The sliver of good news is that despite a blitz of Super Bowl Sunday “sick calls” from Hawaii’s prison guards, staffing was sufficient to hold all programs, including visitation.

Seventy-two guards at the largest jail, Oahu Community Correctional Center, called in sick that day.

That figure raises eyebrows — and a few questions, such as: Does the state really need to assign 209 guards at OCCC on Sundays? And how can wardens step up their game for contending with this perennial problem — beyond securing flimsy verbal workday commitments?

There’s plenty of time to huddle before the LIII kickoff, slated for Feb. 3 in Atlanta.

Some good ideas for avoiding false missile alerts

No knock against Sarah Danseglio of New York, who won the website Freelancer’s prize by designing a better interface for sending a missile alert or drill. But shouldn’t someone have hit on this idea at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, avoiding its Jan. 13 false alert, without a contest?

Danseglio won $150 for her protected log-in page and a separate interface for the real alerts.

Sounds reasonable to us. Now, let’s hope HI-EMA is paying attention and will borrow a prizewinning idea or two.