Should HPV vaccine be mandatory?

Three jurisdictions require HPV vaccines for school attendance: Virginia, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C. At the start of the 2020-21 school year, Hawaii will join that group. Public-school parents will then need to provide proof that their incoming middle-school child has received two doses, given six months apart, of the vaccine for human papillomavirus, the most common sexually transmitted disease known to cause cancers in the cervix, penis, anus, mouth and throat.

The new requirement is a prevention strategy. A 2018 study by the University of Hawaii Office of Public Health Studies found that only 35% of girls and 19% of boys had received the recommended doses. Still, state health officials can expect some pushback from parents who think the shots should be their option.

Howard Hughes’ public plaza

The Hawaii Community Development Authority, a state agency regulating development in Kakaako, this week approved a permit for Ward Village’s planned Victoria Place, a 350-unit luxury condo tower. However, in a welcome move, the HCDA board attached strings that require developer Howard Hughes Corp. to step up development of its 3-acre central public plaza, which is now little more than a grassy area with a few trees. Specifically, no one can move into the new tower until almost 1 acre of the plaza clearly resembles artist representations, which include pedestrian pathways and many trees.