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Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

[{"text":"We can't argue, it the best way to make Portuguese sausage.","type":"text"}]

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<title>Hawai‘i Scene on Social: "Burn dat buggah!"</title>

Alex_farnham has a very particular drive-through order in today's social media find.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: "Burn dat buggah!"

We can&#039;t argue, it the best way to make Portuguese sausage. 

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Government & Politics

Real Estate

A new affordable housing project in Makiki is set to welcome its first residents.

A crowd gathered Saturday for the grand opening of the Makiki Banyan, located at 1568 Pensacola St.

It brings 80 one-bedroom and 10 two-bedroom units to the neighborhood, available to households earning up to 80% of the area median income. While income limits depend on household sizes, 80% AMI for a one-person household is $86,240 and for a family of two is $98,560, according to 

[{"type":"text","text":"Construction began in March 2025 and was completed in 13.5 months."}]

, itself led by Paul Lam, and co-developers Geena Thielen and Evan Amakata, under the City and County of Honolulu's 

Bill 7 was adopted by the Honolulu City Council in 2019; these projects are also referred to as ROH Chapter 32 projects. According to the city's 

, ROH Chapter 32 relaxes development standards and offers financial incentives for affordable rental projects in certain zoning districts and on lots no larger than 20,000 square feet as long as 80% of the units are rented to those earning no more than 100% of Honolulu's AMI for at least 15 years.

Makiki Banyan is the fifth affordable and workforce housing project that Lam Capital has so far developed under Bill 7. According to

 a recent announcement from the developer, previous projects include developments on Ernest, Kīna‘u and Algaroba streets and University Avenue.

The company has another 750 units in the pipeline across 12 projects in various stages of development, the announcement noted.

"We acquired the first parcel four years ago and we acquired the second parcel three years ago, so it's been a four-year project. We're just absolutely thrilled," Lam told Aloha State Daily on Saturday, when asked how it felt to see the project finished. "Rental housing is what we need as a community. So many people can't afford to buy."

Lam says he would "absolutely not" be able to do this kind of development without Bill 7.

"This is the piece of legislation that ... can help to solve infill urban housing needs."

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi told ASD Saturday that Makiki Banyan was the "execution of a concept done very, very well."

"The thing about a Bill 7 project like this is not only does it allow 90 families eventually to move in here at really good rates, it's where it's located and all the things that come with it," he says. "... The compounded value beyond the low rent is this location. [To] be able to live in an urban area with bus stops, walking distance to schools, to shopping centers, all those conveniences that just add to the quality of life. Not the least of which is they built a beautiful building where people could feel proud about living in a place that has great street appeal."

Davis Pitner, spokesperson for the city's Department of Planning and Permitting, told ASD in an email that eight Bill 7 projects have so far been completed, with certificates of occupancy issued. These projects have added 250 affordable housing units to O‘ahu's housing stock.

Meanwhile another 52 Bill 7 projects are in the pipeline, which Pitner says could create about 1,540 affordable housing units.

Currently, 31 of those projects are under review with the applicant; five are under review with the city and DPP, one project has been approved; and 15 are under construction with building permits issued, he told ASD.

For rental information or questions about leasing, contact 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Makiki banyan 051626

<title>Affordable housing development opens in Makiki</title>

Makiki Banyan is the fifth project from Lam Capital developed under the City and County of Honolulu's Bill 7 program.

Affordable housing development opens in Makiki

Higa headshot white shirt square

Sterling Higa

Columnists

[{"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.

Ben Sasse is dying in public

A new loan program just launched by the Hawai‘i Green Infrastructure Authority aims to help condominium associations with critical repairs and maintenance needs.

The Condominium Association Loan Program provides direct loans to Associations of Apartment Owners, or AOAOs.

Through the new program, loans can be used for deferred maintenance and repairs including installing, repairing or replacing fire sprinklers or other safety measures; repairing or replacing pipes or the roof, and other "qualifying risk-reducing improvements approved by HGIA," an announcement from HGIA on Monday noted.

"Hawaiʻi’s condominium insurance market has become increasingly unstable, with many associations finding it increasingly difficult to obtain hurricane insurance policies with full coverage," an announcement from HGIA notes. "Aging building systems and deferred maintenance increase risks and leave buildings underinsured, resulting in a significant financing gap for both the condominium project and its individual unit owners."

In an effort to stabilize an unstable insurance market, Gov. Josh Green last year signed 

 into law. The legislation, in part, reactivated the Hawai‘i Hurricane Relief Fund 

to "provide insurance coverage in scenarios where the private market fails to do so," 

 from the Governor's Office at that time noted.

Monday's announcement says it also allowed HGIA "to develop direct financing and credit enhancement programs for qualified condominium associations."

"These programs are part of the state's efforts to stabilize the property insurance market by reducing the risk of future claims, through proactive maintenance and upgrades," HGIA said.

To qualify for the new loan program, a condo association must receive at least one "adverse action letter" from a financial institution denying a requested loan, and the association must also agree to get full replacement property and hurricane insurance after repairs are complete, HGIA says.

"I think it's going to be good for some boards because there's a lot of condos — it's not just here in Hawai‘i, it's across the country — that have a lot of deferred maintenance," Raelene Tenno, education chair for Hawai‘i Council of Community Associations, told Aloha State Daily.

Hawai‘i Council of Community Associations

with homeowner associations that include condominium buildings, townhomes and single-family homes.

In a follow-up email, Tenno told ASD that condo boards have been faced with "unexpected huge increases to their master insurance policies and it left boards making hard decisions as this all relates to their operating budget and ultimately to the monthly maintenance fees."

And when it comes to deferred maintenance projects, material costs have skyrocketed, she says. Planned repairs are now out of budget due to these higher costs, which may force condos to seek bank financing or require a special assessment.

Some homeowners may prefer to refinance their mortgage to pay for the special assessment, Tenno explained, but in order to do so, mortgage lenders look at the financial health of the condo, and part of that is the master insurance policy. Lenders require condos to have a 100% replacement value on their policy, she said, and if the owner is in a condo where the board chose to reduce the replacement coverage. lenders won't lend on that condo.

"The new loan program through the HGIA can help these condominiums resolve problems that, in some cases, were created by prior boards, leaving the current board to confront the consequences and get it done," Tenno wrote.

Act 296 also established a complementary condominium loan credit enhancement, available for community development financial institutions, which enables the CDFIs to provide loans to condo associations at "competitive rates and terms" for maintenance and repairs, the announcement states.

"It lowers the risk for CDFIs that lend to condominium associations by using state funds to create a  loan-loss reserve that covers first losses if a borrower defaults," the announcement noted.

Both programs are funded by a $20 million reimbursable general obligation fund. Applications are being accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Honolulu neighborhoods from downtown 031025

<title>Loan program launched for condominium associations</title>

Loan program launched for condominium associations

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Aloha Spirit

Arts & Entertainment

As the sun sets, the floating lanterns at Ala Moana Beach start to glow from the light of the candles they carry as part of Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawai‘i, a Memorial Day ceremony. Jacob Kam had watched the event on television for years but attended in person for the first time more than a decade ago, while he was still a student at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Kam, who is a cancer survivor, sat next to the stage so he could see the thousands of glowing lanterns as they were released into the ocean.

He didn’t set one afloat, but he experienced a moment of peace.

“It's a mood that's kind of indescribable,” he told Aloha State Daily. “It kind of puts you in just that serene calm. It's almost an otherworldly experience. It’s hard to explain, but it felt like this serene calm and peace that I don't think comes around too much nowadays — that's really more precious now that the world's kind of crazy.”

On Monday, May 25, thousands will gather again at Ala Moana Beach to remember fallen service members and loved ones and release floating lanterns as part of the 28th annual Memorial Day ceremony. The free public event is officiated by Shinnyo-en, an international Buddhist community with Japanese roots. It is presented by the group’s locally based community support arm Nā Lei Aloha Foundation.

Kam and his mother, Betty Lou Kam, are two of the event’s many volunteers.

“It's been a Memorial Day tradition for the last few years,” he said. “I don't really have a Memorial Day tradition per se for myself, but this is kind of my Memorial Day tradition ever since I've started volunteering.”

From 2020 to 2022, the ceremony was observed as a pre-recorded television and internet broadcast due to the 

. But when it was announced the event was headed back to the beach, he wanted to get involved as a volunteer.

“And then the next year, mom signed up, too,” his mother added with a laugh.

Over the years, their volunteer roles have changed. Initially, they assembled lanterns. This year, they will be at the shoreline to light the candles in each lantern before families release them into the ocean.

“The temple does a lot about many rivers, one ocean,” she said. “And that's incredible, because when you're standing there — Jacob and I, we actually stand at the coastline and light lanterns. When you're standing there, you feel like you're part of the ocean of people. It's an incredible feeling, because we're all sharing the same feeling.”

“You’d call that a chicken skin kind of moment,” he added.

His mother also likes to help families who are picking up individual lanterns. Each family is invited to decorate their lantern and remember loved ones.

“What happens is we’re all gathered in a tent, and when people pick up, they come to us, and we say, ʻDo you need help?’” she said. “Some people need help because they're still torn with grief and memories. They sit down, and we tell them what to do. Sometimes you step aside and let them cry or let them feel happy, and you share a moment with them.”

Later in the evening, as she lights candles, she sometimes sees families she helped earlier in the day.

“That is the chicken skin moment when somebody says, ‘You helped me,’” she said.

Volunteers are still needed to refurbish lanterns after the ceremony, starting May 30. Sign up to 

The refurbished lanterns will return to the water next year.

“They carry the messages from thousands of people, because the messages are put on the lanterns,” she said. “These lanterns get refreshed with a new mission of taking more messages to those who are gone, but well-loved and still with us in spirit.”

Want to participate? Individual lanterns are free and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Learn about how to get 

add a message to the collective remembrance lantern

Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawaiʻi

<title>Why these volunteers return to Memorial Day lantern floating ceremony</title>

Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawaiʻi is a Memorial Day ceremony that brings thousands to the water’s edge at Ala Moana Beach. Jacob Kam and his mother, Betty Lou Kam, have been volunteers for several years and share what keeps them coming back.

Why these volunteers return to Memorial Day lantern floating ceremony

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

Former Kahuku head football coach Sterling Carvalho and his attorney, Eric Seitz, took to O‘ahu Circuit Court on Monday for his lawsuit against the state. 

Monday was the date set by O‘ahu Circuit Court Judge Jordon Kimura during a 

 as Kahuku's head football coach on March 31. A letter was sent to Kahuku parents shortly thereafter, though no reason was provided at the time. He served as the head coach for the Red Raiders from 2018 to 2024, going 59-18 with three straight state titles from 2021 to 2023. 

As was stated in both Carvalho's lawsuit and discussed during Monday's hearing, Carvalho's removal stemmed from an incident in the 2023 season involving a player, Tavian "Manoa" Hallums, and his father, Kalani Hallums. Carvalho sued the DOE, superintendent Keith Hayashi, area superintendent Samuel Izumi and both Hallums. 

A social media post from Kalani Hallums criticizing Carvalho in the middle of the 2023 season made the rounds in the Kahuku community and was soon brought to the attention of Carvalho. 

Carvalho's removal and ensuing lawsuit traces back to a one-on-one meeting between him and Manoa Hallums during a practice following Kalani Hallums' posts. Carvalho says he called Manoa Hallums into a private office at Kahuku's weight room and told him other adults saw his father's posts and wanted to "lick" him. Despite that, Carvalho said he wanted to look out for the "social, emotional and mental health" of Manoa Hallums, a phrase also repeated by the defense. 

After Manoa Hallums voluntarily addressed the team during a practice, Carvalho says he and other coaches also addressed the team, telling players not to take any anger directed toward Kalani Hallums out on Manoa Hallums. 

As many as 21 people were present in support of Carvalho during Monday's hearing, which lasted seven hours, albeit with breaks between multiple sessions. Carvalho's wife sat directly behind him the entire day, appearing to tear up on multiple occasions. 

One of Seitz's first appeals for Carvalho was a personal one, praising his character and honesty. Seitz noted that Carvalho's motivation for leading the Red Raiders was purely intrinsic since he made a mere $3,000 annually as Kahuku's head football coach. During the day, Carvalho teaches math at Hawai‘i Technology Academy, a public charter school under the DOE umbrella on O‘ahu's west side. 

The basis behind the Department of Education's defense, led by attorney Bradford Chun, was that Carvalho did not sign a contract to remain Kahuku's head football coach for the 2024 season. 

The first witness called to the stand was former Kahuku High and Intermediate principal Donna Lindsey, who recently retired after 14 years as principal and 35 years in education. She submitted her retirement on March 28, effective July 1, without the knowledge that Carvalho was going to be removed as the school's head football coach three days later. 

Both Lindsey and Kahuku athletic director Gillian Yamagata, when called to the witness stand, acknowledged they were aware of the incident that occurred between Carvalho and the Hallums that was being investigated by the DOE. 

Area superintendent Samuel Izumi, who oversaw Carvalho's firing, was also called to the stand on Monday, where he stated he wanted to meet with Carvalho in person at his office in Kāneʻohe. Izumi said attempts to meet with Carvalho in person in January were unsuccessful, and the two ended up speaking on a Zoom call on Feb. 14. 

Prosecution and defense both mentioned that when Carvalho was asked if he would handle the situation any differently, Carvalho said he wouldn't, other than having another witness present during his one-on-one meeting with Manoa Hallums. 

While Izumi said he did not have knowledge of Carvalho threatening Kalani Hallums, he believed he had "sufficient evidence" that the "social, emotional and mental health" of Manoa Hallums was compromised. 

Izumi also said he felt a lack of "reflection, remorse or consideration" in Carvalho's demeanor throughout the investigation, noting he didn't read the entire investigation report, also noting Carvalho's lack of desire to meet in person immediately in January. 

Dozens of letters in support Carvalho have poured in since April, but Izumi noted they were all "after the fact."

Another witness on Monday was Stewart Carvalho, Sterling's twin brother. Stewart Carvalho was an assistant coach on Sterling's staff, serving as the special teams coordinator and receivers coach. 

Honolulu Fire Department veteran Kalu Wolfe, whose son, Terahiti, played for Sterling Carvalho in 2022, also took the witness stand to vouch for him. 

Stewart Carvalho, a Lāʻie resident, noted that Manoa Hallums, who transferred in from Mililani in 2022, was a frequent visitor to his home. "He would always come over, sleepovers or food, dinner," Stewart Carvalho said. 

Manoa Hallums would continue to visit Stewart Carvalho's home following a brief break Manoa Hallums took from the team in 2023 after his one-on-one meeting with Sterling Carvalho. Stewart Carvalho said during those visits, Manoa Hallums did not indicate there were any problems or that trauma was being caused. 

The witness who spent the longest time on the stand was Sterling Carvalho, who was asked a bevy of questions about his contractual status with Kahuku by the defense. Sterling Carvalho's contract for the 2024-2025 season was set to expire on June 30 before his March 31 removal. 

Because he was a casual hire, he was never given a contract beyond one year. 

Sterling Carvalho noted that the Red Raiders had a captain for each position, and that Manoa Hallums was voted the receivers captain for 2023. Each captain came together to form the captain council. Carvalho says he didn't know until after the fact that the council voted to remove Manoa Hallums as a captain after a road trip to California in 2023 in which he allegedly had an altercation with a teammate in a hotel room. 

Sterling Carvalho also mentioned how Manoa Hallums' access to the team's Hudl (a film sharing platform) was revoked after he publicly shared plays from team practices, breaking a team rule. 

The defense pointed out Carvalho signed contracts to coach the team for the 2022 and 2023 seasons but not 2024.  

In hopes of getting Hayashi on the witness stand, Seitz said his team subpoenaed Hayashi during the lunch break, which lasted about one hour through 12:45 p.m. However, Seitz said Hayashi was not present at his office, noting he's "never subpoenaed a party" in his life. 

Kahuku athletics director Gillian Yamagata was called to the stand by the defense and acknowledged Sterling Carvalho did not complete his paperwork for the 2024 season. Seitz responded by saying even though Sterling Carvalho did not sign the contract, he still performed it and was paid for it. 

After both sides gave their closing arguments, Kimura requested both parties turn in any additional evidence by 4 p.m. on Wednesday. 

"I'd like to thank my lawyer, Eric Seitz, in doing a phenomenal job today, and at this point in time, we just have to trust the process and let the court decide," Sterling Carvalho briefly told the media afterwards. 

Carvalho is still hoping to be reinstated by the start of Kahuku's 2025 season, which begins on Aug. 9 against defending state champion Saint Louis. 

"I do not," Sterling Carvalho said when asked if he knows when he'll get an answer. "I have never been in this situation."

[{"type":"text","text":"Seitz said afterwards that the timeline for a resolution varies widely. "}]

"(After additional materials are submitted) by the close of business Wednesday, then the judge will decide whether he's going to issue an injunction. Irrespective of that, the case will then be formed by trial track, but they're now setting trials for 2027.

"My hope is that somebody in the DOE will come to their senses. I don't have a lot of hope for that, because I don't understand how they took this action in the first place. How can you possibly fire such a highly respected coach based upon the statements of a kid and his father who wrote the kind of atrocious things he did? I mean, I don't understand. 

"The DOE in Hawai‘i is not very well respected, and the leadership is because that's why it is. I have a son who's a teacher and a daughter in law who's a teacher, and we've been involved with public education all our lives. But my God, these people who run public education, they do outrageous things. And I think that the public needs to be aware of what these people are doing in their names, and decent people like Sterling are being victimized as a consequence on all of the kids that such decent people serve. And that's just too bad."

Although Manoa and Kalani Hallums did not come to the status hearing on July 18 or Monday's hearing, Manoa Hallums made his side of the story public on his personal Instagram account in April. 

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: "Burn dat buggah!"

ASD Staff

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Hawai‘i Scene on Social: "Burn dat buggah!"

Authors

ASD Staff

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