Kokua Line

By June Watanabe

Friday, February 27, 1998

Radio emergency drills
not required of stations

I've scanned the FM airwaves in both January and February, listening to the monthly civil defense exercises. It seems that radio station 102.7 FM is not participating in the drills. Is this some kind of oversight or did they decline to join this program?

It was because the station, KHUL, had just moved into new quarters on Kapiolani Boulevard, said program manager Kimo Akane.

The station did participate in the voluntary monthly exercise in January, missing only the February test, he said. (Caribou Broadcasting L.P., which owns KPOI-FM and KQMQ-AM/FM, bought KDEO-FM last year, turning it into KHUL).

Of the monthly exercise, Akane said, "It's a good thing. No one wants to NOT participate intentionally."

But participation in that broadcast exercise -- 11:45 a.m. on the first working day of each month -- is voluntary. Your question gave Roy Price, Sr., vice director of the state Civil Defense, a chance to explain how the state's emergency warning system operates.

Last April, the state instituted the EAS -- Emergency Alerting System -- replacing the Emergency Broadcast System. By order of the Federal Communications Commission, each radio station had to pay for and install an "electronic receiver device" by last December.

This sets up a system in which all emergency alerts by the National Weather Service or state or county civil defense agencies are automatically transmitted to and picked up by these receivers, Price said. The primary entry station is KSSK.

The FCC requires all stations to participate in a weekly electronic testing of the EAS. The public would not notice this testing.

What the public does notice is the 11:45 a.m. monthly test of the state's warning system, in which sirens are sounded.

"Participation by the radio stations is voluntary, but if they do not participate or choose not to participate, they are supposed to drop off the air so that people can listen to the ones that are broadcasting," Price said.

All broadcast TV stations on Oahu are on the EAS network; by October, all cable TV stations have to be on line, Price said.

"My concern is that we be able, on very short notice of a disaster, like a major tsunami, to be able to warn people and have a coordinated effort by state government, county government, federal government and supporting people in the state of Hawaii," Price said. "This (the EAS) is the first step.

"We are one of the few states in the nation that can evacuate our shorelines in three hours," he added. "We have the infrastructure to provide the governor the means to take whatever action is necessary to protect the people of the state."

I still have not received my federal tax forms. I am expecting a refund, so would like to file as soon as possible. My friends received their forms over a month ago. Am I the only one waiting or are there others in Hawaii like me?

"We haven't heard of any particular problems with Hawaii delivery," said Shawn George, spokeswoman for the Internal Revenue Service.

Call 1-800-829-3676 or go to the IRS Walk-in Service office at the Prince Kuhio Federal Building, 300 Ala Moana, Room 1002, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays. Some public libraries also carry the forms, George said.

Another alternative is to the IRS's Web site -- irs.ustreas.gov.

Auwe

To Liane Moriyama, administrator of the office that issues state ID cards, for her answer to an "auwe" about an illegible ID card. She said the recipient should have complained immediately and the card would have been redone. It should be her office's responsibility to check cards BEFORE they are issued. -- E.C.