STORM SHUTDOWN

TAXPAYERS SHOULD BE OUTRAGED AT DAY OFF

It amuses me to no end how the state defends giving its entire workforce the day off for an anticipated non-storm. Sure conditions could have been worse, but the fact was they weren't and with weather forecasting becoming ever more detailed, if anything, that call should have been left for somewhere around 3 a.m.

This storm was not a hurricane, nor was it forecast to get even close in size or strength. Yet our ever-so-wise government elected to make it a four-day weekend as an unscheduled benefit. As taxpayers, we should all be outraged at both city and state branches for yet another "holiday" afforded to everyone but "nonessential workers."

Heck, I view nearly all government personnel as "nonessential." How is someone sitting at a desk in an office building in any danger from 40 mph winds? I went to work as usual and was prepared, like any private citizen, to deal with whatever came. Are government workers that inept or are we in the private sector being discriminated against?

MAKE UP FOR IT BY WORKING ON A HOLIDAY

Let's assume our governor and two mayors did the "right thing" in declaring last Friday a paid holiday in anticipation of the forecasted high winds. This means the federal government did the "wrong thing" as its employees put in a regular work day albeit it was a federal agency — National Weather Service — that made the forecast.

Let's not be so harsh on Gov. Lingle, Mayor Hannemann and Mayor Tavares for stealing from the taxpayers one day's productivity of their employees. For the schools and UH, losing one day of instruction in a short school year or semester is no small matter.

Very simply, Lingle, Hannemann and Tavares can declare an upcoming '09 holiday a regular working day. There's many to choose from! It hurts when I laugh. And it's still very early in the year. The unions would co-operate if you just ask them. Hopefully this technique will set a precedent.

Many government workers are conscientious and have much work to get caught up on backlog work. Let's have confidence that Lingle, Hannemann and Tavares will be honorable leaders and carry out the above suggestion (or something similar) to uphold the honor of their employees. They have a chance to soundly silence the many harsh critics of the woefully wasteful government way of doing things. Imua!

OF STORMS, HEROES

A CONVENIENT EXCUSE AND A TERM OVERUSED

Does anyone besides me suspect that the "storm" was a convenient excuse to give government workers a four-day weekend?

Another issue: The word "hero" is so overused today as to be virtually worthless. If someone risks their life, health or reputation to help someone else, they are a hero; if they simply pluck people out of the water after the emergency landing of a plane ("N.Y. has new heroes in town," Jan. 17), they are doing what any normal human would do for another under the circumstances.

ADVERTISER CHANGES

TV WEEKLY IS MISSED; WHY NOT OFFER ONLINE?

We realize things are tough for everyone these days, but we fail to understand why you have dropped the TV Weekly. We have always considered the TV Weekly a compelling reason for subscribing to The Advertiser. We have been subscribers for 35 years. If you can't afford to print it, why not carry it on Sundays on your Web site so we can download and print it? Or, at least, tell us where to buy one. We do think your section B, combining local news, business and advertising was a welcome change, but not this.