Dispose of fireworks ASAP

Disposing of 5,400 pyrotechnic devices from the same stored inventory where a fireworks explosion killed five in 2011 needs to be done as soon, and in as safe a manner, as possible.

There are more details to come out about the proposal by Grucci Inc., a professional fireworks display company, but that should be the takeaway message to decision-makers.

Grucci needs an emergency permit from the state to place the devices in tubes and explode them in six increments, once monthly, at a site on Waianae’s Paakea Road.

The company is not going to be doing this as a display event. But assuming the permit will come through shortly, wouldn’t it make sense for one of those disposal sessions to take place on New Year’s Eve? The neighbors might be more prepared for the noise on that night, at least.

E-cigarette ban makes sense

Areas intended as smoke-free zones are sullied just as surely by the haze of electronic cigarettes as they are by the burning of regular tobacco. The state is right to ban the use of e-cigarettes at state government buildings throughout Hawaii.

As Health Director Linda Rosen noted in announcing the ban, "Based on various tests, vapors or aerosols emitted from e-cigarettes contain nicotine and other carcinogens and toxic chemicals that are just as harmful as those in secondhand smoke of regular combustible cigarettes."