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President Barack Obama and his family are preparing for their annual December vacation in Hawaii.
A White House blog says, "President Obama is looking forward to a long, relaxing, and well-deserved vacation in Hawaii during the Christmas holiday. Normally by this time of year, he would have already made arrangements for renting his Kailua vacation home."
A woman in Windward Oahu said she received notice from a federal representative that a portion of the Kawainui Channel canal and Kailua Beach could be closed in December.
"They told me it’s the same as usual," said the woman, who is staying at her late mother’s home in Kailua. She declined to give her name.
The notice is usually a step in preparing for a visit by Obama and his family, who have spent their Christmas vacation in Hawaii for the past four years.
Obama could arrive as early as Dec. 17 if he and Congress can reach an agreement to avoid a year-end "fiscal cliff" of steep tax increases and spending cuts that the Congressional Budget Office warns would lead to a recession.
Obama and other Democrats have supported a higher tax rate on the wealthy, but the Republican-controlled Congress has opposed the Democrats’ proposal.
Kelly La‘a, a real estate agent with Century 21 Kailua Beach Realty, said only a small portion of Kailua Beach was closed off and that traffic continued to flow through Kailua during the Obama family’s stay last year.
"The majority of the beach is (kept) open," she said. "It’s wonderful to have him in Kailua."
The Secret Service in Hawaii referred questions regarding the president’s schedule or travel itinerary to the White House news media office.
White House officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening.
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