Political campaign signs are up, a sign that campaigns that fundraised in the latter part of 2023 are starting to spend their money. PC: “Campaign Sign 2020 NY” by Mobilus In Mobili is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. As the first wave of fundraising passes, signs promoting candidates are popping up all over the state, prompting us to check the status of the candidates who have pulled papers or filed for office, as of mid-April 2024. You can find a comprehensive list of all candidates who have pulled papers or have filed at the Office of Elections of the State of Hawaii, which ..read more

As a reader of this blog, one may have noticed that the post which went up on the 13th of April had been taken down the next day. If you were one of the select people I reached out to and sent a link to, you would have gotten a note from me that said that I pulled the article down. The article was entitled “A first look at ‘24”. Based on the record at the State of Hawaii Office of Elections, it was about the initial notices by candidates that may potentially run for elected office in Hawaii. About 24 hours after I posted the piece, I got a note from a fellow pundit whom I respect, saying that ..read more

As the news came down that Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines have signed an agreement with the Department of Justice to not consummate their merger until 90 days after the last request for information by the Dept, it was about time for PHwSF to return to this subject, continuing its series looking at the merger. You can read the other parts of this series, talking about the merger itself and the government’s reaction to it; who owns Hawaiian now; how the airline may benefit from a pre-check plan between Japan and Hawaii; and a “what if”, part 1, of whether Hawaiian could have been like Alaska Airli ..read more

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

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

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

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

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

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

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