Question: I live in Alii Shores in Kaneohe. At 2:15 a.m. Monday, March 23, the city brought in a truck and took a large tree down on Nahiku Street. The tree was on land owned by the city.

Three similar large "olive" trees on the abutting Kapea Street were lost during the February storms, but there was no apparent danger with this tree, although the workers claimed there was termite damage. The tree was not leaning near a home. Three police cars were escorting the tree trimmers. There was lots of noise. The neighbors are all in disbelief. Who did it and why at that time of night?

Answer: Because the tree had actually fallen, necessitating the noisy work in the early morning hours of March 23.

The Honolulu Police Department received a call that morning about the fallen tree that morning on Nahiku Street and officers confirmed it was blocking traffic, said HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu.

The city Department of Parks and Recreation’s Division of Urban Forestry was notified, while officers were on hand for traffic control.

When the forestry crew arrived, it found the tree — 2 feet in diameter and 50 feet long — blocking both lanes of Nahiku Street, as well as the sidewalk, said Parks Department spokesman Jon Hennington.

It was too large and heavy to move without cutting and chipping, he said. Hennington provided photos showing the tree sprawled across the roadway.

HPD said it received several complaints that night "because the crew used chainsaws."

"When we receive emergency calls to remove fallen trees, we are always mindful of disturbing neighboring residents,"Hennington explained. "In this instance, with the tree completely blocking the street, it had to be removed right away. We apologize for the inconvenience to the neighboring residents and ask for their understanding."

Auwe

To the Oahu State Tax Office. No matter what time I call — mornings, afternoons, even 30 minutes after opening time — I always only get their recorded message. We callers need your tax help as much as those people who visit your office. Not everyone is able to leave work/home to drive over there. If you’re not even going to answer the phone, please delete your number from the state tax forms! The State Tax Office cannot assess fines on those of us who make errors on our tax forms. We wanted to do the right thing, and repeatedly sought your help, but you were never there! — Frustrated Taxpayer

We checked the state Department of Taxation website and found a note, dated April 8, saying it was "experiencing intermittent technical problems with our telephone lines and ask the public to call back should they be unable to get through to our Taxpayer Service representatives."

The technical difficulties with the department’s telephone system hardware have now been resolved, spokeswoman Mallory Fujitani told us Wednesday.

However, people still may have problems getting through to the Taxpayer Services call center because of the high volume of phone calls.

The department apologizes for the waiting times and asks for the public’s patience, Fujitani said.

"We receive well over 300,000 calls each year and the volume of calls increases as the filing deadline approaches," she said. "Unfortunately, we do not have enough staff to handle the volume of calls coming into the call center to assist all taxpayers when they call in."

With the state tax filing deadline looming Monday, Fujitani reminds the public that tax information is available at district offices on Oahu, Hawaii, Kauai and Maui, and through the department’s website, tax.hawaii.gov.

Mahalo

To city inspector Troy Kaneshiro. After he posted an "abandoned vehicle" notice on a car, he came the next day to talk to me about what needed to be done to get the car towed and gave me a form to fill out. He even brought my newspaper up from downstairs! Thanks, Troy. — Gail Sliger, Makiki

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