Stopping Growth
Not much to agree with my friend Doc Berry (“Limits of Growth,” April 17). None of the scenarios he posits will ever materialize.
Letters
Get it together
In your Diary of May 8 (“End of the 27th)” you reported on SB 1214, passed by the Legislature. In their nimble way, the Legislature tacked the wheel boot prohibition on a bill that was intended to abolish the Commission on Transportation.
Look both ways
On Friday, May 3, at 3:45 p.m., I was driving town bound through the Wilson tunnel on the Likelike. I was parallel to another car, and there were several other cars following closely behind me.
Thank you!
Congratulations Honolulu Weekly on the recent Pai award for investigative reporting (“Boss GMO,” Jan. 4, 2012).
Truth be told
When the biofuel guys say that costs are “confidential” (“Big-foot Biofuel,” May 8), I reply that since I am the one who is going to end up paying the cost, I have a right to know. Frankly, when everybody tries to hide the costs, I smell rat …
Nature’s beauty
The Foster Botanical Garden never ceases to inspire for an urban setting it is like a step back in time (“See the Flora,” May 8). If Koko Crater Botanical Garden contains the world’s largest plumeria collection as suggested, it may be thanks in part to the Prussian born Dr.
Towering apathy
Curt Sanburn has written an important article about a serious issue that never gets attention–what kind of housing should we build (“Tradewind Towers,” April 24)? Curt brilliantly focuses on natural ventilation and single-loaded apartment building design that allows cross-ventilation, contrasted with expensive, energy-consuming air-conditioning required in double-loaded buildings.
Grateful community
Hats off to the Sierra Club, Malama ka ‘Aina, Kahea and the many volunteers islandwide who clear invasive species, reconstruct trails, and rebuild heiau and fishponds for all to enjoy the wonders of nature (“A Light in the Forest,” May 1); [our] gratitude is beyond expression. Mahalo to you all!
Save the bikes
Kudos for a GREAT Sustainability Issue (April 17)! In the spirit that every month should be Earth Month, I submit the following: If you or anyone you know has had a bike stolen from Ala Moana Center, please read on!
Talking back on Thomas Square
Re: “Time to move on,” (letter from “name withheld,” April 24). The writer is misinformed.
Behind bars
April 27 is my thousandth day held without bail [for marijuana distribution]. What does this mean?
Corrections
A photo caption for an op-ed in our last issue (“Good Drones?,” May 1) incorrectly identified the pictured surfer; she is not Ariel Engstrom. An article on the beach smoking ban (“City Council,” March 27) should have said that the Committee on Public Safety and Economic Development, not the Parks Committee, had communicated with the Department of Parks and Recreation regarding an incremental ban.
Sadly, nothing new
Moneyed land owners vs. the common people that want to use their beach (“High Tide,” April 24).
True teaching
THIS (“Sustainable Scholastics” April 24) is what true education is about! Finally, hands-on learning!
Water matters
There remains available groundwater that has not yet been allocated for use on Oahu (“Water: Conserve Our Wai,” April 17). According to Table 1.5 of the Board of Water Supply’s 2012 Koolaupoko Watershed Management Plan, pages 1-29 to 1-32, of the 407 million gallons per day (MGD) of groundwater sustainable yield on Oahu, less than one half or 181 MGD was pumped in 2009.
Lucky us
I wish we had something like this (“Sustainable Taskmaster,” April 17) in Miami. My props to the team!
Compelling theater
The performance (“Frame This,” April 24) is AWESOME! Henry via [HonoluluWeekly.com] Riveting… Jay via [HonoluluWeekly.c
Aloha for Wailupe
The time has finally come for the City and County of Honolulu to finally purchase and fullfill its 1999 City Capital Budge commitment for a full and complete purchase of the remaining 9.53 acres of undeveloped land at the end of Hao street in Wailupe Valley. The City secretly omitted these 9.53 acres in its larger purchase of some 85 acres.
Defend homeownership
People perish from a lack of knowledge, and that would be the case with Froma Harrop’s contention in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser (April 20) that “government needs to stop pushing homeownership.” Never mind that the lowest class of working individuals in Hawaii are unable to purchase their own homes because land costs are so high that land developers are unable to produce truly low-cost homes for this sector of the public. Never mind that 30 percent of individual budgets in Hawaii go to housing, and therefore, with increasing inflaction, and less and less for food.
No coinkydink
Hawaii is too warm for wool pulled over our eyes. Let HART try it elsewhere.
Correction
In “Tradewind Towers” (April 24), we incorrectly stated that Benjamin Woo Architects is involved in the construction of the 43-Story Waihonua condo. We apologize for the error.
Deeper problems
Your article (“A Public Option,” April 10) could have fostered honest debate of using taxpayer money for Hawaii elections except for the uncritical lionizing of Reps. Della Belatti and Kaniela Ing, both of whom have engaged in equally offensive personal fundraising during the Legislative session.
Fundraising idea
I saw your ad asking for donations in the March 27 issue and wanted to suggest that you start a campaign like the ARTS at Marks Garage 1001 Friends initiative ([artsatmarks.com]), so people could donate monthly through automatic withdrawal, as I do. I love the Weekly and read it every week.
Weekly theft
Fri., 6 p.m. at Foodland, Beretania: I walked up to your stand, one man in front of me.
Time to move on
Message to Thomas Square squatters: Please look at the big picture of the damage done by your wrongly labeled “occupy” hangout at Thomas Square. You’ve been an eyesore and intrusion for the everyday people who once walked the lovely shaded sidewalks around the square.
This week
Derelict Downtown
For as long as we can remember, Chinatown has been notorious for drugs, homelessness and filthy streets. Some claim nothing has changed–and that it never will.
Sweet Ride
Bicyclists have long been overlooked by four-wheel riders on Honolulu’s congested streets. In the gleaming, armored pecking order of the road, cyclists are too often dismissed as lane hogs, hand-signaling nuisances and unfortunates who can’t afford cars.
Hoopili miss
The fate of some 1,525 acres of land at Hoopili in ‘Ewa may have been decided last Wednesday in Hawaii’s First Circuit Court. The decision might have gone differently, but the appellant attorneys’ strategy seemed to collapse as Judge Rhonda Nishimura picked it apart based on technical errors.
Housing First $
Last Thursday, May 9, the Caldwell administration revealed its action plan for solving Honolulu’s homeless problem. But at the City Council’s budget meeting the same day, Budget chair Ann Kobayashi wanted to know where the money for “Housing First” (see Cover Story, pg.
Do it Wright
The Mayor Wright Housing project has been slated for major redevelopment by the Hawaii State Housing Authority (HSHA); requests for qualifications will be going out to developers in three to six months. Nonprofit group Faith Action for Community Equity (FACE) wants to make sure the project’s tenants have a say in the redevelopment process, which could include major renovations or a total rebuild.
Street Disconnect
The Honolulu City Council held a special Committee on Transportation meeting on Tuesday, May 7, to go over its Complete Streets initiative with input from the department directors of Design and Construction (DDC), Planning and Permitting (DPP) and Transportation Services (DTS). At prior meetings, including the Moiliili workshop, community members pressed the idea of combining Complete Streets with Caldwell’s repaving projects, which Dan Burden of the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute and some councilmembers have said makes sense.
Stopping Growth
Not much to agree with my friend Doc Berry (“Limits of Growth,” April 17). None of the scenarios he posits will ever materialize.
Get it together
In your Diary of May 8 (“End of the 27th)” you reported on SB 1214, passed by the Legislature. In their nimble way, the Legislature tacked the wheel boot prohibition on a bill that was intended to abolish the Commission on Transportation.
Look both ways
On Friday, May 3, at 3:45 p.m., I was driving town bound through the Wilson tunnel on the Likelike. I was parallel to another car, and there were several other cars following closely behind me.
Thank you!
Congratulations Honolulu Weekly on the recent Pai award for investigative reporting (“Boss GMO,” Jan. 4, 2012).
Truth be told
When the biofuel guys say that costs are “confidential” (“Big-foot Biofuel,” May 8), I reply that since I am the one who is going to end up paying the cost, I have a right to know. Frankly, when everybody tries to hide the costs, I smell rat …
Nature’s beauty
The Foster Botanical Garden never ceases to inspire for an urban setting it is like a step back in time (“See the Flora,” May 8). If Koko Crater Botanical Garden contains the world’s largest plumeria collection as suggested, it may be thanks in part to the Prussian born Dr.
