Kokua Line June Watanabe

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HECO needs no permission to prune trees

Question: I came home one day to find Hawaiian Electric cutting my tree. Don't they have to notify us before they do that?

Answer: Hawaiian Electric Co. will make "every attempt" to notify customers if a tree-trimming crew has to access private property to prune a tree affecting electrical lines or equipment, or if the work is going to be substantially different from past prunings, spokesman Jose Dizon said.

As explained previously (Kokua Line, June 8), Dizon reiterated that the company has "a right to enter (private property) to inspect and maintain our equipment, such as reading electric meters or pruning trees."

That authority is granted by the Public Utility Commission in HECO's tariff rules.

According to Dizon, "It was discovered a number of years ago that the grand majority of customers are fine with our trimming and don't need or want notification."

However, "We do make a strong effort to notify all of the customers that have asked for notice during our routine maintenance.

But in emergencies, "we may not notify customers because of the emergency nature of the work."

If you have concerns about how the tree was pruned, call HECO's arborist at 543-7836.

HECO will not prune an entire tree, Dizon said, adding that trees are pruned according to guidelines established by the International Society of Arboriculture.

Auwe

To the state for not having any laws requiring minors to have parental consent before getting body piercings. You can imagine how upset I was when I found that my 13-year-old teen went to Lory's Hair Shoppe in Wahiawa to get her tongue pierced without my or her mother's knowledge and/or written or verbal consent. Later, I found out from the Honolulu Police Department and Department of Health that there is no law in Hawaii regulating body piercing for minors. Yet, there are more than 20 other states that have laws regulating body piercing. In states such as Texas and Florida, parental consent is required and the parent has to be present while the piercing is being done. -- Robert Reed/Wahiawa.

We received a similar complaint several years ago (Kokua Line, Dec. 20, 2000).

That year, state Sen. Suzanne Chun-Oakland introduced a bill to require parental consent for minors to have their bodies pierced.

But the bill was shelved because the issue apparently was not a major concern -- one person testified for the bill and one against.

On the other hand, there was a concern that "if you get parental consent for this, what other things would we get parental guidance for?" Chun-Oakland said at the time.

She also said that the issue could be brought up again, but "there needs to be a community interest in this area."

We checked with her recently and she suggested contacting Senate or House committee leaders if you want to pursue the issue.