Keehi Transfer Station is open despite construction

Question: What’s going on at the Keehi Transfer Station? It’s really crowded …

Answer: The waste site at 606 Middle St. is undergoing major construction that is limiting space for dumping and sometimes causing traffic delays as residential and commercial waste haulers try to enter, according to the city’s Department of Environmental Services.

The construction work is expected to continue through the summer, and the transfer station is expected to be open for the duration; its regular hours are noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. However, loads may have to be diverted at times, due to the construction.

You can call the transfer center at 845-1162 to check whether there are delays before bringing in a load of garbage. There is no fee to use the transfer station, but users are limited to two loads per day, according to the department’s website, opala.org.

Memorial clock

Kokua Line readers wondered last year about the history of a clock tower in the heart of the Hawaii Capitol Historic District, and about why the clock didn’t work. We’re happy to report that the clock has been fixed, thanks to an assist from the consul general of Japan in Hawaii, who acted after reading June Watanabe’s Kokua Line columns on the subject last year.

In columns on June 23 (808ne.ws/2fE2D2n) and June 26 (808ne.ws/2eMb272) last year, Watanabe reported that the clock tower on the Diamond Head side of the state’s Kalanimoku Building was donated by a Lions Club from Japan on Dec. 7, 1991, as a token of “eternal peace and friendship” on the 50th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The solar-powered clock, made by Seiko, had been broken for at least two years by the time the columns appeared. Workers with the state Department of Accounting and General Services had tried to fix it, but were unable to locate parts. The columns caught the attention of Consul General Yasushi Misawa, who reached out to the president of Seiko Japan.

The company was able to locate the necessary parts and provided them free of charge to DAGS, whose employees fixed the clock, said Yukako Asamura, a consular employee. It has been running well since early October, she said.

“As this clock was a gift from a Lions Club in Japan commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack and this year happens to be the 75th anniversary, Consul General Misawa also thinks it will be a good opportunity to reflect on the past and to celebrate the ties developed between Japan and Hawaii throughout the years,” she said.

To that end, representatives of Seiko, the state government and the consulate will participate in a ceremony today acknowledging the collaborative effort to repair the clock and celebrating Hawaii and Japan’s strong relationship.

Auwe

Auwe to the gentleman who walks down Salt Lake Boulevard toward Puuloa Road every morning between 5 and 5:30 a.m. You are either banging the metal poles along the way or clapping. Apparently you don’t realize that the sound is amplified due to the way the road is constructed. I live in a condo facing Salt Lake Boulevard on a high floor, and the clapping can be heard with my windows closed and air conditioner on. So unfortunately, I’m awakened every morning an hour before I need to be. If anyone knows this gentleman or if you are reading this: Please stop. — Salt Lake resident lacking sleep

Mahalo

Mahalo to all the volunteers at the polling places who helped the election run smoothly in Hawaii. It was a long day for a lot of them. I thank them for taking on this civic duty, which many of them shoulder year after year. — M.H.

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.