Kicking the homeless problem down the road
It isn’t hard to find the reasons that we’re now facing a human disaster in the lack of affordable housing which has driven more and ore people onto the streets. At least part of it is official...
View ArticleLongtime residents of Kahala Avenue are a rare breed
In response to my “Kahala Trivia” post yesterday, Denby Fawcett raised a question. Check out Kahala Avenue residents to see how many have lived there for a long time. As a former Kahala Avenue...
View ArticleUnderstaffing causing more city problems
Two different news stories point to more problems in Honolulu due to understaffing at the city. The understaffing seems to be undercutting the ability of the city to deliver essential services. Trash...
View ArticlePlan to address UH athletic deficit draws quick pushback
The University of Hawaii at Manoa athletic program aired a plan last week for dealing with its chronic deficit, but the plan is already getting push back from at least one key constituency, the...
View ArticleA reader says: I won’t pay for news.
I received an interesting email this week from a regular reader who also takes the time to write long, detailed essays on a number of issue which are submitted as comments on my blog posts. The mail...
View ArticleFormer Gov. Lingle in the middle of Illinois budget standoff
Hmmm. Remember Linda Lingle? Yes, Hawaii’s Linda Lingle. Back at the beginning of 2015, she signed on as a consultant, and chief operating officer, for newly elected Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner. Rainer,...
View ArticleCity’s explanation of discrepancies in real property tax assessments don’t...
Thanks to Star-Advertiser business writer, Andrew Gomes, for his story on Sunday about the discrepancies between the selling prices of high-value Oahu homes and their often much lower appraisals for...
View ArticleBakersfield, Boise, or this?
After days of watching winter do its thing along the east coast, I can’t resist posting this morning’s photo taken just after the sun made its appearance. It was a typical Hawaii winter day. But if you...
View ArticleGood series on road maintenance by the Star-Advertiser
Star-Advertiser reporter Marcel Honore deserves credit for his excellent package of stories on the sad state of island roads, which was also well illustrated and presented to readers. The stories went...
View ArticleOil bust bad news for many states
Rock bottom oil prices have been a boon for drivers. But for states dependent on the oil industry, it’s an unfolding economic disaster. Here’s a graphic warning about undue reliance on a single...
View ArticleFormer project architects speak out about rail design
Pacific Business News reporter Kathleen Gallagher came up with two critical stories on Honolulu’s rail project over the past two weeks. On March 15, she reported on the departure of the project’s chief...
View ArticleGiant hotel merger gets little attention in local news media
If you haven’t been reading business news over the past few months, you might not have been following the bidding between Marriott and a rival, Anbang Insurance Group Co. Ltd., to takeover the Starwood...
View ArticleA good read–Living through a social media backlash
Here’s one for your Sunday reading: “The Weird Redemption of SF’s Most Reviled Tech Bro,” by Lauren Smiley, from Backchannel.com. It’s long, the kind of length we don’t see that much of these days. And...
View ArticleFacing the rail conundrum
Honolulu’s rail project poses a particularly tricky issue at this point in its life. We’ve already spent a vast amount on it, but the estimated total still to go keeps growing at an alarming pace. And...
View ArticleRecommended: “In praise of incrementalism”
Do you listen to Freakonomics Radio? I usually download their programs as podcasts and listen when I have time. I would highly recommend this week’s episode, “In Praise of Incrementalism.” It’s aimed...
View ArticleAirport maintenance woes still obvious to travelers
Ah, let’s hear it for our highly ranked airport in Honolulu! You know that this ranking didn’t take into account the physical condition of the airport or the level of its maintenance. We left Honolulu...
View ArticleWatching the rising waters
A New York Times story published this week reports that the economic impact of climate change and rising sea levels on coastal real estate “could surpass that of the bursting dot-com and real estate...
View ArticleHints about the future of rural America?
I thought these observations gleaned from recent news stories, were worth sharing. They arrived in emails from someone who comments as “Compare Decide”. The good news is that JC Penney has made its...
View ArticleTrump’s travel ban could trip up the state
A marked decrease in international travelers to the U.S. following Trump’s initial ban on travel from seven countries, already seen in data from different parts of the travel industry, could end up...
View ArticleTrump budget to signal huge retreat from world affairs
Foreign Policy magazine is reporting that the Trump administration is going to propose slashing more than half of what the U.S. spends annually for United Nations’ programs (“White House Seeks to Cut...
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