Question: Since my SNAP came through OK after all I want to know how long I can keep the state emergency money on my EBT card. Do I have to use it by the end of November?
Answer: No, not by the end of this month, but by the end of the year. “HEFAP benefits are available until Dec. 31, 2025, and will be expunged on that date if HEFAP benefits are not used,” according to the state Department of Human Services.
HEFAP stands for the Hawai‘i Emergency Food Assistance Program, which paid $250 out of state funds to each eligible SNAP recipient when the federal government shutdown disrupted the federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. HEFAP money must be used to buy food and groceries at retailers that accept Electronic Benefit Transfer cards, the same debit cards on which recipients receive SNAP benefits.
November SNAP payments ultimately were issued to Hawaii recipients on Nov. 7, a few days later than usual, and the federal government shutdown ended on Nov. 12, after 43 days.
Q: What is the correct way to inform the Judiciary that a summons for jury service has been delivered to an address where the intended recipient no longer lives? They keep summoning my daughter. She was in college in Nevada when this happened last year. Now they summoned her again. She’s graduated and stayed in Nevada. When she got out of it last year I’m sure she told them she was not coming back and to take her off the list.
A: Do the same as you would if the summons was for a stranger: Return the mail unopened. Here’s the full response from the Hawaii Judiciary:
“No one should open mail addressed to someone else without that person’s explicit permission. If you receive mail for someone who no longer lives at your address, write ‘Not at this address’ on the envelope and return it to your mailbox or place it in a USPS collection box.
“If you do have the intended recipient’s permission to open their mail and find a jury summons, you have two options:
”If you can reach the intended recipient, ask them to use the contact information on the summons to notify the Jury Pool Office in their circuit.
“If you cannot reach them, you may contact the Jury Pool Office directly to report that the person no longer lives at your address.
“The following Jury Pool Office contacts appear on jury summonses and may be used to report that an intended recipient has moved:
First Circuit (Oahu):
>> Email: jurypool.1cc@courts.hawaii.gov
>> Phone: 808-539-4360
Second Circuit (Maui, Molokai, Lanai):
>> Phone: 808-244-2706;
>> Molokai & Lanai jurors: 1-800-315-5879
Third Circuit (Hawaii Island):
>> Hilo: hilojury.3cc@courts.hawaii.gov, 808-961-7646
>> Kona: konajury.3cc@courts.hawaii.gov, 808-322-8731
Fifth Circuit (Kauai):
>> Email: juryclerk.5cc@courts.hawaii.gov,
>> Phone: 808-482-2349
“Individuals are encouraged to email whenever possible and call only if they do not have email access.”
Helicopter alert
Weather permitting, a helicopter will be flying near the Kane‘ohe-bound H-3 Ha‘iku Portal from 10 a.m. to noon today for topography mapping, according the state Department of Transportation. The helicopter, equipped with Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology, will be taking scans to create a 3D model of the slope behind the portal. “The helicopter will maintain a minimum of 400 feet above traffic — specifically the tunnel entrances — and will fly over the Halawa and Windward sides of the Harano Tunnel. The scans are for a future slope stabilization project,” according to a DOT news release.
Mahalo
A great big Mahalo to David and friends, who picked me up after I fell at the Manoa Marketplace open market on Sunday morning and walked me to my car with bags and all. Mahalo again, David. — A kupuna
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2-200, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
