The story of “Peter Boy” Kema’s presumed murder is in its 20th year, out of the headlines in the most recent years. But for those pursuing the case of the child, age 6 when he disappeared, it’s never been forgotten.

The indictment of his parents on charges of second-degree murder brings the memory back, and along with it thoughts of what was lost. He would have been 25 now, and seen what the intervening years brought. Terrible wars, wonderful technologies, a changed world.

Nobody will know what this one person might have added to that world, which is the real sadness of any lost young life.

At Capitol, you win some, you lose some

The 2016 Legislature is fast approaching the bottom line — final approval of a $13.7 billion budget for the coming fiscal year.

The budget document is more than a financial plan, of course. It’s a distillation of months of debate over the state government’s priorities, expressed, however imperfectly, by where our money goes — or doesn’t.

So the struggling, public Hawaii State Hospital got a $160 million lifeline, and the struggling, private Wahiawa General Hospital got a $2.5 million one.

The University of Hawaii’s athletics program got $3 million, but UH’s Cancer Center, which asked for $4 million, got nothing.

For those who ended up on the short end of the budget stick, take heart. Priorities change, and there’s always next year.