After 3 years, it’s time to let the arrows fly

Somebody with the city is finally talking again about what’s up with the archery range at Kapiolani Park, and it’s about time.

It was almost three years that the range was closed, in April 2012, after an arrow landed in the nearby tennis courts. Nobody wants to get hit by an arrow, so the closure was understandable, but at the time many believed it would be only temporary, until safety measures could be worked out. In December 2012, the mayor’s office even specified what some of the measures would be, though it did not set a reopening date.

Now the city parks director, Michele Nekota, is speaking about the issue, giving hope to the archery community that something will be done soon — even if that means moving the range to a new urban location.

Maui Memorial still skating on thin ice

Families on Maui can feel relieved that pediatricians will be on staff around the clock at Maui Memorial Hospital, but now the debt-encumbered hospital has another bill to pay: a contract for outsourcing that went to Kaiser Permanente Hawaii.

This became necessary when the pediatricians currently on call for in-patient care announced they were relinquishing hospital privileges.

It all bolsters the push for House Bill 1075, enabling a private partnership that officials believe is more sustainable. Having passed a pair of committees (Health, and Commerce and Consumer Protection), bill-watchers say it’ll be before Senate Judiciary and Labor, jointly meeting with Ways and Means, in a few weeks.