Q. The state had done a great job at the Makapu'u lookout, but I noticed recently that this beautiful spot was littered with a dozen or more broken beer bottles. We picked them up but there was no place to dump them, so we left them on the side of the wall. Other people there also said that there was no place to put their trash. Why is this?

A. State parks and lookouts struggle with providing ways for people to dispose of their trash without encouraging them to dump rubbish in public places, said Deborah Ward, spokeswoman for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. Since you wrote, she said parks officials have placed rubbish cans at the lookout.

"We are going to be having at least one can at the upper parking lot and the lower parking lot," Ward said.

Q. I am a server at a popular neighborhood restaurant. I also have lived in this community my whole life and most everyone knows one another. What rights do I have to refuse to serve alcohol to a pregnant woman? We have a patron who said her doctor said a glass of wine a day is OK, but then proceeds to have four glasses. We have a sister restaurant about a mile away and have been given a heads-up that she has been drinking there before coming to our restaurant. Do we have the right to refuse service?

A. State Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo said she checked with the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division and the folks there said your workplace can refuse to serve a customer. Because the establishment is on private property, your business has the right to refuse service to anyone, she said.

Q. I keep reading about copper wire theft from the state. As an engineer, I wonder why aluminum wire isn't being used instead. Copper is a better conductor, but aluminum works and is not worth stealing. Can you ask?

A. Transportation Department spokesman Scott Ishikawa said you raised a good point and the state is considering such a substitution to help prevent thefts. "We are looking at aluminum wires because they are much cheaper," he said.