Checking the news…Polls are showing voters trending towards Obama, what CNN calls “a significant nationwide shift toward the Democratic presidential nominee.”

One daily update of the electoral vote map, based on state and national polling, is reporting Obama leading with 349 electoral votes to McCain’s 174, and North Carolina’s 15 electoral votes up for grabs.

Meanwhile, The Great Schlep made the New York Times today. The story reports that the video has been viewed over 7 million times in the past two weeks.

The continuing departure of doctors from the Big Island was reported by Insurance Journal. Although the headline blames malpractice insurance costs, the body of the story puts more emphasis on the low reimbursement rates doctors receive, at least in part the result of the dominant position of HMSA, which controls the major share of the overall health insurance market.

“One thing we fight in recruiting is the lack of reimbursement for doctors,” Dunne said. “That’s the obvious reason many doctors leave or don’t come. You’re looking at one of (the lowest), if not the lowest, reimbursements for doctors for all of the states. That gets difficult to battle when you put it up against having one of the highest costs of living.”

Business Week notes Hawaii’s tourism slowdown, while a longer story on Hospitality Net reports on a trip to the islands, the visitor industry’s current woes, and adds comments on both airlines and hotels.

Here’s the less than flattering wrap after a stay at the Hilton Hawaiian Village:

Lasting impressions? The hotel experience was overwhelmed by all of the merchandising. No matter where you turned, there was something new for guests to reach into his/her pockets. I realize this Hilton is a large property, but how nice it would have been if someone from senior management would have been visible, recognizing and thanking guests for their patronage during such difficult economic times. Even more so, I would have liked to have seen more eye contact and smiles from management-level individuals as they passed guests every day.

And Slate looks at “Alaska vs. Hawaii” (WHY IS SEWARD’S FOLLY THE “REAL AMERICA” AND THE ALOHA STATE NOT?).

Finally, how about a couple of looks back at Sunday at our house in Kaaawa? Our regular routine is to come back from our dawn walk to the beach, read the newspapers over a cup of coffee, and then I whip up an egg white omelet. Well, I put one yolk in with the whipped whites. Toast, and this week some turkey bacon. After that feast, lunch becomes a pick-up affair. This Sunday it was a tin of sardines in hot sauce, cheese, and reduced fat Triscuits. As soon as I put the sardines on that white plate, the photo just jumped out at me. The tastes were as good as the visuals.