In what can only be seen as a boon for West Oahu residents, The Queen’s Medical Center-West will be undergoing a $38 million expansion to meet health demands in the growing area.

The current 80-bed hospital will increase to 104 beds — plus, over the next two years, additional clinic space will enable a dozen more providers with medical specialties such as cardiology, neurology, sports medicine and outpatient rehabilitation. The Ewa Beach hospital has the second-busiest emergency department in the state, and since opening in 2014, outpatient volumes have risen 20-30 percent year over year. As West Oahu grows, home is where the heart is — and the rest of the body, too.

16-year-olds will have to wait for the vote

Should 16-year-olds be allowed to vote? In Hawaii, not yet. Senate Bill 4, which would have lowered the legal voting age in Hawaii to 16 for local and state elections, failed to clear the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Nationally, the consensus seems to be that 16 is too young. Only a few places in the U.S., including Berkeley, Calif., and some cities in Maryland, allow 16-year-olds to cast ballots, and only in local elections.

Yes, some teenagers might possess the maturity and sound judgment to cast a responsible vote free from undue outside influences (like their parents). But convincing their elders that this is the rule rather than the exception remains a tough challenge.