Take charter-school theft case to trial

It’s a relief to see that the state felony theft charges against a charter school director have been filed anew. The case against Laara Allbrett, the director of the now-defunct Halau Lokahi, had been dropped because the state Office of the Attorney General had taken too long to bring it to trial.

Missed deadline or not, the state simply cannot afford to let this issue fall by the wayside. Charter schools use taxpayer funds, and it’s crucial that the public investment be treated with due respect.

Seeing the forests for the native trees

A recent study of worldwide plant extinctions, published by the Nature Ecology and Evolution journal, ranks Hawaii as hardest hit. Due to mid-Pacific isolation, species here are particularly vulnerable to human-caused changes in environment such as land development and importation of invasive species.

The study found Hawaii lost 79 species over a 250-year span while the runner-up, Cape Provinces of South Africa, lost 37. How to better protect our plants? Scientists say to start by ridding ourselves of “plant blindness,” an under-appreciation of flora and related conservation, compared to that for fauna.