Car-sharing companies have to share tax load

A plan to set aside parking for car-sharing companies has potential, but city officials must ensure this is truly the best deal for taxpayers.

Bill 65, which won preliminary approval from the Honolulu City Council Budget Committee, would dedicate parking stalls for cars shared by multiple drivers and charge the vehicle-rental company a flat annual fee for the service.

Car-sharing companies and environmentalists like this idea, and it has economic promise, too, as long as the annual fee matches or beats the maximum the city would have earned from regular drivers paying to use the metered stalls.

Children are priceless, but not always cost-free

Her parents probably think 11-month-old Reece Huculak-Kimmel is worth more than a million bucks, but they never expected to get a bill with that amount on the bottom line.

The story of the Canadian couple, whose premature delivery at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children is not being covered by insurance, stands as a reminder that insurance companies check every last dotted "i" and crossed "t" before paying out on such a whopping claim.

If the family is forced into bankruptcy, you have to wonder how much of accounts receivable Kapiolani will ever see.

Anyway, everyone can take small comfort from one small person: Baby Reece sure is a cutie.