Question: Regarding the passport fair, will there be same-day service?
Answer: No, applicants at Saturday’s special event may choose routine service (six to eight weeks) or expedited service (two to three weeks) for U.S. passport renewals or first-time applications, according to a news release from the Honolulu Passport Agency. If you qualify for urgent service because you must travel internationally within 14 days, you can make an appointment for a different day; find details about that via 808ne.ws/fastpass.
As for Saturday’s event , appointments are required and can be made by calling the National Passport Information Center at 1-877-487-2778. People who are deaf or hard- of-hearing can call 1-888-874-7793 for TDD/TTY teletype services. At either number, be sure to mention that you want an appointment at Saturday’s Passport Month event in Honolulu. This event is scheduled to run from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the federal building at 300 Ala Moana Blvd.
Prepare your application ahead of time (but don’t sign it) and bring it to your appointment with an acceptable passport photo, fees and supporting documents, the news release said. You can download any form you need and read the other requirements at Travel.State.Gov/Passports.
Saturday’s event is part of the U.S. Department of State’s celebration of Passport Month, designed to “offer people convenient options to apply or renew their passports ahead of international travel,” the news release said.
Q: When will ballots be mailed? How can we vote if ballots arrive while we are on a trip and won’t be back until after the election?
A: “Each registered voter will automatically receive their ballot in the mail at least 18 days prior to the election,” which would be Oct. 18 for the General Election to be held Nov. 5, according to Hawaii’s Office of Elections.
“Voters who are away from their Hawaii residence during the election may submit an Absentee Application to have their ballot mailed to an alternate mailing address,” the OE’s website says. A completed application must be submitted to the County Elections Division at least seven days before the election, which for the upcoming general election would be Oct. 29.
For more information, including a link to the Hawaii Absentee Ballot Application, go to elections.hawaii.gov/voting/absentee-voting.
Q: Is the Maipalaoa Bridge done or not?
A: No, the long-delayed project was not “substantially completed” by the end of August as the state Department of Transportation had expected. The department is “reevaluating the final bridge configuration to ensure the pedestrian path along the mauka side of the bridge meets standards to promote pedestrian safety. Due to this, the new estimated completion date for this project is the end of October 2024,” it said in a recent news release.
Work on the project along Farrington Highway near Maipalaoa Road, which includes a bridge over Maili Stream, has progressed in fits and starts for nearly the past decade, beset by various delays.
Q: Did the library ever say who won the plane tickets?
A: Yes, it was Athena Merchant, a young patron of the Waipahu Public Library, who won four round-trip tickets to anywhere Alaska Airlines flies. Her name was drawn from among 16,248 participants in the Hawai‘i State Public Library System’s 2024 Summer Reading Challenge Grand Prize Drawing. HSPLS announced the winner last week.
Mahalo
Here’s a big mahalo to that nice local guy, who drove in the next line in a new Kia Telluride at Costco Iwilei gas station, offering my husband help to lift a 12-gallon auxiliary tank to the back of our 4Runner on Friday. He came over to offer help and soon one of Costco gas station helpers came over; he just picked it up and put it in the car. Most thankful to both. — Kupuna
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.
