“HONOLULU (AP) — Stinky city bus riders soon could get soaked. The Honolulu City Council is considering a bill that would impose up to a $500 fine and/or up to six months in jail for public transit passengers convicted of being too smelly.”

Or so reports the Honolulu Advertiser (direct link to story). So it looks like the 50th State has something more interesting in an off-beat way than the tourist-centric things such as pineapple, Don Ho and poi.

My brother (who has unwillingly experienced Honolulu public transit BO firsthand) is siding with City Councilmen Rod Tam and Nestor Garcia, who co-sponsored the bill. We’ll hear what the Council decision will be on Thursday but it’s definitely going to keep the Hawaii Bar Association gainfully employed as there are all sorts of questions surrounding civil liberties and discrimination. The Councilmen must be pretty confident about this since it would one of those “you’re kidding me” moments for ending a political career. If it does pass, I’m curious to see exactly how they will define being “too smelly”. One thing though: as the city ordinance would extend to personal belongings, it’s probably not a good idea to carry a Chevrochon in one’s lunchbag.

I’ll have to keep watch on how this develops as I have a small shot at actually going to Honolulu this November.

Popularity: 2% [?]