We’re No. 35! We’re No. 35!

In the “count your blessings” department of state taxation rankings, Hawaii did not rank last in the latest assessment by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation based in Washington, D.C. No, we ranked 35. Woo hoo!

The bad news is that Hawaii ranked poorly because of some truly troubling aspects of our tax system, including that our income tax ties with Oregon for having the highest marginal rate for individuals (11 percent). Worse, that rate in Oregon kicks in at $250,000, while here it starts at $200,000.

Hawaii also lost points for not indexing its personal income taxes to inflation, which means you can get pushed into a higher tax bracket simply because your income is (ideally) keeping up with inflation.

With the Legislature in session, maybe now would be a good time to address these concerns.

They shoot snowy owls, don’t they?

You’ve seen a snowy owl before — it’s the same species as Hedwig, Harry Potter’s companion in those famous books about the boy wizard.

So it’s understandable that a mass winter migration of snowy owls from the Arctic has stirred up excitement among Muggles across the northern United States, with the

2-foot-high birds showing up in larger than normal numbers as far south as Kansas and Missouri.

Unfortunately, a way-off-course snowy owl turned up in the wrong place at the wrong time — a runway at Honolulu International Airport, where it hopped around as workers tried in vain to capture it. The bird was shot and killed on Thanksgiving out of fear it would interfere with landings and takeoffs. Understandable, but a pity all the same.