Richard Borreca, Author at Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Column: Gov. Green fortunate on good economy, but dark clouds loom

Richard Borreca — Sun, 01 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

A recent local opinion piece carries the message: “State needs to rein in wild spending.”

On Politics: Inouye gets his due — no strings attached, in statue

Richard Borreca — Sun, 27 Oct 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Until Kamala Harris became vice president in 2021, Hawaii’s U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye was the highest-ranking Asian-American politician in U.S. history.

On Politics: Ballots in mail remind about importance of voting

Richard Borreca — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 10:05:00 +0000

With just a little more than two weeks between today and the General Election, there is little more candidates can do to change their personal description from “candidate” to “winner.”

On Politics: Honolulu’s airport just can’t get off the ground

Richard Borreca — Sun, 13 Oct 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Quick question: Among all the large airports in the country, which one always rates as “second worst” among large airports?

On Politics: Will we step up and learn from Lahaina disaster?

Richard Borreca — Sun, 06 Oct 2024 10:05:00 +0000

A life lost or a living community destroyed is beyond calculation, and Hawaii continues to mull over the tragedy of the Lahaina-destroying fire of August 2023.

On Politics: Compromise, not one-sided victory, will be key to resolving Kapi‘olani nurses labor dispute

Richard Borreca — Sun, 29 Sep 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Hawaii may be light-years away from those labor-union- organizing, plantation-era days from which Japanese, Chinese and Filipino laborers struggled to survive, but labor unions are still an important part of the island structure.

On Politics: Without political rivalry, governor and Honolulu mayor are able to address homelessness

Richard Borreca — Sun, 22 Sep 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The more you watch local politics, the more things don’t seem the same. Take the current Hawaii governor and Honolulu mayor.

On Politics: More candidates needed to counter decrease in voters

Richard Borreca — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Hawaii’s voters will soon be shuffling off to the November election with just a few new defining races and little to enliven the fall competition.

On Politics: Tulsi, true to her MO, shape-shifts into Trump world

Richard Borreca — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Dubbed by ABC News in 2015 as a “political rising star,” Tulsi Gabbard was making news as a Hawaii Democrat unafraid of criticizing President Barack Obama.

On Politics: Saiki loss could embolden urban shoreline projects

Richard Borreca — Sun, 18 Aug 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The National Union of Healthcare Workers was one of many political groups noting that history was made in Hawaii even before last week’s state primary election.

On Politics: Importance of each vote is underscored through decades of Hawaii elections and recounts

Richard Borreca — Sun, 11 Aug 2024 10:05:00 +0000

As officials go over the returns from this week’s state primary election, it is a good time to check back when Hawaii as a state first voted for U.S. president.

On Politics: State can’t afford ‘Hawaii time’ on sea-level rise

Richard Borreca — Sun, 04 Aug 2024 10:05:00 +0000

If it is the Hawaii government, especially its bureaucracy you are waiting on, then Hawaii really knows how to keep it slow.

On Politics: As usual, Hawaii looks on track to select a Democratic presidential candidate in Harris

Richard Borreca — Sun, 28 Jul 2024 10:05:00 +0000

As the youngest state among the 50, Hawaii doesn’t have much history in the business of presidential politics. And what little is there is out of the Democratic playbook.

On Politics: As Trump finds new strength in unity, Democrats search for meaning ahead of election

Richard Borreca — Sun, 21 Jul 2024 10:05:00 +0000

As Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump moves forward with his campaign, the political polls show he looks strong. But Trump is still adding a new aspect.

On Politics: Defection by Democratic Hawaii shouldn’t worry Biden

Richard Borreca — Sun, 14 Jul 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Hawaii, birthplace of a magnetic, two-term Democratic president, is usually thumb’s up if the person leading the nation is a Democrat.

On Politics: Hoping against extinction of Hawaiian honeycreeper

Richard Borreca — Sun, 07 Jul 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Mist shrouds the heights of Kauai’s Kokee State Park, home to Pakele, a small, dark gray bird named by state biologists. The bird is an ‘akikiki, famous not for its wingspan, song nor characteristics, but because when Pakele goes, that is pretty much the end of the line for this species of little Hawaiian honeycreeper. They face extinction.

On Politics: State budget boosted by construction, labor markets

Richard Borreca — Sun, 30 Jun 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The remarkable Hawaii budget surplus continues to bestow blessings across the state.

On Politics: Show spotlights McElrath’s passion for social justice

Richard Borreca — Sun, 23 Jun 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Ah Quon McElrath, known to most folks in local politics and labor circles as “AQ,” is the subject of a new, one-hour documentary on local public television.

On Politics: In Hawaii, change leaders need not apply — and haven’t

Richard Borreca — Sun, 16 Jun 2024 10:05:00 +0000

There is a word to describe political years like this one.

On Politics: Political reemergence, and choices, of Kai Kahele

Richard Borreca — Sun, 09 Jun 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Granted the salary hasn’t risen since 2009, but it is $174,000 a year with a lot of perks, so why do Hawaii politicians leave Congress?

On Politics: Before election, looks like Mayor-elect Blangiardi

Richard Borreca — Sun, 02 Jun 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Last week, if Mayor Rick Blangiardi was looking at a list of candidates already filed to run for Honolulu mayor, he had to be smiling.

On Politics: Talk is cheap. State Legislature must follow through on comprehensive government reform

Richard Borreca — Sun, 26 May 2024 10:05:00 +0000

With two former state legislators now out of prison after serving terms for bribery, House Speaker Scott Saiki is on a campaign to beef up the public image of Hawaii state legislators.

On Politics: Taxing tourists remains tough way to raise money

Richard Borreca — Sun, 19 May 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Since the early 1960s, more than half a century ago, Hawaii has worried over whether it should tax tourists.

On Politics: Budget by lawmakers today opens questions for future

Richard Borreca — Sun, 12 May 2024 10:05:00 +0000

With Hawaii’s 2024 Legislature concluded, members of the Democrat-controlled state House are looking at the state’s election season.

On Politics: Legislature gets serious on tax cuts

Richard Borreca — Sun, 05 May 2024 10:05:00 +0000

If the Hawaii state Legislature closes as expected, the theme has to be the struggle of lawmakers to grasp the importance of recognizing and fixing state money problems.

On Politics: Legislature’s budget aided by government contracts

Richard Borreca — Sun, 28 Apr 2024 10:05:00 +0000

This was written before the 2024 edition of the state Legislature said “Pau, enough” and closed the books for the year, so there is some peril in first saying that it is really finished, and second, in judging the work product.

On Politics: Detailed report on Maui wildfires has somber lessons for all, underscoring preparedness

Richard Borreca — Sun, 21 Apr 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The Hawaii attorney general’s new report on Lahaina’s tragic August fire goes into the minute details of the fire and the official response as Maui’s outstanding firefighters battled the blaze.

On Politics: Dismantling Haiku Stairs a political uphill battle

Richard Borreca — Sun, 14 Apr 2024 10:05:00 +0000

In 2020, Honolulu Star- Advertiser reporter Andrew Gomes wryly noted in a news article that the Windward side’s “Stairway to Heaven” steep mountain trail was as popular as it was controversial.

On Politics: Conservative Hawaii emerges, bucks pot legalization

Richard Borreca — Sun, 07 Apr 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The news from the state Legislature remains the same: You can’t legally smoke marijuana in Hawaii.

On Politics: Tulsi emerges in VP talk, but what has she achieved?

Richard Borreca — Sun, 31 Mar 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Tulsi Gabbard’s public life is marked by two major successes.

On Politics: Maui fire recovery leaves state budget future shaky

Richard Borreca — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 10:05:00 +0000

To meet state needs after the fire-ravaged Maui disaster, Gov. Josh Green rerouted a staggering $172 million in emergency state funds from various state programs to start paying for the fire.

On Politics: Eleventh-hour stadium move to UH-Manoa is a fumble

Richard Borreca — Sun, 10 Mar 2024 10:05:00 +0000

As Honolulu Star-Advertiser followers have noted, Aloha Stadium is not essential. “We have been living without it for four years, ” one reader commented.

On Politics: Time will tell if gov’s housing hurdles will trip him

Richard Borreca — Sun, 03 Mar 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Gov. Josh Green knows what he is up against, but that doesn’t make the job any easier.

On Politics: Costly Maui recovery calls for business not as usual

Richard Borreca — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The staggering consequences of the fiery August destruction of Lahaina continue to shape the future of Hawaii.

On Politics: Mayor Blangiardi’s managerial style serving him well

Richard Borreca — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Honolulu has had no shortage of flashy mayors. Frank Fasi served a total of 22 years as Honolulu’s mayor and for all that time, the easiest conversation starter was, “Did you hear what Fasi is up to now?”

On Politics: Hawaii Supreme Court praised for gun-safety ruling

Richard Borreca — Sun, 11 Feb 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Packing some of the country’s most all-encompassing gun laws — and some of the lowest rates of gun violence — Hawaii is getting attention for a new state Supreme Court decision.

On Politics: Honolulu police chief’s bungling riles mayor, public

Richard Borreca — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Honolulu Police Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan recently received a scolding from Mayor Rick Blangiardi for the handling of the New Year’s Day manhunt, which resulted in police shooting and killing the suspect after an islandwide chase that also left two officers injured.

On Politics: How much to tax tourists to be debate in Legislature

Richard Borreca — Sun, 28 Jan 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Since launching his campaign for governor, Josh Green has had a consistent twin message: Hawaii needs more money and it should come from visitors to the state.

On Politics: High hopes for Maui revival but most blanks unfilled

Richard Borreca — Sun, 21 Jan 2024 10:05:00 +0000

More than in most years, the opening of the 2024 state Legislature is a fill-in-the-blanks exercise.

On Politics: Will complex power equations add up to ‘green’ energy?

Richard Borreca — Sun, 14 Jan 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Running a business in Hawaii — a state boasting what is arguably the wettest spot on the globe, Mount Waialeale with an average annual rainfall of 450 inches — means you should mind your electrical wiring and think twice about insulation.