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Alo-Ha! Friday Charles Memminger |
Most bikers
are in the dark
about light lawThere are roughly 43,000 bike riders on Oahu, and about 42,998 are law breakers -- at least when they ride at night.
That's because there's actually a law that says bikes must be equipped with at least a front-mounted light and rear reflectors. When was the last time you saw a bike with a light?
A reader brings this to our attention because he almost smashed into one of the lightless night ramblers recently.
Ryan Holderdaum, of the Bike Shop in Kailua, says the police simply don't enforce the bike light law. As a bike shop manager, he wishes they would. And not just because the shop sells lights starting at $12. But that does have a little bit to do with it.
Now the news:
Congrats! It's a ... what?
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) >> A woman was in stable condition after doctors removed a 176-pound benign tumor from her body in an eight-hour operation.Lucica Bunghez said she "felt free" after the team of 12 doctors removed the tumor, which covered much of her back and ran halfway down her thighs. Without the tumor, the former cake seller from Transylvania weighed only 88 pounds.
(The correct headline would be: 88-pound woman removed from 176-pound tumor.)
This was a real stickup
LISBON (AP) >> A 46-year-old man armed with a tree branch attempted to rob a suburban bank but was subdued by customers before he could get away with about $1,260.The man pressed the branch against the back of a customer and shouted "This is a robbery!" He grabbed the money and began to run but was caught and beaten by customers until police arrived.
(You could say the robber went out on a "limb" by robbing a "branch" office, but shouldn't.)
Hike guide a cliffhanger
LONDON (AP) >> Britain's biggest-selling hiking magazine apologized after its latest issue contained a route that would lead climbers off the edge of a cliff on Britain's tallest peak.Trail magazine gave advice to hikers caught in bad weather, including directions that would lead them off a 4,406-foot-high cliff.
(Editors hoped the magazine's readership wouldn't plummet because of the error.)
'Honolulu Lite' on Sunday:
Speaking of falling off cliffs ... the state has come up with a bunch of new signs warning people about falling rocks and crumbling cliffs.The signs won't keep the cliffs from crumbling or the rocks from falling, but may protect the state from an avalanche of lawsuits.
Quote me on this:
"I am lonesome. They are all dying. I have hardly a warm personal enemy left." -- James McNeill Whistler
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Charles Memminger, winner of National Society
of Newspaper Columnists awards, appears
Tuesdays, Thursdays , Fridays and Sundays.
E-mail cmemminger@starbulletin.com