Silent boos and broken bridges
Politics Hawaii
by Stan Fichtman
2w ago
As reported by this blogger on the Hawaii State Senate’s vote to deny Alapaki Nahale-a a second term as a Board of Regent for the University of Hawaii, it was sensed strongly that the vote didn’t go down well with many people. Especially those who saw the vote in real time, that day, in the gallery. However, others took issue with it and made it known in various mediums, including print. Both Civil Beat and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser made mention of the vote. And in the case of Civil Beat, included a visual in the form of an editorial cartoon.  But seeing how the press reacted to the vo ..read more
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Testing the (Senate President’s) power
Politics Hawaii
by Stan Fichtman
3w ago
As an observer of politics in Hawai‘i, one of the areas that this blogger likes to witness is when a vote comes up that may show just how strong a coalition is for a leader in the Legislature. Hawaii State Senate, just before the March 5, 2024 floor session PC: PHwSF Those leaders, the Senate President and the House Chair are voted in by the members of the respective body, with the majority vote installing the nominee for that position. Leaders in those positions make up a part of the overall leadership of the state, responsible for maintaining business in the respective chamber, as part of th ..read more
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Could Hawaiian have been Alaska? (Part 1)
Politics Hawaii
by Stan Fichtman
1M ago
In this blogger’s continued analysis of the buyout of Hawaiian Airlines by Alaska Airlines, announced in December 2023, questions of “what if” came to mind when it came to what Hawaiian Airlines could have been.  More specifically, could Hawaiian Airlines have grown to something bigger than itself if it took the growth model of Alaska Airlines, over a long period? The reason for this question is in the documents to buy out Hawaiian, with the local airline being much smaller than Alaska Airlines, making the transaction more of a buyout than a merger.  It is an intriguing “what if” que ..read more
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Second Act
Politics Hawaii
by Stan Fichtman
1M ago
As the Hawaii State Legislature has convened in late January to conduct business, it will also be hearing from candidates for offices appointed by the Governor. As many who read this blog know, that is in a wide, expansive list of offices that include various certification boards, all the way to those who serves on the Hawaii Tourism Authority.  One of the boards that Governor Green can appoint is the University of Hawaii Board of Regents. Most times those appointments may make a short story on the 6:00 evening news, or a few inches of newsprint in your daily newspaper. Most of the time t ..read more
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At the bottom of the speech
Politics Hawaii
by Stan Fichtman
2M ago
The Hawaii House of Representatives where the Governor gives their State of the State address every January PC: Office of the Governor On Monday, January 22nd, about a half-week after the start of the Legislative Session for the State of Hawaii, Governor Josh Green gave his second State of the State address. Before the speech, Governor Green had already identified two key issues to emphasize – Housing and recovery from the wildfires in Lahaina. These are the two most pressing issues for the people of Hawaii currently. As it stands, the issue of housing Lahaina wildfire victims and addressing t ..read more
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A negotiated restructuring
Politics Hawaii
by Stan Fichtman
2M ago
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 2024, this blogger was preparing to write for their post that is done every other week on the Politics Hawaii web page. As the computer was firing up and the writing fingers started working the keyboard, a notice came in from a friend, about a storied newspaper in town. It was the news that the Honolulu Star Advertiserʻs owner, Black Press Ltd. of Canada, was entering court restructuring and that the Star Advertiserʻs owners would change to a hui of companies, the main one being out of Mississippi. Furthermore, it was noted at the start of the article in the Star ..read more
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It might be called Hawaiian, but it isn’t Hawaii-owned
Politics Hawaii
by Stan Fichtman
3M ago
The second article in a series about the buyout of Hawaiian Airlines by Alaska Airlines A legacy of the last “local” owner of Hawaiian Airlines is seen when one flies to the Kapalua West Maui airport. The airport code – JHM – is the initial of the airline’s last owner – John H. Magoon. Hawaiian Airlines built the airport before the state took over ownership of it in the 90’s PC: “Kapalua Airport Terminal 2009” by Ryan Eigenbrode is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. There has been a lack of historical analysis on Hawaiian Airlines amidst the media and aviation followers analyzing the buyout of ..read more
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Marian, Jim, and the boats
Politics Hawaii
by Stan Fichtman
3M ago
With a Saturday full of preparing the apartment for Christmas, this blogger had almost forgotten that a certain annual event was happening further east of McCully. Then I saw a Facebook post from friends, saying they were on their way to this unique holiday event – the Hawaii Kai Holiday Boat Parade. I then remembered that, in the many losses of friends in 2023, the annual tradition of going out to Marian and Jim Grey’s house in Hawaii Kai to see the parade would be no more. And like the departure of former State Senator Sam Slom, the departure of Marian first, and then Jim in October 2023, th ..read more
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How times have changed
Politics Hawaii
by Stan Fichtman
4M ago
As this humble blogger spoke to a Church Elder on Sunday, the 3rd of December, my phone started going off something terrible. “What was it?” I thought as I ended the conversation with the Elder… earthquake? Did something happen at home? The Christmas brunch I was about to host a table for had a problem? No, it turned out that it was the announcement, and subsequent texts by friends telling me, that Hawaiian Airlines had agreed to be purchased by Alaska Airlines for $1.9 billion and absorption of the $900 million debt Hawaiian had on the books. Of course, the variety of questions that everyone ..read more
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Fundraiser season is upon us
Politics Hawaii
by Stan Fichtman
4M ago
Along with the preparations for Thanksgiving dinner, the decorating of one’s house for the holiday season, and being sure that vacation time is put in for people, your elected government officials are also prepping for another type of season. That is the start of the “fundraising season” for candidates up for election in the 2024 polls. Since the start of November, 30 different fundraisers have been announced by candidates throughout the state, for a variety of offices ranging from Mayor of counties to legislative races – all focused on the House of Representatives, no Senators have announced ..read more
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