Question: Can you check into who is responsible for mowing the grass on the median strip on upper Kailua Road between Castle Hospital and Kailua town? It has not been mowed since before Christmas. The grass is now about 3 feet tall in some spots and has become hazardous to traffic. (Combination of two questions)

Answer: The landscaping crew assigned to the Kailua Road area should be back tending to the median on Monday, according to the state Department of Transportation.

(City Councilman Ikaika Anderson said he and two aides cut down some of the tall grass yesterday at the 1000 block of Kailua Road for driver safety reasons.)

In late December a highway beautification project that involved planting trees on the Kailua Road median "overrode" the crew’s normal schedule.

Subsequent heavy rain then delayed the work, a department spokesman said. The crew is back to its regular schedule and will be trimming the median and surrounding areas.

Kailua Road falls under the Transportation Department’s jurisdiction from Kalanianaole Highway to the Kawainui Stream Bridge entering Kailua town.

The department’s Windward area landscaping crew tends to Kailua Road, Kaneohe Bay Drive, Mokapu Boulevard, the H-3 freeway and Kahekili, Kalanianaole, Likelike and Pali highways over a five-week cycle.

"We appreciate updates from the public regarding maintenance issues in their areas," the spokesman said.

To report landscaping problems, potholes, graffiti or safety hazards on state roads, call the Highways Maintenance Branch at 831-6714.

Question: I was driving on the H-1 heading toward Mililani between 6 and 6:30 p.m. recently and counted at least a dozen vehicles without their lights on. It was already dark, and certain sections of the freeway are not lit well, making vehicles hard to see. Who is at fault if you got into an accident with one of these vehicles, especially if you changed lanes and did not see them in your blind spot?

Answer: The legal system would determine who is at fault.

But the law (Section 15-19.17 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu) does require drivers to turn on their headlights a half-hour after sunset and a half-hour before sunrise.

Auwe

To a man abusing an animal at about 11:15 p.m. Monday, Jan. 17, at Pumehana and Lime streets. He chased a dog down and beat it by kicking or punching it, all the while yelling, "Shut the —- up." You have no right to treat an animal that way. I called police, but you’d already left by the time they arrived. I hope your neighbors report you to the Hawaiian Humane Society. You do not deserve the company of animals. I cannot get the agonizing screams of that animal out of my mind. I was in my pajamas, but still I should have gone out with my pepper spray to save that poor animal. — Report Animal Abusers

Anyone who witnesses animal cruelty is advised to call the Hawaiian Humane Society immediately at 356-2250, as well as the Honolulu Police Department at 911, said Keoni Vaughn, director of operations for the Humane Society.

The Humane Society number is available 24/7, but there is limited staff on duty after hours, so callers might have to leave a message. Messages are checked frequently, Vaughn said.

"The quicker someone gets there, the better chance we have of catching (the abuser) in the act," he said.

Vaughn said Humane Society dispatchers "are trained to ask important questions to help with the investigation."

Information that is given "is kept extremely confidential," he said. Contact information is requested so investigators can follow up accordingly.

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 e-mail kokualine@staradvertiser.com.