Mahalo goes to everyone for making Kokua Line a success for decades

MAHALO

To our readers, subjects, sources and respondents for making Kokua Line a mainstay first in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, and now the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, for more than 45 years.

Kokua Line started in the Star-Bulletin in the 1960s with JoAnne Imig, who was succeeded by Harriet Gee, then Hildegaard Verploegen.

I was privileged to have taken over the column from Hilde on Oct. 22, 1996, and am happy to pass it on to Star-Advertiser editorial writer Christine Donnelly, beginning in August.

After nearly 19 years, I write this column with a bittersweet finality because it also marks the end of a career that began with The Honolulu Advertiser and included the Associated Press and Star-Bulletin.

Kokua Line is truly the readers’ column.

With so many questions coming in daily via email, mail and phone, it’s just not possible to respond to everyone. We’ve tried to answer those that would provide information, explanation, guidance and just items of human interest to a wide range of readers.

The questions have reflected the interests, concerns and often befuddlement of the community; pinpointed problem areas; and shone a light on something or someone who might not otherwise be noticed. Sometimes, that’s led to change.

STANDOUT SUBJECTS

There have been many memorable subjects we’ve covered over the years, but these three stand out:

» Sweetie the dog. She first came to our attention in 2000 with concerns about an abandoned, bedraggled dog roaming the hills around Tripler Army Medical Center for at least five years. To our amazement, she was rescued three years later thanks to the persistent efforts of several people and ultimately was given a loving home by Clayton and Betty Kamida of Moanalua. Kokua Line readers donated nearly $4,000 to help pay for Sweetie’s medical expenses.

Sweetie died in 2008, no longer alone and unwanted. See bit.ly/1f2xlXa.

» The efforts of one woman, Yoshie Tanabe of Waipio Gentry, to have the H-3 freeway’s John A. Burns Tunnels successfully renamed for Tetsuo Harano, for whom the tunnels were originally named in 1994.

We first reported that Harano, a former longtime state highways chief, could not accept Gov. Ben Cayetano’s decision in 2001 to change the name of the tunnels to honor Burns. Harano said he "never agreed to it. I’ve always been against it. I just couldn’t accept it."

Tanabe read our story — bit.ly/1dyPbzm — and began a petition drive to have the tunnels renamed for Harano, whom she did not even know. Supporters included Sheenagh Burns, daughter of the former governor — bit.ly/1KtBr7K.

In 2006, Harano’s name again was affixed to the tunnels in full public view: bit.ly/1GOrmew.

» The parrots of Pearl City. It was a complaint about a large flock of "macaws" creating a racket flying daily over Pearl City and Aiea that led Newtown Estates resident Duane Angelo to contact Kokua Line and relate the story of how the Amazon parrots became a familiar sight in Leeward Oahu.

It turned out the colorful parrots could be traced to a friend’s pet birds that escaped during Hurricane Iwa in 1982 — bit.ly/1CKKmK4.

FREQUENT QUESTIONS

In this parting column, I’d also like to again correct a few misconceptions, which pop up frequently in questions to Kokua Line:

» Service dogs are not required to be certified. The way the laws are now written, anyone can claim a dog is a service animal, ignoring signs saying "service animals only," and businesses can’t demand proof. And anyone can buy a dog vest that says "service animal."

» 10 p.m. is not the magical hour that people are supposed to stop carousing. Basically, police can cite you for being too noisy at any time, but it depends on the time and circumstances. However, determining whether someone is violating noise levels is a subjective call and enforcement is another matter.

» The area between a city sidewalk or street and your home is public property, and you are not supposed to block it off or plant in it without city approval. However, you are required to maintain it.

» Your neighbor’s tree is a nuisance, dropping leaves and protruding over your property. You can trim whatever is on your side of the property — and help yourself to the fruit as well — but you can’t force your neighbor to pay for it or do any maintenance unless you can prove damage. In that case, it would be a civil matter between you and your neighbor. See bit.ly/1LVArqh and bit.ly/1R5ES8x.

Aloha to you all.

— June Watanabe