Higher math: A new minimum wage + tip credit

Pity the poor restaurateur and others who have staffers working for tips on top of wages.

While there’s much to cheer about Hawaii’s new minimum wage hike — up to $10.10 hourly by January 2018 from the current $7.25 — there’s also a complex formula involving a "tip credit" for workers such as food servers. The current 25-cent tip credit will rise to 75 cents for businesses to deduct from workers who earn at least $7 over minimum wage with tips.

The new formula is sure to affect many — such as Roy’s Holdings Inc., parent company of Roy’s restaurants, which has just agreed to pay $225,000 in back pay and tips for 326 employees covering a two-year period. Referring to the tip credit and the practice of spreading tips among workers, an attorney for Roy’s didn’t acknowledge wrongdoing but conceded, "it is a complicated formula and a complicated interpretation."

No doubt. So, in addition to offering good food, today’s restaurateur also needs to be a math whiz — or at least, hire one.

Young stowaway leaves with unanswered questions

Government is always careful about releasing information that would identify anyone in its charge who’s a minor. But in the case of the now-famous Somalia-born stowaway in the Hawaiian Airlines wheel well, the name is just about the only thing that’s known.

Yahya Abdi, state officials announced over the weekend, has left the state. How the 15-year-old is doing, whether he is with family in California or elsewhere — that’s a mystery.

Also little known at present: What changes have resulted, or will result, from the security breach? Yes, young Yahya slipped into his hiding place in the dark of night, but a little light shed about now would be welcome.