Question: Auwe. Last week we called the dead animal pickup number listed in the phone book about a dead cat lying near the curb at Vineyard Boulevard and Punchbowl Street, and a week later it’s still there! … What number are we supposed to call?
Answer: Who to call depends on whether the animal carcass is on a state or a city roadway, and in a rural or urban part of Oahu (if the carcass is on a city street).
In this case the roadway is overseen by the state Department of Transportation, and the number to call is 831-6714, the state highways division hotline. Press 1 for dead animal pickup. After hours, call 485-6200.
Since we were calling to confirm the phone number, we also reported the dead cat, although the best we could do on the location was to say that it was on the mauka side of the intersection, near a directional sign for the National Cemetery of the Pacific, as you had mentioned in your call to Kokua Line. We hope the unfortunate feline’s remains will have been removed by the time this item is published.
If it had been a city street within Honolulu, the number to call would be 768-3200. Press 1 and then press 8, to connect to the Honolulu Refuse Collection Yard. It’s open 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.
Areas outside Honolulu are covered by the Department of Facility Maintenance. The phone numbers for those areas (including Pearl City, Kailua, Kaneohe, Kapolei and others) are listed under “dead animal pickup” on the first page of city and county listings in the phone book.
Your query begs the question of how the general public is supposed to know whether the city or state oversees a given thoroughfare. One way to find out is to call the city Department of Design and Control’s Land Division at 768-8725.
Golf update
As promised, the city has updated its policy for issuing golf ID cards, good for discounted kamaaina rates at municipal golf courses. The Department of Enterprise Services’ Golf Courses Division now accepts a Hawaii state identification card as the proof of residence required to obtain a golf ID, as long as the state ID was issued after Jan. 1, 2013, and identifies Hawaii as the cardholder’s primary domicile. A Hawaii driver’s license, learner’s permit or provisional license continue to be accepted, as before. For details, see 808ne.ws/ golfid.
Kapalama Canal
The public is invited to a meeting Wednesday evening to hear about the city’s initial plans for a park and other improvements along the Kapalama Canal. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the Farrington High School Cafeteria, 1564 N. King St. This presentation, hosted by the city’s Department of Planning and Permitting, synthesizes ideas shared at a community meeting in September, including a linear park and pedestrian and bicycle pathways along and across the canal. The DPP will present the initial design at Wednesday’s meeting and gather more input before moving forward. For more information, see kapalama-canal.eventbrite.com.
Auwe
To the young couple in, I think, an SUV who were driving out of the Aikahi Safeway parking lot a little after noon Thursday and almost hit me. You were going quickly through parking spaces, then the wrong way. There was a big white panel van right before the empty space you cut through, and I could not see you nor you me. If I had been hard of hearing or you had been in an electric car, you would have hit me, because I stopped immediately and just short of you when I heard your car. It would not have been worth saving 30 seconds to have exited your parking place and lane on the other side of me in the proper manner by backing out and then driving out going the proper direction. Whew! I hope it scared you enough that you won’t do it again. — G.G., Aikahi
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.