A safer holiday Mahalo to everyone for a safe 2011 holiday season for the 21st year. A Tow in Paradise offered a free tow home duringthe holidays for those who had too much to drink and should not drive home.
A safer holiday
Mahalo to everyone for a safe 2011 holiday season for the 21st year.
A Tow in Paradise offered a free tow home duringthe holidays for those who had too much to drink and should not drive home.
We towed the driver and their vehicle, with family and friends, to their home, no questions, no hassles and no charge.
We thank those who talked about us, to The Garden Island, Kong Radio, especially Ron Wiley, who always goes beyond the “call of duty” to tell the world, and to FM 97. We all joined together to help save lives.
What a great way to end another year and to begin a new one.
We have sincerely enjoyed giving our time for 21 years to help all to be safe on our roads during the holidays. Please remember, throughout the year, not to drink and drive.
Carol and Roger Ridgley Jr.
A Tow In Paradise
Kapa‘a
Hirono and the NDAA
Rolf Bieber’s letter of Jan. 7, “Hirono is gridlock,” wants to blame Ms. Hirono for passage of the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) because of two small sections, 1031 and 1032, of a very large bill.
If the bill had not passed, Mr. Bieber would be complaining that Ms. Hirono does not support our military, or that she turned down certain funds to be spent in Hawaii.
While I do agree that the loose wording of these sections could allow for indefinite detention of American citizens by the U.S. military and that this grossly violates the Constitution, I must point out that these sections are just extensions to the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (invasion of Iraq) and the many bills that followed.
Also, Mr. Obama has issued a signing statement staying he will not enforce these sections (for whatever that is worth). I do not see Mr. Bieber, an apparent Bush supporter, at any Occupy demonstrations. Rather, he advocates for a Tea Party “smaller government” that will turn America into even more of a corporatocracy than it already is.
Does Bieber support the “Due Process Guarantee Act”? Hirono does. This will reverse these abhorrent sections.
Ms. Hirono is also an advocate for Dennis Kucinich’s “Department of Peace,” so I am certain that her vote in favor of the NDAA was a very difficult political choice between the lesser of two evils.
John Zwiebel, Kalaheo
More roads and trails
Mr. Micken’s recent letter to the editor, “Solving Kauai’s transportation woes” (Letters: Jan. 6), is half right.
Mr. Mickens states, “Get those cane haul roads open starting with the long-time controversial “emergency” road from the Wailua River to the Hanama‘ulu turn off.
The ‘temporary’ Kapa‘a bypass road is a shining example of a successful operation put in place years ago.”
I am in total agreement that our cosmic hamlet needs more roads. One major road from one end of the island to the other is somewhat nebulous.
More roads mean less traffic, less stress and options during emergencies.
On the other hand, I am in total disagreement on Glen’s assumption that 95 percent of the island population feels the pedestrian trail is being shoved down its throat.
Actually, it is the best use of taxpayer money I have ever witnessed on Kaua‘i.
I know many people who bike, walk and bus as their primary means of transportation, myself included in this mix.
My question to Mr. Mickens: Why can’t we have both, why one without the other? More roads and more trails. Who says we can’t have our poi and eat it, too?
James “Kimo” Rosen, Kapa‘a
Cost-effective transit
Utilizing private taxi cabs for door-to door-transport as a paratransit service on the Big Island is a cost-effective collaboration between the county and the private sector, and I agree that it should be tried here.
However, this service does not replace the regular bus system on the Big Island. Rather, the taxi service is provded in addition to a full island-wide county bus service using full-size city buses like the ones on O‘ahu and Maui.
Using the oft-repeated but unverified estimate that 95 percent of Kauaians use cars, then it follows that 5 percent of Kauaians walk, bicycle or bus regularly.
That means about 3,250 people use alternative transportation on Kaua‘i daily, not counting kids on school buses, which means 3,250 fewer cars on the road, and that seems like good thing.
If 3,250 people can get along without cars in the current automotive-centric system, imagine how many more people would leave their cars at home with an expanded, more frequent bus service and safe routes to walk and bike. This is what Complete Streets is about (www.completestreets.org).
The upgrade of the Wailua haul cane road for emergency use is an example of a cost-effective, multi-use option for alternative transportation.
When it is not used as an emergency automotive bypass, it could be used as a safe bicycle /pedestrian corridor at no extra cost.
This is also what Complete Streets is about. It is not just about building roads; it is about building a community-friendly transportation system.
Kurt Rutter, Kapa‘a
