QUESTION: Where can we apply to get a tax break for a historic home? We have two homes in Manoa that are old.

ANSWER: Just having an old home doesn’t mean it is a "historic" home that qualifies for a real property tax break in Honolulu.

The first step is to get your home placed on the Hawaii Register of Historic Places, which means applying with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Historic Preservation Division.

Because the office is short-staffed, you’re advised to first check its website, www.hawaii.gov/dlnr/hpd (check under "architecture" in the left column), for information on what’s entailed in getting a historic homes designation.

You can then call 692-8028 for more information.

In addition to Rob Perez’s Sept. 12 Star-Advertiser story about the tax breaks, see a previous "Kokua Line" column outlining the process for obtaining a historic homes tax exemption.

QUESTION: Utility companies have been doing work at telephone poles and leaving ugly coils of cable at the poles. I live on Paty Drive in Manoa, and my neighbors and I were discussing the cable coils that Oceanic has recently placed in the upper Manoa area. Are the coils going to be a permanent fixture at the telephone poles? The coils of cable make an already ugly pole look that much worse. I hope that this is not a new standard for our utility companies. (Two questions combined)

ANSWER: The coils have been removed, according to both Oceanic Time Warner Cable and Hawaiian Telcom.

We asked Oceanic first about the coils and were told one of its crew brought in new cable to the Manoa area, then technicians were later sent back to splice it and remove the excess. That is its standard procedure.

In response to our query, a spokeswoman said someone was sent to confirm the excess coil had been removed.

At that point there was still coiled wire left at the bottom of the pole. "However, that wire does not belong to us," the spokeswoman said.

Hawaiian Telcom confirmed it also was working in the Manoa area but that as of last week its work had been completed and the excess coils removed.

"We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience the coils may have caused to area residents," a spokeswoman said.

More on Panhandling

It turns out that police are armed with a state law to deal with aggressive panhandlers in any location, as part of a "disorderly conduct" statute.

In Friday’s "Kokua Line" we said the only law specifically covering panhandling was the city ordinance prohibiting "aggressive panhandling" near ATM machines and check-cashing businesses.

Maj. Carlton Nishimura, head of the Honolulu Police Department’s criminal investigation division, said aggressive panhandlers also can be prosecuted for disorderly conduct.

He pointed to Section 711-1101 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, which says disorderly conduct includes someone who "Impedes or obstructs, for the purpose of begging or soliciting alms, any person in any public place or in any place open to the public."

Otherwise, it’s not illegal for someone to approach you to ask for a handout.

The key element is "if they impede you, they step in front of you (and) they keep bothering you," Nishimura said.