Welcome to this election year. It soon will be time for us to count the winners and losers. This year, winning may not be what happens to a lot of local office holders. Read more
What is clear is that for certain voters, where a politician stands on TMT may be a deciding issue — but more important will be if the leaders from TMT are able to translate the protests into a solidifying cause, and that has not yet happened. Read more
The good news is we have just about made it through 2019; the bad news is that most of Hawaii’s political crises, missteps and predicaments will follow us into 2020. Read more
Jeff Portnoy is not what you would call a burn-the-books radical. Read more
Because of either mismanagement or staff corruption, there is agreement that the Honolulu Prosecutor’s Office is in crisis. Read more
If there is a prediction to be made about 2020 and Gabbard, it is that the 38-year-old Hawaii Democrat will not be president and any claims of political accomplishment will be unfulfilled. Read more
The threat to crack down on Big Oil and its conspiracy to keep us in the dark about global warming failed to register any changes. Read more
So there is a suspicion that the well-off are getting special treatment while other park users are ignored. That’s not a people’s park, a gift to the city or a legacy of careful stewardship. Read more
The folks on Mauna Kea, in Waimanalo and in Kahuku need to become part of the solution — they must become advocates for something, not just a problem. Read more
You don’t run for president of the United States because you are modest, but the wrong-headed self-importance of Tulsi Gabbard’s campaign has gone from being a national political oddity to just becoming tedious. Read more
If local Republicans can learn to embrace issues like Thielen does, their chances of political success would soar. I’m betting that’s not a flight many in the Hawaii GOP are likely to take. Read more
Presidential candidates have until next January to file with the Hawaii party. Officials say they expect between five and 10 candidates to still be running in early 2020. Read more
The unsolved fight over Mauna Kea’s Thirty Meter Telescope is dragging Gov. David Ige to an ignominious end — and greatly worrying Hawaii. Read more
Kenji Price, U.S. attorney for Hawaii, last week announced new federal investigations into illegal gambling outfits in Hawaii. Price kicked off the action by saying the local- federal joint investigation has identified 80 illegal Oahu game rooms in both commercial areas and residential neighborhoods. Read more
Let’s take a look at the candidates waiting until February to file for the historic 2020 Hawaii elections. There’s more than the usual interest in local politics. Read more
In some ways it is fitting that the first really major obstacle in front of Honolulu’s still-not-built rail system is Dillingham Boulevard. Read more
Barring a last-minute reality check, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who has represented Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District for seven years, will continue her run for the Democratic presidential nomination. Read more
There are six or seven serious Honolulu politicians waking up and going to bed with a dream: the day they take the oath of office as Honolulu’s 18th elected mayor. Read more
For the protesters and Hawaii’s leaders, making the result a compromise and not a disaster, is an ability that today neither side appears to possess. Read more
The expected pushback is mounting, but the interesting reaction is that the folks at City Hall are not doing the usual retreat in the face of opposition. Read more
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