A work of art will take flight

Alaska Airlines, whose airplanes are recognizable by the image of the Native Alaskan painted on the tail, evidently wants more of an island vibe for its fleet ushering folks through its Hawaii flights. And just plopping a lei around the icon’s neck doesn’t seem sufficient.

So, Alaska has launched its "Paint the Plane" contest for Hawaii keiki to devise a new design, with "Spirit of the Islands" as the theme. Kindergarten through high school can enter (rules are at painttheplanehawaii.com), and the lure is pretty attractive.

Honorable mentions (one at each grade level except that of the grand prize winner) earn the winner $1,000 scholarships. Second- and third-prize winners get a trip for four to anyplace Alaska flies.

But the top dog gets their design displayed plane-size, the trip for four and a $5,000 scholarship. Consider it artwork on a sky-high scale.

Quite the boo-tiful holiday season

Talk about jumping the gun. Halloween is more than a week away, and there still is all of November and that month’s spotlight holiday — Thanksgiving, remember? — but Honolulu Hale’s city halls are already decked with Christmas garlands and other trimmings.

The decision to get those decorations up earlier than ever before was due to walk-in voting in the courtyard, which started Tuesday, plus this year’s Honolulu City Lights event opening on Dec. 1, the earliest ever.

At this rate, we’ll need to put Halloween masks on Mr. and Mrs. Claus out front. Now that’s a scary thought.