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Kokua Line
June Watanabe
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Radio signal gear in tunnel lacks funding
Question: When will they fix the radio signals in Wilson Tunnel? It's been more than two years since they did construction and re-tiling inside the tunnels, and it's very nice now. But they never reinstalled the radio signal. When you drive through in either direction, you lose your radio.
Answer: It didn't look good when we first posed your question last October, since the last word to us was that getting radio reception in Wilson Tunnels depended on funding.
Three months later the answer is you won't be able to tune in to your favorite station any time soon.
"There will be no repairs to the radio reception in the Wilson Tunnels in the foreseeable future," Scott Ishikawa, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, told us last week.
It would cost roughly $100,000 to replace the broken radio transmission system, and nothing has been budgeted for the work.
The last time someone asked this column about the lack of radio reception in the tunnels ("Kokua Line," April 16, 2006), Ishikawa said the Transportation Department would ask for funds to make repairs in the fiscal 2007 biennium budget. The money was never appropriated.
Meanwhile, Ishikawa said motorists have also been asking about radio reception in the H-3 Harano Tunnels.
Motorists do not necessarily receive all radio broadcasts while driving through the Harano Tunnels.
Only 11 AM and 10 FM stations "are amplified and rebroadcast" in the tunnels. Asked why, Ishikawa said there is a limit to the number of radio stations on each band that can be programmed in the H-3 system.
The ones chosen were based on frequency of use and whether they were affiliated with the emergency broadcast system.
The AM stations are 590, 830, 870, 940, 990, 1080, 1270, 1420, 1460, 1500 and 1540; the FM stations are 89.3, 92.3, 93.1, 93.9, 94.7, 95.5, 97.5, 98.5, 100.3, 105.1.
"Motorists may be able to receive the transmissions from other stations, depending on the strength of the stations' transmitters and atmospheric conditions," Ishikawa said.
Q: A number of us have had terrible, uncaring landlords. What are the laws regarding landlords doing repairs and providing a safe, healthy, harassment-free environment for tenants?
A: You can find out what the landlord-tenant laws are in the Residential Landlord-Tenant Handbook, published by the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs' Office of Consumer Protection.
The handbook is available online at hawaii.gov/dcca/areas/ocp/landlord_tenant.
You also can get a copy, for $2, by going to DCCA, 335 Merchant St., Administrative Services Office Cashier, third floor, or by sending a request to DCCA Cashier's Office, P.O. Box 541, Honolulu, HI 96809. Checks should be made payable to Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.
The Office of Consumer Protection also offers the Landlord-Tenant Hotline. Call the hot line at 586-2634, 8 a.m. to noon weekdays, with your questions.
Got a question or complaint? Call 529-4773, fax 529-4750, or write to Kokua Line, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu 96813. As many as possible will be answered. E-mail to
kokualine@starbulletin.com.
See also: Useful phone numbers