installed, unlike the hundreds of scofflaw Tesla owners who don’t? And to those scofflaws, how do you plan on passing the annual state safety inspection, which states that no certificate of inspection shall be issued if any license plate is missing?
And to Elon Musk and Tesla: How do you justify selling vehicles that aren’t roadworthy, or that at least encourage a lack of roadworthiness, in the 31 states that require front license plates? Hey, at $50 per citation (with no limit on the number per vehicle), let’s start making up for the cash shortfall in state coffers.
Randyll Warehime
Kapalama
With love, social justice is a possibility for all
If each of us is committed to see beyond race to the depths of our being — David Brooks touches on this critical concept (“Christian social justice means humans are all images of God,” Star-Advertiser, March 22).
As we acknowledge and believe that each person is made in God’s image, we have the platform to reconcile. And this reconciliation between races can succeed by the power of the One who created us. In His love we can overcome.
The key is that reconciliation comes through Him and not of our own abilities. Once we can view racism as a sin — like other sins, it can then be addressed and forgiven — forward movement can be made.
True forgiveness through His love in us restores. “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).
Victor Wyman
Aiea
Gun culture keeps America violent, unsafe
Another mass shooting. Just like the previous mass shootings this year and all the other years, we’ll hear members of the community say things like, “This is not who we are,” or “This is a peaceful community. Things like this don’t happen here.”
I’d like to ask all those who subscribe to these vacuous platitudes to get their heads out of the sand and realize three things: This is who we are and what we have become. This is not a peaceful country we live in. Things like mass shootings are part of the norm here in the U.S.
As long as our gun culture is calling the shots on gun ownership in this country, we can expect this to get worse. When it happens in your community, your neighborhood, your place of employment, your home — and it will — then you’ll better understand the predicament we all are in.
James A. Hildenbrand
Waialae Iki
Lack of regulation would raise carnage in Texas
This plan by the Texas governor to turn his state into a gun-lovers’ paradise seems misguided to me.
Mass shootings occur almost daily; the doctors think the gun violence is a disease. Here in Hawaii, where we have strict gun laws, our last mass shooting was more than 20 years ago.
I predict, without regulation in Texas, gun ownership will increase and gun violence and carnage will increase, most likely according to the laws of probability — more guns, more crime.
Let the Texas governor experiment with his people; I prefer our tropical paradise.
Phil Robertson
Kailua
Hold parents to account for crimes of children
When juveniles commit crimes, who is to blame? If parents of delinquents were held equally accountable for the sins of their children, the crime rate would decline. Irresponsible parenting, along with poverty, is a recipe for trouble. Just ask any police officer or social worker.
Should we integrate police and social workers to resolve this problem? Who would say no?
Jeff Bigler
Wailuku
A bow heard round the world, from the Masters
With all the shootings and hate crimes around the world, I found solace watching Hideki Matsuyama win the Masters Tournament (“Hideki Matsuyama makes history by winning the Masters,” Star-Advertiser, April 11). But, I was even more impressed with Matsuyama’s caddie, Shota Hayafuji, when he placed the flag back into the green’s finishing hole and proceeded to do a traditional Japanese bow to no one in particular.
My heart was heavy as I felt he was saying, “Thank you and peace to the world.”
What a beautiful closure. We need to remind ourselves that we should be thankful for the good things surrounding us, such as family, friends, health and well-being.
Karen Shishido
Nuuanu
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