“Every police officer should question whether the War on Drugs is worth fighting, particularly when there are other policy options that would result in less crime, addiction, disease and death.”
– Officer David Bratzer of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, discussing his group’s work in a January 14 MauiTime interview
“It appears the County is on track to get out of this predicament. Whether they—and so many others—will avoid getting caught in the next financial bubble is another matter.”
– Contributor Doug Levin, discussing Maui County’s lawsuit against Merrill Lynch over a $32 million investment gone bad, February 25
“Some people dismiss social media services like Twitter as frivolous and narcissistic. But that’s missing the point. They’re just tools—what matters is what we do with them. And this week, when the sirens blared and the water threatened to rise, what we did with them definitely mattered.”
– Publisher Tommy Russo, discussing local coverage of the tsunami scare, March 4
“I have complained bitterly about this. I am an Upcountry girl. All my life I’ve felt, what is more Upcountry than Makawao? Only to find out my home isn’t in the [Upcountry] district.”
– Councilmember Gladys Baisa, after it was revealed that she maintained a tax exemption on a home in Makawao despite claiming to reside in Kula, in a March 11 MauiTime interview
“Few backers of the health care bill want to dwell on its requirement that everyone get coverage from the private insurance industry—a stunning transfer of power and wealth that will greatly boost the leverage of an already autocratic corporate state.”
– Contributor Norman Solomon, April 1
“I am calling upon teachers and principals to voluntarily agree to come back for the remaining three days this school year. This would be a welcome and significant gesture to heal our community.”
– Gov. Linda Lingle, proposing a Furlough Friday “solution” that teachers’ union President Wil Okabe said would violate state law, April 29
“I think we have a right to a higher standard by the people we employ in government…the solutions are not rocket science. The County needs to act, or pay the consequences.”
– Mauian John Seebart, discussing the injection-well issue in contributor Rob Parsons’s May 20 feature “Injecting Controversy”
“We have sent a message to the United States Congress. We have sent a message to the national Democrats. We have sent a message to the machine.”
– Rep.Charles Djou, in a victory speech at state Republican headquarters, May 22
“[The Tea Party] is like a wave. All waves dissipate into the sand. No matter what kind of kinetic energy is associated with them, they dissipate into the sand.”
– Then-candidate Neil Abercrombie, in a June 3 MauiTime interview
“When voices disappear, when the number of outlets sifting and disseminating information decreases, that’s never a good thing.”
– Editor Jacob Shafer, discussing the consolidation of Oahu’s two daily newspapers, June 10
“Crises come and crises go. But in the end, bitter or no, it is totally worth it. Even if just for the drugs and prune juice.”
– Associate Editor Anu “Kula Kid” Yagi, July 1
“After months of listening to Hawaii’s citizens express to me in writing and in person their deeply held beliefs and heartfelt reasons for supporting or opposing the civil unions bill, I have made the decision to veto HB444.”
– Gov. Linda Lingle, July 6
“The military-tourism economy is like a fast food diet. You can get plenty of calories from a fast food meal, but if that was the only food you ate, it would eventually make you obese and sick.”
– Anti-war activist Kajihiro, who appeared on Maui on the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, in a July 29 MauiTime interview
“I’m flabbergasted and heartbroken that the Obama Administration has chosen to protect the wrongdoings of the Israeli government, as virtually every past administration has done.”
– Ret. Col. Ann Wright of Oahu, discussing her arrest and capture by Israeli forces in an incident that left nine dead, in an August 12 MauiTime interview
“This isn’t about jobs versus trees. It’s about recognizing what kind of planning needs to be done when you have such a rich heritage site.”
– Biologist Lee Altenberg, discussing native plant protection at the Wailea 670 development in contributor Lucienne De Naie’s September 30 feature “Life of the Land”
“Duke [Aiona] will win because the Church has been behind him the entire time operating in the POWER and the AUTHORITY of the NAME OF JESUS!”
– Hawaii Republican Party Chair Jonah Ka‘auwai, in an e-mail sent to church groups that surfaced September 1
“While [Ka‘auwai] has the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion to make such a statement, the general public needs to understand that he does not speak for all Christians.”
– Rev. John Heidel of the Interfaith Alliance Hawaii, in an October 28 MauiTime interview
“We’re under no illusions that Alan Arakawa will wave a magic wand and make our problems disappear, and we’re quite certain that if he’s elected we’ll have cause to criticize his decisions.”
– From MauiTime’s October 28 general election endorsements, in which we picked Arakawa over incumbent Charmaine Tavares
“The campaign is over. It’s time to put away the signs and slogans and matching T-shirts and get down to the messy, often frustrating work of governing.”
– Editor Jacob Shafer, November 4
“The time is right for Hawaii to unleash a project of this nature. We have the talent in front of the camera, the experience behind it.”
– Writer-director Brian Kohne, discussing his Maui-made film Get A Job in a November 24 MauiTime interview
“Allowing the government to take naked pictures and touch our bodies just goes too far. Once we betray our own values, we stop looking like a free America, and the terrorists win.”
– ACLU Hawaii spokesperson Laurie Temple, discussing TSA’s controversial screening procedures in a December 2 MauiTime interview
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