It’s not just Mother Waldron Park or another Kakaako park — it’s every park in the city inundated with homeless people, because that’s where the public restrooms and open spaces are located.

Please give them a place to set up their tents and tarps with basic sanitation services, kind of like in the “Grapes of Wrath” during the Great Depression.

Get them out of the public parks and return the parks to the people who actually live in the area.

I feel sorry for the homeless people who are always being shuffled around, and for the police officers who are constantly tasked with this humiliating, never-ending duty because the politicians never want to do the hard work on finding a workable solution.

At least Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim is trying.

Andrew Kachiroubas

Moiliili

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Church leaders join congregations

The article, “Kailua’s Windward United to merge with Central Union” (Star-Advertiser, June 2), tells of the July 1 anticipated transition of Windward United Church of Christ as it seeks to join into Central Union Church. But that’s only part of the story.

On June 10, Windward UCC will hold a Heritage Celebration Sunday beginning with worship at 9 a.m. to honor the lifespan of the congregation and the courage of its 94 members not to ignore signs of its decline but to take responsibility to end well.

As Windward UCC membership numbers declined, its council looked for alternatives to increase income, expand ministries or redevelop the property.

Then, two years ago, a conversation between pastors explored the “what if” of merging membership and gifting assets with our founding congregation, Central Union Church.

Mahalo to the more than a dozen leaders from the two churches who undertook an extended dialogue about how to connect the past with a more vibrant future as the second campus of Central Union Church, to be known as Central Union Windward.

The Rev. Jayne Ryan Kuroiwa

Kaimuki

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Don’t mix up lantern floating events

The annual lantern floating ceremony at Magic Island is not a part of the obon tradition (“Obon season right for lantern floating,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, June 2).

It is a Memorial Day event, and not to be confused with “toro nagashi,” the floating of lanterns to light the way for ancestors who have joined their families for obon, and who are returning to their eternal resting place.

Toro nagashi is a Buddhist event, and is always celebrated at the end of the obon season.

Memorial Day is a non-denominational day of remembrance to remember and honor those who died in service of the United States, a national holiday since 1971. As a U.S. Army veteran from a family of veterans of World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam, I don’t see that this new lantern floating event detracts in any way from Memorial Day. Some participate to honor veterans; others to remember family members, who may or may not have served.

And that’s OK.

Keith Haugen

Nuuanu

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Many ways to mark Memorial Day

It’s sad that we cannot celebrate the diverse cultures of the people of Hawaii without the itty-bitty quibbling about Memorial Day celebrations.

As long as I can remember, Memorial Day has been celebrated here as a remembrance to service members and to anyone who passed before us. Pass by any cemetery and flowers can be seen everywhere. Go anywhere in the United States and you will find all types of celebrations held on Memorial Day.

Special services at veteran cemeteries, music festivals, ethnic celebrations and just about anything else are held around the country on the Memorial Day weekend. Let’s just enjoy what we have here in Hawaii — a uniqueness and diversity where people hold hands and say, “Aloha.”

Tom Uechi

Hawaii Kai

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Reduce speed limit on crowded streets

Hundreds of miles of neighborhood roads throughout Hawaii have only enough room for one car to pass at a time because parked cars are always on both sides. Throughout all of these neighborhoods, speed limit signs of 25 mph are posted, which is way too fast.

Shouldn’t it be easier for crowded neighborhoods to ask for safer 15 mph signs?

John Burns

Aiea

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Population growth overloading planet

Today’s discussion of tourist overload rarely seems to lead to a discussion of the ultimate cause of all these problems: an unsustainable human over-population of our planet.

All forms of discussion of ecological overload should also key the realization that we are overpopulated. Utilization of risky land in volcano hazard zones or in flood and tsunami zones also bespeak the same problem.

For social and ecological sustainability, we need serious negative population growth.

If we do not plan for that in an organized way, nature will accomplish it for us in a very painful manner as we crash the ecosystem.

Richard Stancliff

Makiki