After the jet stream of bad news for former employees after Island Air’s abrupt shutdown last month, it was good to get a bit of positive news.

One bit came from the defunct company’s medical insurers — Hawaii Medical Assurance Association, Kaiser Permanente and Hawaii Dental Service — who stepped up to absorb last month’s premiums that Island Air failed to pay. HMAA covered $137,000, Kaiser Permanente absorbed $40,742 and Hawaii Dental Service was owed $14,517. Unfortunately, though, the workers remain ineligible for COBRA, the federal law that helps retain health group rates for up to 18 months after job loss.

Another positive bit was the corrective transfer of nearly $36,000 into employees’ 401(k) retirement accounts; that money had been misdirected into another fund. Now, getting access to those accounts would bring another needed bit of good news.

Let’s be careful out there this holiday season

We want genuine happiness at the holidays, but not too much of the sort of frivolity consumed at happy hour. Those Christmas parties can be a problem, too. Such merriment can lead to tragedy on the roadways, as intoxicated and otherwise distracted driving generally causes traffic crashes to spike at year’s end. The good news, according to state transportation officials, is that fatalities so far this year are down. Let’s keep it that way through New Year’s Day. Drive with aloha, and drive sober.