An explosive new year, except for Oahu

Things seem pretty subdued on the firecracker aisle of Honolulu stores, as Hawaii looks ahead toward the New Year’s Eve weekend.

On the last day permits were issued for 2011 — Wednesday — the city issued nearly 4,000 firecracker permits. Quite a rush, but the overall total of 8,461 permits is still down 15 percent from last year.

Now that Oahu’s fireworks ban is firmly established, New Year’s is the only time of year when the usually sleepy neighbor islands seem to be the riotous ones. The Costco coupon book, for example, was filled with imagery of an incendiary holiday, with the mild disclaimer that Oahu shoppers can just ignore all this.

Take that, you city slickers.

Keep your beachfront vegetation to yourself

Owners of property along the Kahala beach have learned the hard way that allowing vegetation to creep onto the beach can be expensive.

Owners of nine Kahala properties — six of them by Japanese billionaire Genshiro Kawamoto — are warned that their cultivation of vegetation to encroach on the public right of way could result in state fines of $2,000 and, if they don’t trim promptly, as much as $15,000. The 2009 Legislature gave the state authority to impose the fines, and beachside owners throughout the state should take heed to the warning.