By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
A microphone at the State Capitol picks up
sounds from the air, not hot air.
NORA Feuerstein claimed she found listening devices hidden at the state capitol, but really hadn't, which didn't keep her from submitting a bill for removing them. Obviously, she didn't look hard enough. There's a microphone hidden at the capitol right now! The capitol’s hidden microphone
OK, it's not well hidden. It's on top of a lamppost on the mall side of the capitol building. And it's not nearly close enough to hear the Governor shriek, "Hepatitis!"
Nope. The only thing it seems to be recording is the wild blue yonder. And that turns out to be exactly what it's listening to.
Flash back to the 1970s when the state's plans to build a gigantic runway on the reef ran smack up against Rep. Joan Hayes' Citizens Against Noise organization. Would our ears be split by screaming jumbos? Taxpayers knocked to their knees, ears bleeding, by the crushing wail of tourist charters?
The Department of Transportation's mitigation was to place 17 microphones scattered along Oahu's south shore, from Ewa to Diamond Head. They were connected by telephone lines to decibel meters in the old airport tower. If any complaints about aircraft noise were received, DOT engineers turned on the mikes, stared at the meters and said "Hmmmm" a lot.
If things seemed too noisy, a complaint is made to the Federal Aviation Administration, because airports don't fall under local jurisdictions, even for noise-abatement codes.
Many of the microphones still work, said noise project engineer Stephen Takashima. "But it's really old technology. We have phone line and electrical problems after all these years."
DOT will soon take bids on a new system - one that may use solar cells and cell-phone connections - because people still complain about airplane noise. (The hotline number is 1-800-628-5719.)
The older mikes are scattered around town on various government structures. If you see one, no fair shinnying up the pole and making dive-bomber noises.
By Burl Burlingame