Our View Editorials | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Editorial: Stop stiffing Hawaii service workers

None — Fri, 06 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

With yet another announcement from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) that a Hawaii business has shortchanged employees — this time by skimming off a portion of workers’ tips, in addition to failing to pay overtime — it’s time for a holiday-themed public service announcement to employers: Don’t do that.

Editorial: Japan tourism key turns with airport

None — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The post-pandemic return of Japanese tourists to Hawaii has been steady, but slow — an ongoing concern since these visitors have long been valued as mindful and respectful, and their spending notably helps to float the state’s economic boat. So every stride toward encouraging them back is very welcome — such as the recent full expansion of the Global Entry process at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport for Japanese citizens.

Editorial: Decide quickly on necessary landfill

None — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The city is walking a tightrope as it prepares to reveal next week “three potential paths” for creating a new landfill on Oahu. Problem is, not one of the locations scouted since 2022 as an alternative is legally viable.

Editorial: ’Tis the season for radical generosity

None — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

As holiday traditions go, Giving Tuesday is a relative newcomer, but it has shown its staying power. It was launched in 2012 as a project of New York City’s 92nd Street Y but now is operating globally as an independent nonprofit (online at www.givingtuesday.org) that pursues “radical generosity.”

Editorial: It is time for ‘empty homes tax’

None — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Honolulu has major housing problems, on two fronts: affordability and availability. Action is required in multiple ways to address these issues and make housing accessible to local residents — particularly young families and members of the workforce.

Editorial: Hawaii’s foster care kids need help — now

None — Sun, 01 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Hawaii’s Child Welfare Services (CWS) must overhaul its foster care operations, and the agency’s leadership has committed to get it done. There’s a catch, however: The full transformation is projected to take up to four years.

Editorial: Better watch out — for fraudsters

None — Fri, 29 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

’is the season for holiday cheer, time with family and friends, gift-giving and feasts — and scams and fraud. With the shopping in full swing, culminating in Black Friday sales and Cyber Monday, consumers are out in force, swiping credit cards, withdrawing funds from ATMs and making multiple purchases online. All of which inevitably translates to increased activity from ne’er-do-wells.

Editorial: Time to embrace peace, be thankful

None — Thu, 28 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Christmas usually edges out Thanksgiving in lists of Americans’ favorite holidays, but this year the annual family gathering around the dinner table is exceptionally well timed and particularly welcome.

Editorial: Public arts effort deserves viewers

None — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Early next year, the city will launch a public art initiative “Wahi Pana: Storied Places,” showcasing Oahu locations and landmarks by illuminating their cultural and historical significance. It’s a welcome move, foregrounding Hawaii’s art and artists, while involving communities — the contemporary source of Oahu’s culture — in the process.

Editorial: Hold tight against easing Hawaii gun laws

None — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Hawaii can be a dangerous place, like any population center, but by one measure, perhaps it’s less so than it might be.

Editorial: Concrete plan for downtown stones

None — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Far from the waning sands of Oahu’s North Shore, another insidious erosion problem gnaws away at downtown Honolulu. Historic sidewalks, made from slabs of granite and over a century old, and volcanic rock curbs are being pulled up and replaced by the city — with batches of significant stone strewn in base yards, piled under freeway overpasses or irresponsibly discarded.

Editorial: Sharper eyes, actions needed on West Oahu crime

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

Shocking incidents of violence have prompted increased official attention to crime in two very different parts of the island — Waikiki and the Waianae Coast — and focus is bringing results, according to reports in last week’s Star-Advertiser. That’s good news — and information that must be acted upon to keep the momentum going.

Editorial: More input, work on Oahu’s transit fares

None — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Fare changes for riders of TheBus, TheHandi-Van and Skyline are on the table. The city Department of Transportation Services (DTS) says that’s because transit system money is running short, by about $40 million.

Editorial: Simple safety can clip bird flu’s wings

None — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The sense of deja vu is hard to shake, after a viral outbreak that exploded to become the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Editorial: Take steps toward plastic bottle ban

None — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The Honolulu City Council has an opportunity to set an example for Oahu — and all Hawaii — by banning single-use plastic bottles at city facilities, then at city-sponsored events, in two phases over three-year periods.

Editorial: Keep open mind on Ala Wai bridge

None — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Is Ala Pono a bridge too far? That is at the center of a debate, underway for three years, about the planned pedestrian bridge over the Ala Wai Canal, crossing at the start of University Avenue.

Editorial: More outreach on sewer fee increase

None — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

A proposed sewer fee increase currently under Honolulu City Council review could see resident and commercial customers shell out more than 124% above what they pay now. A substantial hike to roll out over a 10-year period, not many in the community are aware of the plan, but they should be. It falls to the city Department of Environmental Services (ENV), which runs Oahu’s largest sewage utility, to perform wide community outreach on this costly but necessary endeavor.

Editorial: Take Navy to task over fuel disaster

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

The ugly reality of Red Hill has risen to the surface once again, and it’s much worse than previously divulged.

Editorial: Brace Big Isle STR rules, enforcement

None — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The Hawaii County Council is struggling with the proliferation of short-term rentals (STRs), which have taken residences off the market for locals and contributed to rising housing prices. Council Bill 121, tightening rules and turbo-charging enforcement, has been seen as a solution — but unfortunately, the county has been tussling over the bill now since November 2022.

Editorial: Keep Maui coastal protections strong

None — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The reality of coastal erosion from sea level rise is intensifying statewide, revealing more situations of structures precariously perched at ocean’s edge, undermined by waves and dangerously close to being swept out to sea.

Editorial: Help MA‘O thrive in Makaha Valley

None — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

A gift of 249 acres in Makaha Valley from The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation to MA‘O Organic Farms promises to open up additional opportunities and college assistance for young people interested in agriculture, while also adding to Oahu’s severely limited supply of affordable housing stock.

Editorial: City must decide on Queen Theater

None — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

How long can a diamond in the rough be allowed to languish before it loses its potential to shine? In the case of Kaimuki’s Queen Theater, which has deteriorated for nearly four decades since its closure, the project has waited long enough without the intervention it needs.

Editorial: Celebrate, honor all island heroes

None — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Today, let’s put aside the rancor, the bitterness, the divisiveness.

Editorial: Act decisively on condo sprinklers

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

One wonders whether members of the Honolulu City Council embraced the irony.

Editorial: More capacity for in-person voting

None — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

There’s a lot to like about Hawaii’s all-mail-balloting system, at least in theory. Every registered voter gets a ballot that they can fill out well ahead of Election Day and drop in a mailbox or in a ballot drop box. “Cast your vote in comfort,” the Office of Elections proclaims on its website. “Your ballot comes to you.”

Editorial: Shifting electorate signals discontent

None — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

While voters throughout Hawaii, overall, swung decisively toward Democratic candidates, there’s an indication of growing Republican loyalty among island voters. For both political parties, this could be an emerging trend to watch in solidly Democratic Hawaii — one that can’t be ignored, as witnessed on the national level with Donald Trump’s strong showing among diverse constituencies, including working-class and ethnic communities.

Editorial: Voters counting on Trump to lift U.S.

None — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

For most of Tuesday night, the presidential election had been too close to call — until it wasn’t.

Editorial: Follow through on sports tourism bet

None — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Hawaii has for decades steered its tourism industry with the guiding tenet “spend money to make money,” surging taxpayer dollars into national and international advertising campaigns, proactive outreach, infrastructure improvements, beautification and the creation of government bodies dedicated to the task of luring travelers. Those efforts cemented the islands’ reputation as America’s paradise, but recent visitor data suggests a prolonged nadir — started by the COVID-19 pandemic — for the state’s main industrial driver. Something must be done to shift that trajectory.

Editorial: Review all options before casting vote

None — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

After many grueling months, Election Day 2024 is finally here. On Tuesday, Americans get a final day to give their final answer on who should lead our nation for the next four years as president: the Democratic Party’s Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz, or the Republican Party’s Donald Trump and JD Vance. In this razor-thin race, the Star-Advertiser endorsed Harris-Walz on Oct. 20, starting a week’s worth of editorial board endorsements, after vetting of candidates and issues. The goal, always, was to keep in mind the best interests of this state and the nation.

Editorial: New Oahu jail an urgent necessity

None — Sun, 03 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

One needn’t be a bleeding heart to support a revamping of Hawaii’s justice and correctional systems. Analysts fixated on cost control and return on investment are likely to come to a similar point, because of one simple fact: It costs much more to lock people up than to divert people from jail and prison, providing rehabilitation services in a more nimble manner.

Editorial: Insurers must not direct patient care

None — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

In today’s health-care world, increasingly dictated by insurance companies over physicians’ expertise, it is encouraging that the Hawaii Supreme Court is expediting a lawsuit that has hefty potential to aid those who really matter: the patients.

Editorial: Do more to protect isles’ pedestrians

None — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The numbers have been telling the story of Hawaii’s pedestrian safety record, and it’s an unhappy tale.

Editorial: Isles’ aging meth abusers need help

None — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Newly parsed data on drug overdose deaths provides a fresh look at one of the state’s most insidious killers, revealing older adults are disproportionately impacted by methamphetamine abuse than younger users. The disturbing statistics are a dark addendum to common consensus on substance use disorder (SUD), and necessitate a rethink of existing prevention and treatment protocols.

Editorial: Mobilize all assets to rid Hawaii of pests

None — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Destructive coconut rhinoceros beetles (CRBs) have spread widely on Oahu, and are now considered too firmly established to be eradicated. They bore into the tops of palms, bananas and native plants, mutilating and killing them — and that’s a very real threat: to Hawaii’s yards and parks, widely planted with palms; to cash crops, including coconuts, bananas and nursery palms; and to culturally important plantings, such as the legendary palms of Pokai Bay, said to have been the first coconut trees brought to Hawaii.

Editorial: Feds must transfer more usable land

None — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 10:05:00 +0000

There’s plenty to unpack in the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands’ current proposal for a homestead community in Ewa Beach, on the site of the former Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

Editorial: Big expectations for new University of Hawaii president

None — Sun, 27 Oct 2024 10:05:00 +0000

A new era at the University of Hawaii will dawn with the new year, now that Wendy Hensel has been selected as the UH system’s 16th president. In January, Hensel succeeds David Lassner, who’ll retire after 11-plus successful years at the helm. Hopes are high, as Hensel goes after the high hurdles achieved under Lassner — and residents will certainly be watching to ensure that she’s worth every single dollar of a bumped-up presidential salary.

Editorial: Trust OHA stewards needed

None — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The trustees for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs oversee OHA’s priorities, policies and actions, and must steward agency resources. Voters, in turn, must be responsible in choosing the trustees, who are elected by a public vote, choosing knowledgeable and capable representatives to steer decisions that affect not just Native Hawaiians, but the state as a whole.

Editorial: Revision questions mostly cut-and-dry

None — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 10:05:00 +0000

City Charter amendments might not carry the foundational gravity of state Constitution changes, but issues in play are typically hot topics that impact the day-to-day lives of Oahu residents. This year’s four Charter questions on the ballot touch on topical, often contentious, matters. With the exception of one, the proposed amendments are clear-cut and straight-forward (passage requires a simple majority vote, so blank and over votes don’t factor in).

Editorial: No controversy to ratify amendments

None — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Constitutional amendments can be quite controversial, even risky. There is a reason why the bar is set high for changing foundational documents. However, the two that voters will confront between now and Election Day, Nov. 5, do not fall into that category. Both should be easy to move along with a “yes” vote. (And remember, blank votes here count as “no,” so it’s crucial to cast in the affirmative.)

Editorial: Not all incumbents should be reelected

None — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 10:05:00 +0000

As major leadership changes come to the state House, thanks to primary-election upsets and no-incumbent races, voters also will have a hand in influencing the chamber’s dynamics and policymaking, via the representatives they elect on Nov. 5.