Only $7.5 million? Get real

It used to be that $7.5 million was real money.

Wait a minute: That hasn’t changed. It is real money — real money that’s going out the door in the settlement tentatively struck by the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation with Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. The contractor had made a claim against HART for delays in constructing three Waipahu rail stations, and the approval of a $7.5 million change order is pending before the full board. The final vote is expected Jan. 17.

Yes, the project is in the billions, but let’s not start thinking of millions as “small change.”

Hawaii residents live an active life, survey says

Honolulu ranks first among American cities for “living an active lifestyle.” So says WalletHub, the personal finance company and website, citing the per-capita rate of baseball and softball diamonds and basketball hoops as its highest-scoring criteria. The city placed eighth for swimming pools per capita, but that says nothing about all the beachgoing.

But Honolulu ranks only 48th of 100 cities for public golf courses per capita. Probably land costs have more to do with that than anything.

Never mind. Looks like some folks here don’t need that New Year’s resolution.