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Kokua Line June Watanabe |
Blaisdell area has
car crime, but not a lotQuestion: There is a serious problem going on at the Blaisdell Center parking lot regarding auto thefts. After my wife's van was stolen from there, my insurance representative said the company has had a number of recent claims, especially of vans, from that lot. Are HPD and the city tracking this? There are numerous signs that say park at your own risk. Yes, this is a risk we all take, but if there is a known problem in the pay parking lot, what is being done to correct it?
Answer: The Honolulu Police Department and city Department of Enterprise Services, which runs the Blaisdell Center, say their records show no significant reports of break-ins or car thefts.
The Police Department's District 1 (Downtown-Chinatown) is "not aware of any series or increase in car thefts at the Blaisdell parking lot," according to police spokeswoman Michelle Yu. No one from an insurance company or the Blaisdell has called to report such an increase, she said.
The department's Beat 170 encompasses the area bounded by Ward Avenue, Kapiolani Boulevard and Piikoi and King streets, and includes the Blaisdell Center and McKinley High School, as well as a residential apartment area.
Since January there have been reports of seven auto thefts and nine break-ins ("unauthorized entry into motor vehicle") for Beat 170, Yu said last week. For all of 2003, there were 31 reported auto thefts and eight break-ins in that beat, she said.
That's not considered an inordinately large number of auto thefts for that area.
Meanwhile, a city spokeswoman said, "The parking operation conducts periodic inspections of the lot and has security patrols at night."
Q: Is there somewhere we can send a company's annual reports for recycling? The reports are thick, beautifully done and I hate to just junk them into the garbage trucks.
A: It depends on the type of paper used and the type of binding, according to Suzanne Jones, the city's recycling coordinator.
"An annual report composed of glossy stock paper with a simple staple binding could be recycled as magazine stock if the company has enough," she said.
However, the glued binding on a thick annual report might have to be cut off, she said.
Jones recommended that any company interested in recycling particular paper items check with recycling companies directly.
"If a company has a large quantity, it might be beneficial to check with the recycling company on current marketability," she said.
Local companies are listed on the city's Web site www.opala.org .
"In general, office paper recycling programs are set up to capture the most recyclable types of paper -- white ledger, colored ledger, newspaper and cardboard," Jones said. "Usually it is recommended that glossy papers and anything with a binding not be included in the collection system, since it downgrades the value and the markets for these papers fluctuate."
But, she agreed, it is "always better to get it recycled, if possible, than to pay to have it disposed of."
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