Mericris Neyra knew she wanted to be a nurse back when she was at Farrington High School, so she enrolled in nursing at UH Manoa. But as she neared graduation in December 2014, the 22-year-old faced a saturated nursing-job market…
YouthBuild offers a second chance to young people who dropped out of school or face other serious challenges. The Honolulu city-run program provides hands-on training in painting, carpentry, plumbing, electrical and other real-world skills, while students work toward a high…
For many years, Vassilis Syrmos didn’t spend much time thinking about business. An electrical engineer with a Ph.D. from Georgia Tech and a new career in academia, he was happy to focus on pure research. “When you’re a young assistant…
After all the hullabaloo, the hearings, legislation, planning, permits and protests, the concept of an urban, gentrified Kakaako is now an urban reality in progress. Cranes fill the skyline from one end of Kakaako to the other, with at least…
Since the ukulele arrived in the Islands late in the 19th century, it has been a symbol of Hawaii and the aloha spirit. That aloha is shared widely and generously by ukulele makers, performers and teachers, both locally and around…
I believe the Hawaiian people have been given a tremendous gift from Pele and that gift is this access to deep ocean water,” says Rich Bailey, owner of Dewpoint Systems. The gift of deep ocean water may be Pele’s, but…
Soon – maybe even by the time you read this article – the state’s largest company, Hawaiian Electric Industries, will begin a radical transformation from the stodgy monopoly we’ve known for 124 years, into a much more nimble and competitive…
For frugal folks, riding a motorcycle or moped is the way to go, says Glenn Koishigawa. “People’s jaws drop when I tell them they can get up to 60 miles to a gallon on a moped,” says Koishigawa, owner of…
“Belly dancing makes you love every muscle in the body. … It made me appreciate the curves I was born with.” You may have seen belly dancing and been in awe, but actually doing it offers something no other workout…
Some say symbols are all around us if we know how to look and that’s certainly true at the state Capitol, which is imbued with representations of Hawaii’s culture, history and aina. One major theme of the design is the…
If your realtor suggest you buy on a street now vibrating with jack hammers, buzz saws, chain saws and tree grinders – including the requisite oversize, loud-mouth backhoes and flatbeds, blackdust barricades and…
Richard Wacker didn’t start as a banker. An engineer by training, he spent 20 years in executive positions at General Electric. His first banking job came in 2004, when he left GE to run the troubled Korea Exchange Bank for…
Honolulu at night is a different animal from its daylight self. Yes, it’s darker, but also emptier, the spaces less defined and much less colorful. What light there is feels dramatic; simple sights can feel staged. The person who works…
It’s been six years since the Alakai sailed out of Honolulu Harbor for the last time, yet somehow the Hawaii Superferry won’t go away. It haunted the 2014 campaign like the ghost of elections past. In June, an unscientific online…
“There was always something else. When pineapple closed, the resorts were there. When the ranch closed, Monsanto was still there. There was always an answer. We don’t have the answer now.” —Kimberly Mikami Svetin, Store owner To some people, Monsanto…
It was 1955. The FDA approved the Salk polio vaccine and Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus. The Brooklyn Dodgers won the World Series for the first time and Disneyland opened. Jimmy Stewart and…
CEO, Girl Scouts of Hawaii Girl Scouting runs through Shari Chang’s veins. Her grandmother and mother were both scouts. While growing up, she was a scout in four different states and a foreign country. Her two daughters, who grew up…
Hawaii’s known for a unique blend of cultures and tastes, and that is evident in the wide variety of foods and products available in the Islands’ many ethnic markets. These markets go far beyond the typical Japanese, Chinese and Korean…
A fiscal crisis this past fall, coming on the heels of the Wonder Blunder and other missteps, is forcing UH and its flagship Manoa campus to reform its flawed budget process. For decades, UH allocated funding to individual departments and…
In the 24/7 global marketplace, where the game changes overnight and social media amplifies your message and your mistakes, here come the Millennials, the generation raised to thrive in this world. Just about everyone has strong feelings about Millennials. The…
Reif Tauati got the idea for his startup after visiting Hawaii Volcanoes National Park for the first time since the second grade. “I remember walking through the lava tube and hearing about how ancient Hawaiians stored poi and water there.…
Another arrow in the quiver. One more tool in the toolbox. A vehicle for change. That’s how Hawaii lawmakers and business leaders recently described a state law that in 2011 created a new business registration category for company founders and…
Maybe being a tree farmer means having the ability to look into the future: When Jonathan Keyser and Ethan Romanchak hold a seed, they can already see the tall, strong koa it will one day become. So although there was…
As the sun rises on Waikiki Beach, some workers are going home while others have just arrived and are preparing to serve, feed and entertain up to 6,000 visitors at the Hilton. Senior writer Beverly Creamer and photographer Greg Yamamoto…