BUS SERVICE

IS ANYONE LISTENING TO MILILANI MAUKA FOLKS?

Wow! Councilman Romy Cachola has some power of persuasion.

He convinces the City Council to throw out results of the study that showed the optimal route for the rail transit system and to instead include his Salt Lake community.

Would he mind sharing his secret with Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz? We can't even get a bus in Mililani Mauka.

After 15 years, the only bus stop is a Park-n-Ride near H-2. Most of us can't walk the three to four miles to get there.

Yes, we do have the Mililani Trolley, which (sometimes) picks up hourly at certain stops around the city. It costs money, operates 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., is not 100 percent dependable and doesn't run on weekends. Not a real good solution when you need transportation to work.

Is anybody listening?

COMMUTE

RAIL TRANSIT NEEDED BY WEST O'AHU RESIDENTS

I've lived in Makakilo for 29 years. With all the plans for West O'ahu, this will be a very exciting place to live in the next 20 years.

Kapolei will have as much commercial space as Downtown Honolulu, a new university, new attractions, and there will be thousands of new homes built and new jobs available.

All this is good, but progress causes traffic congestion. Our roads are already crammed, and we need a better way to get in and out of the area other than by car.

We have a chance to make the commute from West O'ahu to Honolulu better. Let's not let this opportunity pass us by again.

Rail transit is what we need. Many of the homes, jobs and activity centers are going to be along the new rail corridor.

JOB CHANGES

A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TWO HAWAIIAN FIRMS

Two companies with the first name Hawaiian have decided to outsource some of their jobs.

Hawaiian Airlines decided to move its reservation service to the Philippines, while Hawaiian Telcom decided to move its 411 service to a company called Metro One.

Both companies would eliminate their respective functions, which would mean loss of jobs within the company, but that is where the difference between Hawaiian Airlines and Hawaiian Telcom ends.

Hawaiian Airlines, which is in a volatile industry because of fuel cost and massive competition, has decided to keep its employees from the reservation department and offer them jobs in different departments at no loss in pay.

Hawaiian Telcom will lay off a certain amount of their work force to meet its objective.

Hawaiian Airlines is looking to the future by securing job employment for its employees. I hope that Hawaiian Telcom will take the same idea and go beyond the call for its employees.

CHILDISH DISPLAY

ROAD RUDENESS DID NOT EPITOMIZE ALOHA SPIRIT

I must extend an apology to the tourists who were in the vicinity of my vehicle last weekend. The people in the truck that tried to cut me off near Sand Island Road probably didn't make a very good impression of our island paradise as they used an obscene gesture.

I also apologize for their ignorant remarks — "Go back to where you came from, you f------ haole" certainly doesn't embody my idea of the aloha spirit.

I just hope that your small children were not able to hear or see this ridiculous display as mine did.

With all the exposure that road rage and violence have gotten in the news lately, I guess some people just don't get it. And for that I apologize.

Please do not let this childish and rude display taint your image of the residents of Hawai'i.

TRAFFIC SAFETY

CROSSWALK NEEDED ON KAHEKA NEAR CHURCH

It doesn't seem that it would cost much to put a crosswalk on Kaheka Street outside Sts. Peter and Paul Church.

It is difficult for senior citizens to walk to either corner to get to a safe place to cross. It would also help people with bundles from Don Quijote and other places to manage the crossing.

SCHOOLS

JUST SAY 'NO' TO RANDOM DRUG TESTS FOR STUDENTS

The Office of National Drug Control Policy was in Honolulu this week on its third stop in a multi-city series of student drug-testing summits.

Drug-testing students has been popular in the Bush administration and with local political leaders who promote the program as a "silver bullet" solution to the problem of adolescent drug use.

One of the main arguments is that randomly drug-testing students will give them a good reason to "say no to drugs."

The truth is that drug-testing students is legally problematic and scientifically unsound. Legally, there are numerous costly lawsuits filed against schools and districts utilizing drug-testing policies around the country. The arguments in these cases focus on students' privacy rights and problems associated with false positives (an all too common occurrence).

While there are numerous drug-education programs around the country that have been rigorously tested and proven to work, random drug testing has not, in fact, kept students from using drugs during research trials and has not made it to the list of "best practices programs."

Therefore, there is no evidence to suggest that drug testing will really achieve what pundits promise. It is a largely ineffective and controversial approach that is much more about politics than it is about keeping children safe, healthy and happy.

BOARD ELECTION

'SECURE' VOTER NUMBER ON OUTSIDE OF ENVELOPE

Mayor Mufi Hannemann is encouraging everyone to participate in the neighborhood board elections.

However, voter beware! The "secure" 10-digit voter number that comes with the paper ballot to enable us to vote on the Web appears on the outside of the return envelope to be used by those voting by mail, along with the voter's name and address.

With that information and the last four digits of a voter's Social Security number, anyone can vote via the Web before the mailed ballot reaches the commission. Once the Internet ballot is cast, the paper ballot is invalid.

I spoke with commission staff about this on March 27 and was told I could black out the "secure" 10-digit number. However, the bar code must not be altered.

One other thing about the neighborhood board system: In November 2006, the Neighborhood Commission submitted a draft of a revised Neighborhood Plan to the City Corporation Counsel for review.

As of its meeting on March 12, 2007, nothing had been received from that agency. The commission plans on sending the document out for public hearing after corporation counsel has reviewed it.

This new document, if approved, would greatly improve the boards. If the city administration supports the boards, which Mayor Hannemann called "grassroots democracy in its purest form," the mayor must tell his attorneys to finish the review posthaste.

'IOLANI PALACE

HISTORIC TREASURE BELONGS TO ALL IN HAWAI'I

In response to the March 23 letter "'Iolani Palace belongs only to Hawaiians," 'Iolani Palace belongs to the people of Hawai'i.

As the kahu for this historic treasure for more than 40 years, The Friends of 'Iolani Palace has worked tirelessly and at great expense to restore and refurnish 'Iolani Palace to reflect its appearance during the late monarchy era.

The Friends has also strived to educate both local residents and visitors on the very high level of sophistication, refinement and worldliness of the Hawaiian monarchy.

With the construction of 'Iolani Palace, King Kalakaua sought to enshrine his noble vision of welcoming the world to Hawai'i in a building befitting a modern and progressive kingdom. To outsiders, Kalakaua was proclaiming that Hawai'i was an equal among the family of nations. To his own people, Kalakaua sought to embody the transition from the ancient to the contemporary.

The overthrow of the monarchy in 1893 is but one event in the history of 'Iolani Palace, albeit a pivotal one. This history did not cease once the Provisional Government occupied the palace and renamed it the Executive Building. The timeline of Hawai'i's history parallels the occupants of 'Iolani Palace. It is the story of Hawai'i's journey into the 21st century.

Each of us who calls these islands home has a connection to the palace.

The building that Kalakaua erected to be a showplace in the Pacific has always been a place of welcome and hospitality to people of all nationalities, whether resident or visitor to these islands.

If Hawai'i is the crossroads of all the world's cultures, then 'Iolani Palace is its emblem. The Friends of 'Iolani Palace exists to preserve, restore, interpret, share and celebrate the unique cultural, historical and spiritual qualities of 'Iolani Palace and its grounds for the benefit of Native Hawaiians, the people of Hawai'i, and the world. This is our mission, and the only logical conclusion is that the Palace is for everyone. As "Kahikuonalani" himself (a term of affection for Kalakaua) would have graciously stated: Komo mai!