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This week, I wanted to give some additional context in depth to a commentary by new Civil Beat columnist Olin Lagon entitled “A Subsidy Is a Statement About Who Matters.” Our state does a lot of giving and taking when it comes to energy use. We currently give tax credits for clean energy use and […] The post Clean Energy Schizophrenia appeared first on Hawaii Reporter .
Police departments don’t always do a particularly good job of showing the public what police officers actually do. The San Francisco Police Department has found one very effective way to change that: show people. SFPD regularly posts short videos that take viewers behind the scenes of actual police operations—from identifying and tracking suspects with surveillance […] The post The San Francisco…
This week we will be discussing some of the proposals on the ballot in Honolulu that have been put forward by the Honolulu Charter Commission. (If you are in another county, don’t click the Close button just yet, because this issue may be coming to your island soon.). This year, the Charter Commission has […] The post Honolulu Special Funds appeared first on Hawaii Reporter .
This week, I wanted to share some inspiration I found in Aloha State Daily columnist Sterling Higa’s “Hawai‘I Millionaire Tax: Why the New 13% Bracket Won’t Be the Last.” Countless people and organizations have implored lawmakers to make “the wealthy” pay their “fair share.” Of course, neither “the wealthy” nor “fair share” are defined. Only […] The post Taxation of Envy appeared first on Hawaii…
The Governor’s final veto decisions are in. Out of 267 bills that the 2026 Legislature sent to him, he vetoed one of them and reduced an appropriation line item in another. This week we will be discussing the line-itemed bill, SB 2600. Back in 1978 when we last had a constitutional convention, delegates thought that […] The post The One Dollar Solution appeared first on Hawaii Reporter .
About a year ago, we wrote about a special fund that we called the Dam Special Fund, and that we were suing the State over it. Our state constitution has a number of provisions in it that are designed to control how our government spends our money. (Not “their” money, hmph.) Most of these provisions […] The post Why Care About the Dam Special Fund appeared first on Hawaii Reporter .
I haven’t made it lately to Mauna Loa, as depicted in the photo above, but there’s no question the hiking boots I’m reviewing could handle the trek. Instead, I’ve remained on Oahu, hiking the Mauʻumae Ridge Trail (also known as the Lanipō Trail) atop Wilhelmina Rise. Before scrutinizing LOWA’s newest footwear, it’s worth revisiting the […] The post Where did you go in your LOWA Renegades? appeared…
The idea behind an empty homes tax is to impose an outrageously high cost on residential property that is unoccupied, to force owners to either live in the property or rent it out. The theory is that this would alleviate the housing shortage here in Honolulu. We have written about such a tax on several […] The post Empty Homes Tax Won’t Go Away appeared first on Hawaii Reporter .
If you’ve scrolled past a surf clip lately captioned “Monkey” or “Johnny the Ripper” and wondered whether you were looking at the same surfer twice, you’re not alone. Michael Van Hohenstein 23, and John Michael Van Hohenstein 22, are brothers that are often mistaken as twins or even the same person. And both are quietly […] The post Two Brothers, One Legendary Beach: Meet Waikīkī’s Rising WSL…
About a year ago, we wrote about one part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that could really hurt our State economically. It’s about the federal SNAP program to help needy families with food costs. It used to be fully funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. So, Hawaii citizens benefited from this federal […] The post SNAP Disaster Imminent appeared first on Hawaii Reporter .
