So, agency has no love for stickers

Dear Mahatma: In lieu of, or in addition to, the handicapped license plate and/or placard, could the Department of Finance and Administration issue a sticker for the back of a vehicle window? Has such a thing ever been considered? — Problem Solver.

Dear Problem: We asked Scott Hardin of DF&A about this.

He said that was a good question, but the department has not considered any stickers in addition to or in lieu of the plates and placards currently issued.

In our mind, though, the seed has been planted. Or something like that.

Dear Mahatma: I took all the paperwork requested on the form to renew my boat registration and the person at the counter said I had to take a photo of the numbers on the boat with a phone camera and print it and bring it in. I have no provision for doing that and it is not mentioned on the renewal form. Can you find out for me if this is correct? — Fisher of Fish

Dear Fish: We don’t have a boat, but we are told that a boat is a hole in the water into which money is poured.

By “the person at the counter” you mean an employee of the revenue office. Let’s check with the Department of Finance and Administration.

Correct. The federal government requires either a photo or a pencil tracing of the hull identification numbers for any boat manufactured after the long-ago year of 1970. How long ago? We personally would be reluctant to get on a boat that is older than our marriage.

A 2016 letter from DF&A to “Dear Boat Owners” explains the new drill, which is in accordance with federal law 33 C.F.R. Part 181, Subpart C and Act 694 of 2015 of the Arkansas General Assembly.

We are not making this up. We looked up that federal law and just now woke up to write this column. The law is written in English, but isn’t recognizable to those of us who speak American.

But why? This is a safety measure. As an example, the U.S. Coast Guard wants to ensure imported vessels meet the safety standards of boats made in the United States.

Dear Mahatma: How many handicapped spaces per total parking spaces are supposed to be in shopping center parking lots? — Sam I Am

Dear Sam: The number of handicapped, and van-accessible, parking spaces is dictated by the Americans with Disabilities Act. The answer comes in a chart, of which we will give some examples.

One to 25 parking spaces — one handicapped and one van-accessible.

Seventy-six to 100 — four and one.

Two hundred and one to 300 — seven and two.

There’s more, of course. Hospital outpatient clinics need 10% of their spaces to be accessible. Twenty percent for outpatient physical therapy clinics.

A full list and lots more information is at adata.org. Good luck counting parking spaces at shopping centers.