ASD Staff

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

[{"text":"Everybody happy dance!","type":"text"}]

I Stock 1146983674

<title>Hawai‘i Scene on Social: "A good day in Hawai‘i"</title>

Kveekz on Instagram is today's social media find, celebrating some pleasant surprises.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: "A good day in Hawai‘i"

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Government & Politics

Real Estate

A light breeze was blowing Monday at Hale Haukani — fitting that Haukani is the swirling wind that moves through Mānoa Valley — as a crowd that included Gov. Josh Green, Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, University of Hawai‘i leaders and others gathered to bless the new $170 million student housing complex at UH Mānoa.

Located on the mauka side of Dole Street between the East-West Center and Mānoa stream, the new dorm — intended primarily for graduate students and junior faculty, although undergrads can also reside there — consists of two towers, 12 and 18 stories, with 316 units and 558 beds. You'll find studio, two-, three- and four-bedroom layouts.

[{"type":"text","text":"The first residents were set to move in Monday, Aug. 18."}]

"Some of you will have heard me say that my standard for student housing is 'Would I let my own children live there?' And I want to state clearly that this is too nice for my children," UH President Wendy Hensel joked in her remarks to the crowd, garnering a laugh. "This is first-class housing and very exciting for the new residents who will be moving in today."

She told Aloha State Daily after the blessing that having housing options for students "that are attractive and will enhance their educational journey and help them reach their goals is just wonderful."

Work on Hale Haukani began before Hensel's tenure at UH started. How does it feel to cross the finish line?

[{"type":"text","text":"It feels good, she says with a laugh."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"I feel like we're just getting started.\""}]

It's the university's second housing project developed through a public-private partnership, or P3.

According to UH, Hale Haukani is privately owned and financed by the Collegiate Housing Foundation, or CHF, and was developed and constructed by Greystar Development Services, LLC and Swinerton Builders on university land leased to CHF. It'll be privately operated for CHF by a Greystar subsidiary.

Rental income will be used to repay tax-exempt bonds while $2 million a year from UH will help subsidize rents "so that they remain below the market rate for comparable units," UH noted.

When asked about the importance of P3s in creating housing for students, Kalbert Young, vice president of budget and finance and chief financial officer for UH, told ASD after the blessing that universities, cities and states across the country are challenged to provide affordable housing for students or special populations.

"In Hawai‘i, the university didn't have the financial resources and the State of Hawai‘i wasn't able to step in to provide those resources to build new housing, even though we have a housing crisis in Hawai‘i," he says. "Finding private partners and putting together a business team and structure that get it done, it's a first, and it's monumental because it's able to fill a large gap that without, we would not have been able to address housing."

In terms of campus housing needs, Young says that for undergrads, on-campus housing is still "a little bit short of demand."

"We have virtually no graduate family housing," he noted. "This is such a new piece of the inventory puzzle to provide graduate-level housing."

With its opening, UH Mānoa now has 4,000 beds for students either on or adjacent to its campus, the most in its history.

UH Mānoa interim Provost Vassilis Syrmos said in an announcement Monday that the new facility not only addresses a "longstanding housing shortage," but also strengthens the university's ability to recruit and retain grad students, who contribute to "cutting-edge research and teaching."

UH says, too, that the new units are expected to lessen the pressure on Honolulu's rental market by freeing up off-campus housing.

In addition to the new housing, UH Mānoa's Children's Center will relocate from Castle Memorial Hall to a new 9,000-square-foot facility within the complex. This will ultimately expand its capacity from 90 to approximately 130 keiki and offer greater training opportunities for pre-K educators in partnership with the College of Education and other academic units, UH noted. 

[{"type":"text","text":"UH's first P3 project has been open for two years now."}]

Ground broke on RISE, or the Residences for Innovative Student Entrepreneurs, in 

The innovation center and student housing is located on the site of the former Atherton YMCA. Meanwhile, the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship, or PACE, which is housed in UH Mānoa's Shidler College of Business, expanded into and manages the center.

The center was funded through a public-private partnership between UH, UH Foundation and Hunt Development Group Hawai‘i.

 that has the university partnering with the not-for-profit Community Development Alliance Corp. Hilo to manage and redevelop the Hale Kāwili Apartments, a complex located adjacent to the UH-Hilo campus at 430 W. Kāwili St.

"[The Hale Haukani] project and our RISE project are proof this university will find alternative methods to modernize our facilities at a minimal cost to the taxpayer, and execute plans on time and on budget," Hensel told the crowd. "We'll continue to explore these projects as well as to modernize the other facilities on campus."

Green told the audience that these P3 partnerships "are the way of the present and the future, as you know, because it's not easy always to find adequate resources but we want to keep things affordable for our families, our kids, those who come study here."

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Hale Haukani1 081825

<title>Hale Haukani opens at UH Mānoa</title>

You'll find the $170 million student housing complex on the mauka side of Dole Street between the East-West Center and Mānoa stream.

Hale Haukani opens at UH Mānoa

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Entertainment

Arts & Culture

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"FRIDAY, AUG. 22"}]

Catch live music at FM100’s Birthday Bash! Featured music on the first night includes 

, and more. The second night features Ekolu, Ooklah the Moc, Kanaka Fyah and more. The two-day music festival takes place at the Wai Kai Events Lawn in ʻEwa Beach. Tickets are $29 - $79.  

The annual festival is underway! Still ahead is a parent-assisted keiki surf fest, the ocean mile swim, the Na Koa Wounded Warrior Canoe Regatta, surfboard water polo and more. The week-long festival draws local and international contestants. The event raises funds for scholarships and grants for Hawaiʻi athletes. 

 which stars Jason Momoa, on Apple TV+. The series features the story of Kaʻiana, played by Momoa, as he tries to unify the Islands before Western colonization in the late 18th century. The first two episodes dropped Aug. 1, with an additional episode appearing every Friday through Sept. 19. The show was written and executive produced by Momoa and Thomas Pa‘a Sibbett. Check it out on 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"SATURDAY, AUG. 23"}]

, where the Rainbow Warriors take on Stanford University at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex. 

, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s new athletic director, announced that 

Spectrum Sports will stream the games for free

 in the 2025-2026 season. The game will also be aired nationally by CBS.

Enjoy an evening of live music from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Waikīkī Aquarium. Children 12 years old and younger get free admission. Featured performers include Ledward Kaapana, 

, Darrell Aquino and more. The event benefits the Waikīkī Aquarium. General admission is $20. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"SUNDAY, AUG 24"}]

Keʻalohi International Piano Competition. 

The top three performers will play with the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra at 4 p.m. at the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall. The winner of this competition takes home a $10,000 cash award. The contest draws pianists from around the world to O’ahu this month. Aloha State Daily spoke with 

, the founder of competition, about the contest she calls 

Henry Kapono pays tribute to Jimmy Buffett.

 Join the Nā Hōkū Hanohano award-winning singer and songwriter 

, who will perform a tribute to his friend Jimmy Buffett. Kapono performs regularly from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Duke’s Waikīkī as part of a series called “Duke’s on Sunday.” For the last hour of each performance, music is livestreamed on 

. Read more about Kapono’s new extended play 

 which features six songs. It is free to watch the livestream, or get dinner at Duke’s Waikīkī to catch the show in person.

Ledward Kaapana

<title>Catch football, surf contests, Henry Kapono, and ʻOlympics of the piano’ : Friday, Aug.…</title>

Ready to make weekend plans? Aloha State Daily rounded up a list of things to do. From the first football game of the season for the Rainbow Warriors to performances by Henry Kapono, here are some ideas of fun things to do on Oʻahu.

Catch football, surf contests, Henry Kapono, and ʻOlympics of the piano’ : Friday, Aug. 22 to Sunday, Aug. 24

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

 is no longer only open for dinner. Earlier this month, the Kapahulu-based eatery launched a lunch menu for the first time.

Lunch is served from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays to Fridays to start. If there is a demand, the restaurant might extend the days and hours.

The menu is currently limited to a few lunch-exclusive dishes and popular options from the dinner menu.

If you have to choose one entree from the menu, go for the Nonbei hamburger steak ($17). It features a 5-ounce wagyu patty with Nonbei’s Japanese-style gravy over a bed of rice.

The hamburger patty is ultra juicy and tender, but the gravy is the dish’s crowning glory. It’s the perfect balance between sweet and savory, and if you have leftovers, ask for more gravy to-go.

The chicken katsu curry is a comforting option. It features rich Japanese curry with panko-crusted chicken thighs and rice.

The chicken thighs boast a juicy interior, and the thicker curry has a slight spice. The hamburger steak and chicken katsu curry are only available during lunch.

Tempura soba is one of the signature dishes on the izakaya’s dinner menu. It consists of buckwheat soba (served hot or cold) with shrimp and assorted tempura.

Other lunch entrees include pork ginger ($17) — Kurobuta pork sautéed with onions, ginger and house sauce, served with rice — and maguro poke ($15). The latter includes fresh ‘ahi tossed with onions and housemade shoyu.

Reservations are welcomed, but since the lunch menu is so new, it’s easy to walk in. Takeout orders are also accepted.

Izakaya Nonbei lunch spread 081825

<title>This Kapahulu izakaya now serves lunch</title>

Izakaya Nonbei’s new lunch menu includes dishes like chicken katsu curry, soba and a mouthwatering hamburger steak.

This Kapahulu izakaya now serves lunch

Business & Tourism

 the Hawaiian Airlines presents the 31st Annual Made in Hawai‘i Festival.

The shopping extravaganza began Friday, Aug. 15, and ran through the weekend, featuring more than 700 vendor booths. It drew approximately 70,000 attendees across the three days, a festival spokesperson told Aloha State Daily in an email on Monday. That's similar to 2024 attendance.

 drew more than 70,000 attendees and generated approximately $10 million in revenues last year.

This year's revenue tally, however, won't be known for another few weeks, the spokesperson noted.

MIHF is produced by the Hawai‘i Food Industry Association. Proceeds from the festival support HFIA's mission "to build a strong, sustainable and resilient food industry in Hawai‘i."

"We are truly grateful for the overwhelming support of the vendors and participants of the Made in Hawai‘i Festival this year," the spokesperson told ASD. "It is incredible to see the enormous outpouring of support for Hawai‘i's local businesses and makers. Every year is a little different and we can never truly predict which days and times will be busiest. Last year, Saturday was the most popular day for ticket sales and this year it flipped over to Friday due to the state holiday and perhaps the exclusive drops and hot commodities being released by vendors."

[{"type":"text","text":"So what does 'Made in Hawai‘i' mean in the context of the festival?"}]

The spokesperson says that all products sold at MIHF must be "51% value added in Hawai‘i."

"This 51% can come from any combination of the value of raw materials, design, labor and manufacturing," they explained. "The valuation is submitted by the vendors themselves and checked by our team. The majority of the products exceed the 51% amount. It is possible that some products that are manufactured outside the state, or that have components manufactured outside the state, meet the criteria. We strive to have vendors and products that not only meet the criteria but exceed it and are truly embodying the spirit of Made in Hawaiʻi."

Vendors must also be based in the Islands to participate and there's a "comprehensive valuation process" they must complete, the spokesperson further noted.

We do our best to ensure vendors are compliant with our Made in Hawai‘i mandates, while some might put out some products that are obviously not made in Hawai‘i we must be notified ASAP to remind them of the rules and remove those products," the spokesperson said. "Ultimately our goal is to only showcase products that meet the Made in Hawai‘i standard and we would hope our vendors abide by these requirements."

An obviously popular draw, some attendees began waiting in line to enter long before the festival doors opened to the public.

On Friday, the first group began lining up at 1:30 a.m., for Saturday, they waited from 9:30 p.m. the night before, and on Sunday, the first person in line showed up at 2 a.m., the spokesperson told ASD.

"The lines began to get lengthy from 6 a.m. in the morning, when the doors didn't open to the public until 10 a.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday," they said. "This year, enhanced security measures were required by the Hawai‘i Convention Center including a magnetometer screening within our point of entry. This did slow the entry somewhat, especially on Friday, but Saturday and Sunday there was little to no line, or the line for entry had been cleared and was moving quickly by 10:30am on both Saturday and Sunday."

As for the lessons learned from this year's MIHF that might be carried forward in the future, the spokesperson says festival organizers are looking at ways to "provide more opportunities for an easier shopping experience and better entry options."

"We may consider adding additional hours, additional entry doors, and always consider suggestions and feedback," they said. "We are trying to be mindful of various issues like construction and availability — so the exact dates and location for 2026 are not yet confirmed."

Aloha State Daily attended the festival and caught up with a handful of the small business owners who set up shop. 

Also worth noting: a total of $30,000 was donated to MIHF's charity partners the Hawaiʻi Foodbank and The Food Basket's DA BUX program. More than $7,000 was donated by attendees through ticket purchases, which was matched by the Hawai‘i Food Industry Association. That $15,000 subtotal was doubled by the Servco Foundation.

“We are extremely grateful to everyone who attended, our sponsors, and the hundreds of small businesses who shared their craft and passion with the community,” Lauren Zirbel, president of the Hawai‘i Food Industry Association, said in an announcement Monday. “The Made in Hawai‘i Festival continues to be a gathering place that uplifts local talent and gives back to the community that makes this event possible.”

MIHF 081525 entrance

<title>Made in Hawai‘i Festival draws nearly 70K attendees</title>

The three-day event began Friday, Aug. 15, and ran through the weekend.

Made in Hawai‘i Festival draws nearly 70K attendees

It's hot and bright, just before noon on Thursday. Honolulu's Chinatown is lively midday and people are strolling through Kekaulike Mall, where vendors and shops are selling fruits, produce, fish and other goods.

, co-founder of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue and chairman of A Better Chinatown Association, is excited!

About Chinatown. About a new archway planned for Kekaulike Mall. And about other revitalization efforts in the works.

Aloha State Daily met with Flores in Chinatown Thursday to learn more about the arch and plans for the area.

The project is five years in the making. Flores says that former Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell had reached out to him, noting that Honolulu's Chinatown, one of the oldest in the U.S., didn't have an arch and asked if Flores wanted to build one.

Flores, who was raised nearby, says an arch is "almost like to show a symbol of the Chinese community and coming together. So if you go to every Chinatown in America, you will see a big arch."

In a follow-up email, Flores said he started the nonprofit A Better Chinatown Association to lead fundraising efforts. Aside from some of his office staff, he's largely working by himself on the project.

[{"type":"text","text":"But the arch is just the beginning."}]

Phase one of the project — which includes the construction of the traditional Chinatown arch at King and Kekaulike streets, along with the installation of lanterns, banners and murals and other aesthetic improvements — is expected to be finished by June 2026, a recent announcement from Flores says.

Why put the arch at that location? Among other reasons, Flores notes the future Skyline rail Chinatown station — 

 — which will be located nearby at Nimitz Highway and Kekaulike Street.

"It will become a destination, not only for the tourists but for the local community," Flores told ASD. "I want them to come here. ... We want people to come here, to have business, activity, development."

Meanwhile the second phase, which includes a planned launch of free daily walking and food tours, cultural activities and craft fairs, as well as the creation of a website and social media to promote Chinatown as a destination, is expected to be complete by December 2026, the announcement noted.

"People know Eddie," he says. "If I do something, it's going to be done. When I said I will do it, I will do it. People know my reputation. I want to develop this to make this [a] really nice Chinatown for the community and for tourists alike. I want people to come in."

According to provided information, the total cost of the project — including design and engineering, materials, fabrication, shipping, site prep, and foundation and civil work for the arch; installation of banners, red lanterns and murals; staff and other costs — is approximately $1.15 million.

Flores says the arch, which will be fabricated, will be ordered in about a month or so.

Kekaulike Mall is city-owned property but this revitalization project is privately funded. Flores noted 

 already. He also expressed his gratitude to Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi and his team.

"This is an investment in legacy and investment for all those who live and work and visit Chinatown, and an investment toward the future of this place and all who will experience Chinatown, given its rich history and all the it means to Honolulu," Mayor Rick Blangiardi told Aloha State Daily Thursday.

Interested in supporting the cause? Donations can be mailed to A Better Chinatown Association, 2138 Algaroba St., Honolulu, Hawaii 96826, or emailed to 

Eddie Flores Jr Kekaulike Mall 071725

<title>Archway planned for Honolulu's Chinatown</title>

The effort is being spearheaded by L&L Hawaiian Barbecue co-founder Eddie Flores, who also serves as the chairman of A Better Chinatown Association, a nonprofit leading fundraising for the project.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: "A good day in Hawai‘i"

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Hawai‘i Scene on Social: "A good day in Hawai‘i"

Authors

ASD Staff

More in Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

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