David Shapiro: Holidays end ring-ting-tingling, ding-dong ding-a-ling year
It’s the last Sunday of 2021 and time to “flASHback” on the year’s news that amused and confused: Read more
David Shapiro
David Shapiro is a Honolulu Star-Advertiser columnist whose "Volcanic Ash" column appears every Sunday. Shapiro has covered Hawaii and national news for five decades as a reporter, editor and columnist for Honolulu daily newspapers.
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Latest Stories by David Shapiro
David Shapiro: Can Mayor Rick Blangiardi sell his rail plan to the public and the feds?
Mayor Rick Blangiardi gave as close as any city leader has come to a candid assessment of Honolulu rail finances in an appearance last week on the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s “Spotlight Hawaii.” Read more
David Shapiro: Honor Bob Dole by embracing his call to heal America
Eulogies of the late Republican Sen. Bob Dole noted the personal civility and spirit of political compromise he and his generation of lawmakers represented. Read more
David Shapiro: Mayor Rick Blangiardi and Honolulu City Council dodge a rail reckoning with bogus math
Mayor Rick Blangiardi and the City Council have written yet another blank check to the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation despite its repeated malfeasance in handling Oahu rail money. Read more
Volcanic Ash: Pampered Hawaii politicos get easier access to Pampers
It’s the last Sunday in November and time to “flASHback” on the month’s news that amused and confused: Read more
Volcanic Ash: Latest Honolulu rail numbers are a new twist on an old shell game
The rail agency’s projections of funds needed to complete the 20-mile commuter line from Kapolei to Honolulu miraculously shrank from $12.5 billion estimated in March to $11.48 billion, while the projected deficit dipped to $1.97 billion Read more
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David Shapiro: Culture warriors are little dots in a long historical expanse
The new mystery novel by Chip Hughes, “Barking Sands,” features a character loosely based on our mutual friend, the late jazz pianist Les Peetz. Read more
David Shapiro: Honolulu Police Department’s defensiveness threatens both police and community
Years ago, when I was managing editor of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, a local high school yearbook published a photo of Black students with a caption making a clearly racist crack about watermelons. Read more
David Shapiro: It’s a good week for some good news, and this is full of it
Public officials accuse me of never saying anything good about their hard work, so to prove them wrong I’ll have nothing but good to say this month as we “flASHback” on October’s news that amused and confused: Read more
David Shapiro: Nick Rolovich’s attempted pass on vaccine mandate falls incomplete
In my last year of Babe Ruth League baseball, I was catching a game, and the other team’s catcher — a large, muscular fellow who would soon become an all-state high school football lineman — was on third base representing the tying run. Read more
David Shapiro: Honolulu taxpayers face big hit on Kakaako rail easements
The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation is set to pay millions more in legal costs to obtain 2 acres of Kakaako rail easements from the Howard Hughes Corp. than it originally expected to pay for the property itself. Read more
David Shapiro: Honolulu rail leaders must talk sense if they want our confidence
Last week Colleen Hanabusa told Hawaii News Now the top priority of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation she chairs is “building public confidence.” Read more
David Shapiro: Coronavirus numbers make good case for further vigilance
From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve been inundated with numbers. Read more
David Shapiro: Dear tourists: Confusion is the true Hawaii experience
It’s the last Sunday in September and time to “flASHback” on the month’s news that amused and confused: Read more
David Shapiro: Gov. David Ige’s inflexibility dims credibility on the pandemic
Gov. David Ige’s frequent emergency decrees on COVID-19 would go down easier if he’d show more willingness to adjust when reasonable concerns are raised or alternatives offered. Read more
David Shapiro: Department of Education keeps squandering our hard-won pandemic lessons
The local education establishment has fought efforts to break up Hawaii’s statewide school system, the only one in the nation, claiming centralization brings efficiency and equal educational opportunity for all. Read more
David Shapiro: Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi shows welcome practicality on pandemic response
Mayor Rick Blangiardi took office in January strongly inclined to open up restaurants, bars, gyms and other businesses that had been restricted by COVID-19, but promised Gov. David Ige he wouldn’t “go rogue” by acting without state coordination. Read more
David Shapiro: Hawaii burns with pandemic fever and combustible politics
It’s the last Sunday in August and time to “flASHback” on the month’s news that amused and confused: Read more
David Shapiro: Honolulu police shooting case should point way to more openness
It’ll take time for our community to process Prosecutor Steven Alm’s failed attempt to convict three police officers of murder and attempted murder for shooting a 16-year-old crime spree suspect who led them on a high-speed chase from East Oahu to Waikiki in a stolen car. Read more
David Shapiro: End the vaccine fight: Get the shot, get tested or stay home
Mandates issued by Gov. David Ige and local companies to force workers to get vaccinated or face dismissal are a necessary step if we’re ever to extricate our community from the grip of COVID-19. Read more
David Shapiro: Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi rides money train to big campaign fund payday
For most of his term, Mayor Rick Blangiardi downplayed chances of building the $12.5 billion Honolulu rail line all the way to Ala Moana Center, suggesting it was unrealistic with the project more than $7 billion over its original budget and facing a current deficit of more than $3 billion. Read more
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