‘Ethics’ bill dead, but Legislature still in session

Well, after all the carping this editorial-page staff has done about the so-called ethics bill, it’s only fair now to give credit where it’s due.

Kudos go, one, to Rep. Gilbert Keith-Agaran, who chaired the Judiciary Committee that last week finally decided to shelve Senate Bill 671. Good one, Mr. Chairman.

And two, to the dozens of alert readers who called to nag Keith-Agaran, using the phone number the Star-Advertiser helpfully provided.

Stay vigilant, though; the session’s still got a month to go, and anything can still happen.

There’s a great future in plastics

A floating, recycled Hawaii? That is the goal of Dutch architect Ramon Knoester, who is designing a floating island comprised of plastic debris in the Pacific.

According to Knoester’s website for his company, Whim Architecture, he now is designing a prototype of a Recycled Island of more than 60,000 square miles with a grant from the Netherlands Architecture Fund. He claims the island will be fit not only for inhabitants but tourists floating somewhere between Hawaii and San Francisco.