With order in the courts, time to move on

The full lists of candidates named this year by the state Judicial Selection Commission to fill three vacancies on the bench have been revealed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie — finally — although he continues to claim he should have been allowed to conceal all of them from the public except the three he ultimately chose.

Attorney General David Louie still insists that a 1993 state Supreme Court decision should have allowed his boss to keep a lid on the names on the nominee lists. In that ruling, however, the high court protected the commission’s confidentiality of its list of nominees but decided that the specific rule of secrecy "did not apply to governor" after the commission "had submitted the list of nominees for consideration."

The commission now has decided not to use the rule and instead reveal its future lists of candidates for judgeships on the way to the governor’s desk, settling the legal issue. Abercrombie’s release of the names was less than magnanimous, and long overdue.

Going public with quality educational programs

It’s become far too easy to sell public schools short — especially during the middle-school years, when kids become more difficult almost by definition and private education looks like a safer bet to be better.

Not necessarily. There are lots of programs middle schools offer that many private schools can’t, owing to their enrollment and federal funding support. So it’s great to see that many middle schools — such as Kaimuki, Jarrett, Stevenson, Washington and Kawananakoa — are tooting their own horn and letting parents know about them.

And kudos to the parents, too, who are filling up registration lists for campus tours. It’ll help to know what they, and their children, are in for.