ANDERSON WIN SENDS A STRONG MESSAGE

Lee Cataluna's column ("Voters sent a message to Felix," April 26) got it partially correct. Go Rail Go believes that the landslide victory of Ikaika Anderson sends a strong message that Windward O'ahu is ready to move forward on rail transit.

Steve Holmes, the only candidate publicly opposing rail, received only 14 percent of the vote — an indicator that his position on the issue was no longer salient to a majority of Windward voters. Anderson, instead, recognized the "will of the people" and honored their support for rail during the 2008 elections. Like Barbara Marshall, he will "exercise vigilance and oversight on the project and ask tough questions." Barbara would be proud.

SWINE FLU

'OVERREACTIONS' COULD SAVE LIVES

The first week or so that the swine flu was first brought into the public eye thanks to the many cases in Mexico City, there was almost a panicked frenzy.

With only 20 deaths out of almost 1,000 confirmed cases of H1N1 worldwide, many are wondering if this virus warrants all of this attention and trouble. The normal flu season kills about 36,000 people a year, which is much more than this swine flu. Is this just another flu virus that will fizzle out like all the others? Or will it be like the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 and come back next flu season, stronger and deadlier?

That is the problem: There is no way of knowing if H1N1 will mutate into a version that is more contagious and deadly. We cannot say for sure what the new flu season will bring. The precautions that the U.S. and other countries worldwide have been taking may seem like an overreaction now, but in the event that there is a deadly flu pandemic —which may or may not be from the H1N1 virus — these "overreactions" could save our lives.

WAR CRIMES

OBAMA SHOULD HEED KEILLOR ON APPROACH

Garrison Keillor's commentary in Sunday's paper (May 3) about war crimes during the Bush administration really offers the best approach to the issue. Instead of getting bogged down in trials against some offenders, the president and attorney general should focus on how this was allowed to happen for eight years and not stopped until Obama got into office.

As Garrison Keillor says, "What's needed here is not punishment, but truth." I'm hoping the Obama administration gets this article put on top of their must-read pile.

Mahalo for carrying his column.

KAREN'S LAW

LEGISLATION CREATES, NOT SOLVES, PROBLEMS

Karen Ertell's murder is a tragic case, and as a former prosecutor, I understand what her surviving family is going through.

Her family and the people of Hawai'i should know, however, that the legislation known as "Karen's Law" does not solve but creates problems.

Even the prosecutor's office opposed the bill because it actually delays the process and makes the situation even worse for victims and their families. The truth is, on average, waiver hearings over the past three years were decided in less than four months.

Right now, the Family Courts have the authority to charge juveniles as adults if judges find it's warranted. This bill takes away judicial discretion and makes it automatic.

Evidence or circumstance of the case is not considered if the child is 15 years old and alleged to have committed murder. There would no longer be the option for a judge to decide what's best and most expeditious according to the specifics of the case.

Finally, I'm deeply concerned about how this proposal impacts the victims' family and friends by the additional delay in the Circuit Court. Why take them through this?

This ill-conceived idea of automatically waiving juveniles as adults for murder is overbroad, unnecessary, and bad public policy. Amending the law would unnecessarily punish both victims and children. This is "cookie cutter" justice at its worst.

OSHIRO DID RIGHT IN PREVENTING PASSAGE

Rep. Marcus Oshiro did the right thing for our community in working to prevent the passage of Karen's Law.

Administering the justice system based on the few, and select, high-profile cases only leads to more problems and overall dysfunction.

Our state corrections system is especially draconian and ineffective compared to other jurisdictions.

Our youth prison is currently under federal oversight and we suffer from terrible prison recidivism. While there are clearly dangerous people who should be kept in prison, 95 percent of those imprisoned today will eventually be back in our community.

We should be concentrating on rehabilitating these people.

More important, crime victims should be offered meaningful opportunities to heal instead of only focusing on punishing offenders.

Research shows that restorative justice, which promotes a public health approach to crime by addressing victims' needs, is more effective for victim healing and offender rehabilitation than prison, which not only costs our community in recidivism, but also about $200 million a year.

In the face of negative publicity, Rep. Oshiro was courageous and did the right thing for our community.

HONOLULU SYMPHONY

MODERN MUSIC MAY DRAW DIVERSE CROWD

I think the Honolulu Symphony won't be able to keep raising money every year by only playing classical music. They need to find a new method of drawing a different crowd of listeners because the newer generations aren't exposed enough to classical music.

The Honolulu Symphony should really consider playing more modern pieces. For example, they can bring in popular singers like Alicia Keys or Celine Dion (for the older crowd) and have them play orchestrated arrangements of their songs. This can help bring both the older and younger generations into the orchestra scene.

"Video Games Live" was created to help both the music and video game culture. In a show, an orchestra would play music from popular video games like "Pong" and "Final Fantasy" with a video playing on a screen and flashing lights. By playing a different genre of music, instead of classical, the Honolulu Symphony can obtain a wider selection of audiences like gamers.

By having a new broader range of listeners, they should be able to raise more money than they do now. Also with the use of the Internet, the Honolulu Symphony can get support from around the world.