Question: Are the inmates who are out with work furlough passes required to have ankle monitor devices? If no, why not?
Answer: No, they are not. However, Hawaii’s Department of Public Safety will begin a pilot program soon to electronically monitor some inmates furloughed from Oahu Community Correctional Center, after training for staff and participating prisoners is completed in September, said spokeswoman Toni E. Schwartz.
Funding for the program is limited, she said. It is hoped that the pilot will establish a successful model that can serve as the basis for a 2016 legislative budget request to make the pilot permanent and expand it statewide. The department “acknowledges that the implementation of electronic monitoring will greatly enhance its ability to closely scrutinize the movements of participants on a regular basis,” Schwartz said.
State Sen. Will Espero (D, Ewa Beach) introduced a bill last session that would have appropriated about $100,000 this fiscal year and next to fund an electronic surveillance program to monitor certain inmates on probation, parole or work furlough, but the measure did not make it out of the Ways and Means Committee.
Meanwhile, one of two inmates who failed to return to Oahu’s Laumaka Work Furlough Center last week turned himself in three days later; he is expected to face an escape charge on top of the drug conviction for which he had been serving time. The other inmate, a convicted thief, remained unaccounted for at press time.
Q: Whom do we notify if we see fruit trees with branches and fruit overhanging onto the freeway? There are mango and possibly pomelo trees on private properties along the mauka side of H-1, westbound between Sixth Avenue and King Street. The branches are heavy with fruit, and I fear for the results if one or more of the fruits falls on a car.
A: Who trims back the foliage depends on where the trees are located and what type of adjacent property is affected. In this case, because the trees are on private property protruding over a state freeway, you should alert the Hawaii Department of Transportation. A DOT spokeswoman said you may contact the public information office by phone (587-2160) or email (dotpao@hawaii.gov), and that office will submit your request to DOT’s maintenance branch. Or you may call the maintenance branch yourself, at 831-6712; press 2 for the complaint line. If you believe this is an urgent situation — if, for example, branches fall and block the road — call 911.
Also, the Horticulture Services Branch of the city’s Division of Urban Forestry posts a list online describing typical tree-related questions, and whom to contact in those specific circumstances. If you are interested in scenarios beyond the one you described, go to www.honolulu.gov/parks/beau.html and click on “Guidelines for Tree Inquiries.”
Auwe
Auwe to a Kapahulu resident who smokes barbecue meat/pork overnight in his backyard. The smell of the smoke is too strong; you have no consideration for your neighbors. We are all breathing in this overpowering smell while we are sleeping. —Disgusted Neighbor
Mahalo
My husband and I have returned to New Zealand after spending two weeks in your beautiful city. The first week was our vacation in Waikiki, and we were delighted with the Hawaiian people, from the shuttle drivers; our hotel, the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani; and all the contacts we made. The second week I had an accident: A wave dump caused me to break the femur bone in my right leg. I spent that week at the Straub Clinic & Hospital, where I received the most kind and compassionate care from the surgeon, doctors, nurses, blood donors, the cleaning staff and the Roman Catholic priests who gave up their time to visit me. What a great ambassador Straub is for Hawaii. — Mahalo, Christine and Kevin Brain, Hamilton, New Zealand
Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
