A couple of years ago, I called the State ID office to get a new ID. My old one is more than 20 years old, the top and bottom are coming apart, my hair is no longer long and my glasses were the horn-rim type. But I was told that as long as my address and name were still the same, it's not necessary to get a new one. Here now is my problem: I no longer have a drivers license so I will be using my state ID. Since I look quite different, it worries me that some stores may not honor it. There’s no rule on when
to get a new state ID cardCall 587-3111 to find out the procedure, then just go down to the Civil Identification Card office at 465 S. King St.
You can get a new ID card at any time, so long as you have the proper documents and pay $10.
Before July 1, there was no expiration date. Now, cards are good only for six years, said administrator Liane Moriyama.
Old cards like yours will automatically expire on Dec. 31, 1999 - giving people enough time to get a new one, she said.
When the state Legislature approved those changes, it also appropriated $250,000 to modernize the system. New cards will look like credit cards instead of being laminated, a dated process which opened up the cards to fraudulent use, Moriyama said.
She hopes to have the new system in place by next June.
Who do I complain to regarding postal service? My daughter almost lost wedding chapel reservations when it took 10 days for forms to be delivered from Kamehameha School to Kalihi. The letter was postmarked Aug. 19 and I received it on the 29th. Fortunately, everything turned out OK for the Sept. 6 wedding. Pick up a consumer service card at any post office, fill it out and give it back, says Milton Arimoto, manager of human resources for the U.S. Postal Service.
Someone will look into your complaint. "If there is a commonality of several complaints, we may be able to see if anything unusual occurred," Arimoto said.
The Postal Service relies on the cards "to get feedback from customers," he said. "Some of the feedback is positive, which is nice, but the negative feedback helps us to improve our service also."
Why don't police enforce no-parking signs on Curtis Street? Every day, workers from the Kaiser Permanente building use the street as their personal loading/unloading zone, impeding traffic and blocking driveways with total disregard for the safety of pedestrians and other drivers. It's especially bad between 4 and 5:30 p.m. weekdays. Why doesn't Kaiser provide adequate employee parking? "Kaiser Permanente is very aware of the problem" and agrees that it is not a good situation, said spokeswoman Jan Kagehiro.
It periodically reminds employees "to be courteous and extra careful when being dropped off and picked up before and after work" and to watch out for drivers and pedestrians. "We will remind them again," Kagehiro said.
Unfortunately, there is no place else to pick up or drop off employees.
"The one small loading zone doubles as a handicapped parking stall and garbage collection area," Kagehiro said. "While employee parking is available at a nearby parking structure, not everyone chooses that option."
Your option is to call 911 when you see a parking violation.
"Officers do enforce when availability permits," an officer said.
To Randall Kunichika of Moanalua for coming to my aid on Aug. 11 when my car stalled on Nimitz Highway. He let me use his cellular phone, put up flares and waited until an officer arrived. Mahalo also to Officer A. Amimoto for making sure I was safe until my husband came and to Mr. Kunichika's daughter for waiting patiently. -- J. Nakagawa Mahalo
