Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Hiking the Pacific Heights ridgeline was a wonderful experience of my youth. With many new homes at the top of Pacific Heights, can you tell me if this trail is still open to the public? Pacific Heights trail
peaks only in memories"There is no public trail on Pacific Heights ridge accessible from the bottom," said Curt Cottrell, head of Na Ala Hele, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources' trails program.
At the very top, the state manages the Nuuanu Trail, but it's accessible only from Nuuanu Valley, near "Jackass Ginger Pool," or through Tantalus, where there are a series of public trails, he said.
Nuuanu Trail follows the Pacific Heights ridgeline for a short way before dropping into Nuuanu Valley. Cottrell doubts this is the one you are referring to because it was only built in the 1970s.
You are probably referring to "what we would call a social trail, used by kids and neighborhood people," he said.
If interested, call him at 587-0062 for directions to get to the Nuuanu Trail, which would enable you to follow the Pacific Heights ridge until you reach the homes.
At that point, you'd have to turn around, he said.
In January, my wife sent a mail order to Dynamo Flashlights, Rush Industries, in the amount of $24.90 -- $19.95 for flashlights and $4.95 for shipping and handling. The ad was in USA Weekend in the Sunday paper. My wife failed to note the address and phone number of Rush Industries and we have no way of tracing this order. Our check was cashed on Jan. 25. Can you help? We got the number of Rush Industries from the Better Business Bureau of Hawaii.
A representative of the company promised your order would be sent within 10 days.
That would be good news for you, since the Metropolitan New York BBB's files show the direct marketing company had received 150 complaints in the past 36 months, 76 of them filed in the past year.
Complaints to the bureau have alleged nondelivery of ordered merchandise; dissatisfaction with merchandise received; and failure to provide refunds or adjustments.
Anne Deschene, president of the Hawaii BBB, said your experience again shows that consumers should do a little checking before dealing with an unknown company, mail order or otherwise.
"Know what their record is, and know what they've done with their previous customers," she said.
If you called the local BBB, which has contact with BBBs across the mainland and in Canada, "we could have made this report available," Deschene said.
"It's not a burden. We try to get that information in the hands of people."
The number for the Hawaii BBB is 536-6956.
FYI: USA Weekend said Rush Industries does not advertise with the weekly news magazine.
"A lot of times, people get confused with the FSIs -- free-standing inserts -- and think they're part of USA Weekend," a spokeswoman there said. The FSIs include a lot of mail-order coupons which have nothing to do with USA Weekend, she said.
To a very nice lady, her friend and a doctor who helped my uncle when he was lost and fell on the sidewalk near St. Andrew's Priory. Mahalo
To Bob, a manager at the Pearl Harbor McDonald's. On Sunday, March 8, my wife forgot her purse, with quite a lot of cash, there. Bob contacted us at home before we even realized the loss. We wish him the best. -- R.F. Mahalo
To the high school students who leave all their opala on the sidewalks by Kalani Iki Street. -- C.D. Auwe
Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686,
fax 525-6711, or write to P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
Email to kokualine@starbulletin.com
