Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Question: I live on the North Shore and surf at Laniakea. A few years ago, they put up "no parking" signs next to the beach on the Waimea Bay side. But the area is perfectly suited for cars to park along the road, where it is easy to get out and families can take their kids and equipment out right there. The signs were ripped down about two years ago, but now they're back up. I see no reason to have no parking there. When it becomes winter again, people will not obey the signs more so. I think the problem is with people who live on the beach. They want a private beach to themselves, and that's wrong. Parking signs back up
along Laniakea beachAnswer: According to the state Department of Transportation, "no parking" restrictions were imposed there because of safety concerns.
The "no parking/towaway" signs were first installed on the makai side of Kamehameha Highway, between Lauhulu Bridge (Haleiwa side) and Pohaku Loa Way (Kahuku side) in 1988, DOT spokeswoman Marilyn Kali said.
Cars were parking or stopping near the travel way (sometimes partially in the lane), causing the traffic to slow down and causing safety problems, she said. She noted the road shoulder is narrow in some areas and close to the drop-off to the beach area.
The signs are continuously being knocked down, Kali acknowledged, which results in them having to be replaced.
Whether police will ticket you for parking there when the signs are knocked down will depend on the situation, according to Honolulu police Sgt. Clyde Yamashiro of the Traffic Division.
Q: I want to know more about Armi Kuusela, since I was named after her. Do you have any information?
A: Armi Kuusela was just 17, from Muhos, Finland, when she was crowned the first Miss Universe on June 29, 1952, in Long Beach, Calif.
It might interest you to know that Elza Kananionapua Edsman represented the Territory of Hawaii, separate from the United States, in that pageant and came in as first runner-up to Kuusela ("Kokua Line," April 16, 1998). She was retired and living in Kailua when we last spoke to her.
Kuusela and Edsman were among 29 international contestants in that pageant.
But Kuusela held her crown for less than a year. She was forced to give up her title and crown after she met an affluent Filipino businessman, Virgilio Hilario, at the 1952 International Exposition Festival in Manila. They were married in February 1953.
Kuusela and her husband raised five children in the Philippines. She had a brief acting career during that time.
After Hilario died in 1975, Kuusela married an American Foreign Service officer, Albert Williamson. At last report, they were living in Southern California.
Mahalo
To everyone who helped when our son was involved in a car accident on July 11 coming home from work in rush-hour traffic going around a turn near the Pali Highway tunnel. Our son was one of the "blessed ones" who was able to get out of his van and walk away. Our deepest appreciation and aloha to the wonderful, thoughtful people who were in the cars behind our son who helped him. He was pretty shaken up and did not get your names. Mahalo also to Kailua Fire Department Capt. William (Bully) Andrade, Kailua Station paramedics, and to R. Chow, L. Santos and the Kailua police. A car accident can be a family's worst nightmare. You are our angels. God bless you all. -- Chickie, Joe, Jon Guillaume and ohana
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