It’s encouraging to see U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono pick up the cause of "Talia’s Law" before Congress, named after 5-year-old Talia Williams, who was killed July 2005 after months of horrendous torture by her father and stepmother while he was stationed at Schofield Barracks.

Hirono’s amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act advances the hope of Talia’s mother, who urged that any suspected child abuse case on a military base also be immediately reported to the relevant state’s child welfare agency. A stand-alone version of Talia’s bill is expected soon.

"I am hopeful that, by requiring such dual reporting, no military-connected children will remain in abusive homes because information never made it to the right person," Hirono said in a Senate floor speech.

Student-athletes are students first

With the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s athletics budget bleeding red ink, new Athletic Director David Matlin faces hard choices in the coming weeks to protect the health of the program. So it’s good to see he’s already chosen to protect his student-athletes, by emphasizing the student.

On Monday, Matlin canceled the men’s basketball team’s appearance at the 2015 Las Vegas Invitational in exchange for two more home games and three more days of classes for the players. Two weeks earlier, he rescheduled the football team’s travel plans to save three days of class time.

As for the two extra basketball games at home? That’s a bonus. Buy your tickets and support the team.