Question: Will the 2020 Census only be online? They will miss a lot of people that way.

Answer: No. Responding online will be an option, but not the only one. You will be able to respond by mail or phone if you prefer, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This is the first time an online response option is expected to be widely used in the decennial count.

An online response was available for the 2000 Census, but it was not publicized and was barely used, according to the Pew Research Center. The option was not offered in 2010.

When it’s time to respond to Census 2020, you’ll probably be notified by mail, like 95 percent of U.S. households. Less than 5 percent of households receive their “census invitation” in person.

Households in areas with high internet use — which includes most of the country, including Honolulu — will get regular mail encouraging them to respond online, but the mailer also will mention the telephone and mail options.

Households considered less likely to respond online will receive paper questionnaires with their census invitations; those mailers will mention the online and telephone options.

Census invitations should arrive by March 20. Any household that doesn’t respond will receive reminder(s) in the mail, followed by a visit from a Census worker if no response is forthcoming, the bureau says.

Officials emphasize that it is important for everyone to be counted in the Census because the 2020 population numbers will influence federal funding, political power and a wide array of public and private policy decisions for the following decade.

Census data determines the number of congressional seats and Electoral College votes each state controls and guides the flow of nearly $900 billion a year in federal funding for public education, transportation projects and other services at the state and local level. Businesses use the data too, to help decide where to expand (or shrink).

Q: How do we compare on internet access?

A: Honolulu County is more likely than the nation as a whole to have households with a computer and households with a broadband internet subscription. Those figures were 90 percent versus 87.2 percent, and 83.8 percent versus 78.1 percent, respectively, according to U.S. Census Bureau data spanning 2013 to 2017.

Auwe and Mahalo

On May 30, my husband and I drove home our new Nissan Maxima — our first new car since 1988! Like any new car owner, we are super mindful to care for our car, especially when it comes to parking. We’ll walk further if it means avoiding close spaces that will cause door dings or shopping carts that may dent a car or trees from which overhead birds may relieve themselves. Nineteen days later, imagine our sadness to discover that someone had backed into our car, breaking the taillight and scraping the bumper. How could someone hit our car and just drive away? What a shame that this person has no respect for himself or herself and is so dishonest. On the bright side, we are very grateful to a witness who left a note on our windshield, giving us all the necessary information for a police report (vehicle type, license and time). This person also left their contact information, which was extremely important and validated the information for the police. Hopefully, more people will share information like this when they witness such acts. Thank you to the good Samaritan. — WCD and TLM

Mahalo

I would like to thank the man and woman who helped my husband after he fell while jogging. He tripped on a piece of sidewalk that was sticking up and went down. … Thank you for the kindness of these two people. — Joleen

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.