Hey, if anyone wants to give Representatives Lynn DeCoite, D–13th District, and Kyle Yamashita, D–12th District, a little campaign cash, you can do so in person tonight. All you have to do is fly to Honolulu and stop by the restaurant Mandalay, which specializes in “Cantonese cuisine and Hong Kong style dim sum” tonight (Thursday, […]
Will the public lose in the war between Hawaii’s Office of Information Practices and the Civil Beat Law Center?
This story shouldn’t exist. I shouldn’t have to write it, and you certainly shouldn’t need to read it. But if you believe in democracy and open, honest government, then nothing about the political state of affairs in this country, state or county is even close to optimal. Which is why I’m writing this story, which […]
Hawaii Gov. David Ige signs pregnancy center protection bill
And now for some good news for anyone who values women’s health. Earlier this week Hawaii Governor David Ige signed SB 501 into law. Now known as the Act 200, the new law now requires so-called “limited service pregnancy centers (LSPCs)” to offer complete information about reproductive health services to any women who come in seeking help […]
Read Senator Gil Keith-Agaran’s 2017 UH Maui College Commencement Address
University of Hawaii Maui College officials awarded 780 Certificates, Associate degrees, Bachelor’s degrees, Master’s degrees and Doctorate degrees during the college’s May 11 commencement ceremony. State Senator Gil Keith-Agaran, D–Wailuku, Waihe`e, Kahului, delivered the commencement address. Curious as to what Keith-Agaran said, I requested a copy of his speech from the college. Not surprisingly, it’s intelligent, […]
MauiTime 2016 Year In Review
Even without the election of Republican Donald Trump to be President of the United States, this was a monstrous year. We’ve had to deal with job losses, outrageous giveaways to big business and just a general slide away from democratic protections and open government assurances. We like to think of Hawaii (and Maui especially) as […]
Our take on the 2016 Hawaii Primary Election results for Maui County
Well, we have another Primary Election under our belts–another day in the state’s history when we let a sliver of the population narrow our choices for political leadership. As expected, turnout statewide was pretty lousy–a mere 34.8 percent of Hawaii’s registered voters actually showed up (in Maui County, turnout was an even worse 29.6 percent). […]
MauiTime 2016 Hawaii State Primary Election Endorsement Guide
A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. -John Stuart Mill I enjoy democracy immensely. It is […]
Know Your 2016 Maui County Election Candidate: Gil Keith-Agaran
Though state Senator Gil Keith-Agaran, D–Kahului, Waihee and Wailuku, is running for reelection this year, he has no challengers. Still, he’ll be on the ballot and we wanted to know his thoughts on some of what we think are the biggest state issues of the year. And he obliged. In fact, pay close attention to […]
Hawaii Legislature passes HB 2501 ‘water rights’ bill that helps Alexander and Baldwin
Well, they did it. Yesterday, the Hawaii state Senate voted to approve House Bill 2501, which permits Alexander & Baldwin (A&B) to keep diverting East Maui streams for another three years. “The most important thing to understand about HB 2501 is that the Legislature is circumventing a January state court ruling that found A&B has […]
New Hawaii bill reaffirms public’s right to film law enforcement
Let’s talk briefly about Senate Bill 2439, introduced by Sen. Gil Keith-Agaran, D–Kahului. It reaffirms the public’s right to record or photograph “a law enforcement officer while the officer is in the performance of the officer’s duties in a public place or under circumstances in which the officer has no reasonable expectation of privacy.” Not too […]
Hawaii state Legislature toys with mandating a new inter-island ferry
And now friends, to paraphrase William Shakespeare, let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of superferries. Not sure if you noticed–it didn’t get a lot of play–but Gov. David Ige mentioned the old Hawaii Superferry in his Jan. 25 State of the State Address. It was part of a section labeled “Truthfulness.” […]
New report from Guernsey recommends County of Maui seek an independent electric utility operator
And now on to an issue near and dear to all of our hearts–power utility operation! Most of Maui Electric Company’s (MECO’s) 70,000 or so customers probably don’t give the utility much thought (except maybe when the bill arrives), but the County of Maui itself is very interested in the matter right now. So much […]
Officials break ground on new Kihei High School
Though calls for a public high school in Kihei are probably older than he is, state Representative Kaniela Ing, D–South Maui, got top billing in a Jan. 11 press release on the school’s long-awaited ground-breaking. “I am ecstatic to see hundreds of hours of tireless work by so many people, over so many years, finally […]
Leading on Leave, Hawaii as the ‘Ohana State’
Last month, the U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez came to Hawaii to convene a roundtable on paid family leave. I’ve been following this movement for a few years, so I was not surprised when the secretary talked about the high numbers of qualified women who drop out of the workforce because the “childcare math” […]
Will Hawaii Gov. David Ige force county Liquor Control departments to define ‘dancing?’
After something like a decade of earnest testimony and moneyless lobbying, it looks like the Maui Dance Advocates may finally–FINALLY!–win their fight to force the Maui County Department of Liquor Control to do something they’ve steadfastly refused to do: define “dancing.” For many years, the LC has forced liquor licensees to regulate where and when […]
Hawaii state Legislature taking up Maui LC dancing regulations yet again
Here’s a story you’ve heard many, many times before: the Hawaii state Legislature is considering a bill that would force all the county Liquor Control departments to define “dancing.” Known as SB 868, the bill was introduced by 14 state Senators including Maui’s own J. Kalani English, Roz Baker and Gil Keith-Agaran. “As the co-founder […]