Herbert K. Horita always seemed to ‘find a way’

There is a good chance that you’ve either lived in a neighborhood developed by Herbert Horita, or stayed in a hotel or shopped in a mall he once envisioned.

Horita, who died last week at the age of 80, left his mark on much of Oahu — from Newtown Estates to Royal Kunia to Ko Olina. Over a 50-year career, he built close to 13,500 single-family homes and condominiums, created thousands of jobs, urbanized rural areas, made and lost fortunes, and might have had as much impact on development in Hawaii as Chris Hemmeter and Henry Kaiser.

"He had this saying: ‘Don’t give me why cannot. Just give me one reason why can,’" a former employee said. "’No can’ was not in his vocabulary. It was always, ‘Find a way.’"

Help your Christmas tree move on to the next level

Those of us who buy live Christmas trees have one more present to give, and it doesn’t even need to be wrapped.

In fact, if you’re going to recycle your tree, it’s better that it be as unwrapped as possible. Take off any ornaments, tinsel and flocking and cut it to fit in the green waste bin, so it can be turned into mulch. Or drop it off as is at a refuse convenience center.

Yes, it seems Grinch-like to take down the Yule greenery this soon after Christmas, but city curbside pickup includes green waste only twice a month, so you might have to contemplate doing that.

And even though the gift is for Mother Earth, please don’t put a gift tag on it.