City ag bill leaves room to grow

Few people will resist the impulse to heap criticism on politicians when they fall short, but fewer still will praise them when it’s warranted.

Let’s break with that tradition by issuing kudos to the Honolulu City Council for enacting Bill 44. Approved last week, it removes a disincentive for farmers and better ensures that when tax breaks are given, it’s for real farms.

It gives breaks for land dedicated to agriculture for a five-year period (currently it’s just one year), enabling city staffers to make sure they’re active farms.

Meanwhile, if part of the parcel is taken out of farming, the landowner doesn’t have to pay back taxes on the entire site.

Nice to see that we can still harvest a little good sense from the halls of government.

Steve Jobs steps back from his job

At various times in life, most of us have felt that profound sense of mortality — accompanied by thoughts of legacy, or alternately, by wistful feelings of not being there when the future unfolds.

Very few, however, are likely to experience it on the level that Steve Jobs probably does.

He’s a visionary who’s had huge ideas and seen them realized during his own lifetime to change things for the better: Macintosh computers, iPhones, iPods, iPads. And the possibilities? So much more …

On Wednesday, Jobs, 55, announced his resignation as chief executive of Apple Inc., after years of health battles, including pancreatic cancer; he remains as chairman.

Mac fans, in particular, wish him well, with many thanks.

And, in tribute, this little item was written on an iPad2.