ASD Staff

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

[{"text":"It's the thought that counts.","type":"text"}]

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<title>Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Introducing the "loose" shaka</title>

In today's social media find, krystilez demonstrates a shaka so minimal it barely exists.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Introducing the "loose" shaka

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

After being left out of the NCAA Tournament in 2024, the University of Hawai‘i men's volleyball team made sure to leave nothing to chance in 2025. 

, the Rainbow Warriors boasted both an RPI and national ranking of 3. With a semifinal matchup against No. 4 UC Irvine, the window was open for the Anteaters to steal a potential at-large bid. 

Hawai‘i never had to play the guessing game, defeating UC Irvine on Friday night and No. 1 Long Beach State in the championship match on Saturday, completing both victories in four sets. 

The Rainbow Warriors (26-5) were named the No. 2 seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament in Columbus, Ohio, and will play in the quarterfinals on May 8. UH will await the winner of the play-in game between Daemen and Penn State on May 2. Meanwhile, Long Beach State's resume at 27-3 was still enough to earn the top seed in the eyes of the NCAA selection committee. 

A total of 7,074 fans passed the Stan Sheriff Center turnstiles on Friday night, followed by 8,540 raucous fans on Saturday night. For freshman Adrien Roure, just a small fraction of that made the difference, as family and friends from his native France flew to the Islands to watch him play. 

"My family, some friends, flew out to Hawai‘i, so I've been around them all week," Roure said after registering 18 kills on Friday. "So, it really helped me free my mind. And it's been like a year you didn't see them. So obviously, for me, I feel great. Just glad to see them. And I wanted to show them how I play here." 

Roure added 11 kills to his weekend total on Saturday night and was named the Big West Tournament Most Outstanding Player. 

“The first thing they told me is I’m lucky to have them because every time they come see me, I win," Roure said of his family members. 

[{"text":"Quipped head coach Charlie Wade: \"Are they going to Ohio?\" ","type":"text"}]

Wade led the Rainbow Warriors to his seventh NCAA Tournament appearance in his 16 years at the helm. On Friday night, he clinched career win No. 317, passing Mike Wilton as the program's all-time wins leader. 

"I'm humbled to have the opportunity to represent this university, to represent the state, and to coach these young men," Wade said following Friday's win. "University of Hawai‘i volleyball has been iconic in the sport forever. That's why I came here 30 years ago (as an assistant coach on the women's team), and I'm fortunate enough to lead this program, and I think when it's all said and done, I'll look back at the numbers."

Wade, 61, was as animated as any of his players when collecting the Big West championship trophy on Saturday night. 

The night was short for the Rainbow Warriors. Less than 12 hours after taking down Long Beach State on Saturday night, the Rainbow Warriors were back in the arena to gather as a team for the NCAA selection show. If Hawai‘i were to win on May 8, its next match would be in the national semifinals against either No. 3 UCLA or No. 6 Belmont Abbey on May 10. The championship match is set for May 12. 

Prior to missing the NCAA Tournament in 2024, the Rainbow Warriors previously made four consecutive NCAA championship matches, winning national titles in 2021 and 2022. With a roster chock-full of underclassmen in 2025, the Rainbow Warriors carry a different nucleus than the last time they were in the NCAA Tournament, but have the same national championship aspirations. 

"We said it from the beginning: We think we have a chance to not only be a really good team, but to be the best team at the end," Wade said on Sunday. "We're playing our best volleyball here at the end, we look at the progress the guys like Louis (Sakanoko) and Adrien have made receiving and from the service line, it's impressive, and glad to see it here at the end of the year."

Hawaii MVB 042725

<title>Hawai‘i men's volleyball off to NCAA Tournament after winning Big West title</title>

The Rainbow Warriors are the No. 2 seed in the nine-team NCAA Tournament and will take the floor against an opponent to be determined on May 8.

Hawai‘i men's volleyball off to NCAA Tournament after winning Big West title

Michael Brestovansky

Crime & Courts

A Pearl City woman was wrongfully evicted from public housing after her son attacked a neighbor with a baseball bat, the Hawai‘i Supreme Court has ruled.

In 2016, Blossom Bell moved into the Hale Laulima housing development in Pearl City under a rental agreement with the Hawai‘i Public Housing Authority. Bell remained at that apartment for years, until a violent incident in 2020 shattered the peace.

According to court records, Bell’s son Daniel Lambert was visiting her apartment on May 12, 2020. That morning, Bell’s downstairs neighbor — one Aaron George — was watering plants outside and attempted to spray water near Bell’s window in order to remove a bird’s nest.

The nest “did not budge,” read one report by the HPHA, and George returned to his plants. But Lambert, having noticed the water being sprayed near his mother’s window, peered outside, and shouted at George until he “furiously stomped down the stairs” to confront him.

During a shouting match between the two, Lambert reportedly entered George’s apartment, leading George to grab a metal baseball bat to chase him out. Instead, Lambert seized the bat, wrenched it from George’s hands and swung it at George’s head.

HPHA reported that Lambert then shouted a few more obscenities and left, leaving George collapsed on the ground “surrounded by blood hemorrhaging from the top of his skull.” Eventually, George’s child called the police.

George was transported to the Pali Momi emergency room, and reportedly told police that he had suffered a subdural hematoma.

Lambert was charged with first- and second-degree assault, and burglary. The assault charges were dismissed in 2023, but he pleaded no contest to the burglary charge, resulting in a four-year deferred sentence.

However, because threatening the lives of other tenants is a violation of the HPHA rental agreement, the authority served Bell a notice of violation informing her that her tenancy would be terminated. Bell requested a grievance hearing with the O‘ahu Eviction Board, which found that Bell’s violation was “incurable” — e.g. could not be corrected — and upheld HPHA’s termination notice in Feb. 2023.

Bell challenged this hearing multiple times: first she appealed the matter to the First Circuit Court, which led to a second grievance hearing with the Eviction Board, which in turn led to a second appeal with the Circuit Court. That second appeal reinstated Bell’s lease.

HPHA then challenged the court’s decision to the Intermediate Court of Appeals, eventually bringing the matter to the state Supreme Court.

At the core of the case was the question of whether Bell had corrected the violation by permanently barring Lambert from the premises after the bat incident. Bell argued yes; HPHA rules dictate that violations which threaten fellow tenants must be corrected within 24 hours. As Lambert had left the property within 24 hours and never returned, Bell reasoned, the violation had been cured.

HPHA disagreed, arguing that the assault had already happened and that treating the violation as curable at all would require the incident to be “undone somehow,” according to Supreme Court documents.

The court ultimately agreed with Bell. In a verdict handed down April 8, Justice Sabrina McKenna wrote in the court’s opinion that the O‘ahu Eviction Board had erred and abused its own discretion in evicting Bell.

“We agree with the circuit court that Bell cured the violation as quickly as she possibly could have when she immediately and permanently barred Lambert from re-entering Hale Laulima,” McKenna wrote. “Thus, the Board erred in concluding that the only way Bell could cure her violation was to undo the assault.”

The court’s opinion — on which no justice dissented — was to uphold the Circuit Court’s second appeal, thereby reinstating Bell’s lease.

[{"text":"Aloha State Daily reached out to Bell and HPHA for comment.","type":"text"}]

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<title>Pearl City tenant wrongfully evicted after baseball bat attack, state Supreme Court rules</title>

Public housing agency evicted a woman in 2021 when a guest, her son, attacked a neighbor with a bat. She fought back.

Pearl City tenant wrongfully evicted after baseball bat attack, state Supreme Court rules

Saint Louis alumnus Jonah Savaiinaea was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the second round in the NFL Draft on Friday. 

Savaiinaea was the fifth pick of the second round and 37th overall selection. 

After a standout high school football career at Saint Louis, Savaiinaea went on to become a three-year starter at Arizona, where he declared for the draft following his junior season. He played every position on the offensive line at Arizona other than center. In the NFL, he is projected to be a guard. 

Savaiinaea is set to join Tua Tagovailoa, Miami's franchise quarterback, as the second Saint Louis alumnus currently on the Dolphins roster. 

The Dolphins were originally set to pick 48th in the draft, but traded up with the Las Vegas Raiders, giving up their second, third and fourth round pick for the 37th overall selection and Vegas' fifth-round pick. 

Friday marked the second and third rounds of the draft, while the draft concludes with rounds four through seven on Saturday. 

Savaiinaea was the second player with Hawai‘i ties to get selected, as 

 was taken eighth overall by the Carolina Panthers on Friday. 

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<title>Saint Louis alumnus Jonah Savaiinaea selected by Miami Dolphins in NFL Draft</title>

Savaiinaea was selected by the Dolphins in the second round with the 37th overall selection.

Saint Louis alumnus Jonah Savaiinaea selected by Miami Dolphins in NFL Draft

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

[{"text":"Remodeling your kitchen? Or looking to build a whole new home?","type":"text"}]

HPM Building Supply's newly renovated O‘ahu Design Centers in Iwilei — its first showrooms on the island — might have what you need to visualize your plans and turn ideas into reality.

The three showrooms can be found on the first floor of the Nā Lama Kukui Lifestyle & Design Center at 560 N. Nimitz Road.

"The beauty of our Design Centers is that we can offer the service for any project need," Kapua Aguiar, Design Center program manager told Aloha State Daily. "Even if it's a small bathroom remodel or a larger kitchen or you're just wanting to replace your floors. Those are all things that we can help with through our design centers."

Aguiar, who has worked for the company for nearly 13 years, says the design centers offer finished interior materials from floor to ceiling, including appliances, windows and doors.

Walking through the spaces, you can see kitchen and bathroom models, a variety of shelving and cabinetry, light and plumbing fixtures, flooring options, doors, hardware and more that are available at different levels.

 is a fifth-generation, family-run business that began as a lumber mill more than a century ago.

The employee-owned company initially added two O‘ahu showrooms when it acquired Honolulu-based interiors firm 87Zero in April 2023, an announcement at that time noted. That acquisition established a new division called 87Zero by HPM.

Those showrooms have now been fully integrated into the design center and rebranded, and HPM has added a third. Together, they're known as 

The first suite, which opened a year ago, is a design center featuring HPM Homes. Here, visitors can see displays of HPM's signature cabinets, countertops and more, along with 

HPM Homes offers more than 20 different pre-designed packaged home plans for individuals looking to construct a home or accessory dwelling unit.

A second showroom, which soft opened at the beginning of this month, is the design center that features upgrade products. Aguiar says these products are largely more customizable and made-to-order for a project space.

The third showroom highlights products from Ernestomeda, a high-end luxury Italian cabinet line.

A grand opening for the HPM O‘ahu Design Centers, which spans more than 7,000 square feet across the three spaces, is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, May 4. Anyone can walk in but 

The event will consultations with home planners, kitchen and bath designers and vendors; cooking demonstrations by chef Shayne Castellano; pupus and drinks from Prime Roast Cafe, door prizes and a $25,000 kitchen appliance giveaway.

In addition to the three showrooms on O‘ahu, HPM has design centers on Hawai‘i Island, Kaua‘i and Maui, as well as lumberyards and retail stores across the Islands. 

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Government & Politics

Crime & Courts

Sports

Business & Tourism

Real Estate

Food & Dining

Entertainment

Arts & Culture

Aloha Spirit

Hawaii History

Opinion

Daily Features

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Introducing the "loose" shaka

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