It’s been said before, but we’ll say it again: While there is concern over security at Kaneohe’s Hawaii State Hospital, building a fence estimated at over $17 million would be a waste of taxpayer dollars if patients can get the key (or combination) to the lock and escape.

Instead, it seems that shoring up, and enforcing, porous staff policies would go a long way toward boosting both security and public confidence. For example, in a legislative hearing Friday, it was revealed that Randall Saito — whose November escape with possible inside help is being investigated — has had a half-dozen sexual relationships since being committed to the hospital in 1981 for a grisly killing two years earlier. And not just once, not twice, but with three different hospital staffers — despite a policy that bans staffers from having sex with patients. Clearly, that policy needs to be firmly stated, with severe consequences if not followed.

TMT goes to the Supreme Court, at last

Like this year’s Super Bowl game, the saga of the Thirty Meter Telescope is shaping up to be a cliff-hanger, with the outcome in doubt right up to the end. The developers of the TMT want to decide by April whether to build in Hawaii or the Canary Islands. The Hawaii Supreme Court will hear the legal challenges of those who support or oppose building the $1.4 billion telescope on Mauna Kea — a process expected to take it into April, if not longer. It’s hoped that the TMT board of directors will have the ability to await the final rulings before heading for the Canary Islands. And we hope all parties will respect the court’s conclusions.