Peter Yee: The volunteer moderator helps Hawaii’s jobless residents navigate the trials of filing unemployment claims

• By Maureen O’Connell
• March 26, 2021

What is Hawaii Unemployment Updates & Support Group, exactly? And what’s a hot topic of group discussion? Read more

Rhonda Loh: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park rebounds from the 2018 Kilauea eruption and the pandemic

• By Maureen O’Connell
• March 5, 2021
• 1

The park closed during Gov. David Ige’s stay-at-home order. Since summer, we’ve implemented a phased reopening of outdoor areas. Read more

Dr. Libby Char, Hawaii’s health director, is heartened by vaccinations but warns that much about COVID-19 remains unknown

• By Maureen O’Connell
• Feb. 19, 2021
• 17

Five questions with Dr. Libby Char, director of the health department. Read more

John De Fries: The Hawaii Tourism Authority CEO wants isles’ visitor industry to be sensitive to Hawaiian culture and kamaaina ways of living

• By Maureen O’Connell
• Jan. 22, 2021
• 8

Thoughts on state House Speaker Scott Saiki’s intent to push for a statewide Safe Travels Hawaii program (no opt-out) that would apply to all counties? Read more

Q&A: Halona Norton-Westbrook, Honolulu Museum of Art CEO

• By Maureen O’Connell
• Jan. 1, 2021
• 1

What’s in the works for 2021 exhibitions and programming at HoMA? Read more

Kumi Macdonald: The head of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Hawaii helps people struggling with pandemic-related stress

• By Maureen O’Connell
• Dec. 11, 2020
• 1

What does NAMI Hawaii do? And how have restrictions/worries tied to the pandemic affected your work? Read more

Angela Keen: Former TV journalist helps track down quarantine scofflaws through her Kapu Breakers Facebook group

• By Maureen O’Connell
• Oct. 30, 2020
• 86

I’m a former TV news reporter. In my days at KGMB News (now Hawaii News Now), I often would dig up information for colleagues simply because I enjoyed being a super sleuth. For quarantine breakers, if a checked name comes back as someone who should be in quarantine, I then do a deep dig online. Read more

Q&A with Alphonso Braggs, president of the NAACP in Hawaii

• By Maureen O’Connell
• June 19, 2020
• 1

Alphonso Braggs, president of the NAACP in Hawaii, takes the lead on social justice advocacy in the islands. Read more

Q&A with Department of Health psychologist Lesley Slavin

• By Maureen O’Connell
• May 29, 2020

Q&A with Salvation Army officer helping to deliver meals in Hawaii during COVID-19 pandemic

• By Asked by Maureen O’Connell
• May 8, 2020
• 2

Maj. Phil Lum helps The Salvation Army deliver thousands of meals to those in need during the pandemic. Read more

Gearing up to go green in Hawaii

• By Maureen O’Connell
• March 1, 2020
• 6

Hawaii’s count of registered electric vehicles topped 11,000 last month, a mere 1% of the overall passenger vehicle tally. But over the next few decades, if local government clean-energy pledges hold, we’ll eventually see far fewer gas guzzlers. Read more

Name in the News: Daniela Spoto Kittinger, Hawaii Appleseed’s anti-hunger director

• By Maureen O’Connell
• Jan. 17, 2020
• 1

Hawaii Appleseed’s anti-hunger director focuses on resources, nutrition and resiliency. Read more

Name in the News: Norm Baker, Aloha United Way’s interim CEO

• By Maureen O’Connell
• Dec. 27, 2019
• 2

Aloha United Way’s interim CEO guides the agency’s programs to improve challenged lives. Read more

Bill 25 standoff reveals difficulty in requiring greener energy as part of Oahu’s building code

• By Maureen O’Connell
• Oct. 27, 2019
• 9

Opposing the latest draft of Bill 25 are some housing industry groups and the developers of Oahu’s two largest new residential projects. Read more

Work on Hawaii’s $3.2B airport modernization project hits halfway mark

• By Maureen O’Connell
• Aug. 25, 2019
• 44

Spending on the $3.2 billion modernization effort underway across Hawaii’s airport system is at the halfway point, and most of the big-ticket capital improvement projects are slated to wrap up by December 2021. Read more

Aging Hawaii: Saving for the silver years

• By Maureen O’Connell
• March 24, 2019

Advocates for the elderly push for legislation to create another way to save for retirement. Read more

Heather Lusk: HHHRC’s leader directs help to those with HIV

• By Maureen O’Connell
• Feb. 8, 2019

In tandem with her work at the nonprofit, which took shape last summer, Heather Lusk is active on more than a dozen task forces and groups tackling community issues. Read more

Courses that teach high schoolers about money are few and far between

• By Maureen O’Connell
• Nov. 25, 2018
• 15

Lessons in money management are useful, especially in a state where high school grads face daunting cost-of-living issues, not to mention the nationwide rising price tag for a college education. Read more

Christine Sakuda wants to modernize state’s IT infrastructure

• By Maureen O’Connell
• Nov. 23, 2018
• 3

Hawaii still lags decades behind other states in tapping information technology as a means to step up transparency and speed responsiveness in state government operations. But progress is in the works. Read more

Insight: Hawaii has long history of strict firearms laws

• By Maureen O’Connell
• Sept. 30, 2018
• 43

While a recent court ruling tests “open carry” here, Hawaii’s history of strict firearms laws is assessed. Read more

Hawaii Opioid Initiative: Remedy for relief

• By Maureen O’Connell
• Aug. 19, 2018
• 3

Unlike cases soaring across the U.S., Hawaii’s rate of opioid misuse is low — and an action plan is working to keep it that way. Read more