QUESTION: After much political explanation and promises that the automobile drifting events at the stadium would cease, a year later we still are having almost monthly events. Did the city just turn the other way, or was there any attempt to relocate or stop the events? The residents of Foster Village, Lower Salt Lake and Stadium Mall area still have to hear screeching tires, loud engines and what seems like endless events on the weekends.

ANSWER: There haven't been any “;drifting”; events at Aloha Stadium for almost 22 months, said Stadium Manager Scott Chan.

The Stadium Authority board decided in June 2007 not to renew its contract with the sponsor of the drifting events but allowed it to finish three already-committed events. The last one was held in January 2008.

The contract was not renewed specifically because of complaints from neighboring residents.

“;The community was complaining about the screeching and the loud noise from morning to night,”; Chan said.

Initially, the hours were cut back to only the daytime, but “;we still got complaints, so we decided not to approve these events any further,”; Chan said.

He speculated that you may be referring to “;defensive driving”; events held once a month, on average, by the Sports Car Club of America (Hawaii region). Chan said he would check with that group's officials to find out what's happening at these events, but that there is not supposed to be anything approaching drifting maneuvers.

Previously, when he did observe the club's events, he said he did not witness “;any screeching (tires) or any speeding”;—and that vehicles are not supposed to exceed 35 mph.

“;It was all controlled (driving) within a course, and it was all about how you control and maneuver your vehicle,”; he said.

However, Chan said he also understood that there was some competition involved and would be following up.

Question: Now that Niketown in Waikiki has closed, how do we donate shoes for recycling into playground material?

Answer: Unfortunately for Hawaii residents, the only way now is to ship the shoes yourself to Nike's plant in Wilsonville, Ore.

As we wrote previously, Nike accepts athletic, rubber-soled shoes as part of its Reuse-a-Shoe Campaign, recycling them into a material called Nike Grind, used in basketball and tennis courts and playgrounds.

In the past, shoes could be dropped off either at Niketown in Waikiki or at any Honolulu fire station.

“;We have seen a tremendous response to the Nike Reuse-a-Shoe program in Hawaii, and are extremely appreciative of the shoe collection efforts and commitment to recycling,”; Nike told us in a prepared statement.

With the closing of its only Hawaii store, Nike said it is exploring options to expand Reuse-a-Shoe beyond retail stores to provide greater accessibility.

“;In the meantime we would encourage everyone to donate shoes that aren't completely worn out to organizations such as Goodwill, or, if they are no longer wearable, the current option available is to mail them to our processing facility in Wilsonville, Ore.”;

See hsblinks.com/17s for information.

To date, Nike says it has recycled more than 23 million pairs of shoes worldwide.

Write to “;Kokua Line”; at Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).