The judge in one of Hawaii island’s biggest cases in memory is — from Oahu.

Oahu Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario has been temporarily reassigned to the Big Island for Mayor Billy Kenoi’s theft trial.

It was probably unavoidable. District Judge Barbara Takase of the Hawaii island circuit is retiring, and all the others from that district have recused themselves.

They probably all know the mayor, and it wouldn’t do to have even the appearance of close alliances.

For a place called the Big Island, the community is really quite small.

This seems like money well spent

What’s the cost of keeping the country country, you ask? If it’s 468 acres on Oahu’s North Shore, it’s $6 million.

That’s what it took for Turtle Bay Resort to agree to do nothing – that is, let the acreage remain undeveloped and kept in perpetuity for agricultural uses. Considering the value of land in coveted Hawaii, this seems a reasonable price, which was paid by the Army, state and city.

The resort has devised a master plan to expand sustainable farming operations, and we wish that well.

This ag-land preservation is part of a larger pact with Turtle Bay Resort, which has land-use entitlements for expansion from decades ago, but has downsized its plans considerably. With building now limited next to the existing resort, it involves up to 100 homes and two hotels totaling 625 rooms.