Now that we've survived the Mayan doomsday and Christmas
traffic, here are some local items of note to ponder as we approach the new
year:
- Will the elevated rail project, with a 1.55-billion
dollar check now in hand from the Department of Transportation, get back underway
this spring, or will myriad lawsuits or rulings bog things down once again?
- How will Hawaii honor the memory of esteemed
Senator Daniel Inouye, a man known not only for his great accomplishments, but
also for his humility over the past half-century? Perhaps naming the Honolulu
airport or the H-3 Highway after Inouye would be a deserved and sensible
tribute, even though he wouldn't go for that.
- Can Hawaii's rookie senators find their way onto
Washington, D.C., committees of note to ensure that Hawaii continues to be a
player on the national scene, and not some relatively forgotten island group
2,500 miles away from the rest of the nation? We don't have contiguous
neighbors that often times look out for each other in a symbiotic relationship,
like 48 other states do, so Hawaii representatives really do need to stand up
and stand out. Can that happen sooner rather than later?
- With a bevy of quality signees already under
wrap, can the UH football team turn things around next year and at least get
itself back into the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl with a winning record? It won't be
easy- with non-conference games against USC, Oregon State, Navy, and BYU- but
hopefully the returnees and newcomers can get the job done in Coach Chow's 2nd
season.
- And hey, what about the Waikiki Natatorium?
Let's get a plan finalized and make something happen in 2013; it's only been
about 30-years of talk and atrophy. And what will your plight be in 2013? Do
you have some plans to make life a bit better, a bit calmer, a bit more
focused, if that's what you choose? People talk about not having enough time,
but really, that's all we do have- time, and you decide how it's to be
controlled. Think about it.
