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Boulder is memorial
to isle troops

Question: For years, my wife and I have driven past a houselike structure at the intersection of Pali Highway, Kamehameha Highway and Auloa Road, across from the big rock monument to World War II soldiers. What is that? I'm also curious as to why that particular boulder was chosen for the memorial. Was it found there or moved there from somewhere else in Kailua?

Answer: Star-Bulletin reporter Burl Burlingame did an "X Marks the Spot" story on April 10 explaining that the building is the headquarters of Kaneohe Ranch and the boulder is a memorial to Hawaii soldiers in both World War II and the Korean War.

The memorial was made possible in part by Earl Finch, a rancher from Hattiesberg, Miss., who had befriended nisei soldiers from Hawaii during WWII. Finch presented the plaque that was placed on the boulder on March 18, 1946. The memorial also was later made to include soldiers killed in the Korean War.

However, it's not clear how the boulder or site was chosen. Neither representatives of Kaneohe Ranch, which previously owned the property, nor the local chapter of Veterans of Foreign Wars could find an official record to explain where the boulder came from or why it was placed in that location.

The site is now owned and maintained by the state Department of Transportation.

If anyone can resolve the mystery, call "Kokua Line" at 529-4773 and leave a message.

Q: Can you look into the traffic situation at exit 7310, the Tripler offramp, on Moanalua Highway? Between 7 and 8 every morning, there is a huge bottleneck that makes it difficult for Red Hill/Salt Lake/Moanalua residents to get on the highway. Could they extend the traffic light a bit longer just for that one-hour period, then extend the traffic light farther up toward Tripler a bit longer to address the dangerous situation there?

A: The state Department of Transportation says it will look into the signals in the area you cite, as part of an upcoming project to optimize traffic signals on Oahu. The project is set to start late this year.

Q: My neighbor sometimes likes to park his vehicle where it faces our bedrooms with the high-beam headlights on. Sometimes he is parked there for five minutes or more (doing who knows what). Is this illegal? If yes, whom do I complain to? We're not on good terms with the neighbor, so "talking it out" is not a option. It's not like he doesn't have anywhere else to park, because his property is three acres.

A: There's no law against that, per se, according to Capt. Frank Fujii, spokesman for the Honolulu Police Department.

However, if your neighbor is doing it deliberately, it could be considered harassment, he said. In that case, you could call police.

Fujii noted you did indicate you are not friendly with your neighbor. Still, he said, "We would encourage people to find some resolution (between themselves). They need to live with each other as neighbors," so, if possible, he suggests "finding some way to dialogue."

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