Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Question: On Saturday, April 6, I went to play basketball at Manoa Valley District Park. However, in the top parking lot, there was some kind of fund-raiser going on with chicken being cooked. They basically closed half the parking lot. Cars were going in and out like mad, trying to find parking. That is a busy district park. I tried the lower side parking lot, but it was full. I ended up parking quite a ways away. A lot of friends who I usually play basketball with every Saturday did not show up. I found out later that they could not find parking. I was just wondering, do they need a permit to do that? Who was the fund-raiser for? It was very frustrating. Manoa park parking woes
result from heavy activityAnswer: The Manoa Youth Baseball League had a permit to hold its fund-raiser that day; however, "they were not authorized to take all that parking," said Howard Yoshioka, Manoa Valley District Park supervisor.
"From what we are hearing now, they overextended and took more parking," he said.
By permit, the group was to be in one designated area. But because the vendor had problems getting access to water, the group also "ended up (in the area) above the tennis courts, where they should not have been," Yoshioka said.
An official with the league apologized but felt they had no options because of the water problems, he said.
It turned out to be a combination of things that compounded the parking problems that day. "Nobody anticipated it being so crowded," Yoshioka said.
In addition to the fund-raiser, registration for a girl's softball club also took place that day, instead of the usual Sunday, he said. That registration originally was not scheduled "way back when" the fund-raiser was penciled in, and it attracted a lot of extra people to the park, Yoshioka said.
On top of that, ongoing construction for the new multipurpose complex has resulted in the temporary loss of about 75 parking spaces in the lot next to the gym. That lot won't be reopened until July.
All that, plus the normal park activities, did result in a lot of frustration for a lot of people, Yoshioka acknowledged.
Q: From my balcony window, I notice few people using the new swimming pool at Makiki District Park. It was recently completed, and I think residents and visitors do not even know it's there. So that more people would be aware of it, can you publish the hours the pool is opened?
A: The pool is open for lap swims from 11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays and for public swims from 3:30 to 4:50 p.m. Mondays-Fridays and from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
For more information, call the park at 522-7082.
Mahalo
To the two city and county workers who placed our cooler roadside after it fell off our truck's tailgate near Old Pali Road and Waokanaka Street, then caught up to us at the stoplight further down Pali Road to let us know. Yes, they saved cooler and picnic lunch, but more important, they gave us pause as to how a random act of kindness can make the day. -- Little Red Nissan
Mahalo
Recently, I left my purse in a fitting room at Savers. I panicked when I realized what I had done. I was very, very happy to find it -- turned in to the manager by the man who next used the fitting room. I do not know his name, but I hope he reads this belated mahalo. I know that his honesty and consideration will come back to him many, many times. -- Carol
Got a question or complaint?
Call 529-4773, fax 529-4750, or write to Kokua Line,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu 96813. As many as possible will be answered.
E-mail to kokualine@starbulletin.com