”
Hey Red Phone, what is the policy with the free-standing
basketball hoops that are down at the end of courts taking up
parking spaces? I was wondering if there is a law on the books?
Thanks.
”
hoops in the streets
“Hey Red Phone, what is the policy with the free-standing basketball hoops that are down at the end of courts taking up parking spaces? I was wondering if there is a law on the books? Thanks.”
“I would like to know what the city’s policy is with the mobile basketball hoops being parked in the street forever with nobody playing on them. There is one on Fernwood, then one on Diane Court for the past few years which makes parking impossible and the street sweepers can never clean. Is there a policy on that? If so can we please get the things off the street.”
Red Phone:
It contacted Code Enforcement officer for the city, Scott Baron.
“The code which pertains to the hoops is based Municipal Code Section 20.61, which prohibits the obstruction of any public sidewalk, street or gutter,” he said.
He added that the city typically enforces complaints in regards to that issue. However, if you live in a neighborhood which belongs to a Homeowner’s Association, then you should take the matter up with them and they can decide collectively what their policy will be on mobile basketball hoops.
So good callers, there are two options for you to pursue, to rid your neighborhood streets of all the hoopla.
allergies from cutlery?
“I was calling about the article ‘Edible Cutlery No. Eco-Friendly? Yes’ in the July 29 Dispatch. I was thrilled to hear that the Garlic Festival was being environmentally friendly until I got to the part of the article that said the plastic cutlery was using corn, potato or wheat-based starches. What about the people with corn or wheat allergies or gluten intolerance? I volunteered at the festival and there was no information on that. I think it’s something the Garlic Festival needs to look at when they’re doing something like that is to consider people who would be made ill by something like that.”
Red Phone:
The cutlery you are referring to was only provided to the volunteers at this year’s festival. It was provided by Mike Malone, owner of Integrity Express, a company with goals in mind of making the world a better place such as encouraging the use of bio-degradable, one-time use utensils and cups.
“There is information on it, it actually is not the grain that is used to make it. Polylatic-Acid, or PLA is extracted from the vegetable and used in combination with vegetable-based bonders to make the utensils or cups. I looked into this myself, and there has never been any incidents reported with use of the product,” Malone said. “The utensils in and of themselves do not break down to allow any of the vegetable material to be consumed by humans.”
Malone did call the manufacturer of the eco-friendly cutlery, Cereplast, out of Hawthorne, about the possibility of a food allergy, and they said that it had never come up before. “You could argue by process of elimination that there is no threat. We want to be open and available as possible about information on this product, but if you hang up a bunch of warning signs, they could become too misleading, and then everyone would become concerned,” Malone said.
Red Phone also checked out the Cereplast Web site. It has all the information on their products with access to the contact information of the folks at the company headquarters. It contacted them through phone and e-mail and will hopefully receive a response from the CEO when he returns from vacation in one week. Check it out for yourself at: www.cereplast.com
Therefore caller, although the eco-friendly cutlery is made out of wheat-based foods, it is done through what Malone called a very ‘technical’ process, which results in a great way to reduce landfill waste and offer a new environmentally-conscious option.
So, the cutlery is safe to put in your mouth, but just don’t eat it; just like you wouldn’t eat Styrofoam or plastic. But if you wanted to add some excitement to your life you could sample some eco-friendly cutlery, styrofoam and plastic and become a human landfill, and afterward, please let Red Phone know what breaks down best.
