A little more room to perform good deeds

The good folks at the Institute for Human Services now have more elbow room to advance its good works. Thanks to grants and other support, the agency that helps homeless and struggling folks is enjoying a renovated, bigger space in which to conduct employment and housing services. The 1,500-square-foot facility on Kaa­ahi Street has office space and conference rooms to hold training and educational programs, a far cry from the small, second-floor room it had been using in the past six years for such services. Here’s hoping this definite step-up for IHS has the same positive effect on its many clients.

Texting in your car? It can wait

You’ve probably seen that gritty commercial — the one with the brain-injured young man struggling to explain the few cryptic letters on the screen. Turns out that was what he had started to text while driving, just before getting into a car crash. Powerful, effective stuff.

With more smartphones out there, and the growing compulsion to text and tweet, talking on the phone while driving seems, well, like yesterday’s problem. It’s still a problem, but the advent of texting just compounds the driving-while-distracted issue. That’s why efforts such as AT&T’s national "It Can Wait" campaign are so vital.

"No text message, email, website or video is worth the risk of endangering my life or the lives of others on the road," the pledge begins.

To which we say: XLNT.