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Missing crosswalk
will be restored

Question: Not long ago, construction was being done at August Ahrens Elementary School in Waipahu that included digging up part of Waipahu Street in front of the school. After the work was done, the road was repaved. However, there was a small crosswalk near the intersection of Waipahu Street and Peke Lane that was never repainted. Why was it removed? That crosswalk is also right between two bus stops, and I saw children crossing there all the time.

Answer: Good thing you pointed this out.

City officials haven't been able to figure out what happened with that crosswalk.

It should not have been taken away, but "no one will take credit" for doing so, said Ty Fukumitsu, a traffic engineer with the city Department of Transportation Services.

Fukumitsu dug through all the pertinent files to try to find out what happened but had no luck.

However, the bottom line, he said, is that the crosswalk will be put back.

Q: I recently received a rent increase notice from my property manager via e-mail. Is e-mail a legal form of communication for changes to one's residential lease?

A: Apparently not in your case, but you should ask state Landlord-Tenant Code experts to clarify what the law is.

You can speak to someone by calling the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code hot line at 586-2634 from 8 a.m. to noon, Mondays through Fridays.

The state Landlord-Tenant Code mandates that written notice be given if there is any change in a rental or lease agreement, according to the official with the state Office of Consumer Protection.

That would mean either by "old-fashioned snail mail or personal delivery" -- not by e-mail, he said.

He explained that when the law covering this was first drafted, e-mail essentially wasn't used for communication.

However, the state Legislature did make changes in the law a few years ago, he said, allowing people to enter into contracts via electronic means.

But "in those instances, both parties have to agree" ahead of time.

In the context of the amendment and the fact that the law originally was drafted with regular mail in mind, "unless both parties explicitly agree to an alternative form of notice, then the written notice should be provided in a manner other than e-mail," he said.

UH recycling

The University of Hawaii at Manoa says the Sunday recycling center set up in its law school parking lot on Dole Street is such a success, it has decided to continue it for another year.

RRR Recycling Services will continue to set up its mobile redemption equipment through June, said UH-Manoa spokesman Jim Manke.

Deposit containers can be redeemed 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays, except on UH-Manoa graduation Sundays -- Aug. 14, Dec. 18 and May 14 -- and on Dec. 25, Jan. 1 and Easter Sunday, April 16.

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