Question: As a frequent traveler, I find it annoying that there is no free Wi-Fi at Honolulu Airport. Why not? I am sure thousands of others share my thoughts.
Answer: The good news: Honolulu Airport will offer free Internet service. The bad news: not until mid- to late 2015 at the earliest.
According to a recent Boston Herald story — bit.ly/1vUH8m9 — Honolulu is among only eight of the 35 busiest airports in the United States that don’t offer free Wi-Fi access. (The other seven are Chicago’s O’Hare International and Midway International airports, John F. Kennedy International, Miami International, Newark Liberty International, LaGuardia and Lambert-St. Louis International.
At Honolulu Airport, Wi-Fi costs $6.95 for two hours and $8.95 for 24 hours, from the time of connection.
(To find out where computer workstations are located around the airport, go to 1.usa.gov/1rvRcvU.)
The airport’s current contract for Internet service runs through June and does not have a provision for free Wi-Fi, a DOT spokesman explained. That option will become available after the contract expires.
"This will be a new contract provision and should not be confused with airport modernization projects, which focus mainly on construction of new facilities and major operational improvements," he said.
Whether the DOT will be picking up the tab for the free service will "depend on the precise language of the contract provision and the corresponding bids that the Airports Division receives when the project is advertised," the spokesman said.
Question: On Papailoa Street on the North Shore of Oahu, there is a locked and gated fence that requires a code to access the beach. Is this a violation of the public’s right for beach access? If it is private property, who owns it and pays land taxes on it? If it is a city easement, doesn’t the public have the right to use it to get to the shoreline?
Answer: Inspectors from the city Department of Planning and Permitting went to Papailoa Road twice and did not find any illegal gates that blocked public access to the beach, said Art Challacombe, DPP’s deputy director.
The only public right of way indicated on the city’s map and observed in the field was at the west end of Papailoa Road, he said.
That right of way is marked 269-A, which is the number of the Emergency Response Location.
"This access was not obstructed by a gated fence or anything else," Challacombe said.
The blocked access point you are referring to is on private property at the other end of Papailoa Road.
"Because it is private property, the owner is allowed to put up a gate."
Because there is nothing illegal about the locked gate, we don’t see a need to name the property owner.
Canceled events
Recycling and shredding events scheduled for Saturday are canceled because of the threat of a hurricane.
The October Going Green recycling event has been rescheduled to Nov. 22 at Kaimuki High School, said spokeswoman Rene Mansho. For more information, call her at 291-6151.
Also canceled: BBB’s Secure ID Day, scheduled for Saturday at McKinley and Castle high schools and at the Access Information Management Oahu Destruction Center.
At last check, no alternate date had yet been set.
Mahalo
To the nice man who used his big light-colored truck to block and protect my grandson’s stalled car and alert oncoming traffic on a dangerous curve on Komo Mai Drive late one night in September. In all the commotion, my grandson and his mom did not get your name, but our family wants you to know how much we appreciate your help and courage and also your insistence in staying until the tow truck arrived. It was nerve-wracking because of the location and darkness, but you made a difference by making it safe for everyone, God bless you. — Grateful Grandma
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.
