Hawaiʻi’s minimum wage is now $16 an hour. This hard-won raise is a down payment, not a solution. The data shows a true living wage is over $22 an hour for a worker with no children. The fight for a true living wage must continue.

This year’s scariest holiday floats aren’t made of papier-mâché. They’re built from Hawaiʻi’s headlines and they’re coming down Main Street to haunt your pocket book.

The Young Brothers inter-island shipping monopoly just won a 25 percent rate hike from the Public Utilities Commission. Parent company shareholders are made whole, while local consumers are stuck with ever-higher food prices.

When we have money to fund tax credits for powerful film studios, but no money to invest in tax credits for our keiki, the lines between fictional exploitation and the dismal reality of life start to feel blurred. Are we not, in fact, living The White Lotus?