Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 22, 1995                   TAG: 9502220106
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: STATE  
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                                 LENGTH: Medium

STICKERS STAND UP TO THIEVES, BUT NOT WINDOW WASHING

Unlike previous decals, the new stickers are imprinted with the make, model and identification number of the vehicle to cut down on sticker thefts, which are increasing. The stickers cost $24, but the real savings to thieves comes from not paying personal property tax on their vehicles. Car owners must pay the taxes to buy the stickers.

The new stickers went on sale for the first time in December. Since then, some Chesapeake motorists said they have discovered an annoying problem: ordinary household glass cleaners dissolve them.

A flier signed by city Treasurer Barbara O. Carraway carries this warning:

``Stop. Windex, 409 and other cleaning solvents may damage your city decal. Please avoid spraying the decal with any type of cleaner, and avoid wiping the decal with a wet rag when you are cleaning your windshield.''

The cleaning solvents dissolve the ink on the stickers, said Dick Pokorny, a Chesapeake systems analyst who invented the new sticker.

``I think it could be something simple, like we should've coated the back side of it,'' he said.

Some car owners have reported that more than the color came off while cleaning their cars.

``One customer said he was wiping it and it just dissolved, just came off in his hands,'' said Tom Pifer, a manager at Knell's Ridge Car Wash. The damage occurred, Pifer said, at the center of the sticker, where the identifying information is printed.

``The sticker itself is a great idea,'' said Pifer.

City officials discovered the flaw around mid-January, when a resident returned a damaged sticker to the treasurer's office, Pokorny said.

The stickers, which are made of acetate film, will be given another special coating to prevent ink bleeding and dissolving, said Martin Waranch, a salesman at Standard Register, which makes the decals.

``See, the environmentally friendly ink on the sticker is easily attacked by solvents,'' Waranch said. But the oversight will be corrected with an equally environmentally friendly coating, he said.

``If there's one that's ruined, we'll replace it free of charge,'' Pokorny said.