KALANIANA'OLE

WHY HOLD THOUSANDS HOSTAGE OVER CRIME?

On the afternoon of Dec. 14, two criminals decided to steal a van, push and forge their way through traffic lanes on Kalaniana'ole Highway, and ram several vehicles in line for the 'Ainakoa light. Apparently shots were fired, but thank God no one was seriously hurt, except for the fact that each of these motorists will have to pay his deductible share of any sustained collision damage to his car.

I have great aloha for the officers of HPD, who do an excellent job, often under difficult circumstances. However, why are thousands of innocent people held hostage for five hours, unable to get to meetings, functions, airport, hospital or simply just to their home?

In some jurisdictions where there is high traffic density, chalk marks are quickly made of vehicle locations or property parts (in this case, there were no bodies), video footage and photos are taken, and the highway is quickly cleared so that normal traffic flow can resume. Why not here?

REVOLVING DOOR

HIGHWAY CRIME SPREE IS JUST SAME OLD STORY

It's only been a few hours since that paralyzing wreck on Kalaniana'ole Highway, but let me see if I can't figure out what may have happened. It probably involved a stolen car and maybe some drugs. Some innocent people were injured or lost property. The criminals have had multiple arrests with previous felonies, more than likely for the same or similar charges. They will waste a horde of taxpayer money going through the judicial system yet again.

Did I mention the cost of police manpower and medical services that were used? And that's just this go-around.

And how about inconveniencing literally tens of thousands of people who obey the law and pay taxes so said criminals can be tried in a court of law?

In return, the public gets the same criminals sent back on the streets to repeat this cycle of activity. It's the same thing over and over in this state.

Who appoints these liberal judges to our courts? More to the point, why can't they be elected to better reflect the communities' ideas of justice and safety? The courts continue to fail the public and decrease public safety.

Know anybody who hasn't gotten their car broken into? Me either.

I beg our state legislators to reform this preposterous system and make our streets safer for everybody.

We pay taxes to buy beverage containers, house Santa and Mrs. Clause, and build some kind of transportation system, but we can't do it to build prisons and make our society safer? What a lack of priorities!

RUNAROUND

GETTING A BUS PASS TRYING ON THE SOUL

In July, I applied for a bus pass for my son, who attends public school. We were given a temporary pass.

In August, I called the school about the status of his pass. It told me to call the transportation office. I was told they were working on applications, but were behind. The school very kindly extended the temporary pass for 60 days.

Finally, on Oct. 8, I received paperwork in the mail instructing me to send payment to the DOE. I mailed a check the next day, thinking my three-month wait was almost over. I know, but I can hope, can't I?

In late October, the temporary pass expired. The school extended it through December (not a good sign) and told me to call the transportation department again. Okee dokee.

Now it's the middle of December. The state can't tell me the status of our application. I'm told to see if my check has been cashed. Lo and behold, my check, mailed on Oct. 9, was cashed on Nov. 15.

I am trying to be patient, but come on, five months to process a simple application for a bus pass would test the patience of a saint.

FINITE AREA

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS WILL NEED H-POWER

It is interesting that we have had no mention of a "burning refuse to create electrical power" incinerator for the Neighbor Islands.

Since the area is finite, one would think that the problem would arise sooner or later. Given the area available and populations, they will have to face the situation sometime.

ENVIRONMENT

DEMOCRATIC CRITICISM OF LINGLE UNBALANCED

Democrat Tom Brower paints with too broad a brush stroke in criticizing Gov. Lingle's environmental record and praising all Democrats (Letters, Dec. 14).

Lingle took bold and specific action to protect the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands — a step that Democrats Neil Abercrombie and Daniel K. Inouye have refused to support. Lingle joined Democrats to sign the Legacy Lands Act into law — to provide a permanent source of funding to protect wild lands. The Lingle administration worked with the Democratic congressional delegation to permanently protect Wao Kele O Puna.

Yes, Lingle should be faulted for her implementation of the bottle bill. Her appointments to the Water Commission have not been in the public interest. Her attempts to undermine the Land Use Commission are frightening.

But Democrats, too, deserve criticism. Democrats Daniel Akaka and Inouye voted to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It was Democrat Mufi Hannemann who called on the City Council to sell Waimea Valley down the river. It is Hanneman's administration that is standing in the way of the Kawai Nui Marsh project. It is Democrat Hannemann who has canceled curbside recycling and city energy-conservation measures.

Brower would speak with greater credibility if he acknowledged some of Lingle's successes and some of our party's failures.

FREE LISTING

NETWORK OF ORGAN DONORS PUTS YOU FIRST

If more people were as generous as Sarah Fay and her family, we wouldn't have over 6,000 Americans dying every year waiting for organ transplants. Most of these deaths are needless. Americans bury or cremate about 20,000 transplantable organs every year.

There is a simple solution to the organ shortage — give organs first to people who have agreed to donate their own organs when they die.

Giving organs first to organ donors will persuade more people to register as organ donors. It will also make the organ allocation system fairer. About 70 percent of the organs transplanted in the United States go to people who haven't agreed to donate their own organs when they die. People who aren't willing to share the gift of life shouldn't be eligible for transplants as long as there is a shortage of organs.

Anyone who wants to donate their organs to others who have agreed to donate theirs can join LifeSharers, a nonprofit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. They do this through a form of directed donation that is legal in all 50 states and under federal law. Anyone can join for free at www.lifesharers.org. LifeSharers has 3,461 members, including 36 members in Hawai'i. Over 300 of our members are minor children enrolled by their parents.

STATE CIVIL DEFENSE

DISASTER PLANNING IN HIGH GEAR

To do what is best for Hawai'i, we must prepare for the worst. That sums up the very heart of the Civil Defense mission: to save lives and protect property.

The horrific devastation left only a year ago in the wake of the Indian Ocean tsunami, as well as the misery visited upon America's Gulf Coast more recently by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, touched our deepest fears, and with good reason: Hawai'i's people have experienced both killer tsunamis and hurricanes. And we will again.

Rather than wringing our hands, these events have served to strengthen our resolve to take immediate action in mitigating the hazards we face, preparing our infrastructure, and developing our response strategies to accelerate recovery efforts whenever any disaster strikes, whether an act of nature, a pandemic flu or terrorism. This resolve has been evident in the leadership of Gov. Linda Lingle, Hawai'i's lawmakers and county mayors with whom I have met to discuss strategies and to report on Hawai'i's present state of preparedness.

The resolve to act was perhaps best exemplified on Dec. 9 when the governor outlined an emergency preparedness plan she called "the most important and comprehensive" set of initiatives since she took office.

The governor's initiatives address what Civil Defense has identified as our greatest concern: a shortage of shelter spaces. Tax credits would encourage owners of buildings such as hotels to upgrade to shelter status; homeowners would be reimbursed a portion of the cost of installing wind-resistant devices; interest earned on the state's Hurricane Relief Fund would be used to upgrade and retrofit existing state buildings; and counties would be urged to upgrade their facilities. Some shelters would be tailored to the special needs of people with disabilities.

The governor's plan strengthens and extends initiatives already under way, while adding bold new steps, some of which reflect lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina. Mindful that emergency response personnel were targets of attacks in New Orleans, especially by looters, Gov. Lingle is proposing tough laws in Hawai'i regarding looting and attacks on emergency response and law enforcement personnel during an emergency.

The evacuation effort along the Gulf Coast was hampered by people reluctant to abandon pets, which were not allowed in emergency shelters. In the aftermath of the storm, starving animals that were left behind and those that died in the storm created public health and safety problems. Gov. Lingle's plan calls for developing specific shelters where owners can in fact take their pets.

Her package of emergency preparedness initiatives includes provisions for doubling the amount spent annually on upgrading Hawai'i's siren warning system, stockpiling supplies (such as blankets, flashlights, bottled water and first-aid kits), improving emergency communications capabilities, and enhancing a new around-the-clock staffing and operations capability at the state Civil Defense Emergency Operating Center.

One of our most challenging jobs at Civil Defense is to get you, the public, to prepare for something you would rather not think about. Gov. Lingle's initiatives support hazard-awareness programs that reach from the public schools to care homes to hospitals.

While these initiatives appear tailor-made for dealing with hurricanes, they, in fact, strengthen our ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from a range of natural and man-made disasters. All of this will come with a price, but, in the words of Maj. Gen. Robert Lee, who serves the state both as adjutant general and director of Civil Defense, "The cost of preparedness is far less expensive than the alternative."

MEDICINE

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES MUST HAVE PROPER TESTING

Hank McKeague asks, "Who's kidding whom?" in his Dec. 15 letter, which attacked the medical and pharmaceutical industries for not finding a cure for heart disease and cancer and for not yet allowing in the United States the heart procedure that Don Ho recently had in Thailand because it is still being tested.

I'm sorry to burst Mr. McKeague's "tiny bubbles," but I think he is kidding himself.

First, I am not criticizing Don Ho or his physicians for choosing to undergo that procedure. He is a grown man and can choose to do what he wishes with his body, and I wish him the very best to a speedy and complete recovery.

One day that procedure may very well become standard care. But for the medical establishment to allow every proclaimed cure for disease under the sun to be done without the proper testing is not only irresponsible, it is also reckless and dangerous.

Along with healing our patients, we have an ethical duty to do no harm. Any treatment must undergo both the proper efficacy and safety testing so we do not unknowingly hurt our patients.

Second, Mr. McKeague complains that we do not have a cure for heart disease or cancer yet, since they are the No. 1 and No. 2 causes of death. Let's say we do find cures for them. What then? No. 3 and No. 4 will go up the list. Will he then expect a cure for those, as well as every other disease out there? Does he get mad at the grocery store if he gets hungry four hours after breakfast? Does he complain to the gas station when his car runs on empty?

As human beings, we are born to die. Death is as much a part of life as sickness is a part of health. And as physicians, we strive to do our best to take care of our patients. Do we make money? Of course we do. We need to eat just as much as lifeguards, firefighters and crossing guards do.

Finally, for Mr. McKeague to insinuate that the reason we don't have a cure for heart disease and cancer is so we can make more money is so ludicrous that it is not even offensive.