Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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EditorialOff the News

Off the News: Squeaky wheel gets post office back

Manoa residents know how to make a little noise and bring some big changes. At least that’s been the effect twice at the same shopping center, Manoa Marketplace. In January 2018, the customers turned back a plan to remove a lot of the monkeypod trees shading the parking lot.

And now they pressed U.S. Rep. Ed Case, who was able to persuade the U.S. Postal Service to renew its contract for the post office there. Objectively, that facility was pretty busy, but the squeaky-wheel factor does help.

Best decision for HPD officer

No one wants to see a dedicated civil servant lose his or her job unnecessarily. So it was good to hear that longtime Honolulu police officer Mark Kutsy has now reconsidered and gotten his COVID-19 vaccination, making moot his suspension and imminent termination. He initially resisted the inoculation on principle — but the city’s vaccination mandate for all its government workers allows waivers only on legitimate medical or religious grounds, in which case, weekly testing would be required.

With 10,000-plus city workers, the mandate makes sense — and those who’ve gotten the shots to protect themselves and others surely embody the essence of public service.

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