The state Board of Land and Natural Resources seems to be inexplicably sweet on Honey Bee USA, which again escaped having its lease terminated despite owing the state $425,890 in rent and other charges.

Honey Bee has struggled to secure $35 million in financing to develop the Waikiki Landing at Ala Wai Small Boat Harbor, previously turning in five different loan proposals with none coming to fruition.

Despite the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation’s recommendation that the lease be immediately canceled, the board voted 5-1 Friday to give Honey Bee another chance to come up with funds by Nov. 15.

Perhaps board members should follow Chairwoman Suzanne Case’s lead. Case was the only member to vote against extending Honey Bee’s deadline.

A sign of the times at Marine Corps Base Hawaii?

It’s less surprising that a protest has flared over the posting of a religious sign on a military base, than how long the sign stood there before the issue blew up.

“God bless the military, their families, and the civilians who work with them” is how the sign reads at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe. The mainland Military Religious Freedom Foundation wants it down, or at least moved to the chapel.

The sign, at an intersection near the marina, was erected in 2001. The upheaval of 9/11, and the wars that followed, probably constrained many church-state-separation groups from speaking out too aggressively for years after that.