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“Hawaii Together”

‘Hawaii zoning atlas’ will identify barriers to housing

Hawaii’s acute lack of affordable housing is “largely a manufactured crisis,” according to Trey Gordner, the featured guest on Monday’s “Hawaii Together” program on ThinkTech Hawaii. Gordner is a civic technologist who recently earned a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Virginia Tech. His thesis was on measuring

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Oahu’s problematic short-term rental ban

Will Oahu’s new ban on short-term rentals affect you? It will if you have been renting out a room to help pay your mortgage, or you are a contractor or retailer whose livelihood has relied on servicing such rentals or the people who rent them. That’s the view of Dawn

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What went down at the 2022 Hawaii Legislature

Radio host Johnny Miro devoted his half-hour Sunday morning show to exploring what the Legislature did and did not achieve this year The state’s 2022 legislative session recently wrapped up, and what took place can be divided into the good, the bad and the ugly. Speaking Sunday morning, May 22,

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Major questions still bedevil Honolulu rail

So what’s going on with the Honolulu rail, the construction of which began in 2012? It is over budget and behind schedule, barely two-thirds completed, threatening major havoc as its construction nears the city center, unlikely to meet its latest cost projections and time tables, and its future funding sources

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Youth pegged as key to ‘Housing Hawaii’s Future’

One of the biggest problems in Hawaii is the shortage of affordable and available housing. Can the state’s youth be a force in solving this crisis? Sterling Higa thinks so. Higa is executive director of Housing Hawaii’s Future, a new nonprofit that aims to educate and organize students and young

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Still critical that we rein in state’s emergency powers

Many of the most draconian measures of Hawaii’s coronavirus lockdown measures have been lifted, but it still is important that we reform the state’s emergency-management law, according to Sandy Ma, executive director of Common Cause Hawaii, and Malia Blom Hill, policy director for the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. Ma and

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What Hawaii can learn from America’s leading minimum-wage researcher

A lot of people seem to think there is wide disagreement among economists about the potential effects of a higher minimum wage. But, no, there actually isn’t, says David Neumark, America’s leading authority on the minimum wage. Neumark was the guest Monday, March 28, 2022, on Keli’i Akina’s “Hawaii Together” program

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Why Hawaii needs a Jones Act waiver

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has helped send gasoline prices in Hawaii soaring, fueling calls that Hawaii be granted a Jones Act waiver for fuel imports. On the March 14 episode of “Hawaii Together,” leading Jones Act expert and Grassroot Scholar Colin Grabow joined host Joe Kent, Grassroot Institute executive vice president, to

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‘Tokyo model’ could be best housing path for Hawaii

The answer to Hawaii’s affordable housing problem might be in Tokyo, according Edward Pinto, Keli’i Akina’s guest on the latest “Hawaii Together” program on ThinkTech Hawaii. Pinto is senior fellow and director at the American Enterprise Institute Housing Center in Washington, D.C., and he talked with Akina on the Feb.

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What’s up with all the tax-hike proposals this year?

Watching proposed tax hikes make their way through the Legislature has become an annual tradition in Hawaii, like fireworks on the Fourth of July or hearing Christmas carols at the grocery store in mid-November. There is actually no need to raise taxes right now, especially given the state’s $3 billion

Read More →

‘Hawaii zoning atlas’ will identify barriers to housing

Hawaii’s acute lack of affordable housing is “largely a manufactured crisis,” according to Trey Gordner, the featured guest on Monday’s “Hawaii Together” program on ThinkTech Hawaii. Gordner is a civic technologist who recently earned a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Virginia Tech. His thesis was on measuring

Read More →

Oahu’s problematic short-term rental ban

Will Oahu’s new ban on short-term rentals affect you? It will if you have been renting out a room to help pay your mortgage, or you are a contractor or retailer whose livelihood has relied on servicing such rentals or the people who rent them. That’s the view of Dawn

Read More →

What went down at the 2022 Hawaii Legislature

Radio host Johnny Miro devoted his half-hour Sunday morning show to exploring what the Legislature did and did not achieve this year The state’s 2022 legislative session recently wrapped up, and what took place can be divided into the good, the bad and the ugly. Speaking Sunday morning, May 22,

Read More →

Major questions still bedevil Honolulu rail

So what’s going on with the Honolulu rail, the construction of which began in 2012? It is over budget and behind schedule, barely two-thirds completed, threatening major havoc as its construction nears the city center, unlikely to meet its latest cost projections and time tables, and its future funding sources

Read More →

Youth pegged as key to ‘Housing Hawaii’s Future’

One of the biggest problems in Hawaii is the shortage of affordable and available housing. Can the state’s youth be a force in solving this crisis? Sterling Higa thinks so. Higa is executive director of Housing Hawaii’s Future, a new nonprofit that aims to educate and organize students and young

Read More →

Still critical that we rein in state’s emergency powers

Many of the most draconian measures of Hawaii’s coronavirus lockdown measures have been lifted, but it still is important that we reform the state’s emergency-management law, according to Sandy Ma, executive director of Common Cause Hawaii, and Malia Blom Hill, policy director for the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. Ma and

Read More →

What Hawaii can learn from America’s leading minimum-wage researcher

A lot of people seem to think there is wide disagreement among economists about the potential effects of a higher minimum wage. But, no, there actually isn’t, says David Neumark, America’s leading authority on the minimum wage. Neumark was the guest Monday, March 28, 2022, on Keli’i Akina’s “Hawaii Together” program

Read More →

Why Hawaii needs a Jones Act waiver

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has helped send gasoline prices in Hawaii soaring, fueling calls that Hawaii be granted a Jones Act waiver for fuel imports. On the March 14 episode of “Hawaii Together,” leading Jones Act expert and Grassroot Scholar Colin Grabow joined host Joe Kent, Grassroot Institute executive vice president, to

Read More →

‘Tokyo model’ could be best housing path for Hawaii

The answer to Hawaii’s affordable housing problem might be in Tokyo, according Edward Pinto, Keli’i Akina’s guest on the latest “Hawaii Together” program on ThinkTech Hawaii. Pinto is senior fellow and director at the American Enterprise Institute Housing Center in Washington, D.C., and he talked with Akina on the Feb.

Read More →

What’s up with all the tax-hike proposals this year?

Watching proposed tax hikes make their way through the Legislature has become an annual tradition in Hawaii, like fireworks on the Fourth of July or hearing Christmas carols at the grocery store in mid-November. There is actually no need to raise taxes right now, especially given the state’s $3 billion

Read More →