Question: I have a 60- to 80-foot-tall, straight Norfolk pine tree in my yard that I have wanted to donate to the city for its Christmas displays. Who do I contact about this offer?
Answer: Call the city Department of Parks and Recreation’s Division of Urban Forestry at 971-7151.
If the tree seems “appropriate,” then a time will be arranged for someone to inspect it, the city said.
Urban Forestry officials said the number of trees offered for the centerpiece of the Honolulu City Lights celebration varies from year to year.
“Criteria in choosing the right tree include that it be straight and full, at least 60 feet tall, and if it is accessible from the property as well as from the neighborhood,” said Louise Kim McCoy, spokeswoman for the city administration.
“The city appreciates the public’s help in identifying” and ultimately donating a suitable tree, she said.
Question: I would like to know who was responsible for the loud helicopter noises early Sunday morning, March 18, in Mililani Mauka up in Kapanoe. There were at least a half-dozen workers by the lychee farm area working on the power poles from 9 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. They were airlifted out as their job was completed.
I called the Mililani Town Association and Hawaiian Electric Co., but no one had answers. It would have been nice to be notified that there was going to be a loud, obnoxious helicopter hovering over my house the entire day. Suspended from the helicopter was a large hook, which could have gotten stuck on power lines, endangering my family and others. If I had known about this “project,” I could have made arrangements to take my family out of the house. Instead, we had planned visitors who had to endure the loud noises for 5½ hours.
Answer: Hawaiian Electric apologizes for the disturbance as well as the lack of notification, said spokesman Peter Rosegg.
He said HECO contractors were working on utility poles as part of a continuing maintenance project.
“Crews had planned to access the site and transport equipment and materials using an unpaved road, but several days of heavy rains made the road unsafe,” he said.
At the “last minute” it was decided to use a helicopter to access the site, he said.
“We try to minimize use of helicopters near residential areas as much as possible and try to notify residents and communities whenever possible, but in this case we could not due to the short time frame,” Rosegg said.
Mahalo
To a kind and compassionate cabdriver. On the evening of Friday, March 9, I was beaten and robbed by a gang of youths. My jaw was fractured in multiple places, and I was knocked unconscious.
Regaining consciousness, I was hardly aware of where I was or what I was doing. Then the man in a taxi stopped and told me, “Get in, get in!” despite the fact I was covered in blood. He took me to the police station at my request and stayed until the police were able to see me. They then transported me to the Queen’s Medical Center, where I spent a weekend. I will require major reconstructive surgery to put my jaw back together, a dismal prospect not least because I do not have health insurance. As I look back at that night, however, that cabdriver’s bold act of kindness and the concern and compassion he showed outshine all the violence and contempt I suffered at the hands of my assailants. I was in shock, so did not get or remember his name or the cab company’s. But I do remember the aloha I felt that evening. Whoever you are, thank you very much. — Jarrod Brown
(Brown, who came here in 2008 to work on his Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, was scheduled to have reconstructive surgery last week at Castle Medical Center. When he last spoke with police detectives, they had no suspects.)
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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.
