Ellison’s airline moves difficult to fathom

The fits and starts at Island Air under billionaire Larry Ellison’s management may be more a timing issue than a death knell for interisland airline competition.

The carrier, the state’s second-largest airline behind Hawaiian Airlines, will be down by 50 percent on its Lanai routes and is cutting its Honolulu service to Kauai, starting June 1. Also, its Honolulu-Lanai flights will now have a 25-minute layover on Maui.

Ellison may simply be treading water on airline service until the Lanai resorts he also owns ramp up after renovations are done. And even if, as experts suspect, Island Air becomes a basic taxi service for his properties there, perhaps another player will emerge to compete more with the kingpin Hawaiian Air. At least, let’s hope so.

Some NFL team is going to be very lucky

The countdown clock’s ticking away and the suspense is building: Where’s he going, and how high in the draft?

For Hawaii’s Marcus Mariota—Saint Louis School grad, Oregon Ducks QB, Heisman Trophy winner and all-around nice guy — the waiting ends Thursday. He’s opted to be in Hawaii, surrounded by family and friends, for NFL Draft 2015, which starts at 2 p.m. Hawaii time.

Wherever he ends up, here’s hoping the pro life will showcase to a national audience what Hawaii fans already admire: Mariota’s exceptional talent on the field and his humble demeanor off.