Blue Tropix
challenges
monkey ban

Answer: A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Fort Collins, Colo., left a voice message for "Kokua Line" yesterday, saying that it had sent a letter to Blue Tropix denying its application to renew an exhibitor's license for the monkeys.

In response, club co-owner Darren Tsuchiya said Blue Tropix has asked for a hearing, basically because "no one from the USDA has been out here for a couple of years" to inspect the three monkeys.

After we called asking about the status of the license, USDA spokesman Larry Cooper left a message saying that one reason for denying the application "was that the proper procedure was not followed."

We were not able to talk to Cooper to clarify the decision, whether a hearing would be held and whether the monkeys would have to be removed any time soon.

Cooper noted the application said Blue Tropix was a corporation, but the USDA could find "no record of an active corporation doing business in Hawaii under that name."

However, Tsuchiya said that's because Blue Tropix is a trade name, not the name of the corporation. "We have a corporation which reserved the trade name Blue Tropix," he said.

Cooper said the application also was denied because "a principal of the applicant" was found to be in violation of a state law regulating ownership of animals and fined $200.

The birth of a fourth monkey at the nightclub in 2001 was not reported, nor was the sale of it in 2002 to a man who did not have a permit to keep the animal. That monkey was confiscated and is now living at the Panaewa Rainforest Zoo on the Big Island.

Blue Tropix has not had a valid federal license to exhibit the monkeys since 2002, but has been allowed to continue to do so while its application to the USDA was pending.

In the Aug. 22, 2004, "Kokua Line," Cooper said the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service was investigating the expiration of the license, but the investigation "does not entail the care or abuse of animals," despite vocal criticism by animal rights advocates.

The nightclub is "currently in compliance" with state Department of Agriculture rules, a spokeswoman said. She said the federal license has nothing to do with the state permit.

Q: The street lights on the Waikiki side of Kalihi Street, between King and School streets, have been out for two weeks. We were told the problem is a HECO transformer. Can you help?

A: "Nobody called us" about any transformer being broken, said Hawaiian Electric spokesman Jose Dizon.

If it is a transformer problem, then the lights should be restored by the middle of next week, he said. If it's a simpler problem, they could be on even sooner.

But if the problem is not with HECO, "then we'd have to contact" the appropriate agency, and the lights might be out awhile longer.

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