Over the past several weeks, a series of articles in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Honolulu Civil Beat marked a quiet but consequential shift in who is interpreting Hawaiʻi politics for the public. Two farewells and one arrival point to a change not simply in political voices, but in how the state’s political narrative is being shaped and understood.
On Sunday, the 14th of December, Civil Beatʻs Deputy Ideas Editor Richard Wiens penned an article about “The Silence of…
As part of our in memoriam for PHwSF co-founder and co-creator Brandon Dela Cruz and in recognition of his role in the creation of this blog, we reissue his original piece here, faithfully reproduced.
One is accused of drifting from the mission it was founded upon. The other is accused of holding to its mission so tightly that it may now violate the law. Different places, different histories — but both face the same question: how does an institution stay true to its purpose when the world keeps changing the rules around it?
Turning Hawaiian’s story into a morality play might make for easy headlines, but it does little justice to the reality. The airline wasn’t blindsided by its own arrogance — it was sideswiped by Covid, by Hawaii’s own prolonged shutdowns, by Japan’s deep and ongoing economic struggles. To say it “failed” because it didn’t copy Alaska is to confuse hindsight with analysis.
In the end, it’s a mixed bag so far – some deep cuts where support is most needed, and a few glimmers of consistency that, if nothing else, show someone’s still reading the fine print. For Native Hawaiians, it’s not the full erasure feared by some, but it’s certainly no full-throated embrace either.
While this is an interesting story, we’ll focus on the main point here – so, is Hawai‘i government procurement fixed? Technically, maybe. But let’s not declare victory just yet.
The state continues to seek applications for services and award contracts. But the level of trust any vendor might have in the State to “pay its bills on time” is increasingly strained, especially after revelations like this one, where once again, a contractor had to secure a loan just to keep operations going due to delayed payments.
Over the past few weeks, there has been a growing debate nationally about statements from the Trump Presidential Administration about…
Much like Charles Schulz, who retired shortly before passing, Gene closed his chapter in public service with quiet dignity, and then graduated from life in the same way.