Question: Regarding the Oct. 7, 2010, Kokua Line about renewing the state ID card for flying and whether it has to be changed by May 11: Can we have an update? We will be traveling and wonder if our state ID or driver’s license will be valid under the REAL ID Act.

Answer: Hawaii residents can relax for at least another 20 months about getting driver’s licenses or state identification cards updated to meet federal security standards.

Both the city Motor Vehicle & Licensing Division and the state Attorney General’s Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center, which issues state ID cards, said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has extended the deadline for states to comply with REAL ID Act provisions to Jan. 15, 2013.

The deadline had been May 11.

According to Homeland Security, “This change will give states the time necessary to ensure that driver’s licenses and identification cards issued by states meet the security requirements of the REAL ID Act.”

So for now, either your driver’s license or state ID will allow you to board planes and enter federal buildings.

Question: I took a neighbor to visit a relative at Kukui Gardens Makai on Sunday, April 10. You can enter from Li­li­ha Street or Aala Street. The gates don’t have guards and you cannot find them. Both of us are handicapped, so I parked in a handicap parking space. But a lady came out and told me I was parked in her space and had to move my car right away or she would call the office. I moved because she was loud and mad. So how come Kukui Gardens Makai doesn’t have signs that tell you they don’t have visitor parking for the handicapped and why don’t they have guards like Kukui Gardens Mauka (now Waena Apartments) has?

Answer: There are both guards and signs at the housing complex, according to a property manager, but unfortunately, it appears you missed both.

“We’re currently in the middle of renovations, including the parking lots,” he said. “The parking lots will have to be re-identified.”

While there are signs on the property indicating visitor parking, including for people with disabilities, for now “you just have to find” them, he acknowledged.

He said security guards are on site, except between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays, when management staff is working. If you were there on Sunday, guards were on duty.

As for the woman claiming the disabled parking stall, there are such stalls assigned to some tenants, the property manager said. “We try to accommodate anyone” who comes to the complex, he said.

Kukui Gardens was the name of the housing complex for low- to moderate-income tenants that opened in 1970 between Vineyard Boulevard and North King Street. Last October, it was separated into two: Kukui Gardens Makai, which is operated by the state and the nonprofit EAH Inc. housing corporation; and Waena Apartments, owned by Carmel Partners, a for-profit company.

MAHALO

To Honolulu police officer Alex Waselesky. At 1:20 p.m. Friday, April 8, he responded to a call at Kua Aina sandwich shop in Ward Centre concerning a vehicle parked in the handicap stall behind the restaurant. The driver apparently had been using a long-expired disabled parking placard. The officer cited the vehicle immediately. The lot was full at the time and we (both handicapped) had to park three blocks away. Good job, Officer Waselesky. — Kedric Dean

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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.