Target proves an easy target for sign-makers

Opponents of the planned Target store in Kailua say, among other things, that the retailer will hurt the mom-and-pop operations in the town. But at least one small business may be benefiting: sign-making shops.

There was the one posted in October at the old Kailua Cinemas, urging folks: "Don’t feel bad, Kailua. It’s just business." Then last weekend, at the site of the old First Stop store, a replica that reads: "Kailua’s Last Stop, before being destroyed by Kaneohe Ranch," a reference to the landlord.

Not surprisingly, neither sign stayed up for long.

And some of us still bend down to pick up a penny

Already buffeted by rising fees to get their kids through the school day, parents and guardians recently got a bit of reprieve when the state Board of Education voted down a 15-cent school-lunch increase.

Not huge in savings, to be sure, but every little bit helps in a school year that began with a near-doubling of lunch costs to $2.20 from last year’s $1.25, and a 45 percent rise in A+ after-school fees to $80 from $55 monthly come January.

A 15-cent lunch increase wouldn’t necessarily have broken the bank, but it would’ve weighed heavy on the psyches of families already straining to make ends meet.