The article, “Mayor Rick Blangiardi presents his plans for Chinatown improvements” (Star-Advertiser, June 10), mentioned that the mayor has put forth 31 initiatives for improvements to Chinatown. I have not been able to find any information as to whether there will be any public toilet accessibility in Chinatown.

Does anyone know? Every time I have gone into the police substation on Hotel Street, the facility has been closed due to maintenance.

In Singapore, every gas station is required to have public toilet access. Why can’t Honolulu and Hawaii do the same?

Sanford Friedman

Nuuanu

Political ads don’t mention tax relief

The television ads for governor and lieutenant governor have hit the airwaves. I have noticed that no candidate has mentioned a tax cut or, more importantly, the elimination of the tax on food and medicine.

Ken Witek

McCully-Moiliili

Offer public incentives, ways to conserve water

Why are there no incentives to encourage the public to conserve water?

I have purchased four plastic 55-gallon drums and connected them to my rain gutters’ downspouts many years ago. That water goes to different animals and plants around our home.

I also purchased two Chilipepper hot water pumps over the years because in California, it’s a green item and buyers get compensated for it.

Why can’t Hawaii do the same because, like low-flush toilets, they are designed to save water?

Alvin Wong

Pearl City

Israel captures, reuses most of its wastewater

Israel is using technology that captures about 90% of its wastewater and recycles it to provide the equivalent of 56,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools of water for agriculture annually.

Is this something Hawaii could be looking into for agriculture and golf courses?

Ronald Wong

Salt Lake

Concept of right, wrong through scientific lens

Cynthia Hawkins presented a succinct and cogent stance on abortion from the perspective of someone who is not religious but rather observant of science (“Abortion is a moral, not religious, issue,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, June 13).

The current gatekeepers on rational thought, who demand that we “respect the science” of the day in each and every aspect of our lives, must agree that the termination of pregnancy at the point of birth presents a challenge to the argument that abortion is not the taking of life.

Perhaps unwittingly, though, Hawkins reopens the age-old debate revolving around the concept of right and wrong as being in some measure faith-based or otherwise strictly viewed through a lens of scientific analysis. Perhaps a discussion for another day?

Stephen Hinton

Waialua

Thiessen distorts facts to prove his arguments

I have been very dismayed with the columns by Marc A. Thiessen, which are in our paper every week and almost always are composed of information that is distorted and twisted in such a way that the information is no longer valid or truthful.

Also, many of the analogies he uses to prove his point are designed to be incendiary at best, never impartial. If carefully examined, the facts show that the Trump administration caused many of the problems we must live with today.

In most of his columns, Thiessen chooses to belittle President Joe Biden, who was elected by the people of the U.S., and who has been doing a great job of cleaning up after four years of Trumpism.

Most of Thiessen’s underlying assumptions about the things he discusses are faulty, leading to improper or erroneous conclusions. This is not something we want to read or need to read. Surely there are other columnists you could choose to sponsor. We do not need any more fake news.

Delta Westcot

Kapolei

Support more research to fight kidney disease

COVID-19 revealed we can develop scientific breakthroughs to fight new viruses in just a few years, but this virus also created more kidney patients.

The COVID-19 virus isn’t going away any time soon, so the need for kidney treatment innovation is great.

As a kidney transplant recipient, I wonder why dialysis and transplant have been the only options for kidney disease for the last 50 years. I fear the answer is funding.

I’m grateful to the entire Hawaii congressional delegation for supporting the fiscal year 2022 federal budget, which increases funding for kidney disease detection and research.

Medicare spends more than $150 billion annually — 24% of its budget — treating patients with kidney disease. Studies estimate more than a million patients will be in kidney failure by 2030. We can’t continue focusing tax dollars treating kidney failure with 50-year-old treatment options.

I call on federal lawmakers to prioritize funding addressing kidney health in the coming fiscal year. The science and ability are there. We just need the will and financial support to do it.

Sylvia Ngo

Waialae Iki

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