In addition to the $200 million federal Lost Wages Assistance grant Hawaii secured last month to cover four weeks of supplemental jobless aid, the state is getting another $53.5 million grant, to be tapped for a fifth week. But it’s unclear when the checks will be in the mail.

First, the state has to finish building a program within its unemployment computer system for the new grant. The extra money means that a worker unemployed by COVID-19 who is eligible for the maximum of $648 in weekly state benefits would receive an additional $300 in weekly federal benefits, for a total of $948. Eventually.

A drive-through, takeout Halloween

Wonder how Honolulu might handle Halloween? Los Angeles County Department of Health is already wearing the black hat among pandemic agencies. It has banned Halloween gatherings and haunted houses outright and is recommending against trick-or-treating in any conventional sense.

It is endorsing online parties — not exactly in the spirit of the holiday — and physically-distanced adaptations such as vehicle parades and drive-in events for picking up treat bags. Everything is takeout these days.