On Last Week Tonight, John Oliver looked into Hawaii’s evolution into a haven for billionaires at the expense of the local population, as part of a long history of the state prioritizing wealthy outsiders. “For native Hawaiians, it must be difficult to shake the feeling that you’re an afterthought,” he said. “It’s like be introduced by your parents saying ‘these are our sons Tommy and Tommy’s brother,’ or having a TV show announced as ‘stick around after House of the Dragon’.”
It is “no wonder” that nearly two-thirds of residents believe that their state is being run for tourists at locals’ expense. “The more you look at Hawaii, the clearer it becomes that they’re not wrong about that, but it’s not just tourists,” he said. “Hawaii has long been run for the benefit of everyone but Hawaiians.”
At least, when run by the US; prior to its annexation, the islands, long ago settled by seafaring Polynesians, was ruled by a constitutional monarchy that abolished slavery in 1852 – before the US. In 1983, a very small group of wealthy white landowners forced the final ruler of Hawaii, Queen Lili’uokalani, to cede power of the kingdom of Hawaii to the US. The islands became the 50th state in 1959.
“Over the past century, a number of groups, from the US military to tourists to the extremely wealthy, have continued to exploit Hawaii,” Oliver noted.
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Firstly, the military, which leases large swaths of Hawaiian land at extremely low rates – in one case, $1 – and have bombed areas for “training purposes”, not cleaning up waste. Just three years ago, the military’s massive fuel storage facility on Oahu had a spill which poisoned the water system that served 93,000 people. “The US military has a pattern of causing an absolute mess in Hawaii, with activists having to struggled to undo the damage,” said Oliver.
Case in point: the US army seized the Mākua Valley after Pearl Harbor, evicting local families who lived there for generations with the promise that the land would be returned six months after the end of World War II. That still hasn’t happened. “Instead, it’s yet another of Hawaii’s sacred spaces that’s being used for target practice,” said Oliver. The activist group Mālama Mākua successfully sued the army to stop live fire training in the valley in 2004, but can only visit twice a month under military supervision.
On the tourism front, though it contributes over 18% to the state’s GDP, “Hawaii does seem set up to benefit wealthy outsiders”. There are currently 32,000 short term rentals in the state, meaning one out of 18 houses is a vacation rental, and nearly a quarter of Hawaiian homes were purchased by buyers outside the state. Hawaii is now the most expensive state in the nation for housing, and because the state imports about 90% of its food, residents also pay some of the highest prices in the nation for groceries.
“But maybe the ultimate expression of the extent to which Hawaii is being reshaped by wealthy outsiders is its growing population of billionaires,” said Oliver, noting that 11% of the state’s private land is owned by just 37 billionaires, including Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison and Oprah Winfrey. Ellison bought 98% of the island of Lanai – including its grocery store, single gas station and the community newspaper – for a reported $300m. “He’s basically everyone’s boss and landlord,” said Oliver.
But “nothing compares to what’s being done on Kauai” by Zuckerberg, “a real boy who wished upon a star to become a wooden puppet”, Oliver joked. The Meta founder and CEO is building a giant compound on the island that has more than a dozen buildings, at least 30 bedrooms and bathrooms, a tunnel that leads into a 5,000-sq-ft underground bunker and 11 treehouses connected by intricate rope bridges. To secure the land, Zuckerberg sued hundreds of local residents to dispute their ancestral land rights, “using a legal maneuver pioneered by white sugar planters”, Oliver explained. “It is the most on-brand white guy in Hawaii thing he could possibly do.”
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Zuckerberg did eventually withdraw from those lawsuits, and penned an op-ed promising to “work together with the community on a new approach”. But he continued to buy up parcels of ancestral rights land and support his co-claimant in the lawsuits, an owner who wanted to buy out the rights of all the others. That co-claimant did successfully get the land to be put up for auction, then bought them for $2m. “Who can say where he got the that money?” Oliver mused. “Apparently, not me, legally. Maybe $2m just fell out of a random treehouse somewhere.”
“It does seem like that new approach for the community ended up with Zuckerberg getting what he wanted anyway,” Oliver continued. “And billionaires like him will insist that they contribute to local charities and help the economy there, but it’s the larger dynamic at work here, where wealthy outsiders can out-purchase and out-maneuver a local population, that can be so dispiriting.”
Taken together – “the cost of living crisis, the low wages of a tourism dominant economy, the off chance of being exploded or poisoned by the US military” – it’s “frankly no wonder that so many are choosing to leave the island,” said Oliver. Each year, 15,000 native Hawaiians leave the state for the mainland, which now has a larger Hawaiian population than Hawaii itself.
What can be done? “When a situation is this complicated and took this long to develop, there aren’t going to be quick and easy solutions,” said Oliver. But he recommend some “obvious” steps, such as not renewing US military leases on Hawaiian land, restricting short-term rentals and second homes, and focusing state government resources on developing a diverse local economy.
“The solution is not going to come down to any single trip you might take,” he added. “It’s going to require much bigger systemic choices. That said, if you do end up visiting, try to be aware of the history that you’re stepping into.”
The FBI and Maui police are asking the public to report any suspicious activity after an improvised explosive devices (IEDs) caused an explosion last week and after several others have been recovered.
The explosion happened on Aug. 8 on Old Haleakala Highway, according to a press release from the FBI. The 7-inch by 4-inch cylinder shaped IED had been left in a trash receptacle before it struck a passing vehicle, sending the driver to the hospital.
“I saw a flash in the sky and I thought it was gonna be lightning,” witness Jessica Weatherholt told local station KITV. “I heard the loudest explosion that I’ve ever heard in my entire life. It sounded like an attack. It sounded like somebody was dropping bombs.”
“The drivers side window was shattered, the frame was bent,” she continued, before describing the condition of the white SUV struck by the device. “All along the entire body was like holes and shrapnel.”
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FBI in Hawaii said a recovered IED was a 7-inch x 4-inch cylinder shape, that appears to be a basket.(FBI)
Several IEDs have been identified and collected by the FBI and Maui Police Department (MPD) from trash receptacles or other areas outside of plain view along roadways between Kahului and Kula, authorities said. They vary in shape and size but have been rendered safe.
“The FBI and MPD continue to urge the public to report any suspicious activity that could present a threat to public safety, such as someone leaving an object unattended in a public space,” the FBI’s press release states. “If you see a suspicious or unknown object, especially near any street or road, do not touch, drive over, or go near it for any reason. If possible, keep others away from the area and call 911 immediately.”
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The FBI is working with the Maui Police Department to find the person or people responsible for placing IEDs in several locations in Hawaii.(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
Forensic review is taking place to determine how the devices were configured to detonate. IEDs may look like small, makeshift baskets, the FBI said.
Both the FBI and MPD are working to find those responsible. Investigators say the driver of the SUV hit by the explosion was released from the hospital.
Aerial view of Kahului. Maui. Hawaii. USA.(Andre Seale/VW PICS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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“If we would’ve left like 10 or 15 minutes earlier to pick up our daughter from work, that could’ve been us,” Weatherholt said about the victims from the white SUV. “We would’ve been at that same location that that woman was.”
Thousands gathered at Patricia Bay Park on Vancouver Island north of Victoria on Sunday to witness the final landing of the historic Hawaii Martin Mars, a legendary aircraft that fought wildfires in B.C. for more than 50 years.
The massive aircraft, with a capacity to carry more than 27,000 litres of water, departed from its longtime base at Sproat Lake in Port Alberni and landed in Saanich Inlet, before heading to its new home at the B.C. Aviation Museum.
Nine Canadian Forces Snowbirds jets also accompanied the water bomber in its last journey, passing over a number of communities en route to its final destination.
The Snowbirds bid farewell to the well known aircraft with a non-aerobatic display, drawing cheers from onlookers below.
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Harbour Air pilot Rick Matthews (left) and alumni pilot Peter Killin flew the historic Hawaii Martin Mars water bomber’s final flight to the Saanich Inlet, north of Victoria, B.C. (Coulson Aviation)
“It’s kind of sad that it’s the end of the story,” said Peter Killin, a longtime pilot who flew the Hawaii Martin Mars’ for the last time, along with Harbour Air’s Rick Matthews on Sunday.
Killin, who has logged more than 1,000 hours of flying time with the water bomber, said he was introduced to the aircraft back in 2000 by Matthews and was then hired a year later to pilot the Mars and help fight forest fires.
“It’s a new chapter coming [for the aircraft]…it’s going to be good, people will get to see it.” he added.
Preserving history for future
Earlier this year, Coulson Aviation, the company that purchased the Hawaii Martin Mars in 2007, announced it is donating the aircraft to the B.C. Aviation Museum, calling it a “grand ending to a great history.”
“It’s bittersweet to say goodbye,” Wayne Coulson, CEO of Coulson Aviation told CBC News.
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WATCH | Iconic Martin Mars water bomber set to arrive at B.C. museum:
Iconic Martin Mars water bomber set to arrive at B.C. museum
Richard Mosdell from the B.C. Aviation Museum speaks about the legacy of the plane, which was first brought to B.C. in the 1950s to fight wildfires. It was last used in 2015.
The water bomber will become the centrepiece of a new wildfire exhibition at the B.C. Aviation Museum, in North Saanich, starting September 28.
Steve Nichol, president of the museum, said it will be “the jewel in the crown” of the museum’s firefighting display.
“This is a once in a lifetime event,” he said. “We’re going to have it open every day for the public, just to see what it was like to be inside the Martian Mars. I think people will be fascinated by it.”
The province says it has provided $250,000 to protect and preserve the aircraft as part of the exhibition.
Richard Mosdell, the ‘Save the Mars’ project lead for the museum, said he still remembers the deep rumble of the aircraft echoing through the valleys as it soared overhead, battling forest fires.
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“That deep, throaty old piston engine sound that you really felt in your chest,” he said during an interview with CBC’s On The Coast.
He says the Mars’ history is rich and varied and should be preserved for future generations to observe and appreciate.
‘A true aviation icon’
The Hawaii Mars was one of six prototypes produced by the U.S. navy in the 1940s for large-scale transport between the West Coast and Hawaii. But when aviation technology progressed, the planes were retired and put up for auction.
According to the province, the Mars was later converted to serve as the largest air ambulance during the Korean War, capable of carrying more than 120 soldiers and medical personnel in one trip.
In 1958, B.C.’s forest industry purchased four Mars and repurposed them into wildfire-fighting machines.
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Hawaii Martin Mars water bomber made its final flight from Port Alberni to the B.C. Aviation Museum in North Saanich, escorted by the Canadian Forces Snowbirds Sunday evening. (Coulson Aviation)
“It just has a grand history and it is a true aviation icon,”Coulson said.
Over its operational life, the water bomber dropped about 190 million litres of water on wildfires, a feat Coulson claims makes it the most effective firefighting aircraft in history.
The aviation company retired the water bomber in 2015, and it has since remained at the company’s home base on Sproat Lake in Port Alberni.
Coulson says the evolution of aviation and firefighting technology led to the planes’ demise.
“[But] there will never be a better firefighting aircraft, no matter what anybody says,” he said.
[Check out RJ Young’s ultimate 134 college football rankings here]
Conference ranking: 10th in Mountain West (+5000 to win conference) Teams ahead of them: Utah State (104), San Diego State (103), UAB (102), Army (101), MTSU (100) Teams behind them: Southern Miss (106), Connecticut (107), Navy (108), Sam Houston State (109), San Jose State (110)
[Hawaii 2024 schedule]
RJ’s take: Yes, QB Brayden Schager threw for 3,542 with 26 TDs last year. Yes, he gets all six of his top receivers back this year. But coach Timmy Chang is 8-18 entering Year 3, and the Rainbow Warriors gave up an average of 41.4 points in games they lost in 2023. It’s tough to win when your defense is giving up just shy of No. 3 scoring offense Oklahoma’s 41.7 a game.
There’s a three-game stretch in there where Schager passed for at least 313 a game and the Rainbow Warriors gave up 41 or more to UNLV, SDSU and New Mexico. Run the damn ball, Timmy. Give your defense a chance to take a breath. A leading rusher with 63 carries for 255 yards in a season ain’t gonna get it done. Ollie Gordon rushed for 255 yards in a single game last year — twice.
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Hawaii’s Win Total Odds: Over 5 (-130) Under 5 (+100)
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