Kokua Line June Watanabe

Flags flown at half-staff for peace officers

Answer: Gov. Linda Lingle ordered state flags in state and county buildings to be flown at half-staff that day, as part of Peace Officers Memorial Day.

In October 1962, President John F. Kennedy proclaimed May 15 of each year Peace Officers Memorial Day, in honor of federal, state and local officers killed or disabled in the line of duty, and the week in which the day falls as National Police Week.

Under Section 136, Title 36, of the United States Code, the president is "requested" to issue a proclamation every year designating May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day; directing federal officials to display the American flag at half-staff on all government buildings that day; and inviting state and local governments and the public to observe the day with ceremonies and activities.

Q: There is a lot of activity going on with the Honolulu Board of Water Supply substation in Manoa. Do you have any information on the work going on there and why? It's usually a quiet location, so I'm wondering what's going on.

A: The Board of Water Supply is renovating both the interior and exterior of its Manoa booster station and will be repainting the Manoa 405 reservoir, said spokeswoman Wanda Yamane.

She said neighborhood residents were advised about the planned work last year but might not have noticed the contractor's activities until recently, when re-roofing began.

"Most of the work so far has been inside the station, including replacement of the pumps and repairing the interior of the facility," she said.

Work on the $480,000 project is supposed to be completed in November.

Q: I live at the top of Makakilo on Uahanai Street and cannot hear the Civil Defense sirens during testing on the first business day of the month. Is anything being done about this?

A: Civil Defense officials are "actively" surveying your area for a suitable location to install another siren, said Ray Lovell, spokesman for state Civil Defense.

However, it is not known when it will be up and operating. Lovell cited the time-consuming process of finding a location, as well as costs ("Kokua Line," May 3).

"Makakilo is one of the fast-growing areas, and sometimes that gets ahead of our siren planning," he said.

There currently is one siren in Makakilo, located below your street, and that one is functioning, he said.

"We know there are some areas of the island where we have dead spots," and are trying to address that problem, Lovell said. Partly, that is an indication of how quickly new housing developments are going in, and partly, it is a problem with having older sirens, he said.

The emergency sirens are tested at 11:45 a.m. the first working day of the month.

If people do not hear a siren, Lovell advised contacting Oahu Civil Defense to alert them, as well as to find out what the problem might be.