Letters: Keeping schools open about money, not kids; Navy’s actions prove it is untrustworthy; Court protects citizens from executive orders

To all those shouting and banging the drum about keeping our schools open despite the health risks known and unknown — for student learning! — your slip is showing.

I remember Furlough Fridays, when it was fine for students to attend school four days a week for fiscal reasons.

I remember teaching without a contract for a few years. Years.

I remember suffering through a 5% pay cut imposed only on teachers. And how much of my own money I spent on classroom supplies anyway.

I don’t know what makes me more angry: the lack of concern for actual student learning, or the lying about it. The kids need to be in school so their parents can go to work and businesses can keep making money. Just be honest. The propaganda is becoming tiresome.

Bobbi Mothe

Makaha

Alm’s press conference unjust and insulting

I am disappointed at the conduct and tactics utilized by Honolulu Prosecutor Steve Alm in the case relating to state Rep. Sharon Har (“Honolulu Prosecutor Steve Alm criticizes judge in lawmaker’s drunken driving acquittal,” Star-Advertiser, Jan. 12).

The outcome of Har’s case was determined in a court of law by a judge who heard all the evidence presented at the trial and made his decision based on that evidence as well as his knowledge of the law and all the facts pertinent to this particular case.

Har was acquitted because the prosecution did not prove its case. Har’s case was not dismissed on a technicality, as Alm suggested. The judge is an appointed official empowered to do what is right, not a politician who might have to pander for votes to get elected.

For Alm to hold a press conference to retry this case in the media after losing in court, and to present only his side of the story, is a gratuitous injustice to the legal system and an insult to the judge, the defendant and a public that knows there are always two sides to a story.

Garen R. DeWeese

Kalama Valley

Federal indictments of city officials wrong

As we say in Hawaii, “Auwe.” What is Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Wheat doing? The indictment against Max Sword, Donna Leong and Roy Amemiya is worthless (“Indictment of former city officials sparks more questions about federal probe,” Star-Advertiser, Jan. 13).

Not working with the City Council is not a crime, as the indictment appears to imply. The facts also appear to show that none of the three benefited even one penny from the $250,000 that went to former chief Louis Kealoha. So, how could the three embezzle or steal any monies when the entire amount went to Kealoha? If there is no crime, how can there be a conspiracy to commit a crime?

Wheat has been in Hawaii for seven years, costing our taxpayers millions of dollars. He went out of his way to embarrass Sword, Leong and Amemiya, three of our public-spirited kamaaina city officials. How come?

Wil A. Estrada

Salt Lake

Navy’s actions prove it is untrustworthy

The government of Hawaii exists to safeguard residents and keep them healthy. The state Department of Health has the right and authority to take action to protect residents.

Hawaii is our home; our aina aloha. The Navy is a tenant that pays an absurd rent. Hawaii is not home to the Navy. It will leave when it is done with us.

Understandably, the Navy has an attitude of entitlement, since it is an apparatus of the dominant political power in our islands and has managed to evade real remedies for its fuel tanks for decades.

The state is pono in exerting its authority to protect the community. We are talking about Oahu’s source of life-sustaining drinking water that has been at risk for many years and recently manifested catastrophic contamination.

The Navy has proved itself untrustworthy and is typically arguing for its benefit. The tanks at Red Hill should be removed.

Dora S. Johnson

McCully

Court protects citizens from executive orders

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has blocked the Biden administration vaccine mandate, we see the wisdom of America’s founders in separating the government into three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial (“Supreme Court halts COVID-19 vaccine rule for large businesses,” Star-Advertiser, Top News, Jan. 13).

Under the guise of “public health and safety,” we’ve seen how one branch can assert sweeping powers over the lives of its citizens.

The right to work, go to school, attend religious services and others have all been curtailed by the executive branch under “emergency powers.”

We are told by government leaders we have the right to health care, but not the right to make our own health care decisions (vaccine mandates).

Mark Saxon

Kahului

Editorial didn’t discuss filibuster, states’ rights

Your editorial on Martin Luther King Jr. King Day (“Voting should be easier, not harder,” Star-Advertiser, Our View, Jan. 17), avoided discussing the Senate rule on filibusters, which is designed to avoid majoritarian rule of one party, and the federalization of state election laws in violation of the Constitution.

Your generalization that “ it should be possible in the People’s House at least to defend the principal as important to people … as voting” sidestepped the issues presently at stake in the U.S. Senate regarding proposed Democratic bills and rules.

Simply using King’s name and the 1965 Voting Act to endorse the termination of the filibuster and states’ rights to conduct their own elections, and to support clearly partisan bills and procedures, has become a popular method for politicians to avoid critical examination of current proposals.

King’s name should not also be used in editorials to avoid providing citizens detailed information to make their own decisions.

Anson O. Rego

Waianae

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