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ASD Staff

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

[{"text":"No need post bail, when cell phones exist in jail.","type":"text"}]

Firefly funny illustration of a bald man in prison giving advice on a cell phone 125937

<title>Hawai‘i Scene on Social: A comedy crime saga in two parts</title>

Today's social posts come from howsdisguy: Part one and two of talking story with your roughboy philosopher relative.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: A comedy crime saga in two parts

No need post bail, when cell phones exist in jail.  

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

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.

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

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

Hawai'i Skies

Today's Hawai‘i Skies was captured by Jessica Doney at Mākaha Valley. "A low‑sitting rainbow stretching across the valley after the rain."

To submit your Hawai'i Skies photo, visit us 

IMG 1797 Afterlight

<title>Hawaiʻi Skies: Sitting low</title>

Today's Hawai‘i Skies was captured by Jessica Doney at Mākaha Valley.

Hawaiʻi Skies: Sitting low

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

Aloha Spirit

Ready to make plans for the long weekend? Some of the events coming to Oʻahu soon include 

 ceremonies, a benefit gala for Hawaiʻi Foodbank, and a car show in Hawaiʻi Kai.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Friday, May 22"}]

Want to help create the 38,000 lei placed on the graves of the service members laid to rest at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific? Join one of these 

bring lei you made at home to one of the donation sites

. Hawaiʻi Foodbank is hosting its inaugural Nourish Gala where guests can enjoy a cocktail reception, multi-course dinner with curated tasting stations and live music from 

, and the Hoʻoheno Duo at ʻAlohilani Resort Waikīkī Beach. The event supports the Hawaiʻi Foodbank. Individual tickets are available for $375. Tickets must be purchased by Thursday, May 21. 

Catch this special exhibit about Robert Cazimero. 

A special exhibit honoring the legendary musician, composer and Kumu Hula Robert Uluwehionāpuaikawēkiuokalani Cazimero has been extended through Saturday, May 30, at Gallery ‘Iolani, which is located on Windward Community College’s campus in Kāneʻohe. Learn more about the 

kumu hula of Hālau Na Kamalei o Lililehua

, which was the kāne overall winner for the Merrie Monarch Festival of 1976, the first year that men were allowed to compete, as previously reported by Honolulu Star-Advertiser. He was also part of The Brothers Cazimero, a 

more than two dozen Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards

, which performed decades of May Day is Lei Day concerts at Tom Moffatt Waikīkī Shell. The gallery is open from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. daily, except Sunday and Memorial Day. Free. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Saturday, May 23"}]

Head to the Waikīkī Community Center and join in this hands-on event where attendees can make and toss 

. Made of clay, rice bran, molasses and microorganisms, Genki Balls are said to digest sludge and leave water cleaner, although there is 

. Up to 28 participants can attend this event which runs from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. Tickets cost $10 plus fees. 

Head to the Waikīkī Aquarium and support University of Hawaiʻi alumni owned businesses in a special market, starting at 9 a.m. Admission is $5 and includes access to the Waikīkī Aquarium. Want to start the day earlier? Arrive at 8 a.m. for a pilates sculpt workout led by Annie Chang, a current UH student, for $30, which include access to the aquarium, the class and a towel. 

Wear white and head to this yacht party, hosted by Atlantis Cruise. Drinks are available for purchase. Boarding starts at 9 p.m. The yacht returns at 1 a.m. Individual tickets start at $125. A pair of tickets can be purchased for $170, plus fees. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Sunday, May 24"}]

Ready to add some dinosaurs to your life? “T. rex” chronicles the story of three boys discovering a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex fossil in North Dakota in 2022. It will be playing at 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Bishop Museum’s J. Watumull Planetarium. Admission is $5 per person and includes access to the planetarium’s lobby exhibit, “Wayfinders: He Waʻa He Moku, He Moku He Waʻa,” plus a seat in the theater. Tickets to the rest of the museum are an additional cost. 

The Honolulu Museum of Art will offer a guided tour of its Renaissance Collection. These tours start at 2 p.m. on Sundays. Gather in the front of the Central Courtyard for tours which are between 45 and 60 minutes. These tours are included in museum admission, which is $15 for kamaʻāina and free for youth who are 18 years old or younger. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Monday, May 25"}]

The event starts at 8:30 a.m. and there will be an oli, a speech from Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi, a presentation of wreaths, a firearm salute, a military aircraft flyover, and performances from the Royal Hawaiian Band and Sounds of Aloha Chorus, as well as 

. The ceremony also features taps. Parking is limited. Additional parking is available at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School and Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School starting at 7 a.m., and a courtesy shuttle will take attendees to the cemetery. Free. 

Join Gov. Josh Green, Maj. General Stephen Logan, and Lt. Col. John Alamodin for the Governor’s Memorial Day Ceremony at 1 p.m. at the Hawaiʻi State Veteran’s Cemetery in Kāneʻohe. There will be a musical prelude by the 

Spend Memorial Day at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, where you can visit the 

 (reservations recommended, although some standby admission is available) or the 

 submarine. Visitors can also book a tour to Ford Island, where they can visit the 

, where authentic WWII hangers hold a variety of aircraft and visitors can step into flight simulators. The Pearl Harbor National Memorial’s visitor center is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Cruise over to the Hawaiʻi Kai Towne Center and check out this showcase of classic cars in the parking lot in front of Costco. The event starts at 2 p.m. Free. 

. This Memorial Day ceremony brings thousands to the water’s edge to release floating lanterns and remember loved ones and fallen service members at Ala Moana Beach. The ceremony starts at 6:30 p.m. 

 are available on a first-come, first-served basis with pick up between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., or as long as supplies last. Messages can also be added to 

Learn why these volunteers keep coming back, 

Planning to be outside this weekend? Send us your pictures of rainbows, sunsets and more for a chance to be featured in our Hawaiʻi Skies series. Include your name and where the picture was taken plus why the moment was special. 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawai‘i

<title>What to do on Oʻahu for Memorial Day weekend</title>

From sewing lei for service members to the Shinnyo Lantern Floating Hawaiʻi, there are lots of events happening on Oʻahu this weekend. Aloha State Daily rounded up some of the ceremonies and activities, so you can make plans.

What to do on Oʻahu for Memorial Day weekend

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.

Ben Sasse is dying in public

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

Honolulu foodies no longer have to drive to Oʻahu’s North Shore to enjoy poke bowls from Kahuku-based 

The biz soft opened its second location — its first Oʻahu expansion — on May 17. Ry’s Poke Shack’s Honolulu location is next to Jugo Life in the Ala Moana neighborhood.

The Honolulu location is a collaborative effort between Jugo Life/

, operations manager Daysen Masuda and himself, according to business owner Ryan Ching.

“We’ve been looking for any expansion on the west side or town side,” he says. “I wanted to do something with Tommy, too; the timing [now] was just perfect for us. It’s a good collaborative shop; all of us are in this one.”

Ry’s Poke Shack’s original Kahuku location started about six years ago during the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, Ry’s Poke Shack opened two locations in California — one year ago in Huntington Beach, and in Pasadena earlier in January — with a third So Cal location coming soon in Lomita.

While the most popular poke flavors are at each location, every store has a few exclusive options, according to Ching. The Honolulu store has two exclusive flavors from Oh and Matsuda.

“There are two new styles of poke Daysen and Tommy made,” Ching confirms. “Daysen made one called ‘Foodxjitsu,’ and we got one Tommy made with a local sauce.”

The Foodxjitsu poke is inspired by Chinese-style steamed fish, according to Masuda. It includes ginger, green onions, cilantro, onions, garlic and a shoyu blend, and is finished with chili flakes and ikura.

“This is something I’ve been doing from Hilo; every restaurant I’ve worked at, I’ve done a version of it,” operations manager Daysen Masuda explains.

Originally from Hilo, Masuda started selling poke bowls during the Covid-19 pandemic, which eventually led to him starting his own sushi business. He offered sushi platters and catering on Hawaii Island before moving to Honolulu.

“I’ve been doing sushi forever; my platters were always used for celebrations, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he says. “People were having small celebrations and for me, that was so rewarding.

“I’m just super fortunate; food always seems to bring people together, and that’s the common thing,” he adds. “Being able to work with guys who started from the ground and built up their company is nostalgic for me.”

Meanwhile, the What’s Crack’N flavor includes What’s Crack’n sauce — an umami Thai/Lao-style dipping sauce — with fresh ogo, sesame oil, onions, green onions and a shoyu blend.

Signature poke flavors include shoyu — Ry’s signature shoyu blend with onions, green onions and toasted sesame oil — spicy, and Lao style, a spicy option that includes garlic, fish sauce, Thai chili pepper, cilantro, shoyu blend, onions and green onions.

“Everyone always requests the Lao style,” Ching says. “The lao style seems to be popular at every single place, so that’s the one we always keep (on the menu).”

Customers can order poke bowls, poke by the pound or tsunami nachos ($23.95). The latter is the shop’s version of poke nachos, which features house fried wonton chips topped with tsunami-style poke, two scoops of crab surimi, Ry’s cucumber namasu, furikake and tobiko, finished with unagi sauce and chili mayo drizzle. The wonton chips are fried in 100% beef tallow to highlight its savory flavor.

Poke bowls can include one ($16.95) or two ($23.95) poke flavors; all bowls include Koshihikari (Japanese short-grain) rice and Ry’s cucumber namasu.

The community aspect is important to Ching, who says he’s open to collaborations and supporting other local businesses.

“It’s good for the community to reach out to us,” he says. “Every now and then, Tommy will do his burger pop-ups over here. Daysen is going to [eventually] make his chirashi bowls. This is a collaborative effort; it’s going to be much more unique in that way.”

Ry’s Poke Shack’s Honolulu store is open from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. (or until sold out) Wednesdays to Fridays.

Open from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. (or until sold out) Wednesdays to Fridays

Rys Poke Shack owners 051826

<title>Ry’s Poke Shack opens in Honolulu</title>

The Kahuku-based biz opened its second location on Oʻahu this past weekend. The Honolulu location is located in the Ala Moana neighborhood next to Jugo Life, and features specialty collaboration poke flavors.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: A comedy crime saga in two parts

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Hawai‘i Scene on Social: A comedy crime saga in two parts

Authors

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