MICHELLE WIE

TEEN GOLFER DESERVES BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT

When a football player is carried off the field and returns in the same game we call it courageous. But when Michelle Wie withdrew from this past tournament citing an injury that has kept her out of the game for months, but practiced days later, we call it suspicious.

How could she have known the extent of her injury at the time she withdrew?

Her critics are saying she withdrew because she was playing poorly and she faked her injury. But given her past history of playing great, isn't it reasonable to assume she played poorly because she was injured?

Should she have continued to play and risk missing another four months?

CRIME

HPD SHOULD WORK ON RISE IN VIOLENT CRIMES

Now that the statistics show we are experiencing more robberies and murders on this Island, perhaps it is time to use our undercover cops to address these crimes.

Currently, we have them watching for jaywalkers. That's not a very good use of valuable police hours.

I probably jaywalk five or six times a day, never once impeding traffic, and I've been doing it for many years, never once having an accident.

I hope our police will recognize that violent crimes deserve a bit more priority than they have been getting.

SEAT BELTS

'CLICK IT OR TICKET' CAMPAIGN GOES TOO FAR

I've lived in communistic, socialistic countries before, and I'm here to tell you that I feel like I'm living in one again.

Why? Because all of the continuous threats about seat-belt fines are anything but American.

Besides the distracting flashing "Click It or Ticket" signs, we are now being threatened by their latest ad telling us that they're out to get us 24 hours a day, and that we're going to "get caught." Sounds like a police state to me.

Forget about the fact that it's not always safer wearing a seat belt in an accident, and so it should be our choice to make.

There's also the fact that they are making bigger "criminals" out of innocent people, who are not really hurting anyone else, than people who are committing serious crimes and hurting people financially and physically every day.

How come these "Big Brothers" won't guarantee me or you that our real criminals are going to get caught?

PARIS HILTON

EARLY RELEASE REVEALS TWO DIFFERENT SYSTEMS

Paris Hilton was released from prison after serving three days of her 45-day sentence. In the formal statements by the L.A. County's Sheriff's Department, it was emphasized that Paris was not "released," but rather "reassigned."

This was a chance for Ms. Hilton to be a positive role model and show that there are consequences to negative behavior.

There is certainly the appearance that we have two judicial systems in America: the judicial system for the rich, and the judicial system for everyone else.

Shame on the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department for allowing this "reassignment."

EDUCATION

HAWAI'I SCHOOLS BETTER THAN WHAT MANY THINK

Our family moved from Hawai'i to the Mainland about one year ago. We selected one of the highest-rated school districts in Arizona to call our new home.

At first we were nervous that our children would be behind the other students in their grade levels. Instead, we were surprised and disappointed to see that our children were reviewing material that they had already learned the previous year.

After completing their first year of school here, I can say that the Hawai'i public schools are far better than most people will acknowledge.

Our children are in elementary, middle and high school, and they all recently reported that their best teachers were in Hawai'i.

JEREMY HARRIS

FORMER MAYOR DOESN'T DESERVE MUCH PRAISE

What? Does anyone really think the former mayor has done a good job?

Show me what he did during his "reigning years," besides lots of traveling, which produced nothing. Oh, he did produce a book paid for by us.

He is the one who left the city with the problems we have now — water main breaks, sewage maintenance, road potholes, etc. And don't forget — he did nothing on homelessness.

Unfortunately, Mufi Hannemann got the brunt of his inefficiency and we all pay for it in the end.

GUN RIGHTS

RESPONSIBLE USE AND OWNERSHIP ARE KEY

In his June 5 letter to the editor, Rick Lloyd makes a few statements that I feel compelled to address.

He mentions the price we pay for this right to bear arms. What price do we pay for having cars and irresponsible people behind the wheel?

I've had friends and family killed in car crashes due to irresponsible use or at the hands of someone who wasn't a responsible driver. Why don't we ban cars? If we did, a lot of people would still be here as well.

That's not the point, as Mr. Lloyd would want people to believe: It's responsible use and ownership. A gun can't get up and shoot someone, it's the person behind it. Wake up, people.

HECO

BETTER PLAN NEEDED FOR THE OLD ELECTRICAL POLES

I read the news story a day or two ago about Hawaiian Electric using a helicopter to fly in new poles to replace those on a ridge in Hawai'i Kai. The question that came to my mind was: What is going to happen to the old poles? Will the company fly them out or just leave them there?

I don't know what HECO plans to do, but I do know what it did during a similar replacement on Pu'u Pia in Manoa Valley. Rather than fly the old poles out, HECO just cut them up unto about 10-foot lengths and dumped them into the brush.

This is unconscionable. If I so much as drop a candy wrapper in the trail I could be cited for littering, but HECO feels it is OK to leave its waste in our watershed areas. In addition, since they are treated, these poles will not decay in a few years. They will be there for decades.

I can understand the necessity of having poles in wilderness areas to support electrical transmission lines, but I cannot understand the need to leave the old poles there. If HECO was half the corporate citizen it would like us to believe it is, it would clean up its mess.

LOCKED GATES

AGRICULTURAL LAND MUST BE USED APPROPRIATELY

It is completely insane to believe that a retail business can survive with a locked gate between potential customers and the goods you're selling.

These landowners bought this land knowing full well that it was zoned for agriculture, and it is very clear they want all the tax breaks of living on this agricultural land without all the agriculture.

We need to support people who want to run an agricultural business on land which is zoned such, and it's a shame that these business owners are being forced to spend huge amounts of time and money in a fight to keep their business open.

BARBARA COX ANTHONY

'AUNTIE BARBIE'S' WORK TOUCHED MANY LIVES

As the past executive director of the Hawai'i Mental Health Center and a longtime childhood friend of "Auntie Barbie," I know firsthand about her loving friendship, generosity and hands-on support. In 1988, she wanted to do something for women and children in the mental health sector and came to me for help starting a program. Therapists would volunteer their time on a pro bono basis for the uninsured who fell between the cracks. We became a huge success using social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists, the best experts O'ahu had to offer. Grateful letters from clients who had been at their wits' end touched her immensely.

The former Family Violence Center trained many of our therapists. Violence against women and children was emerging from the shadows, and we needed to cope. Being fortunate enough to be trained, I went on to help work with violent offenders. This was my pro bono contribution.

Mrs. Anthony also wanted to become involved in Hawai'i Youth at Risk. Trained as a coach and flown to the Big Island for a week was a harrowing and exciting experience for me and her vicariously.

In the spirit of paying it forward, due to Mrs. Anthony's encouragement and love over the years, I am proud to be a volunteer guardian ad litem. The children I help and "rescue" today could be our leaders tomorrow. Auntie Barbie would have it no other way.