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Bainum camp will take
down signs still up

Question: Who is responsible for removing the Duke Bainum signs posted on a fence at a residence on Lusitana Street? We tried to call Bainum, but he's not listed in the phone directory. Hawaii should have the same laws as Las Vegas; there is a fine each day if political signs are not removed immediately after an election.

Answer: We passed on the address you provided to Andy Winer, who was Bainum's campaign coordinator.

He said to call 951-5111 if you see Bainum campaign signs still posted.

Whenever signs went out from campaign headquarters, the location was put on a master list of addresses, Winer said, and "we tried as best as we could to get as many of those signs" removed after the election.

However, some supporters may have posted signs without reporting the addresses, he said.

In Hawaii, previous laws did restrict when and how long political signs could be posted.

However, in 1996 the state attorney general's office issued an opinion saying durational limits on such signs on private property was unconstitutional. The opinion noted that there were no such limitations on commercial signs.

The state Legislature subsequently repealed the state law that restricted political signs to 45 days before an election and 10 days after, said Aaron Schulaner, a deputy state attorney general.

If a political or campaign sign is on someone's private property and if they're not violating any other law, then there's nothing to prevent them from being kept up indefinitely, Schulaner said.

The Outdoor Circle received some complaints this year about post-election signs, "but fewer than you'd think," said Chief Executive Officer Mary Steiner. She suggested people contact candidates directly, with specific addresses, to ask that signs be removed.

"Ideally, political signs should be removed five days after the election," she said.

Overall, "The Outdoor Circle believes this was one of the worst years ever for the polluting of Hawaii's visual environment by political signs," Steiner said. "The signs were larger than ever, and candidates often put up numerous signs in locations where one or just a few signs would have sufficed. Many candidates put their signs up too early and left them up too long after the election. We hope we can help bring some sanity to the campaign sign issue before the next election."

Q: How can I read Honolulu newspaper stories from 1957-59 on the Internet?

A: You can't. The Star-Bulletin's online archives begin on March 18, 1996, while the Advertiser starts in 1999.

You can check the Hawaii State Library's Hawaii Newspaper Index at www.hawaii. gov/hidocs/hpnews.html.

But the online index for the two papers only goes back to 1989. Note, also, that you cannot find complete articles on the library site, merely citations to articles. You'd have to go to the library to read printed articles that go back to 1929.

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