A Full-Year Homeless Emergency
Gov. David Ige has issued a sixth emergency proclamation on homelessness, ensuring that the state remains in a crisis mode for a full year. Hawaii has been in the state of emergency for homelessness...
View ArticleHawaii Storytellers: How A Fishing Trip Hooked Me On Out-Of-The-Way Places
His senior year in high school in St. Louis, Missouri, Chris D’Angelo had life all planned out: college just down the road at the University of Missouri, a dorm room with his school buddies, then back...
View ArticleCivil Geeks: When Science And Art Intersect
When I look at art I dream. I dream about the setting the artist was in, the thoughts that inspired the artwork and the feelings and message behind the piece. Art evokes a different reaction depending...
View ArticleJustice Department Will Stop Using Private Prisons
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday that it plans to stop contracting with for-profit prison companies, a decision that will affect some 20,000 federal inmates. The decision was outlined...
View ArticleHawaii GOP Chair Denounces His Own Party’s US House Nominee
The chair of the Hawaii Republican Party is urging party members to disavow the candidacy of the GOP nominee for the 2nd Congressional District, which represents the neighbor islands and rural Oahu. “I...
View ArticleHawaii Ranked 48th Freest State
The libertarian think tank the Cato Institute has a new project in which it analyzed all 50 U.S. states regarding “respect for individual freedom,” and it found Hawaii wanting. Specifically, says the...
View ArticleHealth Department Moving To Fill New Positions
We appreciate the recent article by Courtney Teague to explain the challenges the Hawaii Department of Health is facing to fill 20 authorized permanent positions to address the mosquito-borne illnesses...
View ArticleProtect Certain Animals By Making Others Suffer? No
Civil Beat’s Aug. 17 story on the relationship between cats and endangered animals illuminates the contention between those who believe cats have a right to life and conservationists who want them off...
View Article34.8 Percent Turnout? Hawaii Must Do Better
It’s been more than a week now, and there’s been plenty of handwringing about the record-low 34.8 percent turnout for the Aug. 13 primary election. In partial defense of apathetic voters, let’s be...
View ArticleReader Rep: Don’t Freak Out If Your Kid Wants To Study Journalism
Journalism has been a punching bag of a profession in recent years, getting knocked around from all angles. The business model of newspapers – delivering paper products to doorsteps – drooped in the...
View ArticleHawaii’s Love(sick) Affair With Seafood
Luaus, potlucks, a breathtaking variety of seafood and ways to eat it, and endless summer are a few of the attractions of Hawaii life. But the combination may come with a hangover: foodborne illness....
View ArticleHow One Attorney Is Trying To Make Food Safer
To say that Bill Marler is a thorn in the side of the food industry would be an understatement. Marler, a Seattle-based attorney, has spent nearly 25 years making a name for himself as the go-to guy...
View ArticleGoing Green At IUCN
Planning on attending the IUCN World Conservation Congress meeting in Honolulu Sept. 1-10? If so, you are advised to “go green.” “Our goal is to have an event that is carbon neutral, plastic free,...
View ArticlePoverty High In Marshall Islands
Thirty percent of residents in the two urban centers in the Marshall Islands live below the “basic-needs income line,” while double that number are below this income poverty line in the outer islands....
View ArticleHawaii GOP Appears Stuck With Angela Aulani Kaaihue
A candidate for high office repeatedly makes explicit, offensive remarks about religion and race. Party officials then scramble to remove the candidate from the ballot but find there is little they can...
View ArticleWhy Hawaii Should Adopt Finland’s Annual Day For Failure
Finland celebrated its first annual Day for Failure in 2010. I heard of this seemingly odd holiday earlier this year at the Education Institute of Hawaii’s second annual Hawaii School Empowerment...
View ArticleExpanding Monument Would Set Smart Conservation Precedent
President Barack Obama should move swiftly to expand Hawaii’s Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument using the same presidential powers that Teddy Roosevelt employed to create the Grand Canyon and...
View ArticleFrom Wine To Weed: Keeping The Marijuana Farm Small And Local
In November, voters in as many as 12 states will see a marijuana legalization initiative on their ballots. Marijuana is already legal for recreational use in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and...
View ArticleDenby Fawcett: When The Law Allows Overbuilding For The Rich
Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it makes good sense. That’s how I feel about Alexander & Baldwin’s proposal to build six luxury condominium homes on a single oceanfront lot on Kahala...
View ArticleWill Hawaii Dems’ Progressive Movement Have Staying Power?
Maui business owner Tiare Lawrence knew she was a long-shot when she decided to run against Hawaii state Rep. Kyle Yamashita in this year’s Democratic primary. Yamashita has held the position since...
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