Appropriate home for AJA artifacts

It was good news to hear that a collection of artifacts that once belonged to interned Japa­nese-Americans have made it into the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.

Decades ago, the pieces were given by WWII Japanese-American camp internees to historian Allen H. Eaton, who intended to use the items to educate people about the injustice of the incarceration. Years after his death, the collection had come close last month to being auctioned off piecemeal.

Now, after protests, the artifacts will become part of the L.A. museum’s permanent collection. Said Greg Kimura, the museum’s president: "We honor the sacrifice of our forebears who suffered to prove their loyalty to the U.S. by ensuring that such constitutional violations never happen again." An important lesson indeed.

Someone should act on Kenoi

Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi’s flagrant and prolonged misuse of a county purchasing card is beyond doubt. What’s less certain is whether those county officials responsible for protecting the public’s interest will do so — or whether they will protect Kenoi instead.

The county Board of Ethics will consider a complaint against Kenoi and his finance director, Deanna Sako, by Kapaau resident Lanric Hyland, whose frustration was evident after the county prosecutor passed his duties to the state, citing a conflict of interest. For the same reason, the ethics board will rely on advice from Maui County’s corporation counsel. Most members of the Hawaii County Council actually praised Kenoi when he apologized.

Let’s hope the Board of Ethics has a stiffer spine.