Aloha Airlines closed down. ATA Airlines closed down. Now, Aloha Airlines Cargo closed down. The cargo group has had 85-percent of the island’s air cargo and ends up worth nothing to anyone except customers, and a few remaining employees. How bad was the management at Aloha? Most of what Hawaii needs in goods is imported, and … Read More »

I’m sure Honolulu elected a new Mayor a few years ago. Since Waikiki spilled all that raw sewage in the Ala Wai Canal we haven’t seen much of the city’s Mayor. That stands in stark contrast to the high profile of Honolulu’s last two Mayors of note; Frank Fasi and Jeremy Harris, both of who … Read More »

This is an idea whose time has come. Let the public decide whether to spend money on steel rail mass transit or not. The Stop Rail Now organization wants to put the issue of ‘to rail or not to rail’ on the ballot to let Oahu’s voters decide the issue. Think about the advantages such … Read More »

Laura Brown asks, “Is Hawaii’s Government as Smart as a Fifth Grader?“ Before you answer the question yourself, consider the situation. There’s math and there’s logic, and sometimes the two don’t fit well together. It’s something like Mark Twain’s ‘Lies, damned lies, and statistics.’ State legislators may cut per-pupil charter school funding, but it’s a … Read More »

It’s always interesting to see where the state spends money. New laws usually mean money out the door in the form of appropriations. Governor Linda Lingle signed a bill which appropriated $38-million for the expenses of state government. A month later she signed a bill, an emergency appropriation at that, for $270,000 to pay for … Read More »

Hawaii’s charter schools are about to receive a smaller slice of the state’s budget pie, and they’re not happy about it. Who could blame them. Governor Lingle’s budget, approved by legislators, cuts funding of Charter School students by an estimated $400 to $900 per student, per year. Before you stand up and yell out, ‘Cry … Read More »