Did Honolulu Cops Issue Fake Tickets Or Did The Honolulu Prosecutor Make Up...
Several defense lawyers who specialize in drunken driving cases are hoping to use Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Keith Kaneshiro’s own words against him in an attempt to beat various DUI charges that...
View ArticleLawmaker Kills Bill To Limit Payday Loan Interest Rates
Advocates for capping annual interest rates for payday loans in Hawaii — which are now as high as 459 percent — will likely have to try again next year for legislative help. Rep. Roy Takumi, the new...
View ArticleHouse Committee Kills ‘Aid In Dying’ Measure
A push to legalize medical aid in dying appears to have ended for the 2017 legislative session. Senate Bill 1129 would have allowed physicians to prescribe life-ending medication to terminally ill,...
View ArticleMaui Energy Conference: ‘What Type Of Place Are We Trying To Create?’
KAHULUI, Maui — This time last year the buzz in the hallways of the Maui Arts and Cultural Center was about Florida-based NextEra Energy’s odd absence from the Maui Energy Conference that’s been held...
View ArticleNew Trump ‘Extreme Vetting’ Directive Aimed At Visitors With Visas
Even as it fends off a flurry of legal challenges against the travel ban, the Trump administration isn’t letting up on its plans to implement “extreme vetting” of newcomers to the United States. In a...
View ArticleTad Bartimus: The Hana Highway Has Become A Vehicle Dumping Ground
Editor’s Note: This is another in an occasional series of columns about the Hana Highway, one of the most traveled roads in Hawaii. My lemon yellow 2002 Ford Ranger has been “rode hard and put away...
View ArticleHawaii Teacher: Stalled Contract Talks Are Prompting Whispers Of A Strike
Earlier this month, members of the Hawaii State Teachers Association participated in a public action to draw attention to stalled negotiation. Teachers across the state held sign-waving events on their...
View ArticleWill This Be The Year For Tax Breaks For The Poor?
Advocates for low-income families are hoping lawmakers will finally provide what they see as long-overdue tax relief, especially as the Trump administration and a Republican Congress are moving to cut...
View ArticleHawaii Dems Take Victory Lap Over Demise Of ‘TrumpCare’
Marking the epic failure of the GOP bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act Friday, members of Hawaii’s all-Democrat congressional delegation are expressing satisfaction but warning of the...
View ArticleVirginia Judge Sides With Trump On Travel Ban
In a rare legal victory for President Donald Trump, a federal judge in Virginia has ruled in favor of the revised executive order on immigration, handing a much-needed boost to the Trump administration...
View ArticleHirono Will Oppose Gorsuch Nomination To High Court
U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Democrat and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced Sunday she will oppose the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to serve on the Supreme Court. “The real focus and...
View ArticleTrump: Another Broken Trust
Twenty years ago this summer, University of Hawaii law professor Randall Roth, with co-authors Judge Samuel P. King, Msgr. Charles Kekumano, Walter Heen and Gladys Brandt, published a now famous...
View ArticleReader Rep: The Public Deserves Better Than ‘No Comment’
As the “first rough draft” of history, journalism tends to start and extend communal discussions as a way for society to gradually mull its outcomes and possibilities, bit by bit. Journalists also...
View ArticleWhy Artificial Turf May Truly Be Bad For Kids
If you want to get a soccer mom’s attention, bring up the subject of artificial turf, the preferred playing surface for children from pre-K to college – or at least preferred by school boards and parks...
View ArticlePod Squad: The Voice Behind The Offshore Podcast
Pod Squad host Chad Blair chats with his newsroom colleague, Jessica Terrell, about Offshore, the national podcast we produce in conjunction with PRX, the country’s largest podcast distributer. The...
View ArticleWhy Aren’t Federal Attorneys Moving Quickly To Appeal Travel Ban Ruling?
Last month, when a federal judge in Seattle issued a temporary restraining order against President Donald Trump’s original executive order on immigration, the Trump administration mobilized swiftly....
View ArticleHawaii Lawmakers Are Still Chilly To Police Reform
Hawaii lawmakers so far haven’t had much of an appetite for passing police reform legislation this year, despite widespread concerns both locally and nationally about the need for more accountability...
View ArticleMoney Talks To Lawmakers During Legislative Session
Last year, just before the start of the Hawaii Legislature’s 2016 session, I blogged about which lawmakers were already holding campaign fundraisers. It included a post on a well-known representative...
View ArticleDenby Fawcett: Unfair Penalty For Some DUI Offenders?
All drunken-driving offenders in Hawaii are slapped with stiff sanctions. They pay an average $2,000 to $4,000 in lawyers’ fees and fines. And more painfully, first-time DUI (driving under the...
View ArticleWhy Didn’t A Single Board Member Show Up To A Kakaako Housing Hearing?
The state agency in charge of managing development in Kakaako held a public hearing Tuesday to take testimony on highly criticized proposed rule changes that seek to make housing in the urban district...
View Article