Question: I’d like to ask why the city and county lifeguard truck is parked at Kalama Beach Park in Kailua all day. There are no lifeguards at Kalama Beach Park, so why is this truck not being used appropriately to assist in helping Kailua Beach lifeguards with active cases? (There is only one truck.) Kailua Beach Park includes three areas: the first park by Kalapawai, the second across from Buzz’s and the third by the boat ramp. The beach parks are being used by incoming tourists constantly, from early morning (before lifeguard stations are open) to late afternoons. Busloads of tourists are continuously dropped off at Macy’s parking lot to explore Kailua, especially the beach parks. In an emergency at Kailua Beach Park, how will rescue gear be loaded into the water without proper loading gear?
Answer: We asked Shayne Enright, a spokeswoman for the Honolulu Emergency Services Department, for information about how the department deploys its resources along that stretch of Windward Oahu. Here is her full response to your multiquestion query:
“Islandwide, all Ocean Safety Division emergency response vehicles are staffed with mobile responders (lifeguards). Mobile responders respond to emergencies where there is no lifeguard tower and provide support to the tower lifeguards during emergency cases.
“From the Kaneohe side of Kailua Beach Park to Castle Point, about a 2-mile stretch, there are no lifeguard towers. If we stationed all of our resources at Kailua Beach Park, that would increase response times to all ocean emergencies along this shoreline, and when time is critical, every minute counts.
“The truck parked at Kalama Beach Park is not parked there all day, and when it is there, there is a lifeguard with the truck, ready to respond to the entire Kailua Beach, not just the beach parks.
“Our rescue watercraft (jet ski) is located at Kailua Beach Park on the beach so it does not require a truck to tow it; instead it launches on the beach and responds by water.”
Q: I have a question about that high-school football “super league.” Would the transfer rule (sitting out two years) apply to a student who switches from a private to public school? … Our son might transfer due to the cost, but I don’t want that to prevent him from playing football if this goes through.
A: No, the proposed football alliance of the Oahu Interscholastic Association and the Interscholastic League of Honolulu should not affect football eligibility for a student transferring from a private high school to a public one on the same island, said Honolulu Star-Advertiser reporter Nick Abramo.
Abramo and Honolulu Star-Advertiser sports columnist Ferd Lewis wrote about the proposal in Tuesday’s paper. You can read their stories at 808ne.ws/ 1XVUkmX and 808ne.ws/ 1XVUkmX, respectively.
The proposed transfer rule is intended to address long-standing concerns about football players switching from public to private schools in the middle of high school, recruiting complaints that helped thwart earlier attempts to realign the leagues. Under the current plan, a football player transferring from a public school to a private school (or to any neighbor island school) would have to sit out the sport for two years, according to the stories.
The proposed three-year pilot project aligning the OIA and ILH would include only football and would take effect this fall, if officials from the OIA, ILH and Hawaii High School Athletic Association approve it.
Auwe
Say it ain’t so! I was checking online, trying to determine how the processing of my tax refund was progressing. I got the message that it hadn’t been processed yet, then came the bad news: “Please allow 16 weeks for processing of refunds.” — B.G.
Mahalo
Thank you to the nice young family who paid for my meatball marinara sub at a Kaimuki sandwich shop April 16. This act of kindness and generosity gave me a happy feeling about the good people in the community. — Savors the positive experience
Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
