Redemption law will
allow crushed cans

Answer: The bill will become law and take effect on July 12, no matter what the governor does now.

Lingle has not signed House Bill 1015, which, among other things, deletes the restriction against "flattened" deposit beverage containers that can be redeemed. That means consumers will be able to crush their cans for easier storing and toting.

Last Monday, the governor gave the Legislature a list of bills she intended to veto. She was required to give lawmakers notice by that day of her veto plans and has until July 12 to follow through.

But because Lingle did not include House Bill 1015 on that list, she cannot now veto it.

While she did not veto the bill, the governor also "has not indicated if she will sign that bill or allow it to go into law without her signature," said Russell Pang, her media spokesman.

If she has not signed it by July 12, then "it will automatically become law," he said.

Under Section 342G-116 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes -- "Refusal of refund value payment for a deposit" -- the restriction against flattened containers is being deleted.

However, redemption centers still won't accept any "broken, corroded or dismembered" deposit container, or any container that contains free-flowing liquid, that is not properly marked with a refund value or contains a "significant amount of foreign material."

Q: My parents were in the military, and I was born overseas in Japan during the war. How would I get a birth certificate since I was born outside of the United States?

A: You can get a copy of a birth certificate from the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs. That's if the birth was registered with U.S. authorities.

The birth of a child to American citizens abroad is supposed to be reported as soon as possible to the nearest American consular office.

The official birth record is referred to as a Consular Report of Birth, or FS-240, and is considered a basic U.S. citizenship document.

To get a copy of such a report, you must either be the subject, parent or legal guardian, and you must submit a signed and notarized written request containing all the pertinent facts of the birth, along with a valid photo ID. It will cost you $30 to get a copy.

There is a host of other specific information required. You can find out exactly what is required by checking the Web site travel.state.gov/law/info/overseas/overseas_705.html or by calling the State Department's Vital Records Section at 202-955-0307.

Send your request to U.S. Department of State, Passport Services, Vital Records Section, 1111 19th St. NW, Suite 510, Washington, DC 20522-1705.

Most of the vital records have to be retrieved from off-site repositories. The average time to get a copy is four to eight weeks.

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