Photo Courtesy Marian Lee.
Jeta: How the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra Made One Of The Nation’s Biggest Comebacks
The orchestra survived collapse, reinvented itself and earned state recognition. Now the funding needs to catch up.
Screenshot/2024
Beth Fukumoto: Who Doesn’t Like Ranked Choice Voting? Incumbents
Hawaiʻi lawmakers, even the progressive ones, have not embraced voting reforms including ranked choice.
AP
Kirstin Downey: ‘Fat Leonard’ Corrupted The Navy. Will Trump Pardon Him?
Leonard Francis was alleged to have bribed hundreds of U.S. Navy officers, including many in Hawaiʻi. But few paid a price, one reason he hopes to be freed.
(Courtesy: Olin Lagon)
Olin Lagon: A Lesson From Kūhiō Park Terrace And Kahoʻolawe
This is a story about hard places, some of them more difficult to visit than others.
Courtesy Honolulu Museum of Art
Denby Fawcett: Why Engaging With Art Bolsters Your Brain
A Honolulu Museum of Art exhibit explores how regular encounters with art — creating it or experiencing it — can stave off the ravages of aging.
Jeta Tang/Civil Beat/2026
Jeta: The Artist Restoring Hawaiʻi’s Capitol With Many Hands
The State Capitol’s failed reflecting pools are being transformed into communal art. Spoiler alert: It won’t be done this year.
Screenshot/2026
Neal Milner: How To Pick An Election Winner The Right Way
The Hawaiʻi court system could have handled the Tommy Waters’ election dispute much better.
Kirstin Downey/Civil Beat/2026
Kirstin Downey: Book Reveals Splendor, Brutality Of Kamehameha’s Court
Puakea Nogelmeier has produced an epic translation of a Hawaiian historian who grew up in the king’s household.
(Courtesy: Olin Lagon)
Olin Lagon: The Government Decided This Food Was Dirty
After a cholera outbreak, it took 100 years to make it legal to sell unregulated and hand-pounded kalo again.
(Courtesy: Makana)
Jeta: Intellectual Theft In The Artificial Age
Hawaiʻi musicians confront extraction, exploitation and ownership in the age of AI music.