Off the News

Rail could tempt a weary runner

If time travel were possible, it would be amusing to fast-forward to a Great Aloha Run of the distant future, or whenever the Honolulu rail project is finally operating, and see if there are any racers taking a shortcut to the finish line.

Assuming the rail route is the same one in the maps on the honolulutransit.org site, the closest approach to the Great Aloha route would be the Middle Street Transit Center rail stop. Then, zip! A few minutes later, and you’d be at the stadium, ready to slip back into the crowd and on to the finish line.

Not that we’re recommending cheating, or anything. Just a little race day fantasy, that’s all. 

Where can our lawmakers hide?

And since we’re in the realm of make-believe: How might Hawaii lawmakers pursue the Wisconsin strategy? That’s where senators hid out across state lines to avoid voting for the collective-bargaining bill they hated.

Crossing state lines would be a lot harder here. We figure they’d try what the Norwegian Cruise Line did and sail to the nearest foreign port of call, Fanning Island, now called Tabuaeran. Not much to do there, though, so they wouldn’t be AWOL for long.