David Shapiro | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Volcanic Ash: Declining public libraries erode Hawaii’s civic soul

David Shapiro — Sun, 17 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

As students at Hilo High in the 1960s, my friends and I would spend evenings at the Hilo Public Library doing our homework and socializing.

David Shapiro: Trumpism has conquered a severely bruised nation

David Shapiro — Sun, 10 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Kamala Harris gave a classy concession speech when it was clear she’d lost the election for president, and managed the traditional congratulatory call to Donald Trump — the opposite of what Trump did when he lost four years ago.

David Shapiro: From big balloon payment to Council installment pay

David Shapiro — Sun, 27 Oct 2024 10:05:00 +0000

I’ve gotten questions from readers on how to vote on City Charter ballot question No. 4, changing the way City Council pay raises are determined.

David Shapiro: Regents had real choices in choosing University of Hawaii president

David Shapiro — Sun, 20 Oct 2024 10:05:00 +0000

What’s encouraging about the hiring of a new University of Hawaii president is that it attracted true up-and-coming applicants this time after several cycles in which top candidates stayed away because of the poisonous politics surrounding UH.

David Shapiro: HPD ire on shooting deal puts Council in dilemma

David Shapiro — Sun, 13 Oct 2024 10:05:00 +0000

When business and high emotions come into conflict in politics, emotions often win.

David Shapiro: Rail chief shows the pols how to really play politics

David Shapiro — Sun, 06 Oct 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Honolulu rail CEO Lori Kahikina gets mixed marks on running a railroad, but she’s an ace when it comes to boardroom politics.

David Shapiro: Ask Sen. Schatz anything and the answer is housing

David Shapiro — Sun, 29 Sep 2024 10:05:00 +0000

I track the state of Twitter, now called X after its takeover by the imperious and conspiratorial Elon Musk, by occasionally checking the feed of Hawaii U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, among the most social-media savvy in Congress.

David Shapiro: Stand your ground here and get 40 hours of lockup

David Shapiro — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Barely a week after the Honolulu Police Commission flagged Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan’s communications problems in his annual evaluation, he gave an unfortunate demonstration at his news conference on a tragic Waianae shooting that left four dead.

David Shapiro: Bob Dubill flew with best as a legendary journalist

David Shapiro — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 10:05:00 +0000

My favorite editor, Bob Dubill, told me he liked this column I wrote 25 years ago so much he regularly reread it with his son.

David Shapiro: Only will and commitment can fix isle homelessness

David Shapiro — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Kailua is hardly the center of Oahu’s homelessness problem, but almost any outing around town brings disturbing scenes.

David Shapiro: Incumbents not unbeatable against grit, right message

David Shapiro — Sun, 18 Aug 2024 10:05:00 +0000

A couple of high-profile Democratic upsets were the compelling stories of the 2024 primary election.

David Shapiro: Our state becomes moldy when Hawaii leaders age

David Shapiro — Sun, 11 Aug 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Age is big in 2024 national elections, with President Joe Biden, 81, dropping out after a poor debate against 78-year-old Republican rival Donald Trump, who’s had geriatric stumbles of his own adjusting to new opponent Kamala Harris, 59.

David Shapiro: The Dana Ireland murder continues to shake lives

David Shapiro — Sun, 04 Aug 2024 10:05:00 +0000

After 33 years, Dana Ireland’s brutal slaying on the Big Island remains a crushing heartbreak for those touched by the tragedy and a disgraceful failure of the county’s law enforcement.

David Shapiro: 2 parties forge 2 paths to promoting minority rule

David Shapiro — Sun, 28 Jul 2024 10:05:00 +0000

An acquaintance on the Republican right once told me, “I don’t care so much which party has the White House and Congress, as long as we have the Supreme Court.”

David Shapiro: Trust will remain broken when accountability lags

David Shapiro — Sun, 21 Jul 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Randall Roth lit a flame 27 years ago that still burns brightly.

David Shapiro: District 22 Senate drama is turning Shakespearean

David Shapiro — Sun, 14 Jul 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Gov. Josh Green faces only bad options in making an interim appointment to fill a vacant West Oahu state Senate seat, and his plan to wait until after the Aug. 10 primary election is a fair solution — even if it bends the law.

Green won’t fill Senate vacancy until after primary election

David Shapiro — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 22:23:00 +0000

Gov. Josh Green notified legislative leaders today that he will not fill a controversial West Oahu state Senate seat until after the Aug. 10 primary election, which will miss the 60-day deadline set by law.

David Shapiro: Supreme Court blesses sticky-fingered government

David Shapiro — Sun, 07 Jul 2024 10:05:00 +0000

In Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial over the 2020 election insurrection, his attorneys argued it was more a matter for the judicial system because he’s “like any other citizen and can be tried in a court of law.”

David Shapiro: Hawaii kids seek escape from grim climate future

David Shapiro — Sun, 30 Jun 2024 10:05:00 +0000

It was poignant to see young activists and Gov. Josh Green in the governor’s ceremonial room settling a lawsuit brought by the teens asserting the state failed to safeguard their constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment.

David Shapiro: Kaneshiro and Mitsunaga maybe not yet in the clear

David Shapiro — Sun, 23 Jun 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Ghosts of O.J. Simpson are appearing following the failed federal bribery prosecution of former Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro, businessman Dennis Mitsunaga and others.

David Shapiro: A political roller coaster could crash Honolulu rail

David Shapiro — Sun, 16 Jun 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Keeping politics out of rail was the rationale for the 2011 charter amendment taking direct control of Oahu rail from the mayor and City Council and giving it to the new Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation.

David Shapiro: Waters seals the getaway in City Council pay heist

David Shapiro — Sun, 09 Jun 2024 10:05:00 +0000

A proposed City Charter amendment to remake the salary process for Council members and city executives is the cherry atop Council Chair Tommy Waters’ scheme to bestow gluttonous 64% pay raises on his members despite public outrage.

David Shapiro: Machine politics at work on Waianae Senate seat?

David Shapiro — Sun, 02 Jun 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Some West Oahu Democrats are worried another game of musical chairs for insiders is playing out in the selection of a new state senator to replace Maile Shimabukuro in District 22 (Ko Olina, Nanakuli, Maili, Waianae, Makaha, Makua).

David Shapiro: Randy Moore shows way for life of public service

David Shapiro — Sun, 26 May 2024 10:05:00 +0000

If you’re looking for a model of a public-minded citizen, you couldn’t find a better one than Randy Moore.

David Shapiro: How to clean corruption? One politician at a time

David Shapiro — Sun, 19 May 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The spotlight is bright on Hawaii’s corrupt pay-to-play politics, but major reform was blocked by the recent Legislature and there’s little chance of widespread change in the 2024 election.

David Shapiro: Time to make a 911 call on the city’s 911 overload

David Shapiro — Sun, 12 May 2024 10:05:00 +0000

An old publisher of mine started an executive committee meeting with concerns about newspaper subscriber complaints of slow telephone response in the circulation department.

David Shapiro: Discord drives the beat at the heart of HART

David Shapiro — Sun, 28 Apr 2024 10:05:00 +0000

We had brief hope the bedeviled Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation might be on track to some measure of stability.

David Shapiro: Mayor Bissen led from the rear in fighting Lahaina’s fire

David Shapiro — Sun, 21 Apr 2024 10:05:00 +0000

State Attorney General Anne Lopez soft-pedaled the miserable performance of Maui Mayor Richard Bissen in the first of three reports on the August Lahaina wildfire, which killed 101 people and destroyed 3,000 homes, saying, “I am not commenting at this time on the actions of anybody.”

David Shapiro: Green’s stamp on schools had better deliver for kids

David Shapiro — Sun, 14 Apr 2024 10:05:00 +0000

For a state always proclaiming our keiki come first, we seldom show it when it comes to the quality of our public schools.

David Shapiro: Waters pleases the pols; we’ll see about the voters

David Shapiro — Sun, 07 Apr 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Elected leaders are best remembered by good works they leave behind.

David Shapiro: What’s funny to the men maybe not so for women

David Shapiro — Sun, 31 Mar 2024 10:05:00 +0000

I’ve been venting pointed opinions in this column for nearly 30 years, and somebody asked which I was most surprised I got away with.

David Shapiro: Lawmakers’ rigged game keeps them cozy and paid

David Shapiro — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Hawaii’s state and city lawmakers may not be so sharp at taking care of public concerns such as affordable housing, gridlocked traffic and rundown infrastructure, but they’re wizards at taking care of themselves.

David Shapiro: New House stadium plan deserves careful review

David Shapiro — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 10:05:00 +0000

You could feel the singe of hot-potato politics as the University of Hawaii, fresh from another beatdown by state senators, quickly distanced itself from House legislation to abandon plans for a new $400 million Aloha Stadium in favor of expanding the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex at Manoa.

David Shapiro: UH pays a heavy price for ego-tripping senators

David Shapiro — Sun, 10 Mar 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The state Senate missed a chance to reset its increasingly toxic culture when it voted down Gov. Josh Green’s nomination of Alapaki Nahale-a to the University of Hawaii Board of Regents, where he served as interim chair.

David Shapiro: Legislature starts early on a taxing conundrum

David Shapiro — Sun, 03 Mar 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The half-percent state excise tax surcharge to fund construction of Honolulu rail and neighbor island transportation projects doesn’t expire until 2030 — a decade later than promised, before rail ran $5 billion over budget, 11 years behind schedule and needed two state bailouts.

David Shapiro: No time for pakalolo high on busy legislative agenda

David Shapiro — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 10:05:00 +0000

All we really need to know about the latest move in the Legislature to legalize and regulate recreational cannabis is that the measure was crafted by an attorney general who doesn’t support it.

David Shapiro: State needs a better plan for protecting abused kids

David Shapiro — Sun, 18 Feb 2024 10:05:00 +0000

It’s hard to keep looking at the haunting news photo of Geanna Bradley, the 10-year-old Wahiawa girl found dead Jan. 18 from unspeakable abuse allegedly at the hands of her foster family.

David Shapiro: Is there a football game buried in all of that glitz?

David Shapiro — Sun, 11 Feb 2024 10:05:00 +0000

There are few better markers than the Super Bowl of how much bigger, louder, connected and exhibitionist the world has become during my lifetime.

David Shapiro: Old state tax boondoggle gets new legislative life

David Shapiro — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 10:05:00 +0000

You’d think the Legislature has enough new bad ideas that they don’t need to recycle oldies.

David Shapiro: Big changes might loom for Honolulu rail agency

David Shapiro — Sun, 28 Jan 2024 10:05:00 +0000

With half the city’s rail line running from Kapolei to Aloha Stadium and the final construction phase through Honolulu starting, directors of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation are plotting HART’s future.