How to add some passion to the national anthem

Some who watched the University of Hawaii Rainbows baseball game against UC-Davis on Sunday were perplexed that the national anthem and the state song, at the opening of the game, were rendered by recordings instead of live performers.

UH Athletics Department, we’d like to introduce you to the UH Music Department, because it occurred to us that there are many musical students who likely could benefit from performing such songs as "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "Hawai‘i Pono‘i" before live audiences — like the ones at UH sporting events.

Presumably there would be no cost to the Athletics Department, as the music students could be doing it for class credit. And the audiences would benefit because they would get to see and hear actual live performances, often more inspiring than old recordings with nothing to look at while holding one’s hand over heart.

From a high-profile donation to a low-key sale

A lot of people made this prediction, and last week it came true: Developer Jeff Stone finalized a deal to sell Makaha Valley Country Club, the property he had originally proposed to donate for the creation of a "learning community."

More than just proposed. Stone two years ago had announced, with a flourish, that the land would go to Kamehameha Schools and the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. That offer never was inked.

Well, at least the country club’s 40 employees, expected to continue working for the new owner, can be happy how it turned out.