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The Civil Beat Editorial Board comments briefly each Monday on multiple matters that caught our attention in the previous week’s news.

KAPU ALOHA. Protesters who have been gathered at Mauna Kea since March rallying against further construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope have prided themselves on their self-imposed “Kapu Aloha” — a laudable commitment to peaceful and respectful demonstration.

But at a ranger and visitor information station near the mountain summit and released last week document some protestors aiming harassing, hostile and/or intimidating comments and gestures at staff and visitors, promoting the use of bombs and guns on social media, vandalizing restrooms by spreading feces on the wall and, sadly, more.

“Kill the haoles, kill the tourists,” shouted one demonstrator, who had been “ranting, raving and cursing loudly” for some time before that on an otherwise quiet Tuesday morning in April. “This was shouted in front of two carloads of haole visitors … who drove away shortly after,” the log notes.

While the log records multiple days with “no reportable incidents” and others are marked by comments like “all is well and calm,” the more colorful entries recall a Facebook post that surfaced in April from a leader of one of the protest groups, in which he said of TMT supporters, “Their throats should be slashed and their blood should be spilled on our Sacred Mauna A Wakea!”

Kamahana Kealoha and said he is abiding by the Kapu Aloha. But his actions, the troubling incidents documented in the ranger logs and recent access road blockages no doubt stood out to members of the Board of Land and Natural Resources last Friday, when they approved an emergency rule prohibiting camping and restricting nighttime mountain access.

The rule comes at the right time, after protestors have demonstrated for four months against further work on the TMT. The mostly peaceful protest has prompted work stoppages, serious and productive dialogue between the governor, the University of Hawaii, the BLNR and Native Hawaiian leaders and fundamental changes in how Mauna Kea will be managed going forward, including the accelerated decommissioning of other telescopes on the site.

Protestors should take pride in the significant progress they’ve made to ensure that the mountain, sacred in their eyes, is handled with greater respect and care. But the TMT project is well within its legal right to move forward, and Gov. Ige committed two months ago to “support and enforce their right to do so.” The emergency rule does not prevent further protest or the unfettered ability to exercise First Amendment freedoms, but it does mute the ability of troublemakers to vandalize at the site, particularly under the cover of darkness.

Many protestors are understandably disappointed with the rule and promise civil disobedience in response, which is certainly their right. In an area where passions continue to run high, though, they would also be well advised to acknowledge that restrictions such as the BLNR’s emergency rule are the unfortunate cost when some irresponsible actors treat Kapu Aloha only as a platitude to offer up when the news cameras are rolling.

DUCKWORTH ENDORSED. Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth, a former Honolulu resident and graduate of McKinley High School and the University of Hawaii, got a strong boost in her U.S. Senate bid last week when the powerful Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee endorsed her.

The two-term representative from Illinois and military veteran who lost both legs when Iraqi insurgents aimed a rocket-propelled grenade at the Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting is working aggressively to take down Sen. Mark Kirk, who is in the final year of a difficult first term.

A released earlier this month finds that Duckworth leads Kirk by a jaw-dropping 16.5 points, with a margin of error of 4.09 percent. That should further help her already strong fundraising, which brought in $1.2 million in campaign contributions in the second quarter of this year, leaving her with $2.2 million in cash on hand. Kirk raised $1.35 million and has $3.2 million on hand — modest numbers for a sitting senator facing a tough re-election fight.

U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth endorses state Rep. Mark Takai’s 2014 campaign for Congress at the Veterans Hall in Honolulu.

Chad Blair/Civil Beat

Kirk is now ranked the in the 2016 election cycle by The Hill, and Duckworth’s election is key to the Democratic Party’s strategy to re-take majority status in the Senate.

Duckworth is often informally thought of as a fifth member of the Hawaii congressional delegation, due to her roots here and her continued friendship with and support for freshman U.S. Rep. Mark Takai, also a combat veteran and a former classmate of Duckworth at UH. Duckworth made multiple Honolulu campaign appearances for Takai in his come-from-behind election win last year.

If Duckworth wins next year, there will be another Hawaii connection in her victory: She is running for the Senate seat formerly held by Honolulu born-and-educated Barack Obama.

HORNER STEPS DOWN. Hawaii Board of Education Chairman Don Horner surprised many political observers last week when he announced his intention to step down as chairman at the end of July.

An appointee of former Gov. Neil Abercrombie who was confirmed to a second, three-year term in April 2014, Horner has chaired the board since 2011 and earned mostly high marks for bringing a more business-like approach to Hawaii’s public education system, belying his background as former CEO of First Hawaiian Bank.  During Horner’s tenure, for instance, the Department of Education completed its first-ever strategic plan. The board established an audit committee that identified major problems in food services and transportation.

But he was also a consistent lightning rod for controversy. A part-time minister for the New Hope–Diamond Head congregation, his allegiances were called into question when two community activists sued New Hope Church for underpaying the school system to rent school facilities for church services and other meetings. Horner was accused of ignoring DOE rent requirements, and New Hope to settle the matter, with much of the settlement going to the school system.

Board of Education Chair Don Horner embraces outgoing BOE member Cheryl Lupenui ‘honi’ at a recent BOE meeting.

Cory Lum/Civil Beat

During confirmation hearings last year for his reappointment, dozens of community members offered withering criticism of his leadership, pointing to alleged conflicts of interest and what some described as his efforts to shut the public out of key policy discussions. Despite that, he was confirmed on a unanimous Senate vote.

But lately, Horner has found himself on the minority end of key board decisions, including the decision to make sexual education a required part of school curricula. The policy passed 5-1, with Horner casting the lone dissenting vote.

Gov. David Ige has already appointed three new members to the 11-member board, and with the opportunity now to name a new chair, he’ll have considerable new influence over the affairs of a body responsible for overseeing Hawaii’s lone, statewide school district. With Horner remaining on the board, the opportunity for a smooth transition between chairs is a welcome one.

Whomever the governor chooses, though, should keep in mind that Ige’s counsel on education partly comes from inside the family: First Lady Dawn Ige is a former public school teacher who now serves as vice principal of Kanoelani Elementary School.