GAME DAY

Fire up the gridiron

Let's see: Barbecue meat, bag of rice for musubi, shoyu poke, case of beer, chips ...

...Get the charcoal out, fire up the grill — it's time to tailgate. Oh, and catch UH football, of course. The awaited University of Hawaii football season gets under way tonight, and fans are ready to rock.

Let's see if the Warriors, with second-year Coach Greg McMackin and quarterback Greg Alexander calling the plays, can improve on last year's 7-7 record. The home team opens at 7:05 p.m. today against Central Arkansas.

DATA UPDATE

Tracking the Census

Government officials say the 2010 Census is on track to be the most accurate and technologically advanced in U.S. history. It will also be the shortest, with only 10 questions on the form. Census data are used to allot congressional seats to states, to distribute more than $400 billion in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments each year and to make decisions about what community services to provide. The official Census Day is April 1, 2010, and planning that has been going on for years is intensifying.

GOING UP

All's fare in luggage war

It was just a matter of time, but certainly nice while it lasted.

Free checked baggage aboard interisland flights will become a thing of the past this month, when Hawaiian Airlines joins rivals Island Air, Mesa's go! and Mokulele Airlines in charging for passengers' first piece of checked luggage (in addition to the fees already in place for second and third pieces).

Hawaiian Air's $10 first-bag charge, effective for tickets bought on or after Sept. 14, matches that of its competitors.

Let's hope this won't back up the interisland security checkpoints too much, as flyers try to cram as much as they possibly can into roll-aboards and hand-carries in an effort to eschew luggage.