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Kokua Line
June Watanabe
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PetWalk staff fear Parks unit will curb event
The Hawaiian Humane Society is asking supporters for help in getting the city Department of Parks and Recreation to change its mind about restricting its annual PetWalk to Magic Island.
According to an e-mail sent by communications director Kawehi Yim, the Parks Department issued a permit only for use of Magic Island -- not Ala Moana Park -- for the 2008 walk, which "basically shuts our event down as PetWalk isn't a walk without a course."
However, city Parks Director Lester Chang insisted yesterday that no final decision had been made.
He said he already had plans to meet with Humane Society officials to discuss the event when he began receiving e-mails in response to the call for dog owners to contact him and Mayor Mufi Hannemann.
As it is, Chang said he was "fully confident that we will be able to make this year's PetWalk as successful as in all the years past," making it work for both the Humane Society and the Parks Department.
Humane Society President Pam Burns confirmed a meeting with Chang has been scheduled for May 13.
However, she said the organization stands behind the e-mail and the concerns it raised, based on what Parks Department staff told her staff.
In her e-mail, Yim noted that the department "in the press" blamed the "one-morning-a-year charity walk" for year-round issues with dogs.
"Kokua Line" addressed this problem on March 2, in an answer to a complaint about people bringing dogs to Ala Moana Park. At that time a parks official said the department attributed the worsening dog problem to the PetWalk.
"It is unjustifiable they attack and penalize an organization that strongly advocates for responsible pet ownership," Yim said. "Rather than trying to blame us for the city's year-round, ongoing problems with dogs in parks, we have encouraged the department to consider better signage, better enforcement and more dog-friendly places to accommodate the large and growing population of pet dogs."
The PetWalk has been a key fundraising event for the organization for 18 years. It always has been held in a county park, and at Ala Moana for the past five years.
Q: I no longer have a land-line connection to my home. However, I still get a dial tone when I plug a phone into the wall jack. Can I still call 911?
A: Temporarily, yes.
As a former Hawaiian Telcom customer, you probably are experiencing a "soft dial tone."
"Soft dial tone allows calls to be made to Hawaiian Telcom's sales center or 911 only, and was designed to make it easier for customers to order Hawaiian Telcom services when they move into a home," explained spokeswoman Ann Nishida. "It also helps us to provision services quicker."
However, the soft dial tone generally is available for only a few months after a line is disconnected in a residence, she said. If service is not reordered, the soft dial tone eventually is disconnected.
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