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Switch off offensive
TV show, readers say

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We're devoting part of today's column to responses to the Sept. 19 Kokua Line, in which a reader criticized the showing of a pig-hunting video on 'Olelo Community Television's Channel 52, as well as two earlier columns:

Turn The Channel

» I was in broadcasting for a large part of my life, and there is never anything that ever runs on TV or radio that someone doesn't have a complaint about. I notice that the person apparently watched the entire show. If he/she was so offended by that show, that is what the channel select button on his/her remote control is for. -- Bill Martin/Kurtistown, Hawaii

» Generally, when I hear or read of someone being very offended by a TV program, I wonder why he/she didn't just change channels or turn it off. Perhaps their anger makes them feel a bit self-righteous. It is doubtful that I would enjoy watching the slaughtering of an animal but, it might be useful if Mr. (Eric) Sawchuk (the producer) would explain that the wild pigs are slowly ruining much of our forest area and the pig hunters are helping to keep the pig population down. It's too bad that the animal-rights people are not able see this as part of the solution to the wild pig problem. It is better than using our tax money to pay people to go out to do the same thing. -- Dutch Schubert/Downtown Honolulu

» I know for a fact that those pig hunters will carry the carcass carefully out of the mountains on their backs. When they get home, the animal will be cleaned, cooked or smoked, and then usually distributed to grateful friends and family for their dinner tables. They do not kill the pig just for the sake of killing the pig. That same complainant must have been truly horrified to see, in the very same edition of the Star-Bulletin, dozens of dead bodies of fish lying on the ground in rows, apparently for the edification of tourists or the occasional tuna sandwich. It must have been a massacre! -- Blaine Fergerstrom/Honolulu

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STAR-BULLETIN / 2004 A Dynapac Asphalt Roller put some finishing touches on resurfacing work done on Beretania Street earlier this year. According to a retired construction inspector, asphalt and concrete sometimes don't match up along our roadways because of the differences in the foundation beneath them.

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That Sinking Feeling

Raymond Jong, a retired construction inspector, wanted to give Kokua Line readers another explanation about why the asphalt and concrete sometimes don't match up along our roadways.

In the Aug. 19 Kokua Line, Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa said asphalt just tends to depress over the years because of the weight of vehicles.

Jong said he isn't suggesting poor workmanship, faulty inspections or anything like that, but his experience is that asphalt does not substantially depress over the years and if it did, it would only be a fraction of an inch.

His comments are based on more than 44 years of field experience with both the state and federal governments, as well as private firms, including working on many Oahu roadways, such as the Likelike and Pali highways and the H-3 freeway.

The answer, Jong said, lies in the differences of the foundation beneath concrete and asphalt.

"All concrete structures sit on either concrete pilings or on virgin (original) earth. Alternatively, the areas where the asphalt pavement ties in with concrete will be sitting on backfilled material. If this backfilled material was not sufficiently compacted, it will continue to settle over time and result in sinking asphalt pavement."

Regarding the Moanalua Freeway, "that general area used to be swampland and thus consists primarily of backfilled material," he said. "It will continue to experience this problem unless very drastic corrective measures are taken."

The same would hold true of the H-1 freeway in Aiea, as well, he said. "The fact is, because settling occurs, an overlay of asphalt pavement is used to bring sinking pavement back to grade."

Ishikawa said he didn't want to dispute Jong, but DOT engineers "say that asphalt does depress and contract over time and since Moanalua Freeway has not been resurfaced since 1992, some misalignment between the asphalt and concrete did occur."

Jong's comments regarding the transition from the asphalt surface to the concrete bridge along Moanalua Freeway "is correct but is not entirely true for all circumstances," Ishikawa said.

"The fix that (Jong) suggests would be very, very expensive in construction cost and in time lost to drivers from the freeway closure needed for construction," Ishikawa said. "With limited funding and limited highway lanes connecting West Oahu and downtown, this long-term fix would probably not be worth the effort."

He said the DOT is doing similar structural work to the H-1 viaduct in the Waimalu/Aiea area, which is costing millions of dollars. In the meantime, he said the DOT does plan to fix the asphalt/concrete transition between the H-1 Airport Viaduct and Nimitz Highway when that area is resurfaced early next year.

More Bite to the Law

In the Sept. 15 Kokua Line about unleashed dogs bothering people on beaches, a reader said we should have mentioned that there is also a law dealing with dogs that bite.

Under the city's "Regulation of Dangerous Dogs" ordinance (Revised Ordinances of Honolulu, Section 7-7), which took effect July 1, 2001, a dog owner can be charged with a petty misdemeanor for negligently failing to control a dangerous dog if he or she fails "to take reasonable measures to prevent the dog from attacking, without provocation, a person or animal," and the attack results in maiming, seriously injuring or killing a domestic animal or causing bodily injury to a person.

The owner faces a maximum $2,000 fine, 30 days in jail, paying restitution, possibly having to have the dog destroyed and other sanctions.

Tax Information

Anyone who needs a state business tax license or a tax clearance is encouraged to get it before Friday.

The state Department of Taxation will be taking its computer systems offline for two weeks, beginning Oct. 1, to implement the business tax component of its Integrated Tax Information Management System.

This will mark the final phase of a five-year program to replace the department's separate income tax and business tax computer systems with a single system linking all tax account information by a Social Security number or federal employer identification number, according to the department.

During the two-week period, general excise tax, use tax, withholding, transient accommodations tax, and rental motor vehicle and tour vehicle surcharge tax information will be transferred from the old system to the new.

This means limited tax account information will be available and employees will not be able to update or make any adjustments to accounts. However, people who e-file returns through the Federal-State E-filing program or the state's lnternet filing option will not be affected.

The department also will be able to issue a limited number of new license numbers and have access to information to allow tax clearances if a taxpayer's filing records are up to date and no balances are owed.

The new system will mean all tax documents statewide will be processed and stored on Oahu and new Hawaii Tax Identification Numbers will be issued to replace old tax license numbers.

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