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Kokua Line
Question: Why do police allow contractors to continually drop dirt all over Kamehameha Highway from trucks where the Central Oahu Regional Park is being constructed across from Waipio Gentry? We, the general public, would be given a citation without a second chance for littering. Before the day is over, a truck waters the highway, creating a muddy mess. If the trucks didn't drop the dirt in the first place they wouldn't have to spray water all over the dirt. This has been going on too long. The same thing is going on in Pearl City, where the road to Home Depot is being built across from Sam's Club. Dirt is all over the street. Construction trucks
leave dirt on roadAnswer: As far as police are concerned, they have not observed any violations in either area.
There is dirt on the road, but it is off to the side and in the middle, police Lt. Mark Ross of the Pearl City station said of the Waipio Gentry area.
"It appears that the contractors are taking steps so that mud is not tracked on the roadway," he said. They are "pretty much handling all the dirt on the roadway."
If someone calls police or if an officer "witnesses something flagrant, then we will take action because it is against the law to track mud on the roadway," he said. "Right now, we don't see any violations."
If you do believe there is a violation, Ross said to call police at 911 (and say it's not an emergency).
According to the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu: "No vehicle using a public highway shall track mud or dirt onto the traveled portion of such highway ... as to constitute a hazard when the road is wet or obscure the painted pavement markings. In the event mud or dirt is unavoidably tracked onto the highway, it shall be the duty of the operator of the offending vehicle to have such mud or dirt removed as quickly as possible."
As for the Pearl City site, a police sergeant, also from the Pearl City station, said the road may get dirty, but never to the point of being a danger to motorists.
Workers in that area, before opening the road up to traffic, "clean everything up. And throughout the day, they're watering down the construction site," the sergeant said. Like Ross, he personally checked the area and found "there was no hazard."
Q: Each year at Christmas time, my husband's employer gives each employee a Christmas "bonus." On the following pay period, the full amount is deducted from his paycheck as a "voluntary deduction." Is this legal?
A: Employers are required to withhold Hawaii income tax on any supplemental wages, according to the state Department of Taxation. Bonuses, as well as commissions and overtime pay, are considered supplemental wages.
If these supplemental wages are paid at a different time or separately from regular wages, the employer may determine the amount of tax to be withheld by adding the bonus to the regular wages for the next pay period, tax officials said.
In other words, if no taxes were withheld from a bonus check, then taxes would be withheld on the next paycheck, computed on both the bonus amount and regular wages, they said.
Mahalo
To Ala Moana Center management. The ladies restroom is spacious, clean and sanitary despite the constant heavy traffic. The faucets work and there are ample supplies of soap, bathroom tissue and an attendant on hand. Best of all, for a person with an infirmity like me, my wheelchair and I have no difficulty with the upgraded accessibility. - M.C.
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