April 2008 | Small Business News
Member Starts "Bike School Bus".
Pictured from left to right: Natalie, Asa and Orion Iwasa, John and Megan Climaldi. Studio 2000.
The Bike School Bus, a pilot project started in Hawaii Kai by SBH member Natalie Iwasa and John Climaldi, both residents of Hawaii Kai and avid bicyclists, made its debut last fall and is looking for adult volunteers and student participants. The bus includes two adults, one in front and one in back, who escort children to school on their bikes. The bus rides Mondays and Fridays starting in the back of Kamiloiki Valley at 7:20 a.m. and arriving at Koko Head Elementary School and Honolulu Waldorf School in Niu Valley by 8 a.m.
If you would like to save gas, help promote bicycle safety and get some exercise in the morning or know someone who would like to participate, call Natalie at 395-3233 for more information.
TV Stations to go all Digital in 2009
Lt. Gov. James R. “Duke” Aiona, Jr. and broadcast media leaders joined together in late February in a new collaborative effort to prevent households in the state from losing television reception after the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television goes into effect on Feb. 17, 2009.
“This public-private partnership will help our residents who are at risk of losing reception take the proper steps to make the federally mandated switch to digital television broadcasting,” Lt. Gov. Aiona said alongside representatives from KITV-4, KHON-TV 2, KHNL-TV 13 (8), KGMB-TV 9, Oceanic Time Warner and the Hawaii Association of Broadcasters.
Beginning Feb. 18, 2009, anyone who receives television reception through an antenna or “rabbit ears” and does not own a digital television will no longer receive a broadcast signal. There will be no fuzzy picture or squiggly lines; there will be only a blank screen.
Estimates show more than 25,000 households, or about 6 percent of the 419,160 total television households in Hawaii, rely on antennas rather than cable or satellite to receive television signals.
In 1996, the U.S. Congress authorized the distribution of an additional broadcast channel to each broadcast television station so they could start a digital broadcast channel while simultaneously continuing their analog broadcast channel. Later, Congress mandated that Feb. 17, 2009 would be the last day for full-power television stations to broadcast in analog.
Full-power broadcast stations in all U.S. markets are currently broadcasting in both analog and digital.
Residents at risk of losing reception have three options to continue receiving a broadcast signal: they can purchase a digital television, subscribe to a paid cable or satellite service, or purchase a digital converter box, which translates the digital signal into analog for analog television sets.
The federal government is issuing two $40 coupons per household toward the purchase of a digital converter box, and several FCC-approved models are now available at most major electronics retail stores. Costs range from $40 to $70.
Congress, in ordering the transition to digital broadcasting, set aside $1.5 billion for the coupon program to help analog television owners buy the converter boxes.
Chris Leonard, president of the Hawaii Association of Broadcasters, said enough coupons are expected to be available to meet demand.
“Our industry is treating this transition as a major priority,” Leonard said. “Television stations across the state are meeting the challenges of the transition head on. Our members have been updating their equipment and infrastructure to prepare for the transition.”
To request a coupon, consumers can apply online at http://www.dtv2009.gov. The government also has set up a 24-hour hotline to take requests, 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-888-388-2009). Additionally, applications can be faxed to 1-877-DTV-4ME2 (1-877-388-4632) or mailed to P.O. Box 2000, Portland, OR 97208-2000.
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