Few believe the city will complete Oahu rail to Ala Moana Center for the $9.2 billion total it projects, and we hear much speculation about the real final construction tab. $10 billion? $12 billion? $15 billion? Read more
Once again, the Caldwell administration pleaded with the City Council last week for high-priced outside lawyers to fight federal corruption probes, claiming it lacks expertise in-house. Read more
I first encountered Keith Amemiya in 1998 when the young lawyer hired to lead the Hawaii High School Athletic Association felt the newspaper unfairly hammered his inexperience. Read more
Mayor Kirk Caldwell and the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation have been notoriously bad at taking care of taxpayer money while building the grossly over-budget Oahu rail line. Read more
Perhaps there’s a more current acronym of salty origin to best express public sentiment: Hey, Ige! WTF? Read more
Common Cause and the League of Women Voters last week awarded the 2019 Legislature its “Rusty Scalpel” award for using the deceitful gut-and-replace tactic to provide $350 million for a new stadium. Read more
One of the tragedies of the corruption scandal involving former Police Chief Louis Kealoha and his prosecutor wife, Katherine, was that our city couldn’t police its own wrongdoing and federal authorities had to come in and do it for us. Read more
City Councilwoman Heidi Tsuneyoshi is fighting a noble battle to force into the open the secretive dealings that have caused rail construction costs to balloon from $5.2 billion to $9.2 billion and counting. Read more
It was a scene of contrasts last weekend when municipal leaders here for the U.S. Conference of Mayors gathered at Iolani Palace. Read more
I had to laugh when a six-column headline in the newspaper last week declared: “Kahele uses profanity describing race with Gabbard.” Read more
Mayor Kirk Caldwell, who won office on a woefully unrealized promise to “build rail better,” is going out on another dubious message: It’s the next mayor’s problem. Read more
High mortality among Honolulu’s homeless reported by Christopher Happy, chief city medical examiner, is a sobering testament to the deadly toll of life on the streets. Read more
Promoters of a privately funded “world-class” playground at Ala Moana Beach Park portray community concerns about the project as a matter of old fuddy-duddies standing in the way of disabled kids. Read more
The fast track appears to be on for a developer-promoted “world-class” playground at Ala Moana Beach Park featuring zip lines, water slides and splash pools. Read more
The scuffle over vacation rentals that’s consumed both the Legislature and Honolulu Hale this year is an example of everything wrong with Hawaii’s approach to problem solving. Read more
Lawmakers like Hirono must decide whether it’s more important to thump their chests and throw red meat to the party’s base or give themselves a chance to win the 2020 election. Read more
With much local speculation about why Hawaii U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard joined the flock of Democratic long shots running for president, a recent New York Times story posed the question another way: Why not? Read more
It’s disappointing to hear so much discussion about the proposed Green New Deal in Congress degenerate to cheap cracks about seahorse travel and regulating bovine flatulence. Read more
University of Hawaii President David Lassner’s success in fighting off severe budget cuts from the Legislature was a refreshing show of rational conflict resolution in these contentious times. Read more
We so seldom see fresh ideas from local government that it’s a shame when a good one goes to waste. Yet that seems the case with Rep. Gregg Takayama’s bill to explore state purchase of the underused Federal Detention Center near the airport to replace the decrepit Oahu Community Correctional Center in Kalihi. Read more
Ballard offered no comment on the settlement, and we’ve heard little from the Police Commission, which knew of the lawsuit when it appointed Ballard chief. Read more
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