Question: I and many other bowlers on Oahu have been waiting and hoping for the Minnesota-based bowling alley chain to succeed in its endeavors to renovate and reopen Waialae Bowl, which closed in 2008. However, this summer, a "for lease" sign appeared in front of the building. This saddens many of us, including a whole lot of senior citizens. What has happened?

Answer: Property owner Kamehameha Schools (formerly Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate) is continuing to look for potential users of the old Waialae Bowl building, spokesman Kekoa Paulsen told us Tuesday.

Asked whether reopening a bowling alley still was a possibility, he said, "Not in the way it was being conceived. The people who were thinking of bringing it back … were not able to get everything together that they needed. So, that’s not a proposal that anybody is entertaining right now."

However, Adam Apo, representing the owners of the Colonial Lanes bowling chain, said yesterday they are "all ready to go" to reopen a bowling alley, but that Kamehameha Schools "pulled the plug" on negotiations.

The amount of the lease rent is a sticking point.

With a bowling business, "you can only charge X amount a game," Apo, a Honolulu native working for Colonial Lanes in Minnesota, explained in a telephone interview. "You can’t charge $15 a game to pay the bills."

At this point, "we’re hoping that Bishop Estate will work with us," he said. "We’ve got a liquor license in position, everything. Banks are ready to loan us money."

But a deadline looms. The liquor license, which Kamehameha Schools requires as part of the lease agreement, expires Oct. 16.

When the Honolulu Liquor Commission granted Waialae Bowl Inc., a new company formed by the owners of Colonial Lanes, a six-month license extension earlier this year, it said it would be the last extension. The first license was granted in 2008.

Meanwhile, Paulsen said brokers are "looking around town to see what might happen at the property, but we don’t have anything firm right now."

Question: I am a "young senior citizen" who lives alone. To protect myself, is it legal to own a stun gun and to use it?

Answer: It is not legal to own or use a stun gun in Hawaii.

Under Chapter 134 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, it is "unlawful for any person, including a licensed manufacturer, licensed importer or licensed dealer, to possess, offer for sale, hold for sale, sell, give, lend or deliver any electric gun."

An electric gun is defined as any portable device "that is electrically operated to project a missile or electromotive force."

However, it does not include any electric livestock prod used in animal husbandry or any automatic external defibrillator used in medical emergencies.

Question: Why are police with speed guns on the freeway during rush hour? Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 24, an officer with a speed gun pulled over two drivers on the H-1 — one just before Moanalua Gardens and the second by Fort Shafter. This only created more of a traffic jam.

Answer: The fact that two drivers were pulled over within a short period suggests that the area does have drivers who are either going over the speed limit or driving too fast for road conditions (in this case, heavy traffic), said Michelle Yu, spokeswoman for the Honolulu Police Department.

Generally, she said, sites and times where officers with speed guns are posted depend on multiple factors, including collisions in the area, public complaints and police observations.

Write to "Kokua Line" at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or e-mail kokualine@staradvertiser.com.