Good Time to Invest in Hawaiʻi
If you want the best for Hawaiʻi and its people, you should become a tourism elitist.
Opinion
Editor's Note: The Best of Times and Best of Workplaces
When I mentor college students, I often tell them about my college days and fall back on the famous opening lines of “A Tale of Two Cities”: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”
Editor's Note: The Power of Positive Thinking
In this difficult time, I am finding many reasons for gratitude.
Editor’s Note: Why We Write
There were many days in 2020 when even I was reluctant to read the news. The pandemic, human tragedy, political battles, conspiracy theories and plenty more made it hard to take another daily dose.
Editor's Note: My Cynicism Has Been Silenced
What was your reaction when you heard another report had been released on how to create a better future for Hawai‘i and its people? Was it the same as my initial reaction: a sigh and an eye roll? But as…
Our Schools Need Your Help Now
If you want to support public education in Hawai‘i, the time is now, during this education crisis caused by the pandemic.
Opinion: Locals Are the Biggest Threat to Our Environment, Not Tourists
Submitted by Marie Turner When I saw the cover to the February issue, I laughed out loud. (Should Tourists Be Asked to Sign a Pledge?) Are you kidding? I don’t know what fantasy island you are living on but it’s…
Editor's Note on News Media
A contradiction of our age is that we have more access to information about politics and government than ever before, yet a smaller and smaller percentage of Hawai‘i’s people find it worthwhile to vote. How to reverse that decline in…
Editor's Note: It Really Is Better Live
You work hard, so at the end of the day (or week), you’re too tired to go to that local play, concert or gallery show, and instead you plop in front of the TV again. Does this sound like you?
Editor's Note: Fight Back Against Genes and Zip Codes
Beverly Creamer’s Report on Health and Wellness covers a lot of important issues. In this column, I focus on one person and one issue: You and your personal health. Your health depends on a lot of factors, many of which you…
Editor's Note: When Working Hard is Hardly Enough
If you, like me, are lucky enough to belong to the middle or upper classes, you may need to read our report to really understand the dire situation of these working people. But you don’t have to look far to find them.
We Like to Recognize Generosity
Companies often send me news releases about donations they make to hospitals, distressed communities or any of a thousand worthy causes. I wish I could report on all these admirable efforts, because they deserve recognition.
Editor's Note: Stop Whining
One of the biggest complaints about the media is we focus on bad news, so here’s good news: Hawaii is No. 1 on a national ranking vital to all of us. For the second year in a row, the Islands…
From the Managing Editor: The World Is an Island
LIKE MOST PEOPLE, I think about money often. Not about what I can buy with it – though occasionally daydreaming about a shopping trip to Tokyo never hurt anybody. No, my preoccupation is with how money works and how it…
From the Publisher: Unfortunately, the Boss Is Not Always a Leader
The year was 1994: I had just graduated from college and began looking for my first “real” job. I was fortunate to have been introduced to an executive at a Los Angeles media company and he lined up an interview…
Whose Truth Are We Talking About?
When I moved to Hawaii in 1981, I found it odd that many of the best-regarded or best-selling books about Hawaii were written by outsiders: “Shoal of Time” by Gavan Daws, now a deep-rooted resident but back then not long…
Editor's Note: Preventing Homelessness
As we step up our efforts to reduce homelessness, we need to work harder to prevent it. One way is to increase the number of people who have enough savings to weather a short-term financial crisis – a lost job, a…
Letters to the Editor: November 2015
HECO’s Ownership Not the Crucial Factor More important is the utility’s skill and innovation in adapting to disruption in the electricity sector I appreciate the efforts of Hawaii Business and Dennis Hollier to dig deep into the complex issues of…
Editor's Note: Two Affordable Ideas
IT WILL TAKE a lot to pull us out of Hawaii’s housing crisis, but here are thoughts on some partial solutions. ADUs are a good idea, and each county has different rules on what are formally called accessory dwelling units. Honolulu…
Editor's Note: The Sacredness of Mauna Kea
It is obvious to anyone who has been there or seen it shining in the distance, that the summit of Mauna Kea is a sacred place. Native Hawaiians are not unique in this reverence: Virtually all the great religions venerate…
Islands Don’t Always Control Their Destinies
Molokai and the battle over GMOs remind me of another island whose people struggled to control their destiny against outsiders. Newfoundland is the poorest of the Canadian provinces, much like Molokai is the poorest of the main Hawaiian Islands. The…
Let Me Interrupt You for a Moment, Ma’am
I was at a meeting and listening to one of the most powerful women in Hawaii when something astonishing happened. Her recently promoted male deputy interrupted her. Not once, but several times. Many studies tell me that I shouldn’t have…
Editor's Note: We Work With Words, But Some Challenge Us
For the 18 years I worked in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin’s newsroom, we never used diacritical marks – the okina and kahako – in Hawaiian words. When I moved to The Honolulu Advertiser in 2004, we used them in the newspaper,…
Editor's Note: I Struck Out, But the State May Have Money for You
You may have had this daydream, too: A letter arrives saying there is unclaimed property in my name worth $20 million (it’s a fantasy, so I didn’t scrimp). In my daydream, I collect the money and live happily ever after.…
Good Time to Invest in Hawaiʻi
If you want the best for Hawaiʻi and its people, you should become a tourism elitist.
All of Hawaii's Eight Gecko Species are Nonnative
Geckos are iconic in Hawaiʻi, as much as pineapples or ukuleles, and, like them, are not native to the Islands. The Polynesians brought them here about 1,500 years ago along with other plants and animals.
15 Tips from Small-Business Owners Who Pivoted and Prevailed
The pandemic has crippled thousands of small businesses in Hawai‘i and forced tens of thousands of people to find new jobs. Amid these personal tragedies are stories of grit, perseverance and transformation.
