Kokua Line
Kokua Line
New state ID cards now expire every six years. Over the past 12 or so years, I've had to go to the ID card office four times for myself, relatives, neighbors. Each time, we had to wait almost half a day! Is the state going to do something about more parking and speeding up the process to get our IDs, or maybe open additional offices around Oahu? To get ID more quickly,
go during nonpeak hoursThere are no plans now to open up new offices, said Liane Moriyama, administrator of the Hawaii Criminal Justice Center, which is responsible for issuing state ID cards.
Parking, meanwhile, is "out of our control," she said. The problem is that the office at 465 S. King St. is in the downtown area, where parking is at a premium. And that's not going to change soon.
But Moriyama said that if you come during the nonpeak hours - meaning early in the morning and avoiding the lunch hour -- you should be able to get a card in about one hour.
A new ID card system that's scheduled to be in place in October on Oahu (early November on Neighbor Islands) is expected to "speed up the process further without manpower being added on," she said.
The bad news is that the ID cards, as of Aug. 1, went up from $10 to $15, under a bill passed by the state Legislature.
In May, GTE Hawaiian Tel started billing me 55 cents for long-distance charges even if I don't use the service. This is unfair. If I call long distance, I would be happy to pay, but I don't. In June's bill the charge went up to 57 cents. I didn't see anything in writing about this. I wrote to Hawaiian Tel and was informed everybody will be billed for long-distance charges even if they don't use it. Yet, someone told me they had the charge eliminated after complaining. What can we do? Without having your exact bill before him, it's difficult to give a definitive answer, said Hawtel spokesman Keith Kamisugi.
But it appears you are referring to the primary carrier charge, one of the fees approved by the Federal Communications Commission "to facilitate a better competitive environment," he said. That charge is assessed even if a customer does not select a long-distance carrier. So, you are being assessed a regulatory charge, not for long-distance service.
Your reference to someone having the charge eliminated "does not refer to the regulatory charge, but likely to an actual long- distance charge that was disputed and then credited," Kamisugi said.
The owners of a house on Alani Street stacked construction CMU blocks across the street from their house. The three stacks, each one about 6 feet square and 4 feet high, have been there for months. Is it legal to use a public street to store private materials? Also, is the construction going on permitted under the zoning for the area? The blocks were removed after a city building inspector notified the owner that he was illegally blocking the area. The dwelling under construction is legal, said William Deering, head of the city Building Division's housing code section.
Auwe
To a male driver with dark glasses speeding in a white Chevy pickup at 7:20 a.m. June 18 on Punahou Street. Three girls were in a crosswalk between Dole and Clark streets, and you did not slow down, forcing them to run. How outright stupid you were. - Karen
Mahalo
To Trini from the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a total stranger and my guardian angel on June 25 when I fell and fractured my left ankle. She was driving by, saw me on the sidewalk, turned around, helped me and took me home. I am doing fine. God bless you. - Rose
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
