Matson, one of the two primary shipping lines servicing the Hawaiian Islands, announced that it would soon boost its fuel surcharge on island container shipping to a whopping 33.75%. That's on top of the regular shipping costs, some of which already include fuel charges. Ultimately, this will mean much higher food prices and higher tallies for everything used in Hawaii (in hotels and otherwise), including toilet paper, dry goods, and you name it. Expect restaurants and hotels to pass this added cost through as their suppliers certainly will. It's almost enough to get one thinking about taking the whole dang state off the grid (kidding, sort of).

—Alex, 03/08/08