Super Bowl didn’t stop prison visits

Super Bowl Sunday was a big day for football fans, obviously.

It’s also a big day for those who keep track of cancellations of visiting hours at the state’s prison system.

At the Oahu Community Correctional Center in particular, corrections officers have been known to call in sick en masse on the biggest sports days of the year. It was not immediately known how many officers called in sick this past Sunday, but it was encouraging that all of the state’s prisons held normal visiting hours that day.

In fact, with the exception of two rescheduled days at Kulani Correctional Facility in Hilo, no visitation days were cancelled in January, according to Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Toni Schwartz.

That’s a good trend. Let’s hope it continues.

Hawaii dead last in high-tech jobs

There’s dismal news about Hawaii’s standing where "advanced industries" are concerned.

That’s the term that the Brookings Institution uses to describe the sector that’s invested in science, technology, engi- neering and math — the STEM skills.

Hawaii ranks dead last among the states and D.C., in hosting industries such as aerospace, automotive, energy generation, computer software and biotech, with its 25,590 directly employed people accounting for only 3.4 percent of all jobs in the state.

It’s not like Hawaii is likely to become the tech center of the world, but last place out of 51 is a rotten place to be.

It would be nice to see advanced industries in Hawaii, well, advance a bit.