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
As often happens in politics, Democrats and other interest groups jumping on the recreational marijuana bandwagon were confusing a shiny new thing with a priority. Read more
The federal criminal investigation of Honolulu rail has put on painful display the defining flaw that’s driven this $9.2 billion fiasco: denial of reality. Read more
Most welcome here is seeing state law enforcers finally show up to help confront the sewer of improbity swirling around us, after sitting on the sideline far too long and leaving it to the feds to clean up local corruption. Read more
As U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard struggles to right her faltering campaign for president, deafening in their silence are fellow Hawaii Democratic politicians who have been slow to back the hometown candidate. Read more
If adversity reveals character, what it’s showing us about former City Councilman Trevor Ozawa isn’t pretty. Read more
If top state legislators are good to their word, 2019 could be a year of badly needed election reform in Hawaii. Read more
Gabbard built her prominence on a twist to the old political adage that you pick your fights carefully: She carefully picks fights with her own Democratic Party. Read more
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