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DRIVE TIME By Mike Leidemann |
It may not be as crowded as Christmas, but the city's calendar of parades and other street-closing events is pretty active this week.
At least five events, expected to draw more than 5,000 participants are lined up around the island between Thursday and Saturday. They include:
HELP WANTED
The city is looking for an engineer to run its Department of Transportation Services.
Mayor Mufi Hannemann said last week he'd like to find someone with an engineering background to replace Ed Hirata, who has resigned as director of the department, which oversees development of two of Honolulu's biggest upcoming projects: a new rail system and an intraisland ferry.
Until a permanent replacement is appointed, Deputy Director Alfred Tanaka is heading the department. Tanaka is an engineer who has been with the city since 1968, including stints with the departments of public works and design and construction, and the new efforts to improve city streets.
Hirata, 72, retired after a long career in city and state government. He was recruited by Hannemann to head the transportation services department on a temporary basis. He served in the post for nine months, working on the rail, ferry and other programs to deal with traffic congestion. He had previously been director of the city building and public works department, Board of Water Supply and state Transportation Department.
RECORD SEATBELT USE
Hawai'i remains ahead of the curve on seatbelt use.
Nationally, seatbelt use reached a record 82 percent this year, an increase of 2 percentage points from last year, the Transportation Department reported last week.
But that's still well below the use rates in Hawai'i. Last year seatbelt use in the state was 95.1 percent, second in the nation, behind only Arizona.
No word yet on where Hawai'i ranked this year. Those statistics will be announced later this year.
Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.
