Opinion
Talking story about values.
The staff reporters at Aloha State Daily have a clear mission on the news side of the house: to tell you what happened, not what to think or how to feel about what happened. Here in the opinion section, we want to talk story about values — what we think Hawai‘i should do, or should not do, and why. This is where we welcome informed debate and where people can argue for their perspective.
Pipikaula Corner: Shopping Carts II — This time, it's buy-back!
The bill to punish businesses when their shopping carts get stolen and abandoned moved forward, and got weirder.
A. Kam NapierFebruary 04, 2026
Community Voices: Bringing hula to Kentucky
As an alakaʻi of Kumu Kawika Keikialiʻi Alfiche, Kaila Chung has led Hui Kaululehua in Louisville since 2022.
Megan Ulu-Lani BoyantonFebruary 04, 2026
Community Voices: Tax versus Judiciary
There are two Hawaiʻi Supreme Court cases pending that involve fights over the extent to which courts can get involved with the Department of Taxation.
Tom YamachikaFebruary 03, 2026
Community Voices: Honolulu’s economic revitalization office has revitalized very little
Ultimately, this should come as a shock to no one.
Keliʻi Akina & Ph.D.February 02, 2026
Pipikaula Corner: Hawai‘i’s proposed anti-ICE laws mimic Minneapolis in the worst ways
On Tuesday, Gov. Green and Hawai‘i lawmakers stood in front of some wild allegations about ICE, and they're about to rush legislation as if every horror story on display were true.
A. Kam NapierJanuary 31, 2026
Whispers in the holding cells
If trauma and intense emotion can lead to hauntings, it's no surprise that a former police station, once home to holding cells, would harbor lingering echoes of the past.
Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya KapanuiJanuary 28, 2026
Hamada: Something important happened at Honolulu's anti-ICE protest
No violence at all. What we see happening on the Mainland isn't the way things need to be.
Rick HamadaJanuary 28, 2026
Pipikaula Corner: Legislature to clamp down on ... shopping carts!?
House Bill 1636 wants businesses to pay $500 fines when their shopping carts are stolen and dumped. There's an entire mindset at work behind the idea that the way to solve a problem — abandoned carts — is to rob the store a second time with a fine.
A. Kam NapierJanuary 27, 2026
Community Voices: New year, new variance
One way agencies can continue striving for improvement in their service to Hawaiʻi’s people is by filling out variance reports, and for legislators to facilitate that improvement.
Tom YamachikaJanuary 27, 2026
Community Voices: Finding her niche in repatriation
Sarah Sissum serves as the repatriation fellow at the Field Museum’s Center for Repatriation, Tribal Relations, and Provenance Research in Chicago. There, she helps facilitate the return of human remains and sacred objects to their respective Indigenous communities.
Megan Ulu-Lani BoyantonJanuary 26, 2026
Hawai‘i’s evolution, as related by Tom Coffman
“Statehood wasn't the end of history, but a transition to a new history,” Tom Coffman once said. “Statehood allowed Hawai‘i to open up, and to let people assert themselves more, and allowed the genie of the Hawaiian movement to get out of the lantern.” Here, our political historian examines Coffman's life in the Islands as an investigative journalist, historian and filmmaker.
Perry ArrasmithJanuary 26, 2026
Community Voices: Alternatives to ‘pausing’ Hawai‘i’s income tax cuts
A Grassroot analysis of the governor’s proposed budget shows that rather than walk back the tax cuts, the Legislature could simply identify and reallocate about $350 million a year in current state funding to make up for the governor’s projected expenses.
Keliʻi Akina & Ph.D.January 26, 2026