ASD icon blue inverse lighter

ASD Staff

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

[{"text":"We did not know this was even possible.  ","type":"text"}]

Firefly funny illustration of a monster truck in a tropical paradise 185070 Large

<title>Hawai‘i Scene on Social: TACOMA FIGHT!</title>

Today's social media find comes from jensonkona, who keeps on truckin'.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: TACOMA FIGHT!

We did not know this was even possible.   

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

[{"type":"text","text":"Kam Bowl is now open in Pearl City."}]

The restaurant opened in Times Square Shopping Center, in the former space of IHOP. The eatery 

 and re-opened in July under new ownership and under a new name, Aliʻi Diner.

At the new Pearl City restaurant, customers can expect the same signature dishes Kam Bowl was known for according to co-owner Ryder Yoshida, who says the menu is currently limited to the most popular dishes.

“It’s smaller and more simple,” Yoshida says. “We’re concentrating on getting the stuff people like before adding more things.”

Kam Bowl Pearl City did some renovations to the restaurant’s interior, such as adding new booths for seating.

“The kitchen was pretty much empty; we had to re-do the whole kitchen,” he says. “The hard part about it is the restaurant is big and the kitchen area to prepare food is small, compared to the Kalihi location.”

The menu features dishes like the eatery’s famous oxtail soup ($24.95), hamburger steak ($18.95), loco moco ($18.95) and Japanese breakfast ($18.95). The latter includes miso soup, toss salad, two eggs and a choice of mahi or salmon.

The restaurant now uses wagyu beef to make its hamburger patties, according to Yoshida.

“This is the first time we’re using wagyu beef,” he says. “We’re trying to keep prices reasonable.”

Dishes like hotcakes and sweet bread French toast are available from 7 to 11 a.m. Many plate lunch-style entrees come with white rice and a choice of toss or mac salad.

On the eatery’s opening day — Aug. 1 — regular customers from Kam Bowl’s Kalihi location were eagerly eating breakfast. Yoshida encourages diners to check out the new space.

“I was sitting in here before we opened, and people would ask, ‘Are you guys open yet?’” he says. “I kept on saying, ‘Pretty soon, pretty soon.’ Just come and try our food.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Kam Bowl Pearl City is open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m."}]

98-1264 Kaahumanu St. Ste. B03, Pearl City

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Kam Bowl Pearl City owner 080126

<title>Kam Bowl is open in Pearl City</title>

The eatery is now open in Times Square Shopping Center, in the former space of IHOP. Customers can look forward to signature dishes like oxtail soup, loco moco, hamburger steak and more.

Kam Bowl is open in Pearl City

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

Aloha Spirit

It’s not every day that singers and songwriters get to visit the home of Simon Cowell, one of the best known judges of 

 But that is exactly what happened for Nyjah Music and Zyah Rhythm, the

North Shore brothers competing in Season 21 of the television show, who were invited to film a judges callback round at Cowell’s house in Malibu, California.

, allows each judge to pick acts to audition a second time before a panel decides who will advance to live shows. Watch the episode at 7 p.m. Central Standard Time, which is 2 p.m. in Hawai’i, on Tuesday, Aug. 4, on NBC, to see if the brothers advance. The episode will also be available on Peacock the next day.

Here is an exclusive clip of Cowell giving the brothers feedback.

Getting an invite to the judges callback round from Cowell, who is known for being a tough judge, meant a lot to the duo.

“We were pretty stoked,” Nyjah told Aloha State Daily. “Just being there was amazing.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"He was like an uncle, Zyah added."}]

“So I actually would have thought that Simon would be hard on us, just because of the videos and stuff,” he said. “He has turned down some people. But just going to his house, he made it feel like he was more of an uncle to us. It was super chill. He was super inviting and super open with his house. He told us we could jump in his pool, if we wanted.”

They did not in fact jump in the pool. They did not have swimsuits, Zyah added.

Currently, Nyjah Music and Zyah Rhythm have more than 250,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. Last year, their cover of “Burning Love,” which was produced by their uncle, Bruno Mars, was featured in Disney’s live action 

 Today, that song has more than 13 million streams on Spotify.

But even with a hit like that, the auditions for “America’s Got Talent” had them nervous. Waiting backstage for 

their audition, which aired on Tuesday, June 9, on NBC

, was “pretty nerve-wracking,” Zyah said.  

“But then once we stepped on stage, we're pretty comfortable,” he added. “We did hear some people from Hawai’i in the audience. It got us pretty comfortable with the stage.”

By hearing Hawai’i, he means they heard a cheehoo.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Did they expect that? Zyah shook his head."}]

“It kind of shook the nerves away,” he said. “And it just showed that we have some people from home watching us.”

They performed their latest release, “Heartbeat,” an original single, which dropped on streaming platforms on June 15.

“It's really a universal song for people that want to show how much they love someone and how they want to be a part of someone because the lyrics are, ‘Can I be your heartbeat or the flower in your ear?’ and stuff like that,” Zyah said. “That person for us is our grandma. We dedicate it to our grandma, and it just shows how much we love our grandma, how she started it all, but she did pass away when we were little. But yeah, it's just about our grandma.”

After being off Island, Nyjah and Zyah look forward to local foods. For Nyjah, that usually involves a poke bowl at Foodland, with iced tea on the side. After flying in, Zyah likes to stop at 

"America's Got Talent"

<title>Exclusive video: North Shore brothers talk about ʻAmerica’s Got Talent’</title>

Nyjah Music & Zyah Rhythm, the North Shore brothers who are also the nephews of Bruno Mars are back on “America’s Got Talent.” Catch them singing for Simon Cowell at his house in an episode that airs Tuesday, Aug. 4. They also unpack their latest single “Heartbeat,” which was inspired by their grandmother, and the cheehoo that calmed their nerves during auditions.

Exclusive video: North Shore brothers talk about ʻAmerica’s Got Talent’

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros Headshot

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros

Business & Tourism

Spectrum News Hawaiʻi, a regional digital and streaming news platform managed by Charter Communications, has laid off “a few” positions, Spectrum Networks told Aloha State Daily Thursday by email.

The Hawaiʻi news division launched in fall of 2021 with six local journalists, among other nationwide staff, to cover “hyper-local” community news, politics, sports, weather, and more, 

. A quick glance at its site today shows 

ASD also confirmed Thursday that Spectrum/Charter Communications was not required to file any WARN notices in Hawaiʻi for recent layoffs at its local newsroom and corporate offices. In total, the company employs approximately 1,000 staff members in Hawai‘i.

On Wednesday, Spectrum News Hawaiʻi Digital Journalist Brian McInnis took to X to share a post reflecting on a near 20-year career reporting on sports and other happenings in the Islands.

“My 5-year team at Spectrum News was sadly recently eliminated,” McInnis wrote in the X post. Heartfelt aloha and mahalo for reading. ... Here’s to what’s next.”

Prior to Spectrum News, McInnis worked at Pacific Business News and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. He was recognized Wednesday night by the the Hawai‘i Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for his coverage 

on the second anniversary of the August 2023 Lahaina wildfires

, which garnered Spectrum News Hawaiʻi first place in Online News Reporting in the Internet division for 2025.

Over the years, the Spectrum News Hawaiʻi team — which locally includes McInnis along with executive producer Nuy Cho; digital producer Lianne Bidal Thompson; and digital reporters Michael Tsai, Sarah Yamanaka and Michelle Broder Van Dyke — has won multiple awards for their work. 

A Spectrum spokesperson added that there are more updates coming on the news side. The company operates more than 30 physical and digital newsrooms across the country.

As for the Spectrum store near Mililani Tech Park and corporate offices in Mililani Town, less than 10 people were recently impacted, per the company. 

“We’ve made some structural changes that streamlines our organization to be more effective and efficient. No customer facing roles have been impacted,” a Spectrum spokesperson said.

Charter Communications manages all operations and financial revenue for Spectrum News as “a single consolidated business segment under Spectrum Networks,” 

Yahoo finance article from earlier this month

, Spectrum is currently battling “mounting customer losses in its cable TV and internet business” across the country following increased monthly prices for such services. In a 

, Charter said that Spectrum Internet customers declined by 120,000 and it lost 60,000 video customers in Q1. 

“As Charter works to reverse Spectrum's customer losses, it continues to cut jobs, with its latest round affecting hundreds of employees,” Yahoo finance reported at the time.

Charter Communications has recently issued WARN notices in 

, resulting in the layoff of hundreds of Spectrum employees, according to other media outlets.

Spectrum News App 1 0

<title>Spectrum, Charter Communications lay off several local employees</title>

Spectrum’s local news division has recently laid off a few journalists, in addition to fewer than 10 employees at the Spectrum Store near Mililani Tech Park and neighboring corporate call center facility, officials with the company told Aloha State Daily on Thursday.

Spectrum, Charter Communications lay off several local employees

 is returning — and will be opening in Kaka

 on its Instagram — you’ll have to watch until the end — the business revealed that it will be opening this year in SALT At Our Kaka

Three days ago, the business posted a short video clip with the caption, “Coconut wireless is coming … should we enter the chat?”

, Chubbies Burgers announced it was closing its Kaimukī location; its final day of service was Feb. 1. 

, which is owned by Jeff Nedry, opened soon after in the neighborhood 

Chubbies Burgers — which began in 2016 and operated as a food truck for five years — was known for its burgers and sandwiches made with fresh, quality ingredients. Customer favorites included the ‘50s burger, Chub fries and milkshakes.

[{"type":"text","text":"Stay tuned for more updates."}]

Chubbies Burgers 012125

<title>Chubbies Burgers is opening in Kakaʻako</title>

“The rumors are true,” the business posted on its Instagram. No specific date or address — other than SALT Kakaʻako — is revealed for the business.

Chubbies Burgers is opening in Kakaʻako

IMG 1445

Rick Hamada

Government & Politics

Columnists

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"On the arrests"}]

The second in command of the 50th state in our nation has been indicted by a grand jury for bribery, fraud, messy campaign spending stuff along with four others of questionable character. 

This headline made national news for one day and now it's gone. But here at home? This is only the beginning. I know that underhanded double dealing takes place throughout our government. Always has, always will. Why? Because humans are fallible. Imperfect. 

There are two elements that either promote or prevent corruption. The first is basic economics — ROI (Return on Investment). If I am going to offer a bribe, I have to ask myself, "What's the return on my investment?" 

In other words, if I bribe this or these officials, what's the multiplier effect back into my pocket? Let's look at what's before us. Covid-19 had so many layers of suspect policies, actions and spending. The spending! There were millions upon millions of federal dollars dropped into the lap of our state and counties. Combine cash windfall with fallible humans and it the perfect recipe for those bereft of any moral fiber to manipulate the situation for their personal gain, and I mean money. Lots and lots of money. Millions. 

But reports indicate that the bribers only gave the bribees collectively thousands of dollars. Now, that's max ROI. 

The other element is Risk and Reward. Is it worth the risk of getting caught when the profits justify the consequence? Corruption is so pervasive that until now there has not been such high-level prosecution nor legal actions, meaning it's sure worth the risk because you're never gonna get caught. Whoops. 

Conversely, the bribees allegedly accepted the bribers' money and did their thing. But their ROI was paltry and the risk was greater because the reward was a joke. You mean you can get bought off for a miniscule amount of cash? We're talking reportedly $5,000 maybe $10,000 in "campaign donations." And you cheapened and sold your political and administrative souls for chump change? More than that. You sold your constituents and citizens of this state down the gutter for nothing. You all knew it was wrong and importantly illegal. But still. Now, I know I did not use the word "allegedly" enough. Yes, there were indictments and that's pretty bad. But each of these five must be presumed innocent until proven so or guilty at trial. 

As my momma would say, "If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, well..."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Flow of Waters stopped"}]

City Council Chair Tommy Waters got dealt with a blow in his pursuit of a third term as a city council member when a state judge ruled that he was ineligible to seek re-election. His political opponent and council candidate Trevor Ozawa filed the lawsuit that led to this ruling. Even lay folk can read the City Charter and glean that the limit for a councilman serving is two terms. There is voter precedent in affirming only two terms and when asked if there should be an extension to three terms, voters decidedly say no. 

Trevor, who is an attorney and represented himself, laid out a case that was focused on the specifics of the charter language. Tommy's team did not make a compelling case and as of this writing have not filed the fully anticipated appeal to this ruling. But there are remaining questions regarding process, procedure, administration, perceived or actual outside influences and more. Soon, my friends, soon.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Hāna beefs"}]

between locals and tourists. OK, I get it. For those who live Hãna side it's a tough road. Period. We've all hopefully have taken the drive and to do so daily is a grind. And that grind can be exacerbated by those driving who are sightseeing, inattentive to those behind and ignorant to what has become a certain etiquette developed over the years. This last case had some or all of those elements. However, the local boy scared the coconut milk out of the tourists he confronted. See the video from the newscast at the link.

Bruddah jumped out of his ride and was scary monstah charging the tourist's car, yelling profanities and taking out his frustrations on this unsuspecting guy. In any other scenario, this was road rage. 

But wait a second. A spokesperson for the group Hāna Highway Regulation responded, and I'm paraphrasing, the Hāna resident communicated the problem and how the visitor needed to correct himself. Ummm. She then stated that yes, he used strong words and verbal profanity. Really? No kidding! There are calls for traffic management. 

Here's how you manage it. Just like with Hanauma Bay, you put a limit on the number of tourists who can take the Hāna Highway. Oh, but what about businesses? Then allow things to remain the same and just deal with the congestion and the tourists. It's one way or the other but if this kind of action against tourists is condoned and, heaven forbid physical violence is committed then you may not have to worry about overcrowding on the Hāna Highway. Or anywhere in Hawai‘i. Viral video will take care of that.

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Sylvia Luke 16x9 Large

<title>Hamada: Hot takes on bribery, Tommy Waters, Hāna Highway confrontation</title>

With so much in the news, ASD opinion columnist weighs in on the state's bribery scandal, Tommy Waters' attempt at a third term and a recent ugly confrontation between locals and tourists in the Hāna Highway.

Hamada: Hot takes on bribery, Tommy Waters, Hāna Highway confrontation

Kam Napier Headshot

A. Kam Napier

You wouldn’t know it from local media, or even from much of the mainstream Mainland news, but Dr. Anthony Fauci is back in the spotlight, six years after his Icarus flight into the sun of international media attention during Covid-19.

 at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser about Anthony Fauci is from April 3, 2020. It’s an Associated Press wire story, “

Dr. Fauci’s face will soon be on a bobblehead

How appropriate. It would hilariously ironic, if it weren’t for the needless panic and suffering that man caused as he reveled in his Covid-era fame.

In April, Hawaiʻi News Now did carry an AP story earlier this year, “

Former Fauci adviser indicted for allegedly concealing communications related to COVID-19 research

.” It was a small glimpse into an overdue reckoning.

The last article on Fauci at Hawai‘i Public Radio was from Jan. 23, 2021, “

The gist of that piece is that Fauci was thrilled to be working for former President Joe Biden — as well he should be, since Biden, or his autopen, would go on to 

The text of the pardon itself reads: “For any offenses against the United States which he may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through the date of this pardon arising from or in any manner related to his service as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force or the White House Covid-19 Response Team, or as Chief Medical Advisor to the President.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Why would he need such a thing?"}]

We might soon find out. On Wednesday, July 29, Sen. Rand Paul will be grilling Fauci in front of Congress. In advance of that hearing, Paul has been publishing online thousands of pages of Fauci’s own diaries and notes, all kept in his government files. Read them all 

This is what local and national media, once so eager to lionize Fauci, now seem to be working so hard to ignore.

I looked at the Star-Advertiser, as well as Honolulu Civil Beat, and 

, to see if anyone locally was covering, or even picking up from Mainland sources, the news coming out about Fauci’s diaries.

[{"type":"text","text":"Nothing, at least as of Tuesday."}]

Maybe you loved the man. Maybe you bought the Fauci candle and hung on his every word. Prepare to be disappointed.

Maybe you loathed the man on sight, with his suspicious eagerness to be the ringleader of a calamity circus.

[{"type":"text","text":"You were right. Fauci’s own words prove it."}]

For a summation of the diary, it’s hard top the highlights published this week at 

, which doubted the Covid lockdown madness from the get-go — and was demonetized and censored for not going along with the groupthink.

In March 2020, went on TV, gave the day’s death toll of 9,800. Then he wrote in his diary, “It is not hyperbole to say that today I am the most famous and talked about person in the country and one of the most recognizable persons in the world.”

I could go on and on with examples from the diary of Fauci loving his fame, because Fauci himself sure did. But I’ll just let that one ghoulish example stand for them all.

Publicly, Fauci claimed he never advised lockdowns. His diaries tell us he bragged to himself about convincing New York and California leaders to close schools and businesses. In the climate of fear of the time, policymakers marched like lemmings off the lockdown cliff to do likewise.

[{"type":"text","text":"As for that fear, it was needlessly stoke by Fauci himself."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"And he was lying."}]

He told us, via the media, the Covid fatality rate was 2 to 2.5% — that’s 10 times higher than the typical death rate of the average flu season. One might panic over such a thing. Except, the real rate, as he noted privately, was “

.” That’s double the fatality rate of the flu, but it isn’t 10 times the rate, and we might have asked better questions about a more targeted approach to Covid if he had been honest.

When other experts criticized the lockdown strategy as doing more than harm good, Fauci worked with the government and social media companies to silence them. In crisis, we need more communication and more questions, not fewer. Fauci would not be questioned at all.

Publicly, Fauci touted mask-wearing as the key to safety and a “return to normalcy.” Privately he knew there was no evidence to support that.

While we were being told we couldn’t so much as take a walk alone in a park, Fauci was having dinner with CNN’s Jake Tapper, at Tapper's house.

Remember when it was forbidden, even considered racist, to suggest that Covid-19 was the result of Chinese lab leak? The only acceptable belief was accidental transmission from animals to humans in a Wuhan wet market.

Well, the overwhelming consensus of a team of international experts was that there was no way this virus was entirely natural, parts of had to be inserted. Fauci knew this because he assembled the experts and summarized their consensus in his diary — in January, 2020. Yes, that early.

What Sen. Paul has been chasing, and will likely grill Fauci about in these hearings, is what role Fauci himself and the U.S. government played in funding gain-of-function research on viruses overseas after such work had been banned at home. As the Senator notes, no pardon from Biden protects Fauci from the consequences of lying now.

We’ll see what he has to say for himself, but I expect a lot of memory lapses. “During a seven-hour deposition in December 2022, Fauci failed to recall pertinent information about his role in the federal government’s Covid weaponization 

And it also notes: “While regular Americans struggled to make ends meet and keep their small businesses afloat amid lockdowns, the bureaucrat made 

I think the man ought to be in prison. I fear the worst he’ll experience is a few more hours of pretending he can’t recall how he earned so many of our tax dollars.

In his monstrous and ego-driven campaign to milk Covid for all it was worth, Fauci had plenty of accomplices. Mini-Faucis ruled from coast to coast, basking in the glow of the local TV studio lights, not least of all here in the Islands, pushing maximum panic and maximum lockdowns. Gov. Josh Green likely owes his current job to being Hawai‘i’s Mini-Fauci.

My own industry played a huge role in amplifying both fear and the overreaction, so I’m not surprised they aren’t rushing to confront the ugly truth behind the St. Fauci narrative.

It was ugly, and we’ll be dealing with the fallout for years to come. Maybe you had a loved one die pathetically alone in a hospital as a result of insane visitation policies. Maybe your kid still struggles from lost schooling. Maybe your business never quite recovered, or you’re running a new one now because lockdowns killed your old one. 

We’re all certainly paying for the billions in fraudulent Covid-relief payments made as the Feds shoveled money at Americans to buy their patience with the lockdowns. We’re certainly all paying the price in inflation as the Biden administration borrowed trillions for that relief, inflation that peaked at 19% during his term, permanently resetting prices.

I’m stumped at how to quantify the psychic pain that came from learning just how many of our friends, family members, neighbors and colleagues turned out to be East German at heart — eager secret policemen, dropping a dime on curfew violators, wishing death upon the unmasked or the unvaccinated. There’s a thing you can’t unsee once you’ve seen it, and one can't help but wonder, did that part of them ever really go away or are they just waiting for the next excuse to go after people they don't like?

No one, anywhere, who brought all this about has ever been held to account.

[{"type":"text","text":"Fauci would be a good start. "}]

 Wow, that was fast. The hearing has already ended — with 

 repeatedly and refusing to answer questions, despite his presidential pardon. Paul has stated that this is illegal and there will be repercussions. We'll see.

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.

Getty Images 2155919948

<title>Pipikaula Corner: Fauci revealed as fear-mongering, fame-loving fraud</title>

It's not getting much media attention, but the private diaries of Dr. Anthony Fauci have been published online by Sen. Rand Paul in advance of his hearings this week into Fauci and Covid-19. What they reveal across thousands of pages is man in love with the adulation he received, who privately knew that many of things he said publicly about the pandemic were wild exaggerations.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: TACOMA FIGHT!

ASD Staff

Reporter

More in Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

Enter for a chance to win tickets to see Disney’s live action adaptation of the animated film ‘Moana’

Hawai‘i Scene on Social meets Hawai‘i Skies

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Neighborhood weather updates

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Island vibes

Most read

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: TACOMA FIGHT!

Authors

ASD Staff

Reporter

More in Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

Enter for a chance to win tickets to see Disney’s live action adaptation of the animated film ‘Moana’

Hawai‘i Scene on Social meets Hawai‘i Skies

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Neighborhood weather updates

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Island vibes

Most read