Former Hawaii First Lady Vicky Cayetano last week launched a nicely prepared trial balloon to churn the political gossip about running for governor next year. Read more
For years, the cry at the state Legislature has been, “We have to do something about tourism.” At first, the rallying call was that the Legislature must help tourism. Waikiki hotels needed to be built, permits expedited and land rezoned. Read more
Tucked just below Oregon and above the District of Columbia, Hawaii ranks 13th in the number of people fully vaccinated. That’s 709,205 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration data tracker. Read more
If you are a sports fan, putting a major league baseball game on the radio provides relaxing background sound. If you are a reporter, the chatter, whoops and squawks from a police radio scanner provide the same comforting feeling that you are plugged in. Read more
Fueled by the ridiculous claims that former President Donald Trump won reelection, Republican-controlled state legislatures want to make sure that in the 2022 election, the GOP will win a real majority. Read more
The state’s top economists appear in agreement: Billions of dollars in federal aid have rescued Hawaii’s economy, and while some help is expected to continue, Hawaii’s old bubbling tourist-based economy is still shaky. Read more
The definition is less than a precise measurement on which to base an entire state policy, but Hawaii’s economic future and health outcomes are all built on reaching community, or herd, immunity. Read more
The political implications of actually getting what you ask for are on display with the Legislature passing House Bill 862, which gives the counties the ability to raise their own hotel room tax of up to 3%. Read more
The state is in that delightful stage of preplanning for a new 35,000-seat sports stadium. It’s delightful because state officials are like kids in front of a big easel, coloring in where everything can go with no real rules or responsibilities. Read more
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Colleen Hanabusa is apparently something of a danger junkie. Why else would she go back working with Honolulu’s rail project? Read more
This year women leaders are not seeing great advancements. First two prominent women, Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard, after receiving a highly critical performance report from the Honolulu Police Commission, said she was quitting. Read more
Doing nothing proved to be the best policy choice last week. Read more
Recent events point to a city losing its way. One of Honolulu’s major responsibilities is policing, but with the former chief of police, Louis Kealoha, starting a seven-year federal prison term June 1 for using his position to frame a relative for a crime the latter didn’t commit was Hawaii’s biggest corruption case. Read more
Gone are the days of Mazie Hirono being Senator “Walk On By.” Read more
Mass shootings, such as the two over the last two weeks in Georgia and Colorado, once again shock us with the random, senseless death of gun violence — although it is doubtful the recognition will stop the carnage. Read more
Here are two pieces of advice that sum up the first State of the City speech by Honolulu’s new mayor, Rick Blangiardi. Read more
‘CATASTROPHIC FLOODING … : EVACUATE NOW,” Honolulu emergency officials declared last Tuesday afternoon. “You are in danger. Leave now.” Read more
Registering to vote, step one in a simple act of good citizenship, is now part of the battleground that is the Democrat-Republican national split. Hawaii has joined the fight. Read more
Of all the many pandemic-caused problems facing Hawaii, one of the fiercest is the unemployment insurance crisis. Read more
Hawaii’s senior U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz can appreciate the benefits of being on the winning side. Read more
If you are going to fumble something, skip the small stuff, go big. Read more
