Judge Ezra sees busy ‘retirement’

U.S. District Judge David Ezra will move to senior judge status in four months, when he turns 65 years old, but that will not keep him from full-time activity from the bench.

"The public will see no difference whatsoever," Ezra said.

Ezra is best known as a judge for major cases requiring appropriate education for special-educa- tion students and improving conditions at the state mental hospital.

President Ronald Reagan appointed him to the bench in 1987 and he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate the following year.

Ezra has been unusually approachable by the public — a character that should not change.

Great Aloha Run had a lot of aloha

If the Great Aloha Run participants found downtown Honolulu streets extra-crowded at this year’s events, that’s because, according to the initial number-crunching, they were.

Officials said they figure there were more civilian participants than ever before. The only reason the overall foot-count hasn’t reached the record totals of the late 1980s and early ’90s is that deployments have reduced the number of military running in formation, in what event planners call the "Sounds of Freedom" contingent.

Here are the numbers: A total of 21,184 were recorded crossing the finish line using the chip attached to each race number. Add in the 4,360 Sounds runners who were not timed and that’s 25,544.

The more the merrier, as far as the race beneficiaries — a range of local nonprofits — are concerned. Organizers won’t know until the bills are paid, but they’re hoping to at least match last year’s payout of $450,000.