Kokua Line
By June Watanabe
Friday, September 18, 1998
Kokua Line
Why are city and state employees allowed to vote absentee during work hours? Don't they have a day off for that? City, state do not give
time off to vote absenteeThey aren't given work time to vote absentee.
Any city workers who did, did so during their break or lunch hour or, if they are on a flexible work schedule, before 8:30 a.m. or after 3:30 p.m., said city spokeswoman Carol Costa.
"They are not allowed to take time off" to absentee vote, she said.
On the state level, no employee was given time off to vote absentee either, "because it's not required," according to state elections staff.
State law says employees -- any employee, not just government workers -- who work on ELECTION DAY are entitled to a maximum two hours off to vote unless they have two consecutive hours in which to vote either before or after their regular work hours.
Mililani Mauka was one of the first neighborhoods to get automated trash pickup. As far as I am concerned, it works great. However, I do have a question concerning either a defective truck or an operator with a nervous foot. As the truck circles our condo complex, the engine is continually revved, going vroom-vroom-vroom all the time. I don't know whether the idle speed on the engine is set too low requiring additional rpms to lift the can or whether the driver just likes the noise. The truck goes vroom-vroom just moving from driveway to driveway. I have heard similar trash trucks operating and they do not seem to need the vroom-vroom. The truck you cite is one of two older vehicles in the city's refuse fleet and they are both louder than the newer trucks, confirmed refuse collection administrator David Shiraishi.
The older trucks also have a feature that allows the operator to rev the engine when he needs more power, he said.
"We're going to try to reduce the maximum amount of rev power provided" to try to reduce the noise, he said.
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To the family who lets their dog run loose on Mowai Street. My son was chased by their dog, which looks part pit bull. The Humane Society said there have been other complaints against this family, but nothing is done. -- No name(No record of your complaint or other complaints about this dog could be found going back to Aug. 1, said Hawaiian Humane Society spokeswoman Eve Holt. But in general, when the Humane Society receives such complaints, it will try to catch the dog. If the dog has an ID, "we will try to bring it back to its home and talk to the owner," Holt said. The Humane Society then will issue either a warning or citation. If the dog doesn't have a license or microchip, it will be taken to the Humane Society. If the owner comes to claim it, he or she will be counseled and warned. Subsequent violations will result in citations and higher fines, Holt said.)
To Yvette Dante and Colleen Sasaki. Our 84-year-old mom, Toshiko Inouye, is diabetic and her routine is to walk every morning with her little Shih Tzu dog, Buttons. On Aug. 8, they were attacked by two large Shar-peis who were running loose on Alohea Avenue and Wela Street. Yvette and Colleen were driving by when they saw what was happening. Yvette helped our mom to get the dogs away from Buttons and Colleen gave our mom a ride home. It was a traumatic experience for both our mom and Buttons. Without the courage of Yvette and Colleen to help she could have had a heart attack or been seriously injured. To the owner of the dogs: This could have been a very serious or fatal incident. Keep your dogs chained up or get rid of them! -- Toshiko Inouye and family Mahalo
Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686,
fax 525-6711, or write to P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
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