Question: How/when are they giving farmers $50,000?
Answer: The Oahu Agricultural Grants program, which plans to award $50,000 each to a total of 20 farmers, ranchers or growers on Oahu this year, is finalizing the application process now, according to the city. To be notified when applications open, sign up through the program’s website, oahuaggrants.org. The program is expected to launch by the end of the month.
Online informational sessions are scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday to help people prepare to apply. Sessions will be livestreamed on the Office of Economic Revitalization’s Facebook page, facebook.com/oer.honolulu, and archived there for later viewing.
To be eligible for a grant, an Oahu agricultural producer must have been in business by March 2020 and “be fully compliant with the IRS, and the state of Hawaii’s departments of labor and industrial relations, commerce and consumer affairs, and taxation,” the website said.
Honolulu County is using federal pandemic relief funding to create the program, which is expected to award $1 million in 2022, 2023 and 2024, for a total of $3 million to support local agriculture.
Q: I see big groups of motorcyclists riding around together, several in one lane and then all bunched up across other lanes, too. It makes it impossible for other vehicles to pass the group. Is this legal?
A: No. “Motorcycles shall not be operated more than two abreast in a single lane,” according to Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 291C-153(d).
Q: There used to be a children’s museum near the harbor, but I don’t remember the name. Is it still there? My grandchildren are coming to visit this summer.
A: Yes, the Hawaii Children’s Discovery Center is still open, at 111 Ohe St. adjacent to Kakaako Waterfront Park. For now, tickets must be reserved in advance, but the center is scheduled to resume regular operating hours and procedures starting June 1. See discoverycenterhawaii.org or call 808-524-5437 for more information.
Q: Regarding the Hawaii tax rebate, is $300 all the whole family would get? We have two kids.
A: No. A couple earning less than $200,000 with two dependents would receive $1,200 under a bill the Legislature has passed and which the governor is reviewing. SB 514, SD 1, HD 1, CD 2, specifies that a refund of $100 or $300 be multiplied by the number of a taxpayer’s qualified exemptions. A couple with two dependents (the kids) would have four exemptions. The amount per exemption would be $300 for people earning less than $100,000 and couples earning less than $200,000, or $100 for people earning $100,000 or more and couples earning $200,000 or more, according to the bill.
Mahalo
On May 1 I was in the inside lane of Wailua Street, waiting to turn onto Lunalilo Home Road. A gray Chevy truck was making a wide turn from Lunalilo Home Road onto Wailua Street and was going to hit me. I turned my wheel to the right to avoid him, but I was hit anyway, my back door damaged and rear tire demolished. The truck kept going. I want to thank the wonderful people who helped me in this situation. Carol Kamisako and Tyler Nishiyama stayed with me and helped me call my husband and the police. A gentleman whose name I did not get came to see that I was OK and then followed the truck driver to a nearby shopping center, where I was told he was apprehended. I was also given the hit-and-run truck’s license number. I would like to give them all a big hug of thanks. I also want to thank police officers Hibbert and Terakawa, who were kind and helpful. Also, AAA service was a blessing. — Senior driver
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.
