Cec Heftel gets Congress to act

It took a rebellion among U.S. House Republicans, on Thursday still struggling to put together a majority vote on the debt-ceiling bill, to push up on the calendar legislation to pay tribute to a Democrat.

When the debt-ceiling vote was delayed, Speaker John Boehner bought time by moving on to the bill to name the Kahala post office after his late colleague, Cec Heftel. Not much to enjoy about Congress these days, other than ironies like that.

Forensic artists factor in the ’70s

It’s disturbing that skeletal remains unearthed in a Manoa backyard last October are still unidentified, but fascinating to see what forensic art can do to assist the search.

The skull showed evidence of gunshot wounds, and police have dug back through records dating to the 1970s to match it with unsolved missing-persons cases.

This probably explains why wigs placed on the clay bust built over the skull were arranged in unmistakably period hairstyles. That’s how people might recognize them.