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Kokua Line
Question: Why is the Kaiona boat ramp in Waimanalo under lock and chain? It appears that you need a key to get to that ramp, but isn't that a public area? Chain meant
to keep cars
off boat rampAnswer: There is a chain there, but "the lock shouldn't be locked," said Wilfred Ho, Windward district manager for the city Department of Parks and Recreation.
The problem is that people have been driving cars down the ramp, and the chain is meant to keep them out, he said.
Signs would help, but there is none there now to explain the situation. "We'll have to get some signs up," Ho said.
Some background: Although the park is public, the ramp was initiated, and built by, Waimanalo community volunteers last year. It is maintained by volunteers "because they're the ones who requested that access so they could take their small boats down to go fishing and so forth," Ho said.
But it's not really a boat ramp either, he said, since it doesn't lead directly into the water.
"It's an access for people to back a small trailer down to unload or for people to walk down to the beach (carrying a boat)," Ho said. "It's simply an access for people to get from the parking lot to the beach."
Unfortunately, "If (people) go charging down, somebody's going to get hurt, their cars are going to get severely damaged."
But Ho said, "If somebody locked (the chain), then I'll have to talk to the guys taking care of that area."
Q: Is "Baywatch Hawaii" done for this season and getting ready for next season or is it done forever?
A: We checked with reporter Tim Ryan, who covers "Baywatch Hawaii" for the Star-Bulletin, and he reports the series will continue to film here through December. At this point, it's unknown if the beauty-and-the-buffed series will return for a third season in Hawaii.
More on Hawaiian registry
In the Oct. 10 Kokua Line, we said we didn't know of any "official" Hawaiian registry.It turns out that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs does have a program allowing people to record their Hawaiian ancestry.
"Operation Ohana" does not have any legal standing, said OHA spokesman Ryan Mielke. But people are invited to submit birth certificates (of themselves and their parents) as well as any other background information denoting their Hawaiian ancestry.
Their names will be recorded and they will receive an Operation Ohana card, he said.
The program was started in 1990 as "an enrollment system" to provide demographic information on native Hawaiians, as well as a data base of Hawaiian genealogy.
"Currently, the program isn't used for any federal or state certification process," Mielke said. "For instance, that you have to be a member of Operation Ohana to apply for this or that program. That's not really what it's for. But it is an official registry sponsored by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs."
There are now about 20,000 families registered. But within each family, there may be several people registered, Mielke said.
For more information or to register, call Operation Ohana coordinator Lucy Meyer at 594-1959.
Mahalo
To people at Kamehameha Shopping Center, especially to a girl at the Star Supermarket customer service counter, a security guard named Robert and a motorist whose name I didn't get. They helped me jump-start my car's battery after I left my headlight on on a recent Friday night. God bless them all. -- Grateful motorist
Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686,
fax 525-6711, or write to P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
Email to kokualine@starbulletin.com