Question: I know they had football games probably Friday and Saturday nights, but why are the lights at Aloha Stadium still on, all day from Saturday night, Sunday day and night, Monday day and night. And they’re still on Tuesday morning. Where is our tax money going? I think it’s very careless that they leave their lights on.
Answer: Aloha Stadium Manager Scott Chan said “minimal lighting” is left on after night events, but they should not have been on during the day except late in the afternoon Friday and possibly Monday afternoon.
The lights were not on night and day from Friday to Tuesday, he said.
You did not leave a contact number so we could not get details as to what you observed and at what times.
The Friday game, which started at 4:45 p.m., was a televised OIA football playoff. Whenever a game is televised, the lights are turned on about 30 to 45 minutes before kickoff, Chan said.
The lights also may have been turned on early Monday when the Oahu Marching Band Festival began at 5 p.m., he said.
Other than for such events, “I can only think of two reasons why the lights should be operating during the day and that would be for safety concerns or to film under overcast conditions,” Chan said.
He explained that the past weekend was a very busy one for the stadium and will be for several weeks. In addition to football games, several other events were held requiring use of the lights.
“After the last game on Saturday, minimal lighting is provided throughout the night so the crew from General Services can (prepare and clean) for the Pop Warner event the very next day beginning at 5 a.m.,” Chan explained.
If there are no delays, the last Pop Warner game would end no later than 10 or 10:30 p.m.
After the last game ended Sunday, the lights again were lowered to accommodate a partial cleanup to minimize work that needed to be done Monday morning for the Oahu Marching Band Festival, Chan said.
“The Saturday/Sunday routine will go on for five consecutive weekends to accommodate Saturday night football and all-day Pop Warner football on Sunday,” he said.
He noted that, if at all possible, all prep and cleanup work usually is postponed to the next business day if there are no compelling reasons for it to be done the night before.
“Unfortunately, that is not the case during the football season,” Chan said.
Meanwhile, taxpayers do not bear the cost of stadium lighting.
“We are very mindful of the rising utility cost,” Chan said. “The cost to use the stadium lights is considered an out-of-pocket expense that is charged back to the licensee (group using the stadium).”
Lighting costs and other expenses are covered during the coordination meeting with the stadium’s “clients” to help keep operational costs reasonable, he said.
Question: I recently flew to Las Vegas on Hawaiian Airlines and rode the Airbus A330 both ways. Each seatback has an LCD screen with different functions, including the ability to track the flight in progress. What I found disturbing was the altitude shown. Flying to Las Vegas we were at 38,000 feet and flying back we were at 38,000 feet. I thought flights flying in opposite directions flew at different altitudes to avoid midair collisions. Was this a typo?
Answer: No.
Depending on the routes, aircraft are allowed to fly at the same altitude in both directions, according to spokesmen for both Hawaiian Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA has two kinds of routes over the Pacific — one-way and omnidirectional, explained Ian Gregor, spokesman for the FAA Pacific Region.
“On the one-way tracks, we can use all altitudes,” he said. “On the omnidirectional tracks, we use odd altitudes for westbound traffic and even altitudes for eastbound traffic.”
On one-way tracks such as the Hawaii route, “the aircraft can fly at 38,000 feet in both directions,” said Hawaiian Air spokesman Huy Vo.
That all said, Gregor points out that “aircraft in that airspace are separated by at least 1,000 feet vertically or 5 miles laterally. In many areas over the ocean, the lateral separation is even greater — up to 50 miles. We never run aircraft nose-to-nose at the same altitude.”
Mahalo
To Kaeo, who works at the Iwilei Costco, for finding my iPhone in the parking lot and promptly turning it in
to customer service. It was such a relief to find it there. Mahalo and God bless you for your honesty! — Grateful Customer
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