Off the News: Finally, in-person UI labor meetings

In a long, long overdue move, the state will begin scheduling in-person appointments with people to resolve unemployment benefit issues, starting Sept. 7. For some 17 months now, the front door to the claims office has been closed to the public.

The initial shuttering, due to COVID-19 concerns, was frustrating but understandable — as the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations was woefully ill-equipped to contend with an avalanche of unemployment claims. Now, with many other offices resuming in-person meetings — and given Hawaii’s recent ranking as the state with highest unemployment rate — it’s flatly unacceptable to continue limiting public contact to call center and online transactions.

Here come Hawaii TV shows

The CBS “Magnum, P.I.” reboot launched its fourth season this week with a blessing in Manoa. Jay Hernandez, who plays the titular character — a Navy SEAL vet with Afghanistan deployment behind him now making a go of it as a private investigator — said the new season, slated to premiere Oct. 1, will feature plenty of “great action.”

Among other TV productions in Hawaii: Filming started a few months ago for the crime drama series “NCIS: Hawai‘i,” which is expected to debut in September. Also, the “Doogie Howser” (1989) reboot, “Doogie Kamealoha,” wrapped up filming its first set of episodes in June, and is expected to premiere this fall on Disney+.