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[{"text":"\"A honu world!\" had us dying.","type":"text"}]

Screenshot 2025 03 28 at 2 34 22 PM

<title>Hawaiʻi Scene on Social: Making up all any kine</title>

In today's social media find, @islandmagicmike riffs on Hulu, Disney and more.

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social: Making up all any kine

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Government & Politics

Crime & Courts

[{"type":"text","text":"Dave Lazar will be the next Honolulu Police Chief."}]

After hundreds of hours of interviews, dozens of surveys, 41 candidates and six months of consulting, the Honolulu Police Commission voted Wednesday to appoint 

, formerly a 33-year veteran of the San Francisco Police Department to lead the Honolulu Police Department.

The commission overwhelmingly voted in support of Lazar over the other two finalists: five of the seven-person commission voted for Lazar — including chair Laurie Foster and vice chairs Jeannine Souki and Chris Magnus — while the remaining two, Blake Parsons and Gary Yabuta, voted for outgoing director of the state Department of Law Enforcement 

Scott Ebner, former chief of the Glynn County Police Department in Georgia, received no votes.

Foster said after the vote that the commission listened to the preferences of the Honolulu community, which she said had overwhelmingly called for “modernization and transparency” within the department.

However, the preferences of HPD officers may have received less consideration. The State of Hawai‘i Organization of Police Officers reportedly surveyed HPD officers and found that nearly 90% preferred Lambert — who served with HPD for 21 years — while only 2% would pick Lazar.

“They’ll get to know me,” Lazar said Wednesday. “And I’m confident that we will get to know each other and we will work well together and we will all have the same thing in mind.”  

Lazar met with members of HPD’s command staff immediately following the vote, and said that he hopes to get to know HPD’s frontline officers personally and become their strongest advocate in the coming months.

“I’m grateful that they have chosen a noble profession, by serving the community of Honolulu, and serving with aloha, and choosing this place, out of all places they could work, to be a police officer,” Lazar said.

Lazar said he intends to serve as chief as long as possible, despite having retired from SFPD last year — he previously told Aloha State Daily he thinks he has another 10 years left in him. And he reiterated that he wants to be the last HPD chief hired from outside the department.

Foster said the choice to hire from outside the department was itself a reflection of the need for change at HPD and that it’s “up to the community to embrace him.”

Foster and other commissioners described the lengthy process of selecting candidates, winnowing down a field of 41 applicants over the course of months through interviews with the commission, SHOPO, the mayor, business leaders, first responders and nonprofits.

Many commissioners, including Foster, said that any one of the three candidates could have made a good HPD chief.

Lambert and Ebner congratulated Lazar after the vote. As Lambert had previously announced he will leave the Department of Law Enforcement this year to rejoin HPD, Lazar acknowledged that he will be Lambert’s boss, in some capacity.

Lazar said he has gotten to know Lambert during the process and understands why he is so popular among HPD. He said he wants Lambert’s talents back at HPD, but couldn’t specify what role he would want him to take on.

Lazar also doesn’t know when he will start the job. While he said he wants to start in early June, Foster said Lazar will still undergo a deep third-party investigation for further vetting — “a deep dive, to find out everything about the candidate,” Foster said — as well as contract negotiations.

[{"type":"text","text":"Until such time, Interim Chief Rade Vanic remains in charge at HPD."}]

 For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Lazar

<title>Dave Lazar named as next Honolulu Police Chief</title>

Honolulu Police Commission names former San Francisco assistant chief to lead Honolulu Police Department. His start date is up in the air, pending a deeper background investigation and contract negotiations.

Dave Lazar named as next Honolulu Police Chief

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

ako in late December. Since then, the biz relocated and now is popping up several times a week within Kaimukī’s Aloha Bakehouse & Café.

KoLab business owners Jake Co and Helen Lee met Doug Choi from Aloha Bakehouse & Café through mutual connections.

“Doug had a vacancy and was like, ‘Come work out of here,’” Co says.

The biz is still sticking to its Korean-inspired breakfast concept, but altered its menu before soft opening on Mother’s Day.

“We had to amend our menu based on the availability of the kitchen equipment that we have here,” Co says.

The menu currently features three dishes — fresh poke served with crispy waffle rice ($16.95), egg salad sando ($11.95) and joomuk bap ($14.95).

“We get our fresh poke from Diamond Head Seafood,” Co says. “We thought this would be an interesting and unique concept — the crunchy texture from the rice with the poke.”

The fresh poke comes in the business’s “crack sauce,” according to Co.

“There’s a lot of shallots, garlic and chives, with a little bit of fish sauce and lime juice,” he explains. “It's more like a ceviche.”

Meanwhile, the egg salad sando ($11.95) features a sourdough bread, eggs from Waialua Egg Farm and dill from MA

“Everything is organic,” says Helen Lee. “It’s dusted with a fine bit of Gochugaru (Korean chili flakes), not the big, bulky flakes.” 

The business’s Joomuk bap ($14.95) was inspired by a dish Co and Lee enjoyed during a trip to South Korea.

“That was our first meal off the plane in Korea,” Co remembers. “We ordered this and it was such a simple dish, but it was so filling and umami. We said, ‘We gotta bring this back to Hawaiʻi’ because we couldn’t find anything in Hawaiʻi like it.”

Joomuk bap features rice from Kubota Rice Industry — which features rice from Japan that’s freshly milled in Hawaiʻi — topped with chopped takuan, tobiko and a mountain of shredded nori. Customers are given a glove to mix everything together to form their own rice balls.

“In Korea, the plate was overflowing with nori,” Co says. 

KoLab’s Kaimukī pop-up is currently open from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays to Sundays.

Open 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays to Sundays

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Kolab business owners 051926

<title>New Korean fusion pop-up in Kaimukī</title>

KoLab, formerly located in Kakaʻako, now offers a Korean-inspired breakfast within Kaimukī’s Aloha Bakehouse & Café. The biz offers fresh poke with crispy waffle rice, egg salad sandos and joomuk bap, or savory Korean rice balls.

New Korean fusion pop-up in Kaimukī

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

A new memorandum of understanding between Maui County and Maui Land & Pineapple Co. sets the stage for the county to acquire MLP's West Maui water infrastructure.

In an announcement Monday, the county says this move marks the first phase of a broader effort that aims to also secure other private water systems in Olowalu and Launiupoko. 

"This will increase public stewardship of West Maui's drinking water systems from 45% to 93% while supporting much-needed housing development for local residents," the announcement notes.

If the acquisition is approved, here are the West Maui water assets the county stands to gain, according to the announcement:

An existing upcountry well in Piʻiholo would also be acquired, along with land for additional well sites and water storage, and non-water infrastructure assets that include a Mokuʻula land parcel, Kahana roadway and land in Hāliʻimaile for a police substation and a fire station, the county says.

Additionally, the MOU also "creates opportunities for the county to increase workforce and affordable housing supply for local families," the county says.

"We want to restore balance in our community," Mayor Richard Bissen said in a video posted to the 

. "Part of that comes with making sure we have an adequate water supply that we can provide not only for homes being built, but for emergency response, for agriculture, for environmental uses. This is a long-term, generational resource."

Throughout 2025 and into 2026 alone, much of Maui County experienced varying drought conditions. (You can find current and historical drought conditions 

"As this severe drought has demonstrated, Maui needs greater interconnected infrastructure and system resiliency to ensure reliable service during emergencies, including drought and wildfire events," MLP CEO Race Randle told Aloha State Daily in an emailed response to questions. "More interconnected systems create important redundancy and operational flexibility, helping ensure water can continue flowing where it is needed most during critical moments while also supporting the rebuilding of Lahaina and future housing opportunities for local families.

“Since I became CEO, MLP’s leadership team has focused on realizing the full potential of the company’s assets to help meet Maui’s needs today and for future generations," he continued. "The MOU represents an important step toward strengthening Maui’s long-term, island-wide water security while also supporting efforts to expand housing opportunities so local families can continue to live and thrive on Maui."

Randle says that a strategic review of the company's water infrastructure began in early 2025 and MLP has been in active discussions with the county for roughly a year.

The agreement, Randle says, "reflects a shared commitment to responsible stewardship of Maui’s water resources and long-term resiliency planning for the community.” 

If successful, the transition of water assets into public stewardship would be a "positive outcome" for both the county and the company, he told ASD.

“MLP has been a careful and responsible steward of these lands and water systems for generations, and we are encouraged by the county’s commitment to continue that stewardship for the benefit of the Maui community," Randle says. "MLP’s Honokōhau Ditch System is highly efficient and continues to deliver water from Honokōhau Stream to oﬀstream users whenever sufficient water is available for diversion and in accordance with state regulations. We believe this collaboration can help build on that foundation and create a more resilient and sustainable future for Maui.”

According to the county, the purchase price will be established through formal county appraisals and system assessments, but as of Monday, estimates were not yet available.

Conditions of the final sale are still being negotiated and the acquisition must be approved by the Maui County Council.

Bissen earlier this year announced that the county is in negotiations with MLP, Kamehameha Schools and West Maui Land to acquire "key water system assets" that include the Olowalu and Launiupoko irrigation and water companies, the announcement noted.

"If successful, water systems in West Maui, including both drinking and irrigation, will transition from 25% to 65% publicly owned," the county says. "More importantly, public stewardship of drinking water systems in West Maui will increase from 45% to 93%, representing a major step toward ensuring this essential resource is managed in the public trust."

 was founded in 1909 and today stewards more than 22,000 acres of land and approximately 247,000 square feet of commercial properties.

 in Maui Circuit Court alleged that MLP failed to maintain its Honokōhau ditch system to the detriment of nearby property owners and businesses.

TY Management Corp., the owner and operator of the Kapalua Plantation Golf Course — where the PGA previously hosted the 

 — and Kapalua Bay Golf Course; Hua Momona Farms LLC; Plantation Estates Lot Owners' Association; Association of Apartment Owners of the Coconut Grove on Kapalua; and the Association of Apartment Owners of the Ridge at Kapalua filed the complaint.

, accusing TY management of breach of contract for failing to responsibly reduce its water use during drought conditions.

 filed last September by TY and the Plantation Estates Lot Owners’ Association, accused MLP of improperly annexing land to seize power within the Kapalua Resort Association.Trials for both cases are long way off. The former suit has a trial date scheduled in March 2027, and the latter has a trial date in June 2027.

Aloha State Daily reporter Michael Brestovansky contributed to this article.

County MLP MOU

<title>Maui County looks to acquire water assets from Maui Land & Pineapple</title>

The county says this move marks the first phase of a broader effort that aims to also secure other private water systems in Olowalu and Launiupoko.

Maui County looks to acquire water assets from Maui Land & Pineapple

Kam Napier Headshot

A. Kam Napier

Columnists

 was 32 years old on July 1, 2015, as she walked along San Francisco’s Pier 14 with her father and a friend.

Somewhere behind her on the Embarcadero at that moment was José Inez García Zárate, handling a pistol he found under a bench. He fired one shot. That shot hit Steinle in the back. Her father and friend performed CPR, paramedics arrived, but her aorta had been pierced and she died in a hospital two hours later.

In 2017, García Zárate was acquitted on charges of murder and manslaughter, but no one denied he fired the shot, and no one denied some other facts about him.

“A little bit of common sense and discretion might have prevented the killing this month in San Francisco of Kathryn Steinle — a victim not only of random gunfire but of the mindless handling of the city's immigration policy,” 

García Zárate, USA Today noted, “had a felony drug record going back 20 years, had been deported five times and had repeatedly sneaked back into the USA …  [he] was in the San Francisco County jail in April and should have been deported yet again. Federal immigration authorities had lodged a ‘detainer,’ seeking to get custody and do just that. All they needed was a call or other contact from the sheriff's office.

“The contact was never made, not because of some ghastly mistake or miscommunication but because of a city ordinance that prohibits police from honoring detainers except in rare cases. And, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, because of a policy by the local sheriff that bars contact with immigration authorities. After a local charge against Lopez-Sanchez [as his name appeared in early reporting] was dropped, he was held for three weeks, then put on the street.”

One of the top three candidates to be the next chief of the Honolulu Police Department is San Francisco’s David Lazar, whom Aloha State Daily 

Near as I can piece together from Lazar’s 

, he was a captain in the San Francisco Police Department at the time of Steinle’s shooting, then rising to commander in 2017 and then assistant chief before retiring in 2025. We can safely assume he alone did not set the policies that had made San Francisco a “sanctuary city” in 2015, where immigration law would be selectively ignored.

But Lazar has already told us where he wants to take Honolulu. Here’s the relevant quote from our interview with him:

“I come from a department where we don’t cooperate at all with ICE,” Lazar said. “That’s what I’m used to, that’s the right thing to do. If I’m selected as chief, we will not cooperate whatsoever with ICE. We will not participate in anything they have going on.

“We’re not going to transport for them, we’re not going to support them, we’re not going to respond to any of their calls, we’re not going to set up perimeters,” Lazar went on. “Those are the policy decisions that will be made on my watch.”

 is scheduled to make a decision today between Lazar, 

 and Scott Ebner. We profiled Lazar and Lambert, Ebner did not respond to us.

The commission is comprised of Chair Laurie Foster, Vice Chair Jeannine A. Souki, Vice Chair Chris Magnus, and members Kenneth Silva, Elizabeth Char, Blake Parsons and Gary A. Yabuta.

The commission can be reached at 808-723-7580, or by email at 

, if you have thoughts to share on their selection.

The Honolulu Police Commission selected Lazar, more 

A. Kam Napier is editor in chief of Aloha State Daily. His opinions in Pipikaula Corner are his own and not reflective of the ASD team.

0508 1311 David Lazar image 16x9

<title>Pipikaula Corner: David Lazar, Kate Steinle and Honolulu’s future</title>

One of the top three candidates for Honolulu Police Chief, David Lazar of San Francisco, has stated his intention to never let HPD cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. These are the kinds of policies widely believed to have been the reason why Kathryn "Kate" Steinle was killed in 2015 by a five-time deportee, out on the streets of San Francisco because local authorities refused to work with federal agencies on immigration cases.

Pipikaula Corner: David Lazar, Kate Steinle and Honolulu’s future

While she was working at Hawaiian Airlines, Aubrie Usui — the owner of 

 — recalls traveling often to Japan and Korea. She remembers how experiencing both coffee and matcha there changed her perspective on the popular beverages.

“The quality is unmatched, and they don’t cut corners on ingredients or portions,” she says.

Usui had the idea to open her own café business for a few years, but while working full-time at Hawaiian Airlines, she couldn’t find the time to fully commit.

However, once Alaska Airlines acquired Hawaiian Airlines and she was given notice that she would be laid off in the upcoming months, Usui took that as a sign to go “all in” on the business idea.

“I wanted to bring that same level of quality back home and re-create the drinks I fell in love with, while also experimenting with my own flavors,” she says. “I developed a deeper passion for coffee and matcha. I especially fell in love with the creative side — how you can take something as simple as a latte and turn it into something unique and memorable.”

From that point on, Usui devoted her full attention to building her business — working on branding, developing recipes and planning operations.

“I was able to open the shop within five months of my last day (at Hawaiian Airlines),” she says. “One of the first major steps was meeting with my coffee distributor, who plays a huge role in the quality and consistency of our drinks.”

Da Morning Grind Café officially opened on April 6 in King Laundromat — owned by Usui's parents — located at the intersection of South King and Pensacola Streets. The business’s name was a collaborative effort among her family members, according to Usui.

“The name actually came from a family group chat,” she says. “At first, we were trying to incorporate the word ‘Corner,’ but nothing felt right. My sister suggested ‘Morning Grind,’ and it immediately clicked.

“Our family has always been active and involved in sports, so we’re very familiar with early mornings and having something to work toward,” she adds. “‘Da Morning Grind’ represents that shared experience — everyone has something they’re waking up early for, and we wanted to create a place that fuels that.”

There are two ways to order — customers can visit the takeout window on South King Street, or visit the takeout window located within the laundromat. Just ring the doorbell when you’re ready to order.

The café offers a variety of coffees, teas, dirty sodas and specialty drinks. For coffee lovers, Usui recommends the black honey cold brew latte and dirty matcha latte, which includes espresso, honey and matcha. Most drinks are available in 12- and 16-ounce sizes.

“These are stronger, more bold drinks designed for people who want a real kick to start their day, but they’re still smooth and enjoyable,” Usui says.

She notes that lattes come with a double shot of espresso, regardless of size.

“If you prefer a stronger coffee taste, the smaller size will be more concentrated,” she says. “The medium size is more balanced and gives room for add-ons. We will be adding a 20-ounce size soon.”

The business’s cold brew is steeped overnight in the fridge to develop a deeper flavor, according to Usui.

“To match it with something sweet, I chose Kuromitsu (a Japanese sugar syrup that translates to 'black honey') because it wouldn’t overpower the cold brew’s taste,” she says. “The dirty matcha came from experimenting with how to create a high-caffeine drink that feels smoother than a typical multi-shot espresso.”

Consistency and balance are important when developing new flavors, according to Usui.

“Our matcha lattes are carefully scaled so the flavor stays consistent every time,” she says.

The café’s newest drinks — Da Matcha-nana and Da Big Island Vog — feature the café’s new homemade pudding cloud. Da Big Island Vog latte is the business’s twist on a London Fog latte, which usually includes vanilla syrup, steamed milk and earl grey tea.

“My mom loves ordering them [London Fog lattes] because she doesn’t always want espresso, but still enjoys a creamy, latte-style drink,” Usui says. “We elevated it by adding our matcha pudding cloud to make it more unique.”

Of course, the name is a play on Hawaiʻi Island’s vog. Da Matcha-nana features a matcha latte base that’s topped with a homemade banana brown sugar pudding cloud.

“It was inspired by local flavors,” Usui says. “Banana lumpia is something a lot of people in Hawaiʻi love, and we wanted to translate that into a drink without making it taste artificial.”

The pudding cloud is also available in flavors like salted caramel and salted maple, which can be added as toppings for espresso lattes.

The café rotates its seasonal specials every two to three months to keep introducing new flavors and ideas, according to Usui, who encourages customer input.

“We’re always open to feedback and continuously refining our recipes to improve the experience for our customers,” she says. 

Customer parking is available in the laundromat lot (entrance is on Pensacola Street).

Da Morning Grind Café is currently open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays to Fridays and from 7 a.m. to noon on Saturdays and Sundays.

Open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, 7 a.m. to noon Saturdays and Sundays

Da Morning Grind owner 051826

<title>Da Morning Grind Cafe is tucked away within a laundromat</title>

The business’s takeout window is located on South King Street. Open for grab-and-go, the café offers a variety of coffees, teas, dirty sodas and specialty drinks, including a twist on the London Fog latte.

Da Morning Grind Cafe is tucked away within a laundromat

Higa headshot white shirt square

Sterling Higa

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Ben Sasse is bleeding from the face."}]

He’s seated across from New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, 

, and he pauses to note it. He’s dying of stage 4 pancreatic cancer. One side effect of the treatment is that his body can’t grow skin.

“Yeah, you look terrible,” says Douthat.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"“Thank you,” says Sasse with a smile."}]

Since his diagnosis, Sasse has appeared on 

 stage, and a parade of podcasts. He uses the time to say what most politicians never dare to.

He talks about faith. He quotes R.C. Sproul. He discusses Tocqueville with the ease of someone who has actually read him.

Sasse is a two-term Republican Senator from Nebraska, a Harvard graduate, a Yale PhD in History. He voted to impeach Donald Trump and took the consequences. Though popular with voters in his home state, he left the Senate to serve as President of the University of Florida.

Now he spends his last days making one argument: American political life has gone badly wrong. Not because the wrong party is winning. Because the whole enterprise has lost its bearings.

Sasse starts with something most politicians would rather ignore: the pace of technological change. Previous economic transformations — industrialization, electrification — unfolded across generations. This one won’t. Robotics and automation will wipe out whole careers within a single working life.

Sasse sees a second shift: disembodied consciousness, the way screens let people leave their world. Families are breaking apart. Communities are dissolving. The local ties — churches, civic groups, the small-scale institutions Edmund Burke called “little platoons” — that help people absorb hard times are being stripped away. The formation of souls and citizens is at risk, and government is mostly ignoring it in favor of clickbait and rage.

He thinks our loves should be ordered, first to God, then to those nearest us, rippling outward from family to neighborhood to state to nation. Caring about a national political party more than your own community isn’t just confused. It’s a disorder of affection.

What’s true of the nation is true in Hawai'i. The legislature introduces three thousand bills a year. How many of those take the large challenges seriously? The demographic shifts, the cost pressures squeezing local families, the slow hemorrhage of young people off the Islands? The floor speeches and press releases gesture toward these problems, but the lawmaking doesn’t match the problem.

Sasse’s example suggests why. He can sit for an hour-long interview on dense political and theological matters because he has a clear philosophy — a disciplined way of working through problems. It also gives him the power to persuade, which is the precondition for coordinated action.

The founders studied rhetoric and philosophy with the same care they gave the law, because republican government runs on argument and clear speech. Most of Hawai‘i’s lawmakers couldn’t sustain an interview like Sasse’s, and the laws show it. There’s no clear direction. No will to rally the public. Few signs that anyone has thought hard about what government is for. What fills the vacuum is performance: press releases, floor speeches written for social media, outrage timed to the news cycle.

Sasse has a simple framework for what a coherent politics looks like. He describes four ways of valuing government, measured in cheers. No-cheer people — hardcore libertarians — don’t understand that government exists to secure liberty. Three-cheer people believe in a state that controls everything. Republicans, he says, are the one-cheer party. Democrats are the two-cheer party. Each has an extreme wing. Hawai‘i’s loudest voices are at the extremes.

What we lack are the one-cheer leaders: those who see government as necessary but flawed, able to secure order but not to deliver salvation.

Government should do a small number of important things well. It should get out of the way of the little platoons. It should never present itself as the path to utopia. Hawai‘i’s government casting itself as humanity’s last best hope has always been faintly comic.

Sasse’s sharpest line comes when he describes what voters already sense about the way their leaders talk.

They know it’s bullshit, he says — and they don’t want to be lied to. Why can’t politics do a small number of important, long-term things?

There is something clarifying about a man making that argument while bleeding from the face. He has no election to win, no caucus to protect, and by his own reckoning, weeks or months to live. What he’s chosen to do with his time is sit down and think hard about what government is and isn’t for, and what we’ve lost by confusing the two.

In watching Ben Sasse die, Hawai‘i might learn something about how to live.

Ben Sasse Getty Images 1231346544

<title>Ben Sasse is dying in public</title>

The former U.S. senator from Nebraska is talking about big ideas everywhere he can as pancreatic cancer takes his life. Hawai‘i's politicians could learn from what he has to say about government doing fewer things well, says ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa.

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social: Making up all any kine

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Hawaiʻi Scene on Social: Making up all any kine

Authors

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