There’s nothing new under the sun, least of all opposition to telescopes on Mauna Kea. Unaided by social media, and even before the Hawaiian cultural renaissance, protests about the projects already were a feature of the observatories’ development, dating to 1964.

It’s only now, with 13 telescopes already on site, that the convergence of politics and awareness has raised the opposition to a fever pitch. The Thirty Meter Telescope builders had hoped to avert a clash, but history worked against them.

Isles good on obesity, bad on diabetes

Hawaii ranks near the bottom (No. 49) on a just-released states list of obesity rates, based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Nearly 24% of our state’s population meets the mark — a height-and-weight configured Body Mass Index exceeding 30.

There’s little comfort in the ranking, however, as prediabetes and type 2 diabetes affect roughly 1 in 2 residents here, and Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders are two times more likely to have diabetes than other ethnic groups. The study’s author, Consumer Protect, gauges the U.S. cost of treating obesity — linked to diabetes, heart disease and other ailments — at up to $210 billion annually.