Here’s a good news story, sort of

Usually when a headline screams about foreclosures dropping 74 percent, it’s time for party hats and horns. But, obviously, such a celebration would be premature.

What’s happened is that a new state law is in effect, one that essentially puts a moratorium on new foreclosure cases that are not bound for courtroom review. A national scandal about some "nonjudicial" foreclosures being rushed through and signed by unqualified personnel fueled the push for the new law. But lenders aren’t racing to move all the proceedings into court, so there’s a backlog of delinquent mortgages.

But even if this signals an economy with a still-ailing housing sector, the fact remains that shoddy and unfair nonjudicial foreclosures shouldn’t be tolerated. On that front, passage of the law itself is still good news.

Cavalry to the rescue, of polo

The Army clings to the tagging as "cavalry" among its categories of combat forces, but horseback riding has fallen to the rear. A polo match today will resurrect the era, regaining "some of the good that the old Army ‘Cav’ used to have many, many years ago," said Allen Hoe, a Vietnam veteran and president of the Honolulu Polo Club.

The Army’s 4th and 5th cavalries were among the soldiers in Schofield Barracks in the 1920s engaging in polo matches and challenging local teams. Gates open for the match staged by the Army at 11 a.m. today at Fort Shafter’s Palm Circle parade grounds.