School board out of sync with working public

The statewide Board of Education, appointed by the governor, should hold more of its general business meetings during late-afternoon and early-evening hours, when busy educators and other working people can more easily attend. The board periodically schedules community forums at night, but those are not meetings when decision-making occurs.

A recent survey of public-school principals highlights the need for the policy-making school board to re-engage with the grassroots. Holding general-business meetings when more people can attend would be a step in that direction.

Dreams come true … we hope … in blue Hawaii

Kauai residents and visitors alike know it’s a sad sight: Since the iconic Coco Palms Resort was devastated by Hurricane Iniki in 1992, it’s been shuttered and steadily decaying by the side of the road for all to see.

Now comes word that, at long last, rebuilding of the Wailua property will begin early next year, with Hyatt Hotels to manage the resort after it reopens in 2017.

The news comes with a healthy dose of cautious optimism, though, since revitalization plans for Coco Palms have been repeatedly raised, then dashed, over the decades. But if it finally takes this time, both old-timers and newcomers will get to enjoy the pop-culture history of the place, which was the locale for the 1961 Elvis Presley film "Blue Hawaii."