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Kokua Line June Watanabe |
State not ready to put
license manual onlineQuestion: A while back in "Kokua Line" (Nov. 18), it was written that the state Department of Transportation would put its Hawaii driver's license manual online. Has this happened yet? I can't seem to find it.
Q: I was reading your column about the state publishing the driver's manual online. Has anything been done about this since? It seems quite ridiculous that it is not available on the state licensing Web page. I could make a PDF file of the complete manual in about one hour, and it should not take their site manager more than 10 minutes to post it. Having to pay for information in order to pass a state-sponsored exam just rubs me wrong.
Answer: The state Department of Transportation may have spoken too soon about offering the manual online.
It's more than a matter of physically posting the material. Apparently, the contract with the company that's publishing the manual might not allow the department to post it online. Officials are reviewing the contract, a transportation spokesman said.
Q: I received a phone call from Verizon asking if we wanted more features added to our phone. We registered our phone number so that we wouldn't get telemarketing calls. Does that exclude Verizon because we already have services with them? It was very irritating because the person said he knows we have Verizon services, but kept asking me questions. I wanted to say, "Why don't you check our phone bill for the answers?"
A: This is a good opportunity to remind readers that just being on the national Do Not Call Registry does not automatically stop all telemarketing calls.
Among the telemarketing pitches you might still receive are from organizations with which you have an established business relationship; calls to which you have given prior written consent; calls that are not commercial and do not include unsolicited ads; or calls from tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations.
Your call from Verizon would fall into the established business relationship category.
If you don't want to be called by Verizon again, call 643-3456 (residential) or 643-4411 (business) and ask to be put on its own Do Not Call list, said Verizon Hawaii spokeswoman Ann Nishida.
"Customers can specify if they want both phone calls and mail blocked," she said.
Meanwhile, to stop most commercial telemarketing calls, call 888-382-1222 -- or 866-290-4236 for the hearing-impaired -- to sign up with the Federal Communication Commission's Do Not Call Registry.
You must call from the phone number you wish to register. You can also register online by going to www.fcc.gov/cgb/donotcall. Registration is free and good for five years, after which you must re-register.
Mahalo
To Honolulu police officers Henny Wasson, Christine Thomas and Danny Walls for coming to my aid after I had passed out in my apartment. The three officers responded after 911 was called, but they couldn't get into my apartment. Officer Wasson swung over the balcony and got into my lanai. I recently got out of the hospital and wanted to express my mahalo to them. -- Bruce Eng
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