Kokua Line June Watanabe

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Soda signs at school taken down

Question: I understand the advertising on soda vending machines cannot be in view of the public, similar to a billboard. I reported this once at Heeia Elementary. But two soda machines are still clearly visible from Haiku Street. Is it allowed or not? It has been this way for months.

Answer: An inspector from the city Department of Planning and Permitting visited the school on Nov. 2, following your complaint, and informed the principal that the vending machine signs could be seen from the street, and, therefore, were in violation of the city's Land Use Ordinance.

The ordinance prohibits vending machines with company logos large enough to be seen from the street or sidewalk.

The inspector revisited the school on Nov. 8 and saw that the signs had been removed, said Art Challacombe, chief of customer services for the Department of Planning and Permitting.

For similar complaints, call the department at 527-6308 or the city complaints office at 523-4381.

Mahalo/Auwe

Mahalo to volunteers at the Computer Drop-Off Event in the Comp USA parking lot on Saturday. Auwe to those selfish persons I saw unloading, selecting equipment they wanted, then setting them aside on the grass. At the end, your cars and vans were packed to capacity. You were taking equipment being donated to schools, students and underprivileged. At the next collection date, I hope the person running the program prohibits such activity. -- No Name

A: You can rest assured that the equipment was not being taken by opportunists.

What you saw were non-profits and school groups selecting usable equipment for their organizations and classrooms, explained Suzanne Jones, the city's recycling coordinator.

In advance of the biannual recycling event, the city, working with the Hawaii Computers for Kids program, identified schools and organizations that needed computer equipment.

The schools and organizations had volunteers at the Saturday event to select what they wanted, transporting the reusable equipment directly back to their facilities, Jones said.

The volunteers also helped to sort the computers into reusable or recyclable categories.

Meanwhile, Lenox Metals was on hand to load up non-reusable computers to be recycled for scrap.

"We do not allow groups just to show up the day of (the recycling event)," Jones said, "and we did chase away some members of the public who misunderstood and thought they could pick through the computers for personal use.

"All in all, this was one of our most organized events," she said.

The Saturday event netted approximately 225 CPUs, 50 monitors and 10 printers.

The next computer recycling event is tentatively scheduled for May.

Any school or nonprofit interested in computer equipment should contact Hawaii Computers for Kids in advance. Call 521-2259.