Are you an unethical lawmaker willing to sacrifice the common good for your own personal enrichment and that of your friends and benefactors? Come on down and spin the wheel of extortion on “Quid Pro Go!”

A proposed package of pay raises for public servants would be a lot more palatable to voters if lawmakers hadn’t nixed a bill to make the legislature year round and ban side jobs.

State lawmakers want to redevelop Aloha Stadium—predictably, for as little money as possible. The developer wants double the amount the state wants to spend in order to add all the bells and whistles to the project needed to make it profitable.

There’s something… strange about new University of Hawaiʻi president Wendy Hensel and the highly paid “advisor” she’s brought along to her last three posts. The lack of transparency surrounding the position is disturbing.

John Mizuno, the state’s former homelessness czar, is in the doghouse after criticizing the high costs associated with some of his boss’s signature Kauhale tiny home villages.

The Sunshine Boys return for this follow up at the halfway point in the Hawaiʻi legislature session, called “crossover.” Many, but not all, government reform bills have died already.

The State Capitol could be closed for years for critical renovations. Lawmakers and the governor will likely end up in a convention center, but I think I’ve got a better idea.

Honolulu Prosecutor Steve Alm continues to put the weight of his office behind stopping cannabis legalization bills at the Hawaiʻi State Legislature instead of focusing on things that are actually dangerous.

Three former public officials will plead guilty to corruption charges, bringing an end to the 11-year Kealoha Scandal that rocked Honolulu—so says former Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell, under whose administration the scandal first unfolded.

A reaction to news that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is on track to be confirmed as the Trump Administration’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, despite his utter lack of qualifications and dangerous, conspiratorial thinking around health and healthcare.

A state commission policing what journalists write about the state? What could go wrong?

A reaction to the inauguration of Donald Trump as 47th president of the United States, ushering in the official age of American Demagoguecracy, a government ruled through fear.

To celebrate the relaunched Honolulu Civil Beat “Sunshine Sunday” accountability section, this cartoon riffs on the Hardy Boys to talk about efforts by the two legislative judiciary chairs, Sen. Rhoads and Rep. Tarnas, to reform the opaque legislature (square building).

The Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle is on Kaua‘i now, and the state isn’t doing enough to combat this and other devastating invasive pests. Our fragile ecology and our economy are both at stake.

Built backwards, started 30 years too late and handled by the most bumbling assortment of public and private officials imaginable, and now—with yet another lawsuit to slow it down and expand its cost to the taxpayer—it’s no wonder the Honolulu Rail project is making everyone a little crazy.

There are always winners and losers in every proposed budget, but some of the guests at this year’s budget banquet might be consuming more than makes sense, while others could use more than breadcrumbs.

The Honolulu City Council is slated to vote on a new tax on homes that stand empty, a measure supporters say will force owners to rent the properties and help provide badly needed housing for local residents. Critics complain it’s unfair to the property owner.

Under pressure from condo owners and boards, the Honolulu City Council may weaken proposed long-delayed legislation to mandate sprinklers in all residential high-rises.

The candidates with the most cash have an overwhelming likelihood to end up the winner in our current election system. That held true in 2024 as the Carpenter’s Union PAC “For a Better Tomorrow” spent more than $500,000 to ensure Tom Cook and Tasha Kama were re-elected to the Maui County Council over Kelly King and Carol Lee Kamekona.

The Honolulu Police Commission is supposed to hold the police accountable, but the commission meets inside police headquarters, which creates an immediate hostile environment for anyone who wishes to come before the commission to testify about police misconduct.