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Kokua Line
Question: One night, I was entertaining a guest and just having fun when police came. The officer said I needed to turn the music down because my neighbor complained. I asked if she thought my music was loud and the officer said no, but the neighbor is complaining. I asked about the law which allows me to play my music until 10 p.m. Hush -- that 10 p.m.
noise law is a mythShe said the 10 p.m. law is not applicable if the neighbor is complaining. I was told that if the neighbor continues to complain, the officer would come back and arrest me. I also informed her that there has been harassment by the neighbors toward me (TRO on file).
About a month earlier, police also came to my house at about 2 a.m. saying that the neighbor was complaining about my music. Everyone in my house was asleep and the police just left. They considered it another harassment case.
This is becoming unbearable. If the law says 10 p.m., can the police arrest me at 9 p.m. even if the officer thinks there was no violation?
Answer: It is a common misconception that 10 p.m. is a "cutoff" time for reporting noisy neighbors.
But there is nothing in the law that specifies a time, said Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman Michelle Yu.
When responding to a noise complaint, a police officer will determine "if the noise level is reasonable given the time of day, location etc.," she said.
"If it is unreasonable, the officer will talk to the party and ask them to lower the noise level," she said. And, yes, if you refuse, you could be arrested for disorderly conduct.
It is a subjective determination, since the officer won't be carrying a noise monitor.
It sounds as if there is more going on between you and your neighbor, so advising you to attempt to resolve the problem in a neighborly manner obviously wouldn't work. But in other cases, calling the Mediation Center of the Pacific, 521-6767, may be a way to resolve such problems.
Q: Besides the airlines, what government bodies can I write to complain about all the delays and other airline problems?
A: Direct complaints to the U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general, who was ordered by Congress to look into complaints by airline passengers regarding overbooking, ticket pricing, on-craft delays and accommodations for the disabled.
You can do so by logging on to the inspector general's Web site, http://www.oig.dot.gov, or obtain a complaint form by fax or mail by calling 1-800-884-9190.
Other types of complaints, such as about canceled or delayed flights, baggage delivery or ticket refunds, should be directed to the DOT's Office of Aviation Consumer Affairs. Its site is http://www.dot.gov/airconsumer. You can email airconsumer@ost.dot.gov, call 202-366-2220 or write to Aviation Consumer Protection Division, U.S. Department of Transportation, Room 4107, C-75, Washington, D.C. 20590.
Mahalo
To the kind and helpful gentleman in the blue Blazer who helped my father and me when we had car trouble on Thursday, Aug. 24, in the Liliha Times parking lot . -- Bob and Brenda
Auwe
To all you UH students looking for parking around the Manoa campus. Instead of running your loud mufflers, speeding through the neighborhood and wearing out the pavement, you might as well give up and give us residents some peace and quiet because there is no parking! -- No Name
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