… Well, here we are well into January, when the LAHAINATOWN ACTION COMMITTEE holds its Annual Town Meeting. Residents are invited to attend the meeting on Monday, Jan. 31, and become involved. A new president and board members will be elected, and the town’s top restaurants will provide ono grinds. The event will again be held in the Courtyard of the PIONEER INN beginning at 5:30 p.m. — so, see you there!…

… from where I sit, the HYUNDAI TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS came off without a hitch. Congratulations to all who participated, not the least of whom was MARK ROLFING. Hard work and dedication really pay off — it was a great event…

… our new mayor, ALAN ARAKAWA, is not letting any dust gather under his feet — he has hit the ground running with some excellent appointments…

… and across the pond, it seems a wave of demonstrations are taking place with one dictator down in Tunisia, and Yemen, Algeria and Libya look like they may follow. While down south in Venezuela, things look a little rocky. At least they’re taking care of things themselves without us wading in to start another eight-year war!!!…

… and then there’s Papa Doc, who’s come back to Haiti — give me a break! He must have run out of money with his exile in France and is back to help himself to all that aid money sitting there unused — AUWE!!!…

… but back on home base, the legislature finally got its act together and kissed and made up, putting them days behind with the business of the people. But with more hard work, they’ll catch up…

… and the Senate has seen fit to abolish the prayer invocation before each session. Why couldn’t they be given a one-minute respite, so each senator could say their own prayer, or not — their choice? The House wisely left the invocation intact!!…

… and in our own neck of the woods, last week the “CIRQUE POLYNESIA” show at the HYATT REGENCY MAUI had a surprise finale. The music stopped and LYRIC WALLENDA (seventh generation Wallenda) was taken to center stage. Simon ARESTOVE (second generation) came over and, on one knee, proposed to a very surprised Lyric. The cast and audience were also surprised. This brings two great internationally acclaimed families of performers together — phones all over the world have been off the hook, Maui to Florida to Germany to Russia and points east. Congratulations to the young couple…

… and LAHAINA RESTORATION FOUNDATION wants it known Lahaina Bath Day has been canceled. Mother Nature stepped in and naturally cleaned the street with continuous rainfall!…

… and what a joy it is to drive down our new two-lane highway in and out of Lahaina! Already you can see the change in traffic flow…

Up Front Lahaina is a twice monthly feature. To protect his innocence, the writer chooses to remain anonymous. The views expressed in this column belong to the author, and do not necessarily represent the views of the Lahaina News staff and owners.