Death Threats For Hilo Doctor

Government must step in to protect freedom (April 13, 2018)

Thank you, Jason Armstrong and Civil Beat, for keeping us aware (“Big Island: Gun-Surrender Laws Don’t Reassure This Doctor After Death Threats”).

Regarding your article about James Borden’s intimidation of Frederick Nitta in Hilo, I am attaching a chilling example (a trailer for “Welcome to Leith”) of what can happen and how it can feel to a community when extreme and aggressive characters get a foothold.

We hope that the laws protecting personal freedom versus the laws prohibiting harm to others, terroristic threatening in this case, are applied wisely. Such situations as the one in Hilo can not be resolved at the individual level. Tragedy would result.

Government has evolved for a reason — to mitigate the mess that individuals are prone to create.

— Paul Eyre, Honolulu

HPD Bike Ticketing

Was it an intentional trap? (April 13, 2018)

On March 22 I received a $70 ticket for riding an “untaxed bicycle” along the King Street bike path  (“Honolulu Police Target Bicyclists With No Registration Tags”).

While I would obviously have preferred a warning rather than a fine — especially for something as trivial as a paperwork dilemma — I suspect that the Honolulu Police Department purposefully timed their bike trap to coincide with a community meeting held later that evening at the Blaisdell. The topic of that get-together? Protected bike lanes along Pensacola Street and Ward Avenue.

Maybe the police were trying to send the cycling community a message: Get your act together before you lobby the city for more bike lanes.

Sure, they did it in a way most convenient for themselves — ticketing for registrations in broad daylight rather than blatant safety violations at night — but they sent a clear message that traffic laws apply to cyclists as well.

My only suggestion: If HPD cares so much about getting us registered, they should write us a $70 ticket that can be redeemed for a bicycle registration — which costs $15 — rather than making me cough up a week’s worth of my grocery money to fill their coffers first. $85 is a steep hit for those of us on the minimum wage.

— Kyle Davis, Honolulu

Thirty Meter Telescope

Most voters favor the project (April 14, 2018)

The small number of Native Hawaiians who are opposed to the telescope to me feels like they are “holding the project hostage” (“Thirty Meter Telescope Board Delays Decision On Project’s Location”)

Most voters (including Hawaiians) are in favor of the project for all that it will bring to the island.

— Richard Bidleman, Pahoa

More On Zuckerberg

Worries about beach access, broken bridges (April 13, 2018)

I recently read the article about Mark Zuckerberg and his property on Kauai (“Kauai: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Has Few Friends On This Hawaiian Island”).

I am a resident of the Garden Island and I live right across from Zuckerberg’s land. I see the development of his mansion every day. I have no problem with that.

However, a couple other things have been bothering me (as well as many of us in the community). Beach access denied!!

A unique and prestigious beach to go relax and enjoy monk seals and sea turtles is now more difficult to get to. It is now restricted to walking along the coast.

We have been adapting and walking on the rocks to access that beach, with a more strenuous and risky path. But this is not my main concern and request.

There is a small one-lane bridge on Koolau Road that people from this neighborhood cross every day. I noticed the other day the the bridge is broken. Since Zuckerberg’s building started, lots of big trucks and heavy equipment are also crossing that bridge, causing excessive damage.

My voice represents many of us around here and I am putting in a request to Facebook’s CEO to repair that bridge. It would be a great way to contribute to the community and to demonstrate the importance of caring!!

This is an opportunity for Mr. Zuckerberg to show that harmony can prevail when everybody operates with good intentions. If necessary, the community is willing to sign a petition to reinforce this request. So please be active about this matter now!

— Melanie Lemay, Princeville

Affordable Care Act

More investigation needed (April 13, 2018)

The proposal to shore up the ACA and other health insurance vehicles seems fine in principle (“Hawaii Can Lead The Nation On Health Care Protections”).

It would be prudent to investigate how many private and government employers use part-time employees for the express purpose of avoiding the cost of providing health care benefits.

Let us not forget, though, the rising premiums, the rising deductibles and the rising co-pays that make using ACA insurance cost prohibitive.

Until the costs of healthcare are addressed, all health insurance proposals are just more rhetoric.

— Barbara Scott, Kailua-Kona