Welcome to "Views & Voices," the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s editorial opinion and commentary pages.

Every day, this section will present the newspaper’s editorial, our view on topics of the day. This is also the spot where you, our readers, can voice opinions on issues via Letters to the Editor — insightful, original letters at a 175-word maximum. For those feeling particularly thoughtful or moved to pen a longer commentary piece, we welcome well-written pieces in the 500-600 word range. These can be e-mailed to letters@staradvertiser.com.

Columnists also are a big part of the heart and soul of Hawaii’s newspaper — and veteran Star-Bulletin writers will continue providing this: Richard Borreca gives his take "On Politics" on Wednesdays, and Cynthia Oi reflects on island life "Under the Sun" on Sundays.

Longtime readers of The Honolulu Advertiser can welcome back editorial cartoonist Dick Adair in Sunday’s opinion/editorial section, "Insight" — which also will feature national columnist Garrison Keillor and "World View," excerpts from world editorials.

On a daily basis, "Insight" will offer in-depth and analytical pieces on local, national and global issues. Our pool of national columnists includes Pulitzer-Prize winners Thomas Friedman, Maureen Dowd, Nicholas Kristof, Leonard Pitts Jr. and George Will. The weekly mix also will include Nobel-Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, Froma Harrop, Bob Herbert and Thomas Sowell.

These "Views & Voices" and "Insight" pages of the Star-Advertiser seek to inform, touch and provoke thought and discussion. We want to help make Hawaii a great place to live. We, and this includes you, are part of this dynamic to raise the level of community dialogue.

I invite you to participate in our daily town square, right here on these pages.