Waikiki

The popular Waikiki district of Honolulu is in line for a face-lift after the passage of an ordinance to encourage renovation of hotels that, proponents of the law say, have grown dowdy with age and threaten Waikiki's appeal to tourists. The city council this month approved amendments to a Waikiki master plan, enacted in 1976, that encourage renovations and allow buildings to be built higher in exchange for appealing designs with more open areas at ground level. The changes are needed, advocates said, to spruce up Waikiki and prevent it from developing a reputation as a seedy place.

It's not hard to guess where Selma and Edgar Davis vacation: The parrot and hula-girl motif of their living room is a dead giveaway. "We went to Hawaii for the first time in December of 1990, and we just fell in love with it," Selma Davis said. "We must have gone back there 20 or 21 times now," her husband said. Not only do they travel to Hawaii twice a year now, staying for five weeks at a time, but Selma Davis also has just published Surf Kapu, her second crime novel set in Hawaii.

On a recent vacation in Hawaii, Philadelphia Police Officer Joseph Kuchs said he was appalled by sights of drunken U.S. sailors, open prostitution and drug dealing. He was so incensed, said Kuchs, that after he returned home, he fired off a letter of complaint describing what he saw to Honolulu Mayor Frank F. Fasi. The mayor replied on June 6, on official stationery: "You are entitled to your opinions, but as far as I am concerned, you can go to hell! How dare you refer to U.S. Navy personnel as 'juvenile savages that the Navy enlist from the dredges of the cities.

Utah Jazz team president Frank Layden said yesterday that he is retiring to the golf course, marking the third front-office loss for the Jazz this year. Layden, 67, said he wants to spend more time with his wife, Barbara, and plans to write a book. He plans to remain in Salt Lake City. Layden joined the Jazz as general manager in 1979 with a promise to lead the move to Utah from New Orleans. Two years later, he took on the additional role of coach and had a 277-294 record during more than six seasons, including the Jazz' first winning season in 1983-84.

Eugene Robinson of the Atlanta Falcons, honored at the Super Bowl for high moral character just hours before being arrested and charged with solicitation, yesterday said he will return the award. The Falcons' free safety received the Bart Starr Award on Saturday morning, the day before Atlanta's 34-19 Super Bowl loss to the Denver Broncos. The award was presented for leadership in the home, on the field, and in the community. Robinson was arrested that night and charged with soliciting oral sex from an undercover police officer.

MAYBE THEY'RE really going to do it. Although rumors have abounded for months that the celebrity wedding of the second weekend of the ninth month of 2003 will be held in Hawaii or Boston or the church where Prince Charles married Princess Diana, reports yesterday in Us Weekly and the New York Daily News, say Bennifer (Ben Affleck and J.Lo) will truly be united as one on Sunday, Sept. 14. In a secret location in Santa Barbara. "Maybe near a winery," said an unidentified source.

The NBA All-Star weekend Jam Session gets under way tomorrow at the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis and will conclude on Sunday with the annual NBA All-Star Game. Hobbyists will be treated to the basketball version of the kind of fan event that has become so popular over the past few years, one that involves not only collectibles but the opportunity to participate in sports-related activities. The second annual Jam Session will be staged on the floor and in the concourse of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, covering more than 160,000 square feet.

Geraldo Rivera is fuming over Bette Midler's spin to their relationship nearly two decades ago and is threatening a lawsuit. "Hey, calling me a rapist? What is that?" said the TV talk-show host. "I feel totally violated. . . . This is a terrible blow to my credibility. " Midler has said that Rivera and his producer backed her into a bathroom and forced her to inhale a drug before "groping" her. Rivera insisted that he and Midler had a long, ongoing affair. "There were scores of witnesses," he said.

Something very weird and spooky happened here this weekend. But don't look under your bed, or in your closet, or over in the neighborhood cemetery, trying to figure It out. Look at your bookshelves - and everyone else's. Look at the best-seller list. Look at American culture in 1996. "Steve" King, as locals here call the 49-year-old Baron of nearby Bangor who happens to be the world's best-selling novelist, is suddenly a part of American literature. The official ceremony anointing him took place Friday and Saturday on the same U. of Maine campus here where a certain 6-foot-4, wild-bearded, fanatical reader of horror literature, class of 1970, once perplexed professors with his "King's Garbage Truck" column for the student daily, his habit of reading a book a day, his hyperactive ambition to be a successful writer.

Rae Chesney wasn't sure what to do, but laughing at the angry 86-year-old man with the darts in his hand didn't seem like the right choice. The man had finished second in the 80-and-older darts competition during the Senior Olympics held at Montgomery County Community College in May. He was protesting the fact that the tournament winner was only 79. And Chesney, who had organized the event, was on the hot seat. The enraged octogenarian - his protest eventually was disallowed - is one of quite a few people in Montgomery, Bucks and surrounding counties who take their darts seriously.

T HEY BUILT IT and in W.P. Kinsella's vision of a better game from a gentler, more forgiving time, Shoeless Joe Jackson and the Black Sox came to the pristine diamond in an Iowa cornfield for a rousing game of baseball. The real world is filled with ballparks and stadiums and arenas and locales that will quicken your pulse, stir your imagination and max out your credit cards. Here, in no particular ranking, are 10 sports venues you must see before you die: New Wembley Stadium, London The Eagles played a 1989 exhibition in the original Wembley, a historic but aging stadium that had hosted everything from Olympic Games to vast rock concerts featuring Queen and 1985 Live Aid, England's 1966 World Cup victory over West Germany and events as diverse as greyhound racing and Evel Knievel not quite jumping over 13 double-decker buses.

It's not hard to guess where Selma and Edgar Davis vacation: The parrot and hula-girl motif of their living room is a dead giveaway. "We went to Hawaii for the first time in December of 1990, and we just fell in love with it," Selma Davis said. "We must have gone back there 20 or 21 times now," her husband said. Not only do they travel to Hawaii twice a year now, staying for five weeks at a time, but Selma Davis also has just published Surf Kapu, her second crime novel set in Hawaii.

MAYBE THEY'RE really going to do it. Although rumors have abounded for months that the celebrity wedding of the second weekend of the ninth month of 2003 will be held in Hawaii or Boston or the church where Prince Charles married Princess Diana, reports yesterday in Us Weekly and the New York Daily News, say Bennifer (Ben Affleck and J.Lo) will truly be united as one on Sunday, Sept. 14. In a secret location in Santa Barbara. "Maybe near a winery," said an unidentified source.

Anticipatory and hopeful, some Eagles fans even now are making plans to attend the Super Bowl in New Orleans after next season. Better idea: Come here. Sure, the Big Easy is a great party town, but think about it: The Brady Bunch didn't go to Louisiana, did they? And so: The Top 10 Reasons to Go to the Pro Bowl Instead of the Super Bowl: 10) Less hotel hassle. Trust us, it's better to stay in a dive hotel in downtown Honolulu than in a dive hotel in downtown Kenner, La. 9)

Utah Jazz team president Frank Layden said yesterday that he is retiring to the golf course, marking the third front-office loss for the Jazz this year. Layden, 67, said he wants to spend more time with his wife, Barbara, and plans to write a book. He plans to remain in Salt Lake City. Layden joined the Jazz as general manager in 1979 with a promise to lead the move to Utah from New Orleans. Two years later, he took on the additional role of coach and had a 277-294 record during more than six seasons, including the Jazz' first winning season in 1983-84.

Eugene Robinson of the Atlanta Falcons, honored at the Super Bowl for high moral character just hours before being arrested and charged with solicitation, yesterday said he will return the award. The Falcons' free safety received the Bart Starr Award on Saturday morning, the day before Atlanta's 34-19 Super Bowl loss to the Denver Broncos. The award was presented for leadership in the home, on the field, and in the community. Robinson was arrested that night and charged with soliciting oral sex from an undercover police officer.

The popular Waikiki district of Honolulu is in line for a face-lift after the passage of an ordinance to encourage renovation of hotels that, proponents of the law say, have grown dowdy with age and threaten Waikiki's appeal to tourists. The city council this month approved amendments to a Waikiki master plan, enacted in 1976, that encourage renovations and allow buildings to be built higher in exchange for appealing designs with more open areas at ground level. The changes are needed, advocates said, to spruce up Waikiki and prevent it from developing a reputation as a seedy place.

Something very weird and spooky happened here this weekend. But don't look under your bed, or in your closet, or over in the neighborhood cemetery, trying to figure It out. Look at your bookshelves - and everyone else's. Look at the best-seller list. Look at American culture in 1996. "Steve" King, as locals here call the 49-year-old Baron of nearby Bangor who happens to be the world's best-selling novelist, is suddenly a part of American literature. The official ceremony anointing him took place Friday and Saturday on the same U. of Maine campus here where a certain 6-foot-4, wild-bearded, fanatical reader of horror literature, class of 1970, once perplexed professors with his "King's Garbage Truck" column for the student daily, his habit of reading a book a day, his hyperactive ambition to be a successful writer.

The NBA All-Star weekend Jam Session gets under way tomorrow at the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis and will conclude on Sunday with the annual NBA All-Star Game. Hobbyists will be treated to the basketball version of the kind of fan event that has become so popular over the past few years, one that involves not only collectibles but the opportunity to participate in sports-related activities. The second annual Jam Session will be staged on the floor and in the concourse of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, covering more than 160,000 square feet.

If it's Tuesday, this must be Hawaii (the Big Island, as it's known here in mid-Pacific). I was still early into a Hawaiian odyssey that would take me, over 11 days, to five of the six touristed islands that make up the 50th state. During that time, I would: Be a passenger for 11 takeoffs and landings. Pass through nine different airports. Stay in six different hotels. Drive five different rental cars a total of more than 800 miles. Grueling?