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ASD Staff

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

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Firefly the word Pow in comic book 539230 Large

<title>Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Classic interrogation technique</title>

Today's social media find comes from waikikipd, on how to get the truth out of some low-life.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Classic interrogation technique

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

recently celebrated its ninth anniversary in Kakaʻako

, just debuted a brand-new menu. The brewpub’s new menu features more dishes that are designed to pair well with the business’s beers, according to restaurant manager Michael Kimpan.

“We want to highlight our beers and give people an opportunity to pair their food well with different beers,” he explains.

Customers can choose from a variety of appetizers, seafood dishes, pub favorites, entrees, pizzas and desserts. Start with new shareable dishes like ‘ahi saku tataki ($25), ‘ahi saku sashimi ($24) and mushroom Rockefeller ($17).

The sashimi features your choice of blackened (Cajun-seared) or sashimi-style ‘ahi, served with pickled ginger, lilikoʻi wasabi, shoyu, green onions and daikon. The tataki features a Cajun-spiced, flash-seared ‘ahi.

Meanwhile, mushroom Rockefeller is a twist on oyster Rockefeller and features mushrooms stuffed with creamy spinach artichoke dip, and topped with tomato-onion chutney butter. They’re bite-sized flavor bombs and it’s impossible to eat just one.

Several specials featured for the brewery’s ninth anniversary celebration — including the Red Zeppelin barbecue-buffalo slider ($18) and pepperoni-mushroom roll’d pizza ($16) — are now available as permanent menu items. The Red Zeppelin barbecue-buffalo slider is also available in full-sized burger form ($24), and includes an all-beef patty topped with Red Zeppelin beer barbecue-buffalo sauce, blue cheese crumbles and ranch mayo.

“We designed a number of items that pair well with different beers; the Red Zeppelin barbecue burger is going to go well with that particular beer,” Kimpan says.

If you’re craving dishes with local flair, opt for the Kaka

ako teri burger ($24), kalbi ($26) or loco moco ($19). The latter features an all-beef patty topped with brown gravy, sauteed onions, mushrooms and two eggs over rice.

Pizzas have always been popular at the brewpub. Newer options include the spicy meat lover ($33) — a combo of pepperoni, Italian sausage, bacon bits, chili flakes, jalapeno and garlic aioli — and a new dessert option. The sweet Aloha cinnamon roll-walnut pizza ($16) is topped with cinnamon butter, cream cheese glaze and candied walnuts.

“The dessert pizza is definitely one that our staff really enjoys,” Kimpan says.

Also new is the brewpub’s walnut-Nutella ice cream sundae ($12), which features your choice of chocolate or vanilla ice cream.

Aloha Beer Co. also now offers customers the option to create-their-own mixed six-pack ($12.99). Choose from seven signature styles, including the Aloha Lager, Hiker’s Dream, Aloha Blonde and more.

Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays

Aloha Beer Co Red Zeppelin burger 021826

<title>Aloha Beer Co. launched a new menu</title>

The Kakaʻako brewpub’s new menu features a variety of appetizers, seafood dishes, entrees and pizzas that are designed to pair well with the venue’s beverages. Customers can also create their own mixed six-pack of canned beers.

Aloha Beer Co. launched a new menu

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

Aloha Spirit

Services for the fifth-generation loea hula Nālani Kanakaʻole will be held on Saturday, Feb. 21, at Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium in Hilo. Kanakaʻole died Jan. 3 in Hilo. She was 79.

The services are open to the public. Floral arrangements, lei, and kinolau are welcome. The stadium, which is home to Merrie Monarch each year, is named after Nālani Kanakaʻole’s mother, who founded Hālau o Kekuhi.

Kanakaʻole co-led Hālau o Kekuhi with her sister, Pualani Kanakaʻole Kanahele, and later her niece, Huihui Kanahele-Mossman. She also co-founded Sig Zane Designs in 1985 with her husband, Sig Zane.

Nālani Kanakaʻole began rigorous training in hula when she was just 3 years old under her grandmother, Mary Kekuewa Kanaele Fujii, and later under her mother. By the time she was 14 years old, she was teaching. She spent nearly seven decades sharing cultural knowledge through mastery of mele oli, or chanted poetry, and vigorous ʻaihaʻa-style dance.

In 1993, Kanakaʻole and her sister were named National Heritage Fellows by the National Endowment of the Arts, in recognition of their lifelong commitment to preserving indigenous Hawaiian chant and dance.

 honored Kanakaʻole family’s contributions to Hawaiian music and culture. Nālani and her sister, Pualani, were among the honorees recognized with lifetime achievement awards for their 

dedication to preserving and advancing traditional Hawaiian chant, mele and performance

On Saturday, Feb. 21, a hoʻolewa ceremony to honor Kanaka‘ole and her legacy will be hosted by the Edith Kanaka‘ole Foundation. Kanaka‘ole and her siblings founded the nonprofit in 1990 to “elevate Hawaiian intelligence through cultural education founded on the teachings and traditional practices of Edith and Luka Kanakaʻole,” according to its website. ʻAha will begin at 10 a.m., followed by visitation.

Kanakaʻole is survived by her husband, Sig Zane; son, Kūhaʻoʻīmaikalani Zane (Shaelene Kamakaʻala); grandchildren, Loliʻi Kamakaʻala Barron and Nāholowaʻa Zane; sister, Pualani Kanakaʻole Kanahele; niece and co-kumu hula Huihui Kanahele-Mossman; and the extended Kanakaʻole, Kanahele and Zane ʻohana, along with the students who continue to carry on her teachings.

Inquiries about how to support or give donations may be directed to the foundation by calling 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Nālani Kanakaʻole

<title>Services for Hula Master Nālani Kanakaʻole</title>

The fifth-generation loea hula will be honored with services at Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium in Hilo this weekend. Nālani Kanakaʻole also co-founded Sig Zane Designs in 1985 with her husband, Sig Zane. Learn more about the services.

Services for Hula Master Nālani Kanakaʻole

, known for its Japanese-style negitoro bowls, is opening its third O

ahu location this Sunday, Feb. 15. The business’s new location is on the second level of 

Aiea Shopping Center, next to Ice Garden and Koa Pancake House.

Aiea location is in the former space of a sandwich shop. Construction on the space started after the business’s sister restaurant, Marujuu Hawai

i will be open from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch and from 5 to 8:30 p.m. for dinner Thursdays to Mondays (closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays). The business will be open for walk-ins only; no reservations will be accepted.

The menu at this location is the same as the ones at the business’s Kaimukī and 

Totoya’s original negitoro — which is made fresh daily with local fresh ‘ahi — is the base for the majority of its bowls. Its tokujo bowl ($38.90) — a premium option with original negitoro, salmon roe, sea urchin (Hokkaido uni) and snow crab — is the most popular order.

The eatery’s Fukuju bowl ($39.50) is the second most-popular dish. It features original negitoro with tuna and salmon, red shrimp, scallops, sea urchin, snow crab, tobiko and two pieces of nori.

The salmon bowl with salmon roe ($19.50) is a local favorite. All bowls come with your choice of miso soup — Aosa seaweed miso soup, or upgrade to shrimp head ($3.90) or crab ($4.90) miso soup — or half-size udon noodles ($4.90).

Other dishes on the menu include fresh shrimp combination bowl ($27.90); rainbow trio bowl ($25.90); matsu bowl ($26.90) with Hokkaido uni and salmon roe; and more.

Customers now have the option to add an “ikura shower” when they order Take, Matsu and Tokujo bowls. The “shower” includes a tripleamount of ikura for an additional $9.80.

Open from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch and from 5 to 8:30 p.m. for dinner Thursdays to Mondays

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Totoya Aiea kaisen don 021326

<title>Viral seafood rice bowl spot is opening in ʻAiea</title>

Totoya Hawaiʻi, known for its negitoro bowls, is opening in ʻAiea Shopping Center on Sunday, Feb. 15. The menu here is the same as the business’s other two locations in the Ala Moana and Kaimukī neighborhoods. Customers can now add “ikura showers” when ordering specific seafood bowls.

Viral seafood rice bowl spot is opening in ʻAiea

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Real Estate

Two Garden Isle nonprofits are working together to bring affordable housing to Līhu‘e.

The development — a collaboration between Kaua‘i Housing Development Corp. (KHDC) and Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity (KHFH) — is possible through a land grant from The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, which transferred about 5.14 acres on Ahukini Road to the two organizations.

According to a Feb. 2 announcement, KHDC will be the lead developer of the project, which will create 111 housing units, with KHFH serving as a development partner. They'll share pre-development responsibilities and selected development work, the announcement notes.

Xan Avendaño, program director, Hawai‘i grant making for The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, told Aloha State Daily Wednesday that the foundation has an “overall mission to fight poverty and support thriving communities.”

After the foundation’s own community listening sessions, and looking at other listening sessions that have gauged the needs and opportunities around housing on Kaua‘i, he says the foundation knows that thousands of units for households earning 120% of the area median income are needed on the island by 2027.

But one of the biggest gaps to addressing that need is access to land that’s zoned for housing, Avendaño says.

“The foundation, as both a philanthropic entity that’s committed to addressing poverty and also as an organization that has held real estate assets, we took this opportunity to merge those two areas of work and support the community in a way that lifts up both of those strengths and can address that challenge.”

Avendaño says the foundation has worked on the land grant opportunity over the last 18 to 24 months, “with a focus on how do we keep this land out of the speculative real estate market and preserve it for affordable housing for forever, for multiple generations.”

In doing that, he says that the “obvious partners” became nonprofit developer partners whose missions are to "preserve housing affordability for as long as possible, and it's also their mission to think through what [does] a healthy community look like and how do we support people of multiple incomes and backgrounds who all call Hawai‘i home to be able to stay home."

KHDC Executive Director Andy Friend told ASD in an emailed response to questions that

have been multiple market studies over the last few years “that identify the pent-up demand for housing.”

KHFH Executive Director Milani Pimental told ASD in the same emailed response that the need for affordable housing on Kaua‘i “continues to grow exponentially year-over-year.”

“For example, in December 2025, the median sales price for homes was $1.2 [million]. Minimum wage is $16 per hour, making homeownership out of reach for many households on the island.”

, the median sales price for a single-family home on Kaua‘i was $1.25 million in December 2025, while the median sale price for a condo was $720,000.

Statewide, Hawai‘i will need an estimated 64,490 additional housing units by 2027 to meet demand, according to the Hawai‘i Housing Finance and Development Corp.'s 

That same study notes that Kaua‘i County needs a total of housing 4,914 units by 2027 — 2,156 for ownership and 2,758 rental units. Of those, 3,258 units are needed for those making 80% or below of the area median income.

As for the proposed project itself, plans call for a mix of both rental and ownership opportunities.

KHDC-led rental housing will include 48 rental units for kūpuna and 33 multi-family rentals for individuals and families, Monday’s announcement noted. The multi-family rental units will target households at 60% of the area median income or below, the nonprofits told ASD.

Meanwhile, KHFH will develop a designated portion of the site for homeownership.

According to the announcement, 15 two-story duplex buildings will create 30 for-sale homes which will largely be available for households earning up to 80% of the AMI, but KHFH will partner with Permanently Affordable Living Hawai‘i “to explore ways to make a portion of homes available to local working households” that earn 80% to 120% AMI.

Income limits are determined by household size. You can find Kaua‘i County’s 

The announcement says, too, that KHFH also is exploring the option of placing some or all of the homes into a community land trust “to ensure long-term, permanent affordability.”

Pimental told ASD that a community land trust, or CTL, is a private, nonprofit organization that acquires and holds land as a community asset.

CLTs are increasingly being considered by Habitat affiliates across the nation,” Pimental explains. “They are governed by a board of housing residents, community members and external stakeholders. Essentially, CLTs create entry-level homeownership opportunities that are truly affordable, on a long-term or permanent basis. Income-eligible homebuyers will lease the land from the CLT using a long-term ground lease with affordable monthly ground rents.”

The organizations told ASD that a timeline for construction to begin and end is not yet in place, and that it’s too early in the process to determine how much the project to develop and how that will be funded.

Lihue affordable housing

<title>Affordable housing project planned for Līhu‘e</title>

The development — a collaboration between Kaua‘i Housing Development Corp. and Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity — is possible through a land grant from The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.

Affordable housing project planned for Līhu‘e

Ground hasn’t broken yet on ProsPac Holdings’ newest development, Kali‘u Ala Moana, but health and wellness are set to be at the forefront of the boutique condominium.

When it’s finished, Kali‘u will offer residents several new wellness technologies along with 285 one-, two- and three-bedroom units and other amenities like hot and cold plunges, a sauna and other fitness spaces.

“Kaliʻu reflects a fundamental shift in how residential living is being defined,” Vice President William Chen said in a recent announcement. “Wellness today is intentional and integrated into daily life. By combining advanced recovery technologies with design that supports calm, balance and longevity, Kaliʻu embeds well-being directly into the residential experience.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"The technology includes:"}]

—    An intelligent robotic massage system from Aescape that uses AI-powered robotic and 3D body mapping for a customizable massage experience. It’s the first time the technology has been integrated into a condo, company leaders said in the announcement.

—    The Ammortal Chamber combines “guided meditation, light, molecular hydrogen and vibration to support nervous system regulation, stress reduction and mental clarity,” the announcement notes.

—    Zero-gravity flotation tubs from Toto will be found in Kali‘u’s Club & Spa and some residences.

When discussing the developer’s focus on wellness, Jamie Iha, property manager and assistant director for ProsPac, told Aloha State Daily that, “We just really care about the community and wellness in general.”

“We also felt like we wanted our residents to be able to rejuvenate in privacy — something as simple as taking the elevator down to our Spa & Club and they can get a full package of wellness,” she continued. “We have the Toto zero-gravity tub. We have the Ammortal rejuvenation chamber and we have [the] Aescape massage chair. We just feel like these are next-generation offerings that we can give our residents.”

When asked about the type of buyers they’re targeting with this wellness focus, Iha says that Hawai‘i in general is a "very active” place.

“We would like residents that are going to be incorporating wellness into their lifestyle because we do have all these technology-driven items. We believe that they will be very well received. … We truly expect people to be using this during their weekly rituals and routines.”

There are no additional charges for residents to use these technologies.

Iha says that as a boutique residence, Kali‘u, located on “one of the last front-row opportunities on Ala Moana Boulevard,” is a “really small, very intimate community.”

“Everything at Kali‘u, from the advanced wellness technologies to our design and living, it meets the demand for simplicity and [you] get privacy and purpose in every detail.”

Iha says Kali‘u is set to break ground this year, although she did not have an exact date. Sales 

 “and they’re strong,” she told ASD.

“People love the product and the location. Who doesn’t want to be in the heart of Kaka‘ako?” Iha says. “It’s a really bustling place. There’s so many new restaurants and all these businesses coming up, so it’s a really great place to be. We’re looking forward to providing more homes and basically a residential wellness hub for the community.”

Kali‘u — whose name is derived from the Hawaiian word for “well-seasoned”— will be constructed adjacent to SALT in Our Kaka‘ako, Kamehameha Schools’ mixed-use community. ProsPac was chosen to redevelop 

 Master Plan was approved by the Hawai‘i Community Development Authority in 2009. The Our Kaka‘ako Master Plan encompasses 29 acres across nine city blocks of KS land in the neighborhood, its 

The redevelopment of Our Kaka‘ako’s first four blocks have already been completed as part of Increment I. That includes Keauhou Place and Keauhou Lane on Block A; The Flats at Pu‘unui and 400 Keawe on Block B; The Collection on Block E and SALT at Our Kaka‘ako on Block F.

Development partners have been chosen for four of the five remaining blocks in Increment II, KS notes.

 on Block G, KS previously announced that Kaka‘ako Block C LLC, an affiliate of Stanford Carr Development, will develop 

 on Block C, Koa Partners and Castle & Cooke Hawai‘i will develop 

 on Block D and Kobayashi Group would develop 

(ICYMI: Sales began for market-priced residences Kahuina 

ProsPac is a Honolulu-based real estate investment firmed founded a decade ago. It was the developer of Azure Ala Moana, a mixed-use project in the Ala Moana neighborhood with 330 condos, 78 rental apartments and commercial space.

Kaliu Tower Ala Moana x Cooke

<title>Kaka‘ako condo to offer wellness technologies to residents</title>

Kaka‘ako condo to offer wellness technologies to residents

Business & Tourism

State lawmakers are seeking more insight about a proposed partnership between two of Hawai‘i’s health care leaders.

Hawai‘i Medical Service Association, or HMSA, and Hawai‘i Pacific Health recently 

 for a new partnership the leaders of these organizations say will improve access to care and address health care affordability in Hawai‘i.

As part of the partnership, HPH and HMSA would create a new nonprofit parent organization called One Health Hawai‘i “to align strategy, strengthen collaboration and improve coordination statewide across Hawai‘i’s health care system,” a recent announcement noted. Find 

The state House Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce and Senate Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection on Tuesday held a joint informational briefing to discuss the matter. Government officials, regulatory agencies and health care industry leaders joined the briefing, which ran more than two hours.

“It is certainly of concern for this committee and the Senate committee as well, if I can speak for them, that this may have profound consequences on the health care landscape for Hawai‘i, especially given the prominence of HMSA and HPH in our medical community,” state Rep. Scot Matayoshi, chair of the House committee, said at the start of the briefing. “Whether those effects are good for the consumer or bad for the consumer are kind of yet to be seen. We are still waiting for more details to come out on the proposed partnership, and I think that will impact how the community and these committees view such a partnership.”

Both Hawai‘i Pacific Health and HMSA would continue to operate independently under the newly formed parent company, One Health Hawai‘i, he explained. Each would have their own boards that would report to a newly formed parent board. Vara says HPH would continue to work with each payer in the community while HMSA would continue to work with all the respective providers in the community.

Other health care systems and insurers aren’t on board, though, and voiced concerns about the proposed partnership. The Queen’s Health Systems is among those opposed to the plan.

Established by social workers in 1938, HMSA is the largest health insurer in the Islands. HPH is a not-for-profit health care system with four medical centers — Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children and Straub Benioff Medical Center in Honolulu, Pali Momi Medical Center in ‘Aiea and Wilcox Health in Līhu‘e — and other clinics around the state.

, HPH’s revenues for the year ending June 30, 2024, totaled about $247.34 million while expenses totaled $229.54 million.

HMSA had a membership of 760,000 as of Dec. 31, 2024. According to its 

, HMSA’s member premiums totaled about $4.35 billion in 2024 while expenses totaled $4.47 billion, for a net operating loss of about $117.4 million.

HPH HMSA 010726

<title>Lawmakers learn more about proposed HMSA, Hawai‘i Pacific Health partnership</title>

The state House Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce and Senate Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection on Tuesday held a joint informational briefing to discuss the proposal.

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