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Rep. Marumoto catches
flaw in JAL advertisementOOPS!
That's how state Rep. Barbara Marumoto (R, Kalani Valley-Diamond Head) responded when she saw full-page advertisements by Japan Airlines that included a photograph showing kimono-clad well-wishers.
The advertisements commemorated the 50th anniversary of JAL's first international flight from Tokyo to Honolulu and eventually San Francisco.
The caption on the photo reads that the well-wishers "were present to welcome JAL's DC-6B to Hawaii."
Not so, Marumoto said.
Marumoto said that the photograph was actually taken in San Francisco.
How does she know that? Because, Marumoto said, she was one of the well-wishers in the photograph.
"One of the photos was taken in San Francisco during the 1954 inaugural flight to that city. I know because my friend Suzie Kobuchi Okazaki and I are the ones posing in front of the plane," Marumoto said.
Marumoto said she still has that photograph, but don't ask her how old she was when it was taken.
She congratulated JAL "on 50 years of fine service around the world."
Pair urges walk-in voters
Two city councilmen are lobbying for absentee walk-in voting booths to be set up at Kapolei Hale for this year's election.Mike Gabbard and Nestor Garcia have introduced legislation calling on the city clerk to set up absentee polls at Kapolei Hale to make voting more accessible to those on the Ewa Plain.
"If making the voting process easier and more user-friendly in this way results in greater participation, then we've struck a blow for democracy," Garcia said.
"I want to get those (absentee) numbers higher by making it as easy as possible for our Waianae and Ewa folks to participate in the democratic process," Gabbard said.
Absentee walk-in polls will be at Honolulu Hale, Pearlridge, Windward Mall and the Hawaii Kai Corporate Center.
Gabbard's 1st Council District includes Kapolei, and Garcia's 2nd Council District includes Makakilo.
Because of reapportionment, both Gabbard and Garcia are up for re-election this year after serving two-year terms on the Council. Gabbard, however, has said that he is exploring running for Congress against incumbent U.S. Rep. Ed Case for the 2nd Congressional District, which includes rural Oahu and the neighbor islands.
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