So far, so good with voter turnout

With general election walk-in and mail-in voting now under way, there are hopeful signs that Hawaii is off to a good start.

On Tuesday, the first day of walk-in balloting, 1,729 people on Oahu cast their votes, more than the first-day totals of the last two elections: 983 in August’s primary and 1,261 in 2010’s general election. Also received as of Tuesday morning were 24,000 ballots via mail to the Honolulu City Clerk’s office.

Dare we hope that this bodes well for Hawaii’s voter turnout, which consistently ranks last or among the lowest in the country? Even CNN is rooting for us, aiming its national "Change the List" project spotlight here in an effort to bump Hawaii off the bottom of the United States voter turnout list.

Much is at stake for Hawaii and the nation, and there are now so many ways to vote. For more info, go to http://hawaii.gov/elections.

Up, up and a way in for Kakaako input

OK, John and Jane Q. Public, pay attention now: You’re getting a refreshing chance to get in on the ground floor, as it were, of public openness on a proposed 650-foot residential tower in Kakaako.

Two vying developers have revealed visions for the 690 Pohukaina project, which may be allowed an exemption to exceed an existing 400-foot height limit.

The whole review process is just getting started. For now, though, kudos to the Hawaii Community Development Authority, the state agency charged with redeveloping Kakaako, for lifting its earlier secrecy cloak and now posting the two proposals online at hcda-public-consultation.org. This gives the public a chance to take a look, follow along and weigh in before an HCDA meeting Nov. 20.