Deadline passes; life goes on

OK, so the score is none too impressive, after the March 31 deadline for Hawaii residents to enroll in health insurance under the Affordable Care Act has passed.

Fewer than a tenth of the estimated 100,000 uninsured individuals out there have jumped through all the hoops, with maybe twice that many standing in the waiting room.

But there’s no sense crying, right? The buzzer has sounded and the door to the Hawaii Health Connector has slammed shut.

Or has it? The site was still slow the day after, undoubtedly with those who’ve begun the process already trying to finish up.

Mysteriously, however, at least one Star-Advertiser staffer was able to create a new account and was clicking right through the application process before bailing out (we already have health insurance over here).

An April Fool’s Day joke, perhaps?

Don’t let homeless take over parks

Pawaa In-Ha Park has essentially been taken over by homeless people and its Korean cultural monuments defaced by human feces and urine.

Moreover, some of the "residents" flat-out refuse to leave, saying they don’t want to live in a homeless shelter, even though there is space available.

Oahu’s parks must be available for use by the public. We simply must not accept this untenable situation as Honolulu’s new urban norm.