Q. There have been a lot of community complaints about the condition of Kamehameha Highway in 'Aiea. Do you know when something will be done?

A. Crews are to begin preliminary work shortly on the 'Aiea Access Road Resurfacing Project from Moanalua Road to Kamehameha Highway, said state Transportation Department spokesman Scott Ishikawa.

He said the actual repaving is likely to begin by June.

Ishikawa said the state has asked subcontractor Grace Pacific to do additional work nearby since the company will already have crews doing similar work with similar equipment a short distance away.

"We asked them to go down and take care of Kamehameha highway at Honomanu Street, where Forty Niner Cafe is," Ishikawa said, because a number of people reported that stretch of road as "really torn up."

Ishikawa said the Transportation Department has been able to target several trouble spots on the roads this way by using a "short-stretch" contract that can allow quick response using resources that are nearby.

Q. Did daylight-saving time start yet?

A. Yes, it began on April 2. That means folks on the Mainland pushed the clock forward by an hour, which signals the beginning of daylight-saving time and the unofficial end to winter.

That's why the old memory-helper for daylight-saving time is: "Spring forward, fall back."

This year, daylight-saving time ends Oct. 29.

The time doesn't change for Hawai'i residents but it does mean that it's an hour later in most Mainland destinations than it was last month.

So we may have to switch our calling patterns when we dial the Mainland. For example, last month it was only two hours later in West Coast cities such as Seattle or San Francisco. Now, it's three hours later than it is here.

Daylight-saving time isn't observed here, in Arizona, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam or the Northern Marianas.

Under a law signed by President Bush, the dates will change next year, with daylight-saving time starting three weeks earlier, on March 11, and ending a week later, on Nov. 4.

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