The state’s congressional delegation lays out five risks, two opportunities and five strategies for Hawaii in the Trump era. April, 2017 Interviewed for this story are the four members of Hawaii’s congressional delegation, all Democrats: Sen. Mazie Hirono Sen. Brian Schatz Rep. Colleen Hanabusa Rep. Tulsi Gabbard FIVE RISKS 1 OBAMACARE (The repeal of Obamacare…
Category: Culture
Can Hawaii Feed Itself?
Richard Ha and I climb into the cab of his big pickup and drive up the mountain. I’ve come to Hamakua Springs, Ha’s 600-acre farm in Pepeekeo on the Big Island, to help see the future of Hawaii agriculture. Ha is a resourceful and outspoken farmer, and I want to hear his views on the…
Hibiscus and the Ghosts of Hawaii Past
The other day, I was scrolling absently through the abstracts in a recent issue of Pacific Science, when a paper by Hiroshi Kudoh made me do a double-take. Its subject was the typically modest question of modern evolutionary biology: how to explain the loss of seed buoyancy in Hibiscus glaber, a species of hibiscus found…
Marine Protected Areas
I see in the latest Hana Hou, Michael Shapiro took the left turn off Mamalahoa Highway on the Big Island, and “went down Milolii”. This hard scrabble community, which many bill as “the last traditional fishing village in Hawaii,” really is a piece of the past. For example, there’s no electricity. That, as Shapiro notes,…
Smithsonian’s Pacific Origins
I’ve always been a binge reader. Sometimes people mistake that for erudition, but if you pay close attention to my ranting, you’ll notice I repeat myself a lot. Not that I say the same things over and over (although my wife may disagree), but I definitely quote the same people with distressing frequency. That’s because,…
Hawaii and Nantucket
I recently–and belatedly–read “In the Heart of the Sea, The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex”, Nathaniel Philbrick’s award-winning account of the shipwreck that inspired Melville’s Moby Dick. A fascinating story for any sailor who’s ever known the nagging anxiety of being to sea in a small boat. In this case, the captain and crew are…
Featherwork
“Na Hulu Al’i” “Said of the adornment of a chief, or of an elderly chief himself who is one of a few survivors of his generation and therefore precious.” —‘ Ōlelo No‘eau A million tiny feathers. Brilliant red ones from the ‘i‘iwi bird. Pale yellow ones, sometimes plucked just six or seven at a…
Moving Cans
Just about everything in your life—food, cars, building materials—comes to Hawaii via the waterfront. We went inside the world of the longshoremen, who load and unload all that cargo, and found that centuries of muscle and sweat have given way to skilled labor and powerful machines. Story by DENNIS HOLLIER Photos by LUCY PEMONI Nate…
Community: A Matter of Trust
Can community land trusts provide affordable housing? Maui is set to find out. DENNIS HOLLIER Maui may be the center of Hawai‘i’s crisis in affordable housing. With the average home price approaching $700,000, working families there are increasingly excluded from home ownership. And Maui is only the worst example. Affordable housing is in short supply…
Waimea Redux
Gary Gill has big plans for the future of Waimea valley. He just doesn’t know exactly what they are yet. It’s not surprising. As executive director of Hiipaka, the nonprofit created by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to manage the park, he just took charge of the valley on Feb. 1. It’s been a mad…