Hawaii Senator Dan Inouye has made it clear that he is running for reelection in 2010, according to a report by CQ Politics.

In a written statement, Inouye told CQ:

Make no mistake, I am a candidate for re-election in 2010. I am calling upon my friends and supporters to once again stand with me,” Inouye said in a statement provided to CQ Politics. “I am taking nothing for granted in what I expect for be an exciting and vigorous campaign. I am looking forward to it.

“…for be an exciting and vigorous campaign”? The statement has been quoted in several published accounts. A typo or a bit of pidgin creeping in? Don’t know.

CQ called Gov. Linda Lingle as the only candidate on the horizon who could pose a challenge to Inouye, but notes “she has given no indication yet of her plans for that year.”

And CQ also put Sen. Dan Akaka in the spotlight this week for challenging the Veterans Affairs Department for failing to follow a provision in a law passed in 1996. The department’s inaction resulted in the department seeking repayment of pension and disability benefits paid to a surviving spouse during the month of their spouse’s death.

Akaka became aware of the problem last month when contacted by Ruby Maile Sasaoka, a Hawaii resident whose veteran husband died in 2007.

After using her husband’s final benefit check for funeral expenses, the Treasury department took an equal amount of money directly from her bank account without her knowledge. As a result, she unwittingly bounced checks and now faces credit issues.

Will newspapers survive if home delivery of a print edition isn’t available?

Gannett’s Detroit Free Press and its joint operating agreement partner, the Detroit News, are reportedly “leaning towards” cutting home deliveries to three days a week, AP reports, citing a Wall Street Journal story.

A final decision is pending, but the WSJ reports:

But the leading scenario set to be unveiled Tuesday calls for the Free Press, the 20th largest U.S. newspaper by weekday circulation, and the News to end home delivery on all but the most lucrative days — Thursday, Friday and Sunday. On the other days, the company would sell single copies of abbreviated print editions at newsstands and direct readers to the papers’ expanded digital editions.

I’m not sure whether the Journal story is restricted to subscribers only, but here’s the link to try.

The plans were first disclosed by the Gannett Blog, which beat Gannett to its own story.

Gannett’s Honolulu Advertiser already offers 3-day home delivery (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) as an option for $1.60 per week, half the price of full 7-day delivery.

And here’s a treat for this Saturday–a glimpse of the old Queen’s Surf in 1947.

It starts with a portion of a letter from my father to Mr. Otto Schatz dated September 9, 1947, which describes the Queen’s Surf.

The Queen’s Surf as I have mentioned before is the most luxuriest (sic) and enjoyable commercial location on the island of Hawaii (sic) at the present time. They have the beautiful cocktail lounge overlooking the dance pavilion and the beautiful expanse of the Pacific as well as the cocktail lounge on themain floor.

The letter also describes several photos. I was able to locate some but not all of them. It’s hard to look at these without a bit of nostalgia.

Just click on this photo for more.