What a difference four decades make. The first medical marijuana production center in Hawaii County now has the all-clear from state authorities to start growing plants for the island’s two dispensaries. All legal, all above board.

And yet, kamaaina will remember that the Big Island was the birthplace of what was called Operation Green Harvest, an undercover surveillance program that later went statewide. Police helicopters would descend on a pot patch for the raid, seizing plants.

Now it’s a newly legit crop for island agriculture — undoubtedly welcome news after all the volcanic destruction of ag land.

ERS portfolio shows improvement

Hawaii’s state and county governments have so much invested, literally, in the Employees Retirement System that every upward or downward tick is closely watched. That’s what happens with an ERS portfolio that has $16.46 billion in assets, but is still working on $12.93 billion in unfunded liabilities, based on its obligations to provide retirement, disability and survivor benefits to 135,000-plus active and retired government employees.

So up is certainly much better than down, which was achieved by the pension fund in the fiscal year that ended June 30; the 7.7 percent investment return even surpassed the 7 percent target, which meant an extra $100 million into the portfolio.