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Bryan Clay scores point for upholding integrity
Bryan Clay earned a gold medal in character Tuesday when he ruled out pursuit of a spot on the U.S. Olympic team in London after stumbling in the decathlon trials in Oregon. Fans began an online campaign to persuade Clay to make such a move, but Kaneohe native Clay decided that "it is in the best interest of the sport to keep the integrity of the rules in place," upholding the USA Track and Field norm.
The rules allow the top three U.S. decathletes to qualify for a spot on the team as long as they have an "A" standard required to compete in the Olympics. Clay, the reigning Olympic decathlon champion, did not qualify under those rules — but said he will be in London to cheer for the U.S. decathlon entries.
Bus drivers get new option to say ‘shaka’
TheBus may seem like a soulless behemoth as it lumbers by, but there is a mechanical heart beating there. Following the Star-Advertiser’s story about the apparent decline in the use of the "shaka" sign among isle drivers, we got a report from Oahu Transit Services’ Pearl City division about how the newer buses can be made friendlier.
One of the techs has used the reprogramming capacity of the electronic route signs in the back of the bus to enable a custom greeting. When encountering courtesy on the road — a motorist lets the bus merge in, say — the bus driver can hit a switch and on the back, for about 10 seconds, the sign will display a hand forming the shaka, followed by the word "mahalo." It’s a reminder of that old pidgin comedy bit: "Whatchoo t’ink this is, au-to-ma-tion?" Yes, but with aloha.