Allow vaccinated to skip travel testing

The state should make an exception that allows all vaccinated people, with a card proving they have been vaccinated, to enter Hawaii without quarantining or having to take a COVID-19 test 72 hours before arriving here.

Vaccinated people should be allowed to travel again with no travel-related restrictions. Instead, everyone, including vaccinated people, are told to hold off on travelling.

There is a 10% chance that the vaccination will fail to protect a person from the virus, but are Gov. David Ige and health officials waiting for 100% herd immunity before relaxing the rules on entering Hawaii?

Hawaii’s economy is very reliant on tourism and needs to reopen as soon as possible. It doesn’t matter how you feel about tourism; it is the primary lifeblood for a healthy Hawaii economy.

Stuart Shimazu

Kaimuki

State, city hoodwink the poor, rest of us

Sickening, just sickening.

First we have Democratic Gov. David Ige cutting general assistance payments to the poorest of the poor, most of whom are disabled, by one-third, from the unlivable rate of $388 per month to the even more unlivable rate of only $260 per month. Then we have the cutting of 145 positions from the Department of Human Services, including almost 50 positions that help our neediest neighbors with assistance with shelter and food and child care.

Not wanting to be outdone by Ige’s cruelty to our people, Trumpite Mayor Rick Blangiardi is giving away millions of dollars to greedy developers just so that they can provide fake “affordable” rentals including “only” $2,360-plus per month for a tiny studio, $2,519 for a one-bedroom, and, no surprise, almost $3,000 for a two-bedroom unit.

Why, in my townhouse complex in Waialae-Kahala, the rents for a two-bedroom, two-bath units are less than that.

This may be good news to those who thought Democrats and the GOP would never agree on anything. But to everyone else, we know we have been hoodwinked and scammed.

Joel Fischer

Waialae

Why would anyone attack Asian in N.Y.?

Lady Liberty, why?

My parents came to Hawaii before statehood. I was born here and am thankful to be a U.S. citizen of Filipino ancestry.

I was saddened and upset to read about the brutal assault of a 65-year-old woman who happens to be Filipino (“Suspect in attack on Asian American woman in NYC is arrested,” Star-Advertiser, March 31). The attacker told her, “You don’t belong here.” If all the Asians in New York didn’t work for one day in protest, I believe people would realize their contribution to the state.

To the security guard who saw the attack and closed the door, what would you tell your mother when she asks, “Why?”

Marlyne Menor Agsalda

Wahiawa

Ala Wai bridge would blight neighborhood

Despite being panned by the vast majority of those attending two public hearings over the past six years, the state Department of Transportation is back yet again to push a bridge project between Ala Wai Neighborhood Park and Waikiki down the throats of nearby residents (“Ala Wai Canal bridge project moving forward,” Star-Advertiser, March 8).

To add insult to injury, the design the DOT favors includes a 180-foot floodlit tower anchoring a suspension bridge, with a huge concrete footprint squatting on the Ala Wai Neighborhood Park. This design may fit in Bangkok (where there exists a similar bridge) but is starkly wrong for Honolulu.

In view of overwhelming community opposition, I am moved to wonder where the push for this unwanted monstrosity comes from. With the mauka neighborhood solidly opposed, I can only conclude that the tourism interests in Waikiki are behind this, much as the wealthy owners at Park Lane tried to foist an unwanted “playground” upon the local people using Ala Moana Park.

Progressive models of tourism support the community rather than extract from it. Foisting this monstrosity upon Moiliili is extractive.

Ken Sentner

McCully-Moiliili

Head Start helpers create miracles

I love living in Hawaii. It is a beautiful place to live and the people who were here before us, the Native Hawaiians, are our foundation of the aloha spirit that improves our everyday lives.

We live in a religiously and culturally diverse environment and respect one another. It is a good place to raise a family with positive values.

I am a retired special education teacher and I am concerned about our keiki’s educational opportunities between 3 and 5 years old. I worked in the Head Start preschool program for more than eight years. My job was to teach children with special needs within the Head Start class of regular education students.

If you want to feel really good, try helping out Head Start, the families, the people and public preschool education. A special- needs 3-year-old is often paired up with a regular education child to learn how to navigate the world by imitating a peer in a positive way.

“Come play with me,” and there it goes. When a 5-year-old holds hands with a special-needs child, miracles happen.

Sandra Z. Armstrong

Kailua

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