Question: When is Safe Access O‘ahu supposed to expire? Is the mayor going to extend it?
Answer: March 6; whether to extend the COVID-19 restrictions is up in the air.
“The future of Safe Access Oahu is being discussed and the mayor is in communication with leaders in the restaurant industry. A decision as to the future of the program will be made in the coming weeks,” Tim Sakahara, a spokesman for Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi, said Thursday in an email.
Safe Access O‘ahu requires certain Oahu businesses, such as restaurants and bars that serve food and drink on the premises, to screen employees and customers 12 and older for COVID-19, by requiring them to provide proof of full vaccination against the disease or a negative COVID-19 test. Customers also have to show ID. The program also applies to indoor gyms and fitness facilities.
Safe Access O‘ahu is in effect under a 60-day emergency proclamation the mayor signed Jan. 5.
Q: I bought the Hokule‘a license plates the first day but didn’t put them on my car right away. Now I notice they start with PW, not PV, as I had expected. Is this a mistake?
A: No. With thousands of Hawaii speciality license plates designated to support the Polynesian Voyaging Society, they can’t all start with PV. You’re not alone in asking, though. Other readers who rushed out to buy them at Oahu satellite city halls when they first went on sale Jan. 31 also wondered why their plates started with PX, PW, PY or some other combination besides PV.
It turns out the PV sequence is available only by mail, a fact not mentioned in Honolulu County’s Jan. 31 news release and FAQs announcing that the long-awaited plates were available for purchase. After our questions, that information was added to the FAQs (808ne.ws/pvsfaq), which now explain how to order by mail and make clear that the satellite city halls sell Hokule‘a plates starting with PW, PX, PY, PZ, RA, RB, RC and RD.
There’s no guarantee that all mail orders now will get PV plates. Depending on the volume of orders, that sequence might run dry.
You and the other readers who asked might have expected a license plate starting with PV because that’s what the sample Hokule‘a plate shows.
To answer other readers’ question, no, it’s not possible to order Hokule‘a plates online, the city said.
Q: Every year I do my own Hawaii income tax returns using form N-11. I do have the “Individual Tax Tables for Taxable Years Beginning After December 31, 2017.” Is that still effective?
A: Yes. Others who need Hawaii tax tables or forms should be able to find links to them at tax.hawaii.gov/forms.
Auwe
While stopped at a red light at Queen and Kamakee streets on Feb. 3 at 1:30 p.m., next to me was a car of full of raucous young girls. I paid them no mind as I was looking at my notes for my next meeting, and as I pulled away upon the green light, I saw something fly through the air from the passenger side of this white car. This item hit my driver-side passenger window. As the girls pulled away, the girl who used the toy rifle shooting the soft balls was hanging out of her window laughing while holding the toy rifle. It so startled me. I wasn’t sure what they had shot at my car. It was some kind of soft ball that did no damage. However, this could have caused an accident. Girls, you were lucky I had to go to a meeting, otherwise I would have followed you and called HPD to have you cited. Grow up! — V.B.
Mahalo
Mahalo nui loa to the wonderful Kailua neighbor who found my wallet on the highway and returned it to my son at our home. Forever grateful. — Cynthia
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.
