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North Shore winter
is ticket season

Question: On Oahu's North Shore, at Laniakea Beach, 10 or more commercial tour buses, vans and limos routinely park in the clearly posted "No Parking" zone and city bus stop to let passengers out to see the surf and sea turtles.

This is next to the intersection (makai side) of Kamehameha Highway and Pohakuloa Way. Honolulu police officers seem to never issue citations to these violators, even though patrol cars and officer-owned cars with blue lights are often in the vicinity. Why aren't citations given? I presume tickets are not being given because the same commercial operators park there day after day.

Answer: Officers from the Honolulu Police Department's Wahiawa station "do enforce 'no parking' signs along public property on Kamehameha Highway," said Maj. Michael Thomas.

The question is whether the vehicles you see are parked on public or private property.

"We do cite those parked on 'no parking' areas on public property," Thomas emphasized. In that area of Kamehameha Highway, that basically would be from the bus stop on, he said.

He also said officers issue "tons of parking citations" especially during the winter high-surf season, because of the danger posed by illegal parking.

Firefighter test

Marilynn Ito-Won, a counselor at Honolulu Community College, thanked us for the July 10 Kokua Line column, which gave information about what applicants have to go through to become a Honolulu firefighter.

A reader had asked if there was any kind of study guide available for the written exam, which will be given in September.

The city Department of Human Resources, which administers the test, says it does not issue any study guide, but Ito-Won said the community college offers an eight-hour "Fire Fighter Written Test Prep Class."

Classes will be held from 8 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 5 p.m. July 28-29; and from 8 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 5 p.m. Aug. 8-9.

It costs $145 for the class, which will touch on basic math and reading comprehension, as well as focus on an "overview of the key components of previous firefighting exams with sample problems and general test-taking strategies and tips," Ito-Won said.

For more information, check the Web site http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/fireprep/ or call 845-9296.

The community college also offers a four-semester FIRE (Fire and Environmental Emergency Response) program, with options of earning an associate degree and certificate of achievement, Ito-Won said.

The program emphasizes four basic areas of fire safety: prevention and inspection, fire control, rescue and emergency medical, and management and administration, she said.

Honolulu Community College will offer stipends to FIRE students of Hawaiian ancestry.

For more information, go to the Web site honolulu.hawaii.edu, click on "Technical Programs" then "FIRE."

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