Don’t let new development crowd out Santa

That ultra-ultra-posh condo complex being planned for the west side of Ala Moana Center possibly has one Honolulu figure especially worried: Santa Claus.

That’s a reference to the Santa statue that has stood on the makai parking lot practically since the place opened. He’s looking old and a bit tatty these days. What are the fancy neighbors going to do? Get St. Nick evicted? We’d like to see them try.

Obama probably could use some good down time

In what has now become a tradition, the president of the United States will be vacationing in Hawaii for the holidays.

President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle and their girls Sasha and Malia are scheduled to leave Washington, D.C., on Friday for a two-week-plus trip here. Security preparations are well underway around the private beachfront home where the entourage has stayed before. A temporary security zone will be in force 6 a.m. Friday until 10 p.m. Jan. 5.

Unlike last year, when budget battles over the "fiscal cliff" kept Obama in D.C. longer then he’d hoped, any fiscal crisis has been averted for now. So, he’ll have more time in his old stomping grounds to refresh and regroup — and, frankly, to reflect on how to regain some of the public’s hope and trust he once enjoyed.