Insight | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Column: Counting blessings for move to Hawaii as vicar

None — Sun, 15 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

It may go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: This past year has been a roller coaster. A divisive and volatile political season left half of us jubilant and the other half distraught. Financial fears about high prices thwart us even in an improving economy. And for many of us, personal losses and life challenges have seemed more than humanly endurable.

Column: Grateful for people, joys that buoy hope

None — Sun, 15 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

As the year comes to a close, it’s easy to reflect on the challenges we’ve faced — political divides, economic uncertainty and personal struggles. Yet, amidst it all, there have been countless moments of light and love. This season reminds me to focus on what truly matters and express gratitude for the blessings that fill my life.

Readers share ‘Count your blessings’ letters

Radley Kanda — Sun, 15 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

With the holidays just around the corner, our readers share the blessings in their lives.

Column: Domestic violence affects us all, a whole community approach is necessary

None — Sun, 29 Sep 2024 10:05:00 +0000

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, a time to renew our commitment to alleviating this pervasive issue that destroys families and tears at the fabric of our community. Despite continuous efforts, a 2024 report from the Hawaii State Coalition Against Domestic Violence revealed a stark reality: domestic violence (DV) is still highly prevalent, with 18% of Hawaii adults experiencing physical violence or intimidation by an intimate partner in the past five years. Seeing the numbers in black and white is a reminder of the work that lies ahead.

Column: Annual Men’s March Against Violence a chance to show support, learn

None — Sun, 29 Sep 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The last 12 months have been the deadliest for domestic violence in Hawaii in many, many years. Most recently, there were two domestic violence incidents involving the military community and an Ewa man arrested for attempted murder for allegedly stabbing a woman after a domestic argument.

Column: Empower Hawaii families, supports against suicides

None — Sun, 15 Sep 2024 10:05:00 +0000

As we observe Suicide Prevention Month this September, it’s important to confront a silent crisis affecting our communities: suicide. Hawaii faces its own set of challenges, including geographic isolation, mental health stigmas and disparities in health care access. However, the strength of our communities and the support of families can play a critical role in addressing this issue.

Column: Act on permanent housing solutions for local people

None — Sun, 11 Aug 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Note: In the difficult months following the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires that devastated Lahaina, education was disrupted significantly. But amid the struggles, students and educators persevered — and the learning and classwork resumed.

Column: Rebuild coral reefs that help prevent coast erosion

None — Sun, 11 Aug 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Column: Water is precious resource for all of public to share

None — Sun, 11 Aug 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Column: Non-aligned partner like India may be good for Hawaii

None — Sun, 14 Jul 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Over the last 50 years, through the determined efforts of organizations such as the East-West Center, University of Hawaii and Pacific Forum International, world leaders, diplomats, scholars, security professionals and cultural ambassadors have graced the shores of Hawaii besides the honeymooners, backpackers and snowbirds. Some have even gone on to call Hawaii their hale, or home.

Column: Maui crackdown on vacation rentals will hurt economy

None — Sun, 23 Jun 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Consider the implications of Maui Mayor Richard Bissen’s measure to end 7,000 legal short-term rentals (STRs) on Maui’s West Side by July 1, 2025, and in the island’s entirety by Jan. 1, 2026.

Column: Turn short-term rentals into much-needed local homes

None — Sun, 23 Jun 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Growing up in Lahaina, Maui, I experienced the island’s housing instability in a way that is unfortunately all too common. My family moved frequently, a necessity driven by the relentless housing crisis that has gripped Hawaii for decades. I went to school in nearly every district on the island, save for Hana. The instability of moving at least once a year was a constant in my life, a pattern that persisted until my mid-20s when I moved into a house with a bunch of roommates while going to school and bartending on Oahu.

Column: Deciphering the war in Gaza with one eye on the past

None — Sun, 05 May 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Years ago, after President Lyndon B. Johnson sent a massive force to Vietnam and initiated the American buildup against North Vietnam, I recalled a seminar I took at Stanford on Thucydides’ history of the Peloponnesian War. In a chapter on “The Melian Dialogue,” I learned that Athens had invaded Melos, a tiny island in thrall to Sparta, and put most of its civilian residents to the sword. With Melos in mind, I wrote a letter to my father who had served in the South Pacific during World War II, and laid out all the arguments why our involvement in Vietnam was morally reprehensible and would certainly fail.

Column: Short-term units for homes, kauhale for homeless

None — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The cost of housing and the crisis of homelessness remain two of our biggest challenges in Hawaii, but over the past 15 months we have taken action and implemented new solutions — producing measurable results and making real progress on these issues.

Column: Zoning reform can cure isles’ housing struggles

None — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Hawaii is an especially desirable place to live — unless you’re trying to buy or rent a home.

Column: Allow more ohana housing to ease crisis

None — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 10:05:00 +0000

This year, the state Legislature’s Housing Chairs Rep. Luke Evslin and Sen. Stanley Chang took bold action to address Hawaii’s housing crisis by introducing House Bill 1630 and Senate Bill 3202. These bills would allow smaller homes on smaller lots that would be more affordable for Hawaii residents.

Column: Meet evolving mental-health needs after Maui tragedy

None — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Seven months after the Maui wildfires, the recovery continues. While much of the focus has been on replacing tangible losses — homes, businesses, schools and jobs — we must also prioritize recovery from the disaster’s significant and long-lasting impact on mental health.

Column: Don’t rebuild using dated, nonresilient safety codes

None — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Less than a year after the wind-driven wildfire that destroyed Lahaina and claimed the lives of at least 101 Hawaii people, it is simply unconscionable that the state Legislature is quickly considering House Bill 2089, which, nonsensically, seeks to address legitimate staffing and resource challenges faced by Hawaii’s building departments by arbitrarily preventing the state from keeping its building safety standards up to date. Consistent with similar efforts advanced by analogous lobbies in other states, this bill puts the builder and developer interests ahead of Hawaii’s residents, whose health and safety it places at greater risk.

Column: The Maui catastrophe is a wake-up call

None — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The aftermath of every catastrophe includes a long period of finger-pointing and, after the devastation of Lahaina, the local emergency manager had his share. As everyone knows by now, Maui Emergency Management Agency Administrator Herman Andaya controlled an advanced “all-hazards” siren warning system that remained silent as the fires burned. Two days later, Andaya resigned.

Column: Crackdown on short-term units will hurt isle people

None — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 10:05:00 +0000

In September, enforcement of New York City’s 2022 short-term rental rules began — and we can now see the results. Unfortunately for guests and hosts alike, only about 250 of 36,000 vacation rentals in the city were able to obtain a license before the rules took effect. Tens of thousands of families have lost the vacation rental income they depended on, but there are winners. The hotels are reaping windfall profits.

Column: All hands on deck to build Hawaii’s eldercare system

None — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 10:05:00 +0000

A reliable and updated infrastructure keeps communities safe, productive and happy. That’s why it’s important to keep aging roads, bridges, power systems, sewers, water mains and the like robust and responsive to society’s changing needs. When any part of an infrastructure stops working well, the disruption to people’s lives – not to mention the environment and economy — can be catastrophic. A crumbling, unstable infrastructure makes for a scary and uncertain future.

Column: Critical challenges loom, but human spirit strong

None — Sun, 14 Jan 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Before this brand new year becomes obscured with more issues, there are at least three concerns, from my perspective, that require our moral resolve, our collective effort, our principled thinking and our sustained action: the extinction of all creation, our violent culture, and technological “progress.”

Column: Engage isle kupuna in Alzheimer’s study

None — Sun, 14 Jan 2024 10:05:00 +0000

I have high hopes for what we will do in Hawaii in terms of breaking new ground in caring for our kupuna by developing a program to reverse cognitive decline in a group setting. I am working to make this happen in the residential retirement community where I live, Pohai Nani in Kaneohe.

Letters: High hopes for 2024

None — Sun, 14 Jan 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Readers write in to share their hopes and dreams for this new year.

Column: Outlook for Indo-Pacific, global growth epicenter

None — Sun, 07 Jan 2024 10:05:00 +0000

While conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine overshadow world events at the onset of 2024, in the longer term the Indo-Pacific region remains by far the most important part of the world for global peace and prosperity. With more than 40 countries and 60% of world population, the Indo-Pacific is still the epicenter of global growth, and no other region offers more opportunities, as well as challenges, for the United States.

Column: Hawaii trends: out-migration, drop in government

None — Sun, 07 Jan 2024 10:05:00 +0000

GUILD Consulting, a Honolulu-based management consulting firm, presents its trends and predictions for 2024:

Readers share appreciation for the things they’re grateful for

None — Sun, 26 Nov 2023 10:05:00 +0000

A kind, beautiful community

Column: Delegates in Congress are all-in for Maui’s people

None — Sun, 17 Sep 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Given how bitterly polarized Washington is today, it’s rare when leaders of both parties agree on something. Yet in the weeks following the devastating fires on Maui, that’s exactly what we’ve seen. We’ve repeatedly heard from President Joe Biden, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and colleagues on both sides of the aisle that they are committed to helping Maui.

Column: Distress can exacerbate domestic violence

None — Sun, 17 Sep 2023 10:05:00 +0000

The Lahaina fire on Maui in August rose to a disaster level that has been unparalleled in our state. Many community members may not be aware that among the victims and survivors of the fire are also victims of domestic violence.

Column: Land vultures snatch water, fanned Lahaina flames

None — Sun, 20 Aug 2023 10:05:00 +0000

It has been just over a week since wildfires gutted our community of Lahaina, and already the vulture capitalists are circling. It is so disgraceful to watch them trying to buy the land beneath our smoldering homes, and snatch up the precious water recently restored to our streams.

Letters: Readers react to the inferno that destroyed Lahaina

None — Sun, 20 Aug 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Their loss is shared by locals

Column: Housing action needed now against worsening crisis

None — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Housing is too expensive in Hawaii — and we all know it.

Column: Housing crisis warrants out-of-the-box thinking

None — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Last week, Gov. Josh Green signed a broad-ranging emergency proclamation to address the state’s chronic and long-standing housing crisis. The goal is ambitious: to help produce 50,000 new housing units in five years by streamlining the building/development permitting process. The proclamation deserves our support.

Column: Chance for sweeping and systemic change for housing

None — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 10:05:00 +0000

On Monday, Gov. Josh Green declared a housing emergency. Now it falls on journalists, advocates and concerned citizens to hold his administration accountable to produce housing that local families can afford.

Column: Housing order is a leap in the wrong direction

None — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Emotions ran high at the governor’s emergency proclamation news conference last week. Heartbreaking stories were shared about nurses and teachers leaving the islands, and interns dreaming of moving home — albeit with little details connecting these plights with the proclamation’s actual language.

Column: Is patriotism about power, or the power of aloha?

None — Sun, 02 Jul 2023 10:05:00 +0000

As we approach another Independence Day in America, it’s appropriate to ponder the meaning of patriotism.

Column: Lantern-floating helps to honor fallen military

None — Sun, 28 May 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Memorial Day is an important observance for our state and country. It offers us moments to pause and reflect on how fortunate we are as citizens of the United States of America who live with rights and freedoms that were created and defended by the heroes of our past. And every year, I look forward to the opportunity to pay homage to those special individuals who answered our nation’s call and experienced the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf.

Column: U.S. flag honors sacrifices; don’t trivialize it

None — Sun, 28 May 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Seeing all the flags honoring Memorial Day, I am reminded of the preciousness of the flag of the United States as a symbol of sacrifice and honor for those who willingly offered their lives as a commitment and obligation for the good of our nation. I am also reminded that veterans carry the pain and sorrow of the witnessed horrors of war.

Column: Progress for Hawaii: Better government

None — Sun, 21 May 2023 10:05:00 +0000

On Dec. 1, 2022, the Commission to Improve Standards of Conduct (CISC) made 31 recommendations (28 bills and three resolutions) to improve laws and rules on ethics, campaign finances, lobbying and related matters. It conducted public hearings and received input from the public, community leaders, state and county officials, experts in ethics, campaign finance, lobbying, elections, investigation and prosecution of corruption in government, among others.

Column: Progress for Hawaii: From the governor’s perspective

None — Sun, 21 May 2023 10:05:00 +0000

The people of Hawaii have sent a clear message.