Opinion

Community Voices: Waikīkī Beachboys seek to restore historic koa canoe

For more than four decades, Kamoho Aliʻi, beloved traditional koa waʻa of the Waikīkī Beachboys Canoe Club has served as a physical connection to the club’s roots. The koa canoe has been in dry dock for more than two decades, but fundraising efforts to restore it are currently underway.

Community Voices: Tax, spend, regulate, repeat

In Hawaiʻi, business leaders have watched for years as state and county policymakers talk about lowering the cost of living or encouraging economic growth. But what has really happened?

The Hauntings of Waimea Canyon

Carved by rainwater over ages, Kauai's Waimea Canyon holds mysteries both ancient and modern. Have you ever felt watched while hiking the canyon's trails?

Community Voices: 'The Time Taxʻ: solutions for when government wastes our time

In her book, journalist and author Annie Lowrey explores how government paperwork, bureaucracy and administrative hurdles cause an “extortionate” burden on American citizens. She notes that Americans spend 12 billion hours every year filling out government forms. Tom Yamachika of Tax Foundation of Hawaiʻi writes that the same is true within our stateʻs tax system, where changing your address can become a major headache.

Will the Maritime Museum ever return?

The Hawai‘i Maritime Center has been closed for 20 years, standing termite-eaten and faded next to Aloha Tower. Its signature exhibit, the historic ship Falls of Clyde, was towed out sea and sunk last year as unsalvageable. ASD political historian Perry Arrasmith explains where the center came from in the first place and what might happen with it next.

Cornell fraternity rape lawsuit: What Greek life worships

A 20-year-old walks from a bar to a fraternity house at 11 p.m. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on why Greek life can’t be reformed and what the church owes the campus next door.

Changing Kaka‘ako: Remembering Ward Warehouse

Ward Warehouse was never meant to last — even the previous owners who built it, Victoria Ward Ltd, always intended for offices and high-rises to take its place. But it had a four-decade run from its 1975 opening to its 2017 demolition, featuring such businesses as Old Spaghetti Factory, Orson's, The Liquor Collection, Nohea Gallery and more. Here's a look back at the shopping center, including a glimpse of the neighborhood before Ward Warehouse came along and fishing, rather than shopping, was the area's industry.

Hawaiʻi’s Invisible Childcare Subsidy: Free Kūpuna Labor

In the first of a two-part series, ASD columnist Ray Tsuchiyama explores the economics of the childcare crisis in Hawai‘i, including the dimensions we're not talking about, but should.

Waterfront Plaza responds to "What Haunts Waterfront Plaza"

Community Voices: OHA documentary examines history, asks about future of military-leased lands

Learn more about "the history of U.S. military use of Hawaiʻi’s public trust lands and the consequential decisions approaching as longstanding military leases begin to expire," from The Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The premiere of the organization's documentary "Held in Trust: The Future of Hawaiʻi’s Public Lands Beyond Military Leases," will air at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 8 across television stations statewide, as well as via live stream on its site.

Hamada: Tourism on the rocks

We said we wanted fewer visitors and our wish was granted — and now revenue is dropping. Where do we go from here?

Pipikaula Corner: Limiting the wrong terms

It's an election year, and some people are running on the popular idea that legislators and Congress should have term limits to prevent lifers from working the system. ASD Editor in Chief A. Kam Napier argues this is a great idea, with the wrong target. What if it's actually the government workforce itself that needs a term limit?

Community Voices: Significant fuel shipments quietly head to Hawaiʻi under Jones Act waiver

Hawaiʻi has received four shipments of fuel from refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast — something that hasn’t happened for at least two decades.

What Haunts Waterfront Plaza

Back in the day, when this complex was known as Restaurant Row, many of us enjoyed being pleasantly haunted by ’50s tunes at Rose City Diner or catching sight of celebrities at Black Orchid. But even then, some people were haunted by far more disturbing sights, perhaps owing to a cemetery that had been at the same location long ago.

Moanalua won four state titles: Who paid?

In 2012, a parent accused a Roosevelt coach of kissing a 13-year-old wrestler. The next year, Moanalua hired him and he won four state titles. ASD columnist Sterling Higa on idolatry, mandated reporting, and the trophy case nobody wants to look inside.

A silent constitutional amendment for the courts

One of the things you'll be asked to decide as a voter in the general election is whether or not the State Constitution should be changed to give the state Senate more time to review people nominated to be judges. ASD political historian Perry Arrasmith explains how this got on the ballot and what the change could mean for the judicial system.

The Hawaiʻi GOP’s real problem isn’t its platform

Today, a party that runs on “faith, family, freedom” has a lieutenant governor candidate who traces mankind to the kalo plant. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on why civic renewal in Hawaiʻi starts with what we worship, and why the greatest Hawaiian statesman — Kamehameha III (Kauikeaouli) — is the proof.

Community Voices: Dear Mr. Paxton, pay your taxes

Paxton owns some property on Maui, according to reporting from a university affiliated news organization in Texas and Maui County property records. And the trust that manages his island home hasn’t paid his taxes.

Community Voices: Getting into tax court

The moral of the story is this: if you have, or think you may have, a dispute with the Tax Department over taxes, get yourself a good tax practitioner who knows the rules and traps so you can skirt the edges and avoid falling into the pitfalls. And then, of course, lawmakers need to take a look at these rules and change them to get rid of the unfairness.

Community Voices: How Honolulu can learn from Auckland

In Auckland, New Zealand, for example, officials in 2016 authorized up to three dwellings per lot in residential areas and taller apartment buildings in certain transit areas. Homebuilding there boomed as a result, and the city issued 112,000 permits for new dwellings in the six years after the sweeping reforms were enacted, increasing the housing stock by 20%.

Hamada: There are times when a visit to the stream of consciousness

ASD columnist Rick Hamada shares woes about more impending storms along with Honolulu horror stories, hidden gems and small town issues. He even shares recommendations for new music by a young Phuket artist and TV shows highlighting talent.

Hawaiʻi Republican Party should put Hawaiʻi first, not the national brand

Can my kids afford to stay? Who will care for my mother? ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on why Hawaiʻi Republicans should start with the questions local families ask.

Honolulu's next story is not about rail. It is about jobs.

Could a Skyline station become the center of a local economy where people live, work, shop and build businesses in the same neighborhood?

Pipikaula Corner: Bowfin leads the way

In Pearl Harbor, the Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum is celebrating its 45th anniversary with the debut of $4 million worth of new exhibits. This comes just five years after a $20-million overhaul of the entire museum to bring it into the 21st century. ASD Editor in Chief A. Kam Napier explains why this is possible for a small, historic ship nonprofit.