It’s grown increasingly difficult for Hawaii’s fracturing Republican Party to keep together — and now, add picking up the pieces to its hardships.

Over the weekend, local GOP Chairwoman Shirlene Dela Cruz Ostrov resigned, fallout after a Jan. 23 tweet by the party’s then-vice chairman of communications empathized with supporters of QAnon’s baseless conspiracy theories. Ostrov, who had headed Hawaii’s GOP for four years, had been trying to bring more members into the GOP fold.

Hawaii has been lacking a robust two-party political system for a long time now — and unfortunately, there’s little hope that that will change anytime soon.

Counting whales during pandemic

Due to COVID-19 safety precautions, the annual humpback whale count event that provides a snapshot of trends among these winter visitors — and has long encouraged lots of volunteer participation — is limiting data-gathering to no more than two trained participants at each of more than 40 on-island viewing sites across the main islands.

On Sunday, during the first of three monthly surveys, the whales were most visible during the 15-minute period starting at 9 a.m., when counters recorded a total of 177 sightings. For a look at latest data, visit https://oceancount.org/resources/ or www.pacificwhale.org/research/community-science/.