NEW YEAR'S EVE

HAWAI'I MUST BAN CONSUMER FIREWORKS

Once again, I read this week in the newspaper of the dangers of fireworks — physical injuries, toxic smoke, harm to pets. Not to mention the annoyance caused by the illegal use of fireworks.

There have been fireworks going off in my neighborhood every night for the past two weeks, sometimes until midnight.

The police are either unable or unwilling to confront these lawbreakers.

It is time that Hawai'i joins the rest of the civilized world by encouraging organized public fireworks displays and banning private sales and use of fireworks.

POWER OUTAGE

KUDOS TO ALL WHO KEPT US INFORMED FRIDAY

A big bouquet to the folks who worked tirelessly throughout Friday night to keep us informed about the blackout.

State and city workers as well as the media folks and HECO provided a service above and beyond, and they should be commended by all of us.

In the same vein, those individuals who tied up the phone lines with silly comments and inane questions should be ashamed.

These individuals made it extremely difficult for calls of substance to get through.

HECO SHOULD HAVE MORE RELIABLE SYSTEM

For the second time in about two years, I had to throw away the food in my refrigerator. Thank you, HECO, Hawai'i's Third World utility company.

In 23 years of living in Seattle, through earthquakes and lightning strikes, I never, not even once, experienced a power outage that lasted more than three hours.

One would think that, at the rates we have to pay for electricity, HECO would have a reliable system in place.

Now we are told that HECO is unsure as to what caused the blackout. Why does that not surprise us?

SILENCE IS DEAFENING ON HECO'S BLACKOUT

One word for HECO: inexcusable.

Two words for the Honolulu International Airport and Ho-nolulu Board of Water Supply: standby power, duh (oops that was three words).

Three words for state and county leaders: (Your) silence is deafening.

HONOLULU MARATHON

LANE CLOSURES CAUSED HUGE TRAFFIC PROBLEMS

Mr. Keith Holmes didn't mention in his Dec. 18 letter ("Long road closures inconvenience many"), possibly because he didn't know that Kalakaua Avenue was still squeezed into one lane at the intersection with Ala Moana at 8 the morning of the Honolulu Marathon. It caused a huge traffic mess.

In years past, the lane closures were removed as soon as the bulk of the runners had passed. It was reduced to one lane, instead of the entire width of Kalakaua, and then removed completely as soon as there were no more runners.

It is my guess that this year the organizers were pinching pennies. The city should not allow that.

I would like to know who is to blame for this failure.

To add insult to injury, off-duty police, hired to "manage" traffic, were apparently oblivious.

PUBLIC LIBRARY

HOMELESS CAMPERS INCONVENIENCE PATRONS

Sunday at 8:30 p.m. we went to drop off an overdue book at the McCully-Mo'ili'ili Public Library.

As we drove in the back parking lot to the book drop, we were appalled by at least 20 homeless people camping there.

I refused to go out of the car and drove through the parking lot, making sure I did not collide with one of several overstuffed shopping carts parked there. Now we will incur another day of overdue charges.

I called the state librarian's office and spoke with his secretary. She said that I would have to take the issue up with the individual library although they have limited hours and that I could have driven to another library to return the books.

Why are we being inconvenienced and overcharged for something we did not have control over? Why should we be afraid of going to the public library?

BUDGET CUTS

HEALTHY START PROGRAM NEEDED MORE THAN EVER

Your recent series on domestic violence showed the desperate plight of many women in Hawai'i.

People do not always realize that domestic violence also has a very negative impact upon children, who are often also abused, who helplessly witness their mothers' torture and often lose their homes and way of life. Some become abusers as adults because of these experiences.

For two decades, the Healthy Start program has been a stabilizing force in Hawai'i, reaching out to thousands of overburdened parents of newborns to help them cope with family responsibilities. Many are involved in domestic violence and substance abuse. Healthy Start helps them learn parenting skills, get professional assistance, but also helps with the necessities of life — food, clothing and shelter.

But this safety net is crumbling. On Christmas Eve, we learned that the program has been eliminated from the budget. In the current economic crisis, thousands of families will more than ever be in need of support, and child abuse cases will increase.

The state must rethink its priorities in this economic downturn. Priority must be given to ensure necessities of life, including safety for our most vulnerable — infants who cannot take care of themselves.