Kokua Line: Did green QR code replace wristband?

Question: Regarding Safe Travels, has the green QR code replaced the wristbands?

Answer: No. A green QR code means the passenger’s quarantine exception was pre-verified by the Safe Travels digital platform. The passenger should be processed at the airport more quickly because their Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccination card or negative COVID-19 test result doesn’t have to be checked by hand. A wristband signifies that an airline has pre-cleared the passenger at their departure point before boarding a Hawaii-bound domestic flight.

We’ve heard from other readers about times when short-staffed airlines issued wristbands only to passengers with green QR codes — they didn’t have staff available to screen quarantine-exception documents. Passengers who are not pre-cleared have to verify their Safe Travels status after landing in Hawaii.

Q: Do you know of any problems that Toyota has had with their paint or clear coat? I have a Tacoma that is 6 years old and the clear coat on the roof is coming off. I have seen this problem with many Tacomas. I previously had a 4Runner for 17 years and a Supra for 10 years, with the exact same color, and nothing like this happened with those vehicles.

A: Toyota is repairing or paying to repair “flaking or peeling of the factory-­applied clear coat layer on certain 2017 Tacoma vehicles painted with Blazing Blue (8T0) paint color,” it announced two years ago. This customer support program is not a recall and applies to only about 1,100 vehicles nationwide, the automaker said at the time. Eligible owners were instructed to contact a local Toyota dealer for diagnosis and repair, available for 10 years from the truck’s date of first use.

Based on your description, your Tacoma is a 2016 model, and therefore would not qualify for this program. We called Toyota’s corporate offices asking whether it has been extended to any other Tacoma model years or paint colors, but got no responses by deadline. You could follow up directly with a local dealer to confirm.

Q: Our baby was born late last year. Can we claim both the child credit and the stimulus for her, or is it just one or the other?

A: Both, assuming that your household is otherwise eligible. “Parents of a child born in 2021 who claim the child as a dependent on their 2021 income tax return may be eligible to receive a 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit of up to $1,400 for this child,” the IRS says. “All eligible parents of qualifying children born in 2021 are also encouraged to claim the child tax credit — worth up to $3,600 per child born in 2021 — on their 2021 income tax return.”

The third-round Economic Impact Payment, what you referred to as the stimulus, was an advance payment of the 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit. Parents and guardians who added a new child to their family in 2021 did not receive an EIP for that child and therefore would claim it as the Recovery Rebate Credit, if otherwise eligible.

Q: Regarding the tennis rules, please clarify: Does the 45-minute clock start when another group comes to the courts to wait?

A: No, the clock starts ticking when you start to play. This is clear from the tennis rules posted on the Department of Parks and Recreation’s website. See Rule No. 4: “The limit of play is 45 minutes from the time of possession for singles and doubles, including warm-up, and excluding time lost due to wet courts.” This rule and others apply to Honolulu County’s public courts.

Q: Why is the H-3 closing, and for how long? I didn’t quite catch the sign.

A: The closure this weekend of the H-3 Freeway in the Kaneohe-bound direction between the Halawa interchange and the Halekou interchange is for expansion-joint repair work, according to the state Department of Transportation. Off-ramps from the H-3 to Kamehameha Highway and Likelike Highway also will be closed. The closure is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Friday through 4 a.m. Monday.

Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.