It's not just power outages that knock people off the air, sometimes personal desire is the culprit.

Radio traffic reporter and KPOI-FM 105.9 mid-day host Dave Hisaka is no longer on local airwaves because of his desire to return to the mainland.

Ironically, a local personality once also heard in Alaska has taken over Hisaka's traffic reporting reins for the Oahu stations of Visionary Related Entertainment LLC.

The stations include KQMQ-FM 93.1, KUMU-FM 94.7/AM 1500, KDDB-FM 102.7 and KPOI-FM 105.9.

Mahlon Moore has worked in Hawaii radio for decades and has done traffic reporting going back almost as far - as a vacation fill-in for “;Captain”; Irwin Malzman.

Malzman, the now-retired and relocated owner of Helicopters Hawaii, did traffic reports for KSSK-AM 590 radio and then for the state Department of Transportation.

For his vacations Malzman would hire a pilot and Moore, then program director at KRTR-FM 96.3, did the airborne traffic reporting for stations using the state service, Moore said.

“;I guess you could say Mahlon has been doing traffic longer than anyone else,”; said John Aeto, general manager for VRE Oahu.

Moore is not based at the City and County of Honolulu Traffic Management Center, where other station groups' reporters fill the seats.

“;All the information is (available) on television, online and by making phone calls,”; Moore said. “;Of course we get a lot of input from listeners of the radio stations.”;

In addition, “;I have a little network ... that helps me out,”; with calls from the road, Moore said.

“;The Honolulu traffic center has so many holidays and has very strict hours,”; Aeto said.

“;We wanted to have more traffic reports and they just could not be open to provide that for us ... we're committed to having traffic (reports) up until the 7 o'clock hour in the afternoon drive,”; he said. The traffic center closes at 6 p.m. “;and everyone has to be out,”; Aeto said.

On many less-popular holidays, “;eighty percent of us are still stuck in traffic,”; Aeto said.

“;The day after Thanksgiving, he was the only source ... on what was going on at the shopping centers.”; Commuter traffic was light in the morning, “;but at noon, holy smokes if you had to get into Ala Moana Center ...”; Aeto said, letting his voice trail off, having made his point.

Moore will be doing reports “;earlier than anybody else and later than anybody else,”; Aeto said.

Moore works for Traffic News Network, which also provides traffic reports for stations belonging to California-based Salem Media of Hawaii Inc. and to KLHT-AM 1040.