Court ruling irrelevant, but not really

Ordinarily when the Hawaii Supreme Court invalidates a Land Use Commission approval, a developer panics and the opponent who sued against the project celebrates. This recent decision was not ordinary.

The Sierra Club had challenged a 2010 vote for the Koa Ridge development planned for Central Oahu, because one of the key votes came from a holdover commissioner whose reappointment by former Gov. Linda Lingle had not been confirmed by the state Senate.

But while that case was working its way up the courts, the commission went ahead and redid the process, with a new approval for Koa Ridge inked in 2012. So the project goes ahead, regardless. On the upside, the decision confirmed that Senate confirmation does count for something. The sole dissent came from the chief justice, also a Lingle appointee.

Can ‘No copper here’ be misread?

It was certainly discouraging to read that once again — for the second time in two months — vandals knocked out dozens of city traffic cameras by ripping out the fiber-optic cables that support them under the H-1 freeway.

The malicious deed was discovered early Wednesday, and copper thieves are again believed to be responsible. Ironically, the torn-out fiber-optic cables contain no copper, city officials said.

Perhaps city officials should start placing signs by such cables that say "No copper here" — kind of like the signs at convenience stores that warn would-be robbers that the cash registers contain very little cash.

On the other hand, the criminals might think that "No copper here" means it’s a police-free zone, so they can steal with abandon. Sigh. …