Opinion and analysis by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Editorial Board. Get informed with columns and commentary, and submit a letter to the editor.
“We’ll be making major changes, so get used to it,” Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Doug Collins said Wednesday, announcing VA plans to cut more than 80,000 people. Another 2,400 VA employees were already axed. Read more
A bill to restrict “non-medical,” i.e., religious, exemptions from Hawaii’s vaccine mandates has properly been put on ice in the state House, due to constitutional concerns. Read more
It’s one of those learning lessons — not just for former Disney actress China McClain, but hopefully, also for many of her 7 million-plus Instagram followers. Read more
What initiatives are you most excited to tackle in 2025? Read more
If you, as a parent, left your child shut in a car baking in the sun, the child could become painfully uncomfortable and risk developing a dangerous fever severe enough to cause brain damage, organ failure or even death. Read more
Our local politicians need to read the article in the editorial section of Wednesday’s Star-Advertiser (“Tariffs open door to new isle economies,” Island Voices, March 5). I Read more
We’ve read the Star-Advertiser’s headlines. The price of paradise is increasing, people are moving away and there’s a somber outlook for the state economy. Read more
What a travesty. After all the hard work the late Congresswoman Patsy Mink did to get Title IX passed into law, we now have two senators representing Hawaii who set back female sports by voting to filibuster the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. Read more
I am a retired manager of the Maui Social Security office with 31 years of service. Read more
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The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is doing everything to help our government, but the deeper it digs, the more enemies it has. DOGE is willing to handle the weight of what it is trying to do. Read more
A reader writes that “our duty as American citizens is to support and pray for [Donald Trump]” (“Stop USAID bleeding before helping others,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, March 2). Read more
The Peace Corps, billed as “the toughest job you’ll ever love,” has promoted world peace and friendship for 64 years. The first week of March honors the founding of the Peace Corps and Peace Corps volunteers’ contributions to meaningful changes around the world. Read more
The essence of democracy lies in self-governance. Article 1, Section 1 of the Hawaii State Constitution states, “All political power of this State is inherent in the people and the responsibility for the exercise thereof rests with the people.” Read more
Gov. Josh Green will need all his political skill to thread the fiscal needle between the needs of blue-state Hawaii and the cutbacks underway by the Trump administration. Read more
Spurred by federal actions undertaken since President Donald Trump took office, a fledgling grassroots group calling itself 50501 — “50 protests. Read more
In tone, substance and consequence, Tuesday’s presidential speech before a joint session of Congress was like no other — more an amplified campaign rally than a unifying attempt at nonpartisan statesmanship. Read more
I believe House Bill 697, which proposes using red light traffic camera systems to also monitor and ticket cars who speed through select intersections, is flawed. Read more
As officials ponder what type of pedestrian bridge to install over the Ala Wai Canal, do these decision-makers ever consider costs to maintain structures that they select? Read more
I have lived in Hawaii all of my adult life and have long heard the term “affordable housing” thrown about. I wonder when that will begin. Read more
Gun laws, including background checks and “red flag” requirements, have become a seemingly intractable and unresolvable political issue facing our nation. Read more
I’m from the boomer generation that grew out of dependency. We relied on our family, friends, educators, employers and the government. Read more
