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Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

[{"text":"The old ways are da bess!","type":"text"}]

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

Himalayan Kitchen’s Ala Moana Center location has been replaced by a different Indian eatery.

 opened in February in Himalayan Kitchen’s former space at Ala Moana Center (it’s located on the street level, close to Macy’s and Assaggio Hawai

i). While Himalayan Kitchen offered Nepali-Indian cuisine, this new eatery features Pakistani-North Indian cuisine.

We’re told the latter features more grilled meats, while Nepali-Indian food is more curry-based.

The eatery’s layout remains the same; there are a few tables for dine-in service but the business is conducive to takeout.

If some of the menu items sound familiar, it’s because the chef used to work at now-closed Bombay Palace (in Discovery Bay Center). Compared to Bombay Palace, Tandoori Express features a more streamlined menu, focused on the eatery’s most popular dishes since the current space is more conducive to takeout (instead of a more formal dining experience).

Start with appetizers like veg samosas ($5.99 for two), which boast a crispy exterior and soft interior. They’re served with a refreshing mint chutney.

The lunch plates ($12.99-$15.99) are a new option (compared to the former Bombay Palace menu) and feature your choice of two or three curries with a side of rice or naan. This gives customers a chance to try several curries instead of ordering a single curry entree.

Curries range from chicken tikka masala and butter chicken to lamb rogan josh (tender lamb in an aromatic, creamy tomato curry) and paneer Makhani (paneer cubes in a creamy, tomato-based sauce). Although it’s not listed on the menu, palak paneer (cubes of Indian cottage cheese in a creamy spinach curry) is also available. Customers just need to ask for it.

[{"type":"text","text":"Curry entrées ($12.99-$14.99) come with a side of rice."}]

The eatery also features reasonably priced bentos ($10.99 each). Choose from tandoori chicken or tandoori lamb on rice with a side of raita (yogurt sauce). So far, the lamb kebabs have been a customer favorite.

The menu also features a selection of grilled meats — tandoori chicken ($15.99), tandoori shrimp ($15.99) and tandoori lamb kebab ($16.99) — along with naan breads, dinner specials (chicken biryani and chili chicken), and beverages like the popular mango lassi ($5.99).

Open for lunch 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., dinner 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays to Mondays (closed on Tuesdays)

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Tandoori Express lunch spread 031726

<title>Tandoori Express is now open in Ala Moana Center</title>

The eatery is located in the former space of Himalayan Kitchen. It specializes in Pakistani-North Indian cuisine, and serves up dishes that were popular at the now-closed Bombay Palace.

Tandoori Express is now open in Ala Moana Center

Higa headshot white shirt square

Sterling Higa

Columnists

Stand-up comedian Tumua is doing crowd work somewhere on the Mainland, and 

 from the audience. The guy is from Kauaʻi, not born and raised, but “flown there, grown there.” He hasn’t lived there in nine years. While Tumua works the crowd, the guy shouts “chee hoo.” Tumua says, “That’s a solid chee hoo, man.” He does it again. Tumua has to shush him.

It’s a small moment, and Tumua plays it off with dry affection. The guy is playing out what he remembers of a place he left nine years ago. Much of the crowd never lived there at all.

Frank De Lima didn’t have that problem performing locally. Most of his audience hadn’t left. They were in the room — sharing the same plate lunch memories, cringing at the same accents, laughing because every joke was an inside joke. This wasn’t an introduction to local culture. It was a reminder, a celebration, even a reinforcement.

The plantation village was a truly different kind of place — shared land, shared labor, ethnic groups pressed close together with no way out. Filipinos, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, and Hawaiians were all crowded into the same neighborhoods and schools. What came out of it — the food, the humor, the pidgin — came from people who couldn’t opt out of each other.

Even as that world was dissolving, people reached back for its symbols. By 1978, a political movement called Palaka Power had taken the plantation worker’s cloth as its name — a clear link to the past. The Palaka Power 

 said so plainly. The writers also noted, in the same breath: the ILWU was declining, sugar and pine would soon be gone, the Democrats of the ‘54 Revolution had mostly left the arena. They chose the symbol precisely because the reality was already receding. The myth was always partly constructed. But it was backed, then, by people who had actually 

The built world that replaced the plantation village included public housing, suburbs, and apartments. The Mainland has all of those. And then came radio, television, the internet, smartphones, and eventually TikTok.

Stand in the Sandy Beach parking lot on a Saturday. A kid near the lifeguard stand is hitting a vape and dancing to a song trending in Atlanta. The shaka sticker on the bumper is working harder than it used to. But social media didn’t cause any of this. It arrived to find the flattening of culture mostly finished and has been tracking it ever since.

The audience for local content skews diaspora: Aunties in Vallejo, Kalihi kids now in Las Vegas, people holding onto something they can’t quite name.

Nostalgia is real. But it runs in one direction. You can package a memory and ship it to Fresno. What you can’t do is put it back. A friend put it plainly: are we our own cover band?

Distinct cultures are not accidents. They grow from particular people living side by side. The plantation village wasn’t a brand. It was a neighborhood. The shaka sticker can travel, but the neighborhood can’t. Something real is lost when a place becomes content.

. He’s reaching for something he actually had, once. What is it, exactly? The memory of a place, a people. The kind of memory that swells within and erupts in shouts — or tears. It’s the memory that many hold of Hawai‘i, even those who visited only for a week.

Nostalgia can become sinful when we deceive ourselves. It’s easy to romanticize farm labor from the comfort of air-conditioned offices, but the plantations were not a paradise. And neither is Hawai‘i. The past is worth a visit, but no place to make a home. 

That’s a solid chee hoo, man — but once is enough. Shush.

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<title>What's in a chee hoo?</title>

Generations removed from the plantation era that forged it, local culture is in danger of becoming a nostalgia-fueled performance of itself, writes ASD columnist Sterling Higa.

What's in a chee hoo?

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

Aloha Spirit

The Construction Industry of Maui is continuing its efforts to support Valley Isle students.

A trade council of the Maui Chamber of Commerce that operates as an independent association, 

 recently donated $44,000 to the University of Hawai‘i Maui College, which will fund 12 scholarships for students enrolled in the school’s construction vocational program.

“CIM supports students pursuing careers in construction and the skilled trades by helping reduce financial barriers and providing access to education, certifications and hands-on training,” a recent announcement from the organization noted. “These scholarships are awarded to students with demonstrated need who are committed to building careers in the construction industry.

The UH Maui vocational program provides students with “hands-on learning, technical training, and industry-recognized certifications designed to prepare graduates for careers in construction, project management and the skilled trades,” CIM says. “The program plays a critical role in developing local talent and strengthening Maui’s construction workforce.

“Supporting the construction trades on Maui is essential because our workforce and resources are limited and the demand for skilled labor continues to grow,” CIM Secretary Kevin Keller, with 

, told Aloha State Daily in an emailed response to questions. “With ongoing housing needs, infrastructure improvements and disaster recovery efforts, the industry is under constant pressure to deliver projects efficiently and safely with a limited labor pool. Long-term, supporting the trades is about building local capacity — ensuring Maui has a stable, qualified workforce that can meet demand without relying heavily on outside labor, while also creating sustainable career opportunities for residents.”

Keller says that across Maui and the state, the construction industry is facing a “significant workforce gap,” driven by sustained demand and a limited pipeline of new workers entering the trades.

“Many experienced tradespeople are staying in the workforce longer and delaying retirement, which is helping to maintain current capacity — but it also highlights the lack of younger generations coming in to replace them,” he says. “To meet ongoing and future construction needs — especially with housing, infrastructure, and recovery efforts — there is a critical need to grow the local workforce. This includes expanding trade education, increasing apprenticeship opportunities, and creating clear career pathways that attract and retain the next generation of skilled workers in Hawai‘i.”

Funding for the UHMC scholarships came from proceeds raised at a golf fundraiser last year. CIM says those wanting to support or participate in the 2026 Golf Tournament — planned for Sept. 19 at The Dunes Maui Lani — should  contact Jennifer Girard at 

In addition to the UH Maui College scholarship, CIM also supports vocational programs in 

. That support includes helping cover the costs of traveling off-island for construction-related competitions as well as expenses for industry certifications, the announcement notes.

CIM also offers its annual Bob Poulson CIM Scholarships.

Scholarship applications are open until April 27 for Maui County high school seniors who graduate this spring. CIM says the scholarship aims to support Maui students who plan to seek degrees in construction- and design-related fields outside of Maui, with the goal of returning home with their skills.

 this year, will be selected by the CIM Advisory Board and recognized at a banquet in May.

Donations and proceeds from the auction at the CIM holiday party fund these scholarships, the 

To date, more than $350,000 in scholarship funds have been awarded to 15 Maui high school students, a representative for the organization told ASD.

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

CIM UH Maui College scholarship donation 0326

<title>CIM funds scholarships for construction students at UH Maui College</title>

The Construction Industry of Maui has donated $44,000 to the school, which will provide 12 scholarships for students enrolled in its construction vocational program. Meanwhile, the deadline is approaching for another scholarship opportunity.

CIM funds scholarships for construction students at UH Maui College

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros Headshot

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros

Arts & Entertainment

North Shore resident Kim Johnson, wife of musician Jack Johnson, recalled looking at the list on GoFundMe 

of Hawaiʻi families in need after the floods 

and recognizing some of their faces from her own community.  

“Jack and I, we're making a large donation [to GoFundMe] and to several individual GoFundMe fundraisers, as well as different groups that are contributing,” she told Aloha State Daily. “Anyone could plug in, even $20 goes a long way.”

The Johnsons recently announced a commitment of $500,000 for flood recovery and rebuilding efforts through their 

 was also created "to provide immediate assistance to verified families and community members working to rebuild," the announcement notes.

“The North Shore is my hometown, and this flooding is affecting our community in a very real way,” said Jack Johnson in a statement. “Many of our friends, neighbors, and local farmers were hit hard. Recovery will take time, and we hope this pledge encourages others to come together to support the people who need it most.”

, though, public sales for the May premiere at Honolulu’s Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall were postponed due to the storm, according to Kim Johnson. The tour includes a new documentary, music and more.

She told ASD that their home and vehicles were affected by the back-to-back storms last month, but not to the same degree of devastation as others in the area.

“We know firsthand how much work it is to clean up,” she said, adding that their Kōkua Learning Farm in Haleʻiwa had no equipment or structural damage. It did, however, lose crops.

“The farm is doing well despite some flooding,” she noted. “For immediate food relief, we donated produce and protein from the farm stand to 

, and they're using that to cook and give out to families and volunteers. 

, also run by the couple, will host Farm Fun(d) Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, April 3, at Kōkua Learning Farm, 66-249 Kamehameha Highway.

The fundraising event is free to attend and includes community connection, arts and crafts activities, food, music and more. Donations are welcome and will benefit the 

“Hawaiʻi Farmers Union Foundation is planning workdays on farms and mobilizing large groups to help clean up, recover lost equipment, things like that,” Kim Johnson said. “We’re excited to raise money for farmers and will also be collecting non-perishable food items to donate to 

When asked about how to get involved, she added: “Give time. Give supplies. Give money. Give aloha.

“It’s been amazing to see this community come together. … We should be asking everybody how they are doing, giving them space to share in a real way and making sure we’re all taking care of each other,” she continued. “There’s a call out now for skilled tradesmen: contractors, plumbers, electricians, etc. If you have a skill you can share, reach out directly to organizations filling those needs.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"How can I support?"}]

The following organizations are assisting affected communities:

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Looking for support?"}]

Families who have been impacted can create a GoFundMe fundraiser to receive direct assistance. Instructions available 

 2-1-1: Call 211 for updates on emergency shelters, food distribution centers, and other non-emergency needs.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is not an exhaustive list. If we missed something that matters to you, please email us.

Kokua Learning Farm Fun Day North Shore 20241116

<title>Johnson ‘Ohana Foundation, Kōkua Hawai‘i Foundation donate to flood recovery</title>

Musician Jack Johnson and wife Kim Johnson, who reside on Oʻahu’s North Shore, have teamed up with GoFundMe to give directly to ʻohana impacted by the recent Kona Low storms. The pair is pledging $500,000 in total, some of which is being dispersed to local nonprofits, and plan to host a fundraiser this Friday at the Kōkua Learning Farm in Haleʻiwa.

Johnson ‘Ohana Foundation, Kōkua Hawai‘i Foundation donate to flood recovery

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Government & Politics

At the Otake Store, it was dark yesterday morning. There still was no power.

And Wendell Toki, who lost almost everything in the recent Kona Low storms, was keeping track of one generator, which was being loaned out to run electric power tools that are helping families rebuild.

By about 12:30 p.m., the lights were finally back on in the store and a few residences, he told Aloha State Daily by phone Tuesday.

His house, which is part of Otake Camp, located off Farrington Highway in Waialua, is now in demolition condition. He also lost mamaki and plants he uses for food and medicine, plus 180 chickens in the flood.  

On Monday, March 30, the sun was shining. Birds were chirping. Toki was standing in dried mud explaining how a green house slid parallel to the Kaukonahua Stream, past other residences and straight into homes that now sit vacant.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A muddy puzzle"}]

There are plans to rebuild, but the houses sit abandoned. Doors open. Inside, the floors hold mud thick with things: plastic bottles, a shoe here, a puzzle there.

The mud surrounds a chair in the middle of one of the rooms. It preserves handprints on the walls.

The community needs generators, lumber and food for workers, Toki said. He pauses at the front of the door of the house closest to the stream. Parts of the wall are missing, creating windows to the brown water below.

A nearby house has a desk covered in mud. It holds bright crayons, markers and paper flowers, and something there is not much of: color.

In the house next door, there bright puzzles on the wall. One — a pink and yellow jaguar — is peeling. Where the water was, the design is gone and only cardboard remains.

[{"type":"text","text":"Many, including Toki, don’t have flood insurance."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A birthday to forget"}]

Down the road, the military is helping farmers like Thy Cavan, who had about two acres of green papayas and bananas, and lost nearly everything in the flood.

Cavan remembers the day the storm hit because it was his birthday: Friday, March 20. The day he lost two cars, his home and the entire papaya crop.

[{"type":"text","text":"“Lost almost everything,” he said. “Some bananas survived.”"}]

National Guard were deployed alongside the Navy

 to remove flood debris from Waialua. They helped Cavan shovel mud out of his house.

He stands next to a mud-covered blue tractor. It was a total loss. So was his generator. And his cell phone.

With a cigarette in hand, he pointed to a spot on a wood beam, which supports the roof over his tractor, to share how high the water got.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"“About right here,” he said."}]

The line is above the steering wheel. It is higher than his shoulders.

It is also visible on the side of the house, where muddy water got nearly to the roof. When it receded, it left tracks on the top of the tractor, like a dried up mud flat.

Cavan realized he could not stay and went to the main road, where a rescue group picked him up. Now, he is staying with friends, and gets to his farm by walking or getting dropped off.

Without a car, he can’t travel easily. Two days ago, he started a 

. His top priorities are fixing the tractor and getting back wheels.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A new start "}]

Back up the road, near the Otake Store, Toki points to the space upstairs where he will live while he puts together a new life. Toki also has a 

, which was set up by Nicole Correa, his hānai niece.

 and is imagining a shipping container as a home, with a deck built by a neighbor.

“I'm hardly home anyway,” he said. “Only sleep there, and then the rest of the days I'm working.”

Outside, the birds are still chirping. The sun beats down and Toki is reflecting on how to help farmers.

“They need local support,” he said. “More local support.”

Otake Camp

<title>What’s next for Otake Camp?</title>

Some residents of Otake Camp are still in the dark. Farmers lost crops. Families lost homes. And everywhere, the mud prevails. They are seeking generators, lumber and funds to restart.

What’s next for Otake Camp?

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Kaua‘i County is unsure whether to accept $11 million in state funds for improvements to a wastewater treatment plant.

The Kaua‘i County Council voted Wednesday to reject a resolution that would increase a loan from the state to the county from $14 million to $25.5 million to make improvements to the Wailua Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The Wailua WWTP is more than half a century old, having been built in 1964, and receives wastewater from several east Kaua‘i communities such as Papaloa, Kapa‘a and Waipouli.

In 2024, Kaua‘i County Council passed a resolution authorizing the county to make a deal with the state for a $14 million loan via the State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund to finance renovations to the WWTP, planned since 2009, that would replace aging equipment throughout the facility and improve water filters to meet more stringent environmental standards.

On Wednesday, the Council discussed — and ultimately withheld judgment on — a proposal to nearly double that loan.

“This is a very antiquated facility, it’s very old,” said Council Chair Mel Rapozo. “How much have we paid in emergency repairs over the last five years? Because I know we have paid a lot.”

Rapozo went on to say the plant is located within a tsunami inundation zone and therefore cannot be expanded beyond its current footprint. And, because of constant equipment failures and repairs, the plant is currently incapable of operating at its full capacity of 1.5 million gallons per day.

“We’ve got to make a decision today on whether or not we continue to fund a plant tat is antiquated, in a tsunami zone and cannot be expanded, or do we reassign these funds to building a new plant,” Rapozo said.

 just on Wednesday a list of administrative accomplishments stating that the county is “actively evaluating sites to relocate the Wailua Wastewater Treatment Plant outside the tsunami zone,” that list adds that such a project will take at least 10 years to complete, during which time east Kaua‘i will still need a facility to process wastewater.

By the time the new resolution reached the Council agenda, the county was already up against a deadline. Donald Fujimoto, chief of Kaua‘i’s Wastewater Management Division, told the Council that the county has until June 2026 to expend the funds approved via the initial 2024 loan.

However, Fujimoto said, between the project’s inception in 2009, the loan’s approval in 2024 and when the county posted a bid for contractors to carry out the project in Dec. 2025, the economy has changed drastically. The lowest of the four bid responses — from Maui-based Alpha Inc. — was for $17.4 million, already more than the total loan.

Hence, Fujimoto said, the need to expand the loan. Fujimoto explained that the $25.5 million will cover the low bid, along with another $1.1 million for construction management, $3 million to meet new environmental compliance standards and $3.5 million for contingency funds.

Despite other improvements to the plant, it has not been operating at full capacity for decades — Fujimoto said it runs at about 600,000 gallons per day out of the 1.5 million per day maximum. Consequently, Council Vice Chair KipuKai Kuali‘i suggested that there is no need to do any more than the minimum needed repairs.

But Fujimoto surprised the Council by saying a subsequent phase of construction has been proposed that would allow the facility to reach the full 1.5 million gallon-per-day capacity — for another $50 million.

Even though County Engineer Troy Tanigawa emphasized that committing to the $25.5 million loan doesn’t commit the county to another $50 million project in the future, Rapozo was very cagey about the prospect.

“Don’t get pissed off because we’re asking questions and please don’t ask me to support this today with a two-hour discussion on why you need this money,” Rapozo said. “From 2009 to 2024, 15 years, we let it go, we let it rot. And today … the bidder said if don’t give them that money then he’s going to pull his bid. As far as I’m concerned, don’t do business with that guy ever again.”

The Council discussed for hours whether the $14 million loan could be sufficient to keep the facility running and in compliance with environmental standards for another 10 years while a new plant gets developed, but the Public Works team could make no guarantees.

Ultimately, the Council voted to defer the matter until a future meeting so that Public Works can develop more detailed cost breakdowns for the project.

Meanwhile, Kawakami appeared at the meeting, promising that more details about the planned new wastewater treatment plant will be forthcoming later this year.

Aloha State Daily reached out to the Kaua‘i County Public Works Department for further comment.

Waimea tank 16x9

<title>million wastewater project stinks, says Kaua‘i County Council</title>

A proposal to nearly double a loan to make improvement to an aging wastewater treatment plant in Wailua raised eyebrows at the Kaua‘i County Council's meeting on Wednesday.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Classic interrogation technique

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Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Classic interrogation technique

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