Religion should not qualify, or disqualify, candidate for office

As leader of a Methodist megachurch in Houston and a religious adviser to a Republican president, the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell ought to be a credible witness to attest to the fact that President Barack Obama is a Christian.

Trash cruise gone bad more cause to lose trust

If any recent operation can explain why people lose trust in government, the city's mismanaged garbage-shipping venture speaks loud and clear. It howls.

The kids are all right, if not a bit different

The young woman holding a guitar on the back cover of People magazine was obviously someone famous.

Charity as random as hard-luck stories

The medial strip on the Vineyard offramp at Punchbowl Street seems a favorite for men holding signs asking for money.

Dela Cruz's dilemma part of a banner year

Poor Donovan Dela Cruz. Slow cash flow has forced the term-limited City Council member to give up his bid for the deluxe suite at City Hall and try instead for the more affordable quarters of the state Senate.

Turning local produce into a tourist magnet

Unable to sustain itself on agriculture, the small Japanese town of Inakadate grows rice for visual consumption.

Localism cuts both ways in Hawaii campaigns

Few people had heard of Shirley Sherrod before Tuesday when she was caught in the pulverzing mill of race, politics and a quick-fire media and booted from her mid-level job with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

This island's trash snafu is no political treasure for mayor

Looks like Mayor Mufi Hannemann will leave City Hall before the thousands of tons of shrink-wrapped Oahu garbage stored near Kapolei departs for the mainland.

Gov. Lingle used marriage as red herring in civil-unions veto

The fundamental flaw in Gov. Linda Lingle's reasoning to veto House Bill 444 was to identify civil unions as marriage.

Despite its attractions, strawberry guava still a bully

In the never-ending struggle to control or eradicate plants, insects, reptiles and other life forms that harm the native environment -- not counting humans -- the state wants to import a bug that biologists believe will stunt the growth and spread of strawberry guava.