How we work.
Each issue area on this site has a research lead. Each page is reviewed by an editor for accuracy and a second reviewer for sourcing. We do not publish a number we cannot link to a primary source.
We distinguish primary sources (government data, court documents, peer-reviewed research, official agency releases) from secondary sources (news reporting that cites primary sources). We prefer primary where possible and cite both when we use secondary reporting.
We update pages on a rolling basis as new data arrives. The date of last update appears on every numbered claim. When we change a figure, we leave a note in the page's change log.
What we rely on.
The primary outlets and institutions we cite, in rough order of frequency:
- UHERO, the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization, for housing, economy, and recovery research.
- Honolulu Civil Beat, for accountability journalism on state and county policy.
- Maui News and Maui Now, for local reporting and breaking developments.
- Hawaiʻi Public Radio, for in-depth audio reporting and follow-up on long-running stories.
- County of Maui agencies, including Public Works, the Department of Water Supply, and the Office of Recovery.
- State of Hawaiʻi agencies, including DBEDT, DOH, DLNR, HIDOT, and the Office of Elections.
- JABSOM, the John A. Burns School of Medicine, for healthcare workforce research.
- U.S. Census Bureau and federal agencies including EPA, NOAA, and the Department of the Interior.
- Peer-reviewed research indexed in PMC, when claims involve clinical or epidemiological data.
- Court documents for ongoing litigation, accessed through the Hawaiʻi Judiciary public portal.
We also cite advocacy and policy organizations (Hawaiian Community Assets, OHA, the Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice, ProPublica) where their underlying methodology is transparent and their data is verifiable.
What we do not do.
- We do not invent statistics. If you see a number on this site, it has a source.
- We do not publish anonymized claims. Quotes are attributed.
- We do not present opinion as fact. When we are expressing a view, we say so.
- We do not endorse or oppose candidates for public office.
- We do not accept funded content. The site does not carry sponsored articles, native advertising, or paid placements.
How to check our math.
Every figure links to its source. If you click a number and find the source does not support the claim, tell us. Email corrections are read by an editor and acknowledged within five business days. Corrections are noted on the page.
A note on language.
We default to plainspoken English. We use Hawaiian language where it is the precise term (for example, kuleana when meaning rights-and-responsibilities, ʻāina when meaning land-that-feeds, kupuna when meaning elders) and define each word briefly the first time it appears in any given page. We use the ʻokina and kahakō where they belong in proper names and words.