Weekend days will be more alike

One of the distinguishing characteristics of our weekend days is that mail is delivered on Saturdays and it’s not on Sundays.

But that’s about to change somewhat, starting in August, unless Congress disallows it.

U.S. Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe said this week that he’s going to take advantage of a legal loophole to confine Saturday deliveries to just packages. The idea is to save $2 billion a year, though that amount is still not nearly enough for the U.S. Postal Service to pull its financial chestnuts out of the fire.

This is not the place to analyze the Post Office’s predicament, or to suggest way it could get out of it. But we did want to note how cessation of Saturday mail deliveries will alter how we perceive the weekends. To some extent, it will suddenly make them seem a lot longer.

Watchdog Senate just rolled over

The role of the Senate in executive appointments is to advise and consent, signing off on people the governor wants to hire.

Usually that task involves some questioning, too. But one aspect of the Jobie Masagatani appointment to head the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands drew no queries of the candidate, at least not at the hearing on Wednesday before the Committee on Tourism and Hawaiian Affairs.

That was a charge made in testimony that Masagatani fired deputy Michelle Kauhane after Kauhane refused to transfer to an $85,000-a-year job in another department but allegedly using DHHL funds.

Really, folks, no questions about that? Hmm.

The panel recommended approving Masagatani as DHHL director. Perhaps other senators will raise the issue — or so we can hope.