Da Shadow: Lihue post office, adolescent drug-treatment facility

• Editor’s note: Old-timers might still remember the introduction from “The Shadow”Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery radio program: “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!” Jerome Freitas, a retired state Department of Transportation worker who is now better known as Da Shadow, since 2004 has been meeting with government representatives about problems he has discovered or that have been reported to him, and reporting the county’s responses.

When will the next public meeting on the TIGER (federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grant be held?

Once a design-build contractor is procured for the project, the county will host another series of public outreach meetings. We anticipate these meetings to be conducted in early to mid-2018.

When is the next public meeting on the Lihue post office?

The Lihue post office is a federal facility, therefore, any public meeting on this topic would be coordinated by the U.S. Postal Service. The USPS has informed the county that it intends to hold an additional public meeting on the proposed closure of the Lihue post office, but we have not been informed of a specific date. Once that information is confirmed, we will help to publicize the information to the public.

Please provide an update on who will be operating the adolescent drug healing and treatment facility and the costs to operate the facility (estimated broken down by source, i.e., private vs. government funds).

The operator of the adolescent treatment and healing center will be determined through a request for proposal procurement process, as required by law. Currently, the county is in the design phase for this facility, which will be followed by construction. The RFP process to determine the operator will begin after design and construction.

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Jerome Freitas can be reached at theshadow96751@gmail.com or 635-3528. Visit his website at http://theshadow96746.tripod.com.