David Shapiro: If the Hawaii Legislature’s here in July, you know it’s a bad month
July is finally in the rearview mirror, and it’s time to “flASHback” on the month’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: Honolulu City Council’s new rail board nominee owes key rail interests
As public confidence in the $12.5 billion Oahu rail debacle sinks ever lower, chaos abounds at the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation. Read more
David Shapiro: If we can all agree on endangered monk seals, it’s a start
The local outrage over a couple of tourists who posted social media pictures of themselves touching Hawaiian monk seals was heartening and disheartening at the same time. Read more
David Shapiro: Hawaii will pay cost of tourism vacuum left by Legislature
The Legislature’s bill to gut the Hawaii Tourism Authority and reallocate hotel room tax revenues, passed over Gov. David Ige’s veto, has the whiff of a money grab passed off as tourism reform. Read more
David Shapiro: Shohei Ohtani, Fernando Tatis and Vladimir Guerrero are saving baseball from itself
It’s the Fourth of July, and I’m diverting from my usual local news focus to indulge my favorite patriotic topic: baseball. Read more
David Shapiro: Gov. David Ige and Legislature leave the rich richer … What’s new?
It’s the last Sunday in June and time to “flASHback” on the month’s news that amused and confused: Read more
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David Shapiro: Fatal Honolulu police shootings raise tough questions for community
Shortly after new Honolulu Prosecutor Steven Alm promised tougher and more independent investigations of police shootings, he’s faced with two of the most problematic fatal shootings in recent times. Read more
David Shapiro: Hawaii has its problems, but the common good still counts
Being of the age and health demographic most vulnerable to COVID-19, I’ve played it safe and seldom gone out in the last year. Read more
David Shapiro: Legislators ignore lessons of rail on new Aloha Stadium
The next sound we hear from the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District should be a screeching halt, until scheming lawmakers provide coherent answers on what exactly is being built, who’s running it, what’s the cost and how we’ll pay. Read more
David Shapiro: Hawaii follows neither art nor science in COVID response
It’s the last Sunday in May and time to flASHback on the month’s news that amused and confused: Read more
David Shapiro: Honolulu police robo-dog plays mean game of fetch with tax dollars
Honolulu police turned the CARES Act, meant by Congress to bring relief from the COVID-19 outbreak, into the AINOKEA Act by blowing the funding on expensive toys such as trucks, ATVs and a $150,000 robotic dog named Spot. Read more
David Shapiro: Latest Oahu rail imbroglio takes a turn in public’s favor
Well played, Mayor Rick Blangiardi and Colleen Hanabusa. Read more
David Shapiro: Legislature used COVID aid to help well-off stay that way
The disconnect is striking between the Legislature’s chest- thumping over its accomplishments during its 2021 session and public frustration over misplaced priorities. Read more
David Shapiro: Administrations change, but never Honolulu rail authority’s malfeasance
Any hope the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation is changing its degenerate ways was diminished by news that the flat-broke rail agency had awarded a consultancy worth up to $924,000 over three years to Colleen Hanabusa, former U.S. congresswoman, state Senate president and ultimate political insider. Read more
David Shapiro: Spat over Gov. David Ige’s emergency power misses real emergency
It’s the last Sunday in April and time to “flASHback” on the month’s news that amused and confused: Read more
David Shapiro: Why can’t the taxman cometh a little later just this once?
How do you know a planned relaxing weekend is headed south? Read more
David Shapiro: We don’t need Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s memory of rail’s institutional failure
Seldom has a public agency needed a housecleaning more than the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation. Read more
David Shapiro: Feds fight Hawaii corruption as local enforcers are MIA
It’s infuriating to see federal prosecutors once again having to expose local public corruption that city and state authorities should have been on long ago. Read more
David Shapiro: While others suffer in pandemic, Hawaii legislators see a payday
It’s the last Sunday of March and time to “flASHback” on the month’s news that amused and confused: Read more
David Shapiro: State and Office of Hawaiian Affairs step to never-ending dance on ceded lands
It’s easy to feel the frustration of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs after yet another scheme to repay OHA for ceded-land revenues owed by the state flounders. Read more
David Shapiro: Mayor Blangiardi’s uncharacteristic quiet can be a good thing
Mayor Rick Blangiardi is a guy who likes to talk, so much so that he needs his hands as well as his voice to express his many thoughts. Read more
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