It’s almost the halfway mark for America’s national pasttime — baseball, of course — and to highlight the pause in the sport’s long season, three days in a row of fabulous pitching, glorious home runs and sneaky stolen bases will kick off Sunday at 1 p.m., Hawaii time, with the Minor League Baseball Futures Game, being held in Petco Park, San Diego.

Then Monday, sluggers from Major League Baseball will face off in the always-entertaining Home Run Derby, and on Tuesday there will be the MLB All-Star Game, which this year includes former University of Hawaii baseball star Steven Wright, who’s been tearing it up as a knuckleball specialist pitcher for the Boston Red Sox.

So in between everything else going on in your life, get yer peanuts and Cracker Jack, sit back and enjoy the fun.

Marijuana uses go beyond medicinal

Well, since medical marijuana seems to be coming of age in Hawaii, why not its no-buzz, distant cousin — industrial hemp?

Gov. David Ige has signed a law to establish a pilot project via the state Department of Agriculture to cultivate industrial hemp and distribute hemp seeds for agricultural or academic research.

A recent University of Hawaii project researched hemp for biofuel and toxin removal, and the crop also is being considered for diversified ag on Maui.

Talk about growth potential.