Off the News: Coronavirus outbreak at Saguaro

News that 69 Nevada inmates at the Saguaro Correctional Center (SCC) in Eloy, Ariz., have tested positive for the coronavirus is troubling for Hawaii. That’s because the privately run facility houses 1,125 Hawaii inmates — nearly 60% of SCC’s capacity — doing their time there due to overcrowded prison conditions here.

Late Friday, Hawaii’s Public Safety Department reported no confirmed cases among its inmates at SCC. However, 80 are under precautionary monitoring, including 28 who had contact with the 69 confirmed cases so have been relocated into 14-day quarantine with daily temperature checks. All Hawaii inmates are wards of our state, so even thousands of miles away, this outbreak in Arizona will be followed very closely.

Rename the Red Raiders?

The name “Red Raiders” means something in Kahuku, especially for alumni and local football fans.

No doubt it would mean something entirely different 4,700 miles away in Washington, D.C., where the local football team will drop the name “Redskins” — a perceived slur against Native Americans.

A debate is now raging online over whether Kahuku’s name has the same problem.

Unlikely. Even so, in solidarity with indigenous cultures, Kakuku High School might consider modifying either the name or the logo, and replace the tomahawk chop with something else.