It’ll be interesting to see how things progress for the now-former Uncle Billy’s Hilo Bay Hotel, which got rebranded over the weekend to the Pagoda Hilo Bay Hotel. The longtime Hilo hotel is now owned by the same guy — developer Peter Savio — who also owns Honolulu’s longtime, koi-famed Pagoda Hotel. “Uncle Billy’s” had been scheduled to close Feb. 1, but Savio said “it will be business as usual.” One apparent upgrade is new management under Castle Resorts & Hotels, which also manages the nearby Hilo Hawaiian Hotel.

Health department will reveal all, eventually

It’s gratifying to see that, once some legal pressure was brought to bear, state Health Department officials pledged to disclose the names of the review panel members selecting the recipients of eight medical marijuana dispensary permits. That should help bring some needed transparency to the process of handling what is a valuable commodity.

It’s still not known when that information will be released. The response to the Star-Advertiser’s request last week wasn’t clear even on whether the panelists have been named.