Two letters, one from the Kaneohe post office and the other from the Kailua post office, each took 10 days to reach my office in Kaneohe. This is appalling, especially since rent checks are involved. I called the 1-800 number listed in the phone book and the woman told me that if the local post office is unable to handle the workload, it will send letters to Missouri for distribution. One is postmarked Cumberland, Mo., the other Alma, Mo. Why is the post office doing this? Post office didn’t intend
to misdirect local lettersThe answer to your question is simple: It's not doing that. But that's the only thing that's simple.
Without being able to pinpoint an operator, since there are hundreds on that 1-800 system, it's difficult to find out where the Missouri answer came from, said Postal Service spokeswoman Felice Broglio. Such an answer is "not even an option" in the database that operators draw their answers from, she said.
That said, postal officials are stumped as to what happened with your letters. After analyzing the envelopes you provided and testing to see how they might have been waylaid, the best they can say is that human error somehow coincidentally sent both to Missouri.
The envelopes were sorted manually here, although some equipment was involved. Each sported bar codes from Missouri.
Somehow your letters got misdirected, Broglio said, as will a small percentage of all those mailed.
Normally, 93 to 94 percent of mail would be delivered overnight, with most post offices having a "local" slot to handle letters mailed within the same area, e.g., Kaneohe to Kaneohe, she said.
But most mail ends up at the main processing center next to Honolulu Airport, where it goes out by plane or trucks overnight.
That said, "We owe (you) an apology" for the lateness of delivery. Even though both letters were sent to Missouri, they should not have taken that long to reach their destinations, Broglio said.
There are 15 city vehicles parked every day on Kawaiahao Street, between South and Cooke, and on Cooke Street, between Queen and Kapiolani. Some are parked illegally in nonmetered stalls, while others are parked in stalls with expired meters. Are city vehicles exempt from feeding the meters and allowed to park in places where average citizens would be cited? I am concerned because I saw a meter maid walk down a row of parked cars, tagging only the privately owned cars and bypassing city cars, while all the meters were expired. That's not right, don't you think? The city vehicles, assigned to the Department of Transportation Services, have been given dispensation to park along those streets.
"We know we take up the meters at some time," said DTS Director Cheryl Soon, so the department is looking for a parking lot fairly close to its offices at 711 Kapiolani Blvd., between Curtis and Cooke.
However, she did not know when some accommodation could or would be found nearby.
The cars are assigned to inspectors who check in during the morning for work assignments. The cars are parked overnight at the Honolulu Municipal Building garage.
To the garbage man who took a garbage can lid and threw it at my dog against the gate because he was barking. My dog was just barking and doing his job like he was doing his job. Auwe
To Melissa, who on Sept. 14, graciously took time to comfort a boy who was separated from his parents. But "auwe" to the parents and guardian when you were finally reunited. I was shocked to see you had nothing to say for yourself. You should know all the time Melissa took to run from store to store to look for your child. -- A mall employee Mahalo
