Question: What are the rules for bringing bottled water into Aloha Stadium for University of Hawaii football games? I was under the impression from last season that one bottle per person was allowed. When I attended the first game this season, I could bring in one bottled water as long as the cap was removed. However, at the next home game, on Sept. 25, bottled water was not allowed in at all. Is bottled water not allowed anymore? If so, why and why wasn’t the public made aware of this change?

Answer: You should not have been allowed to bring in bottled water at the first game or even last season.

The security staff should be enforcing the "No outside food or beverage" policy, because the stadium’s concessionaire contract prohibits it from allowing any food or drink into the facility, a spokesman said.

"We apologize for the confusion and frustration our guests may be experiencing at our bag check locations," he said. "We will coordinate a thorough briefing before the next UH game to ensure that the policy is consistent at each of the eight turnstile gates."

He pointed out that an advisory was sent on Aug. 26, before the first game, giving information about traffic, parking, food, etc.

The advisory listed the items prohibited — "Weapons, fireworks, coolers, air horns, cans and bottles, umbrellas, outside food and beverages" — and warned that all bags are subject to searches.

Question: The Walter Murray Gibson building, aka City Tax Office, at 842 Bethel St. is an unsanitary mess. Vagrants use the niches on Bethel Street as a toilet, leaving an ever-growing pile of feces, urine, toilet paper, condoms, drug wrappers, food and general trash. In spite of a recent $5 million project to renovate the inside, and a security person assigned to the building all day, no one cleans or maintains the outside. I have written to the city Facility Maintenance Department and to the Mayor’s Office, but get no reply. Who can I call at the state Department of Health to get the building cleaned up?

Answer: The Health Department’s Sanitation Branch said the city should be contacted, because its Department of Planning and Permitting has ordinances to address the issues you cite. "Hopefully, the city will find a solution to the problem," it said. However, the Planning and Permitting Department referred us to Facility Maintenance, saying it is responsible for the maintenance of city buildings.

Jeoffrey Cudiamat, director of Facility Maintenance until yesterday, told us last week that the department provides regular janitorial services for the building.

"However, the homeless issue in the area around Chinatown is something beyond our control," he said. "When people defecate or urinate on city buildings, we provide the necessary cleaning, but it can be a reoccurring problem."

Before he left, Cudiamat instructed the building maintenance supervisor to do a walk-through and inspection of the building. You informed us the area was cleaned as of yesterday.

MAHALO

To Jamie Klube, Mitchell and Olga (last names unknown), and an anonymous man with an Ace bandage who stabilized my broken wrist and escorted me to safety at the bottom of the mountain after I fell near the summit of Koko Crater. The beauty of the cable car trail, the stunning views and people who literally gave the shirt off their backs to help someone in distress made my day. How can I thank them enough? I don’t know where Samaria is, but I do know there are good Samaritans in Hawaii. — Jeanne Davis

Write to "Kokua Line" at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or e-mail kokualine@staradvertiser.com.