Melissa Tanji, The Maui News via Associated Press
Vacation rentals in the Aloha State are a big business so it's no wonder the government wants a cut.
3 days ago
Associated Press
Just as we noted a few weeks ago, hotel-fee initiatives, in some ways, seem to be inspired by what the airlines are doing. Likewise, it seems that state regulators are taking a much closer look at those fees, and whether their disclosure is transparent and clear enough before purchase.
1 week ago
Audrey McAvoy, Associated Press
Given that the honor system hasn't worked, authorities are showing a (welcome) readiness to enforce rules to keep visitors from traumatizing dolphins. Meanwhile, socially conscious travel companies are increasingly limiting human interactions with captive animals.
2 weeks ago
Cathy Bussewitz, Associated Press
Alaska already distributes an oil dividend to residents regardless of their work status. Now tourism-heavy Hawaii wants to explore the idea of a guaranteed universal income. The current way of doing things won't be tomorrow's way of doing things so it doesn't hurt to explore creative ways of solving seeming-intractable problems.
3 weeks ago
Tourist arrivals from the U.S. mainland have brought the biggest increases in visitation and spending this year as more Hawaiian routes are added in hub markets like Dallas and Minneapolis.
For a destination that's coped with the threat of overtourism for decades, this commuter rail project has the potential to improve the lives not only of tourists but locals, too--if it ever gets funding it needs to be completed.
4 weeks ago
Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, Associated Press
Wafa Yahia, a Syrian grandmother and plaintiff in Hawaii's lawsuit against the Trump travel ban, finally got an immigrant visa because she could prove a "bonafide relationship" with her Hawaii family. The U.S. government is still trying to overturn a ruling that allowed such visas.
1 month ago
Among U.S. states, Hawaii has shown the most-dogged persistence in seeking to overturn and then amend the Trump administration's travel ban. Hawaii is facing an uphill fight in the lower courts.
2 months ago
The State of Hawaii is waging an uphill fight to get a federal judge to modify an earlier order to block the Trump travel ban after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled partially in favor of the ban. Hawaii won't cry "uncle" yet because the ban illogically bars entry to uncles, aunts and grandparents of U.S. citizens.
3 months ago
Kartikay Mehrotra, Bloomberg
The State of Hawaii will keep trying to impede President Trump's travel ban, but the latest court ruling doesn't bode well for its chances.
The Trump administration would like the haggling over the scope of the travel ban to be left up to the U.S. Supreme Court. It's unclear, though, whether even the supremes would go along with the ban's skewed definition of "bona fide" family relationships.
It's clear the Trump administration wants to ban as many people from Muslim-majority countries as possible so it took the Supreme Court's instructions and twisted them, where possible.
