Question: I am 82 and have had a Hawaii drivers license since 1970. I went to renew it and had all kinds of documents. The problem was that I was married by an official of the Jewish temple and my marriage certificate is in Hebrew. So they will not give me a driver’s license now after 43 years. Can you help?
Answer: We’ve been told that you have since been able to renew your license, because there is a way for older people who may not have access to approved government-issued documents to produce alternate proofs of identification.
For those over 50, documents other than those specified may be accepted under special conditions, said Sheri Kajiwara, director of the city Department of Customer Services. She emphasized this is handled “on a case-by-case basis, with special approval needed by the supervisor on site.”
Asked why this special approval is offered only to people over 50, Kajiwara said that’s to acknowledge that older people may not have or be able to obtain a marriage certificate or original birth certificate.
So there’s a “bit of a leeway” given them regarding vital statistic documents.
But “again, the alternate documents, both type and quantity is at the discretion of the manager and must be scanned into the system (and) must be verified,” Kajiwara said.
She said that when you did go in initially to renew your license, “staff followed the correct procedures” by referring you to the supervisor, who explained that he would accept two other forms of government IDs showing your current name.
Kajiwara suggested that seniors consider getting an eight-year state ID, instead of a driver’s license (good only for two years for those 72 and older), especially for ID purposes. The fee for those 65 and older is $15 for eight years ($20 for others), but she said there are plans to increase it.
Question: We had a major job done at our house and the contractor put cement tile and metal pipes in our rubbish cart because bulky pickup would not take them. But on rubbish pickup day, everything crashed into the truck and our cart broke, so we had to get a replacement. Is it OK to dispose of metal pipes and cement tile in the rubbish cart?
Answer: The answer is no to both items.
“These items would definitely damage both the cart and refuse truck,” said Markus Owens, spokesman for the city Department of Environmental Services.
The city does not collect concrete as part of its bulky item pickups, because it is just too heavy.
However, metal pipes could be left out for bulky collection if they are less than 6 feet in length, Owens said.
Bulky collection crews will take only small quantities of do-it-yourself home repairs or remodeling waste as long as it is no more than one cubic yard.
“The city does not collect any larger volumes of construction and demolition material,” Owens said.
“These items should be handled by the homeowner’s contractor.”
For residents doing work themselves, a maximum of two pickup truckloads (or equivalent) of construction debris per day can be taken for free to the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill, 92-460 Farrington Highway. That’s the only place the city allows disposal of such debris.
Go to opala.org for more information or see is.gd/XUeMf8.
MAHALO
To the group of young people who spent all day Sunday, Sept. 29, picking up trash on a one-block strip along Salt Lake Boulevard across from Aliamanu Intermediate School. It was a very tedious job because a large bag of trash had scattered there, then was chopped to pieces when a city crew cut the grass along the sidewalk. It looked horrible, but these young people were very patient in picking up all the small pieces of trash. — Appreciative Salt Lake Resident
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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 email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
