Efforts Underway To Rid Hawaii Of Coral-Damaging Sunscreen
Hawaii lawmakers have introduced two bills to tackle the problem of oxybenzone killing coral reefs, and a new study will look at ways to educate the public about products that contain it — namely,...
View ArticleState’s Offer On Pay Is Unacceptable, Teachers Union Says
The state teachers union says state negotiators are offering public school teachers a 1 percent lump sum payment over each of the next two years. But the Hawaii State Teachers Association calls that...
View ArticleMassive March On DC: Fear, Fun, Animosity And A Touch Of Aloha
WASHINGTON — Hundreds of thousands of people joined a protest march in the nation’s capital Saturday that dwarfed the numbers that turned out for the presidential inauguration the day before. The...
View ArticleThousands Defy Rain And Trump During Rally In Honolulu
Thousands of people braved the rainy, windswept streets around the Hawaii Capitol on Saturday to join the Women’s March on Oahu to defend women’s rights in the face of the incoming Trump...
View ArticleReader Rep: Stand Up To Stop Police Chief-Style Deals
Since you’re paying the bills, maybe you also should be demanding – as public interest attorneys have been – that public business be done in public view. The world is turning dark right now, scarily...
View ArticlePod Squad: Meet OHA’s Newest Trustee
In this episode of Pod Squad host Chad Blair and producer April Estrellon visited Kelii Akina at his new office at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Akina has long been a supporter of Hawaiian...
View ArticleAddressing The Root Cause Of Homelessness
Homelessness is a process and not an event. It is our collective failure to address the root cause: the inadequate medical treatment of addiction and mental health. Until properly addressed, we will...
View ArticleLet’s Let The Terminally Ill Exercise Personal Freedom
Nothing gets people more hyped up than when the state’s role either allowing or forbidding a deeply personal and morally ambiguous freedom comes into question. This legislative session, the issue of...
View ArticleHawaii’s Cash-Strapped Small Schools Struggle To Operate
Near the western end of Molokai, about 16 miles from the closest town, sits Maunaloa Elementary School and its 60 or so students. The school has one of the smallest enrollments in the state, and like...
View ArticleIge: Keep Minor Offenders Out Of Jail And Off The Streets
As Hawaii struggles to stem homelessness and prison overcrowding, Gov. David Ige wants to take a new approach: connecting people arrested for low-level drug crimes with social services rather than...
View ArticleText Of Gov. Ige’s State Of The State Address
Editor’s note: Here is the text of Gov. David Ige’s State of the State address delivered to the Legislature on Monday. Watch Civil Beat for full coverage of the speech. Mister Speaker, President...
View ArticleFew Tears Shed In Hawaii As Trump Dumps Pacific Trade Pact
WASHINGTON — In his first formal action on the first business day of his administration, President Donald Trump threw a long-proposed trade deal — the Trans-Pacific Partnership — in the trash. “We’ve...
View ArticleIge Promises Skeptical Lawmakers He’ll Supply More Budget Details
Gov. David Ige’s third State of the State address was heavy on improving public education and innovating economic development. He said he wants to continue transforming the Department of Education from...
View ArticlePolice Commission Clarifies Terms Of HPD Chief’s $250K Deal
The Honolulu Police Commission issued a correction Monday that made clear outgoing Police Chief Louis Kealoha will have to give back a $250,000 severance payment if he’s convicted of a felony within...
View ArticleParents Turn Out In Force For Tougher Hawaii Day Care Rules
Parents and others concerned about recent deaths of children in day care filled a Hawaii Senate committee hearing room Monday to support bills that would toughen sanctions against negligent operators...
View ArticleLawmakers Demand Answers To Honolulu Rail’s Ballooning Costs
Hawaii lawmakers want the counties to put “more skin in the game” instead of just coming to the state year after year asking for more money, especially when it comes to Honolulu and funding for its...
View ArticleNATO’s Future When America Comes First
Former President Obama famously suggested in a 2016 interview that he questioned a set of orthodox assumptions about American foreign policy that he labeled “the Washington Playbook.” That orthodoxy,...
View ArticleE Ho’ike I Ke Aloha — Show Your Aloha
In 1902, my dad and his parents, along with hundreds of others, arrived at Honolulu as immigrants from Japan. He was 6 years old. They settled on a sugar plantation camp at Ke’alia on the east side of...
View ArticleBill Banning Second Jobs For Mayors Would Affect Caldwell’s Bank Deal
Majority Leader Scott Saiki says his proposed legislation to prohibit a sitting governor or county mayor from holding outside employment or receiving emoluments is inspired by President Donald Trump,...
View ArticleActing HPD Chief Concerned About $250K Payment To Kealoha
Retiring Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha’s $250,000 severance payment isn’t sitting well with his acting successor. On Tuesday, the department released a Jan. 19 letter that Acting Police Chief...
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