Power in pocket full of sunshine

Portable solar panels are such a cool idea — or maybe it’s a hot idea, given that the blazing sun is what powers them. And the Hawaii excitement for them doubles with the realization that Greenpath Technologies Inc. developed them right here.

The Honolulu-based company demonstrated its "Solar Transportable Alternative Energy Storage System" at military and disaster-relief exercises. Surely they would help in ravaged areas where the conventional power grid is offline.

But what’s really great is just how portable they are. The panels fold up into a stack comparable to a 6-pound briefcase. And although they’d probably be most essential during a power outage, we just know someday people will be using them to power a flat-screen TV at their beach campout. We just know it.

Lauding real-life police heroes

Lest we ordinary citizens forget just how dangerous it is to be a police officer, a few recent events help to remind us.

On Oahu, police officers were allegedly assaulted at Ala Moana Beach Park in two separate incidents. On Monday, a man and his girlfriend allegedly assaulted two officers while he was being arrested on warrants. On Sunday, an officer was allegedly hit while trying to break up a fight.

Then on Maui Monday, officers Gershom Slonim, Darryl Honda and Randy Taka­yama bravely ran into a house on fire in the wee hours of morning and helped rescue a dozen residents.

Heroics fit for "Hawaii 5-0" — heck, better.