Question: Is there an easy way to find out whether someone I used to be involved with is still in prison? I am not technically a victim.

Answer: Yes. The Hawaii Statewide Automated Victim Information and Notification system provides information about the custody and parole status of individual offenders. You can access the system online (808ne.ws/1Otic1E) or by phone (877-846-3444).

There is no fee, and you do not need to provide your name to check a prisoner’s status.

You will need to supply the offender’s first and last names or their offender ID number.

It’s also possible to register to receive automatic updates via email and telephone about a particular inmate.

Although the notification service is of great interest to victims, it is not limited to them. As its website states, “Hawaii SAVIN offers victims and concerned citizens free, anonymous, and confidential access to timely information and notification 24-hours a day, 365 days a year on the custody and parole status of offenders under the jurisdiction of the State Of Hawaii’s Department of Public Safety.”

Hawaii SAVIN is powered by the national Victim Information and Notification Everyday network.

Q: It makes me so mad to hear about some people bothering sea turtles, “petting” them on the beach and even trying to “ride” them in the ocean! … These are wild creatures, not pets. Leave them alone!

A: Your admonishment is especially timely because summer is nesting season for sea turtles in the Hawaiian Islands, which means that residents and visitors are more likely to see them mating in near-shore waters or basking on beaches.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Division and the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources all remind people to keep a respectful distance of at least 10 feet whenever a sea turtle is spotted on the beach or in the ocean.

Never feed, chase or touch a sea turtle.

Two species nest in Hawaii: the green sea turtle (honu) and the hawksbill sea turtle (ea). Both are protected under state and federal laws.

Witnesses are asked to contact authorities when they know sea turtles are being harmed or at risk of being harmed. In addition, all sightings related to the more rare ea should be reported.

Call the DLNR’s Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement at 587-0077 or 643-DLNR to report illegal or suspicious activity that could result in sea turtle injury or death.

Report any ea sightings, nesting activity (turtle tracks or nest digging) and injured or dead turtles to NOAA’s Sea Turtle Stranding Hotline:

>> Oahu, Lanai and Molokai: 725-5730, 286-4377 (after hours)

>> Kauai: 274-3344

>> Maui: 286-2549 (primary) or 286-2899

>> Hawaii: 286-4359 (Hilo), 881-4200 (North Kona), 327-6226 (South Kona)

Dial the 808 area code as necessary, depending on which island you call from.

Mahalo

Thank you to the lady who was driving by my house in Kaneohe on June 1 at 4:30 a.m. and stopped to inform me that my car was on fire. She beeped her horn and was yelling at the top of her lungs, “Fire! Fire! Fire!” which awoke me. … It was an electrical short. I was able to extinguish the fire by the time the Fire Department and the police arrived. Whoever this lady is, I can’t thank her enough for having the heart to stop and yell and get us all up and out of the house. … She also called the Fire Department. The car was close to my house, so she kept my house from burning, too. … She left once the Fire Department arrived, before I could say thank you. So I don’t know who she is or where she’s from, but God sent her to my house and I just want to thank her so much for waking us up. — Mahalo from Roy on Aumoku Street

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.