Blogging the Aloha State and Beyond
My latest “Civil Geeks” column features a new website designed to help Hawaii residents cope with life downwind of an active volcano. The website — along with a booklet of frequently asked questions, a brochure and poster about protecting yourself during vog episodes — came together following a 2015 study by Horwell, which looked at how...
A 5K run with a water slide for a finish line is set for the day after Christmas, dedicated to bringing safe water and sanitation to developing countries. Hawaii is blessed with some of the best drinking water in the country, if not the world. Rainwater filtered through volcanic rock...
This year was an El Niño year, and as expected, the Pacific saw a record number of storms this hurricane season. Miraculously, the season ended at the end of November with Hawaii escaping largely unscathed, but there has been enough wet weather to fuel a different kind of threat: an outbreak...
Hawaii was the first state to legalize medical marijuana. But unless you were willing and able to grow cannabis on your own, it was a largely useless privilege for more than fifteen years. A practical path to medical marijuana cultivation and distribution only took root in July, with Gov. David...
Plague diseases are the stuff of nightmares, horror movies, and post-apocalyptic sci-fi. But they are also real threats that still keep scientists and government leaders up at night. On Tuesday, a leading local expert will try to put everything in context at the November “Honolulu Science Cafe” meetup. Social mixer or...
The name of the event almost says it all. “Dessert Fantasy,” which takes place on Sunday, fills a giant ballroom with desserts from more than 30 local restaurants and dessert makers. You can sample all the sweet treats you can eat, all for a good cause. The day after Halloween, no less....
The state’s most expensive transportation system can be improved a great deal by integrating simple, human-powered technology that’s nearly 200 years old. The $6 billion Honolulu rail transit project easily dominates any conversation about the evolution of transportation on Oahu. With the first four miles of the 20-mile route piercing into Waipahu...
Mother’s Day is more than two weeks away, but it’s never too early to celebrate moms. Or, in the case of Sunday’s “Mom-o-Rama,” to give a bunch of mothers a chance to get together and enjoy themselves. The “Mom-o-Rama” is a partnership between Moms in Hawaii, founded by friend and super-mom...
Fifteen years ago, on April Fool’s Day, Alice Inoue lost her job as a television anchor and show host. Unfortunately, it was no joke. “I remember going down to the unemployment office in a dazed shock, not sure what this meant for my future, and proceeded to fill out forms,”...
I’m one of those sports ball neophytes who’s more interested in Super Bowl commercials than the game itself. And obviously, the NFL would rather people talk about deflated footballs than some of its messier problems. But this year’s big game ads did tackle some heavier topics, from the chilling “NO...
On Saturday morning, I cracked a tooth. Having not seen a dentist in over a decade, and having shunned the dental profession most of my life, I had no idea what to do. Being the hapless nerd I am, I immediately tweeted about it. Fortunately, I received a flood of...
Lung cancer is the number one killer of adults in Hawaii, and the Aloha State is ranked second in the nation for youth asthma. In all, over 175,000 islanders have lung disease — that’s more than the combined populations of Maui and Kauai. The American Lung Association of Hawaii (ALAH)...
Hawaii is the second happiest U.S. state, according to a study published yesterday in the journal Science. More interestingly, the researchers say that a community’s perception of its level of happiness seems to correlate with mostly objective measures of quality of life. “We wanted to study whether people’s feelings of...
Summer, it seems, is the season of statistics. I’ve noticed a number of rankings in the news lately in which Hawaii has distinguished itself… for better or worse: Hawaii tops the country in well-being, according to a Gallup survey. The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index gives Hawaii a score of 69.4 (out...
Kaiser Permanente is shipping a 500-square-foot, 10-wheel Mobile Health Vehicle to the Big Island, hoping to improve the accessibility of heath care services in largely rural Hawaii County. The vehicle was placed on a ship today in San Francisco, and will be officially unveiled July 2. When fully operational beginning...
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