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Kady Pascual

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

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Accurate Plumbing

<title>Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Big sister duties</title>

Today’s social media find comes from @AccuratePlumbingHawaii, making his sister do all the heavy lifting.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Big sister duties

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Michael Brestovansky

Government & Politics

A proposal to prohibit corporate political donations could also prohibit contributions by workers’ unions, some unions argue.

, which passed third reading in the state House of Representatives Tuesday, challenges the verdict of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court case that found that it is unconstitutional to pass laws prohibiting political spending by corporations.

Nonetheless, SB2471 attempts to do just that, albeit through a technicality: while the Citizens United verdict found that impinging on a corporation’s First Amendment 

 is unconstitutional, limits on a corporation’s 

 are not. Therefore, the bill’s language specifies that a corporation recognized in Hawai‘i can only wield powers granted by the state.

Those state-authorized “artificial-person powers” would include the power to sue, to purchase and own property, to make contracts, lend money and more. They explicitly exclude the power to “engage in election activity or ballot-issue activity.”

 removed language that differentiates charitable and political donations, which Rep. Scot Matayoshi (D-Kāne‘ohe) said at the time would allow nonprofits and unions to make political donations while still preventing corporations from doing so. However, several unions have opposed the measure out of concern that the bill still limits their ability to engage in elections.

Jeffrey Masatsugu, representing the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 50, submitted testimony 

 opposing the measure, writing that it is unclear whether trade unions will be prohibited from taking electoral action.

Masatsugu pointed to language in the latest versions of the measure that allow incorporated nonprofits to carry out “election activity” via candidate and noncandidate committees. Whether that applies to unions, however, is an open question, Masatsugu wrote, but the state statutes regarding unincorporated nonprofits can be interpreted to apply to trade unions, which would leave them unable to make political donations.

Two other construction unions — the Hawai‘i Building and Construction Trades Council and the Plumbers and Fitters UA Local 675 — also opposed the measure on similar grounds.

However, other prominent unions — including the Hawai‘i Government Employees Association, the largest union in the state — have remained mum on the measure one way or the other.

Nonetheless, the bill still has at least one staunch opponent: the state Department of the Attorney General, which has repeatedly warned that the measure will most likely provoke a legal challenge at cost to the state taxpayer.

Last week, the Attorney General also argued against the argument that stripping a corporation of its power is different from stripping it of its rights. In a letter, the Department of the Attorney General called that “an untested legal theory … that collapses in upon itself upon further examination.

“The operative theory behind this bill is that states have the ability to define corporate powers and can strip certain powers to speak based upon the content of that speech,” read the AG’s letter. “This bill then contradicts its own theory by saying that foreign corporations authorized to transact business in Hawai‘i … are also subject to the provisions of the bill. However, Hawai‘i has no ability to define the corporate powers of foreign corporations.”

Nonetheless, the bill passed third reading in the House on Tuesday with only two representatives — Republicans Garner Shimizu and Elijah Pierick — voting against it.

[{"type":"text","text":"The HGEA did not respond to Aloha State Daily’s requests for comment."}]

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State capitol 022725

<title>House passes anti-corporate-election-spending bill</title>

Bill that would strip from corporations the power to make political donations is on the cusp of passing, despite Attorney General's warnings.

House passes anti-corporate-election-spending bill

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Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

Aloha Spirit

 gathered at the Grand Naniloa Hotel on Wednesday, April 8, to kick off the opening of a craft fair. Kamohoalli is the fashion designer of 

, a vendor at the hotel fair, as well as at Merrie Monarch Festival’s Invitational Hawaiian Arts Fair. 

“We only dance kahiko, so drums, ipu, everything is pounding as hard as it could be,” Kamohoalii told Aloha State Daily on Thursday. “All the energy, the sweat is flying everywhere, and everybody's screaming and yelling.”

This week, Merrie Monarch Festival returned to Hilo for its 63rd annual event, which runs Sunday, April 5, through Saturday, April 11. The invite-only hula competition is held the last three days of the festival at the Edith Kanakaʻole Multi-Purpose Stadium. Tickets to see the events in person are sold out, but it is still possible catch the 

Dezigns by Kamohoalii is a Hawaiʻi Island-based clothing company that draws inspiration from kapa makers, who created fabric from tree bark which was stamped with patterns and told stories. The clothing line has been featured in fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan and Paris, among others, he said. Kamohoalii’s fashion has also been featured at Merrie Monarch’s Invitational Hawaiian Arts Fair for more than 20 years.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"“This is year 22,” he said."}]

 runs Wednesday, April 8, through Saturday, April 11. Over the years, Kamohoalii has noticed the invitational craft fair has grown significantly. There are also more more offsite fairs now. 

“It's good and bad,” he said. “The good is that it's increasing the economy here, there and everywhere. The bad is that I feel like it's decreasing the quality.”

Despite the statewide storm, Hilo residents aren’t phased by precipitation, he added.

“We're used to rain,” Kamohoalii said. “Hilo people, they're not going to run away when it comes to rain. They'll dance in the rain.”

Like many other clothing designers, Dezigns by Kamohoalii planned special releases for Merrie Monarch. This year, those designs honor Laka, the hula goddess, and Haumea, Pele’s mother.

 ended last night after more than eight hours of continuous lava fountaining, according updates from the 

U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

Kamohoalii was not surprised that the volcano erupted with "all the hālau here and every hālau will trek their hālau up to the volcano to make offerings," he said. 

For him, the festival is an opportunity to connect with family.

“I look forward to seeing all the Hilo people,” Kamohoalii said. “I live in Waimea, which is an hour and a half away, and I don't come to Hilo as often as I used to because we opened stores on Oʻahu and go there for work. And then, we still have our store home in Waimea. But Hilo, when it's Merrie Monarch — everybody comes out. I have so much family in Hilo, and so it's so nice to see all of them because they know where we're at, so they'll come by, bring us lunch, or come hang out with us in the back.”

Often, family will jump in and help when the line backs up, he said.

“The energy in Hilo is sort of — what's the word — addictive, maybe,” Kamohoalii said. “People wear their best. They dress their best.” 

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Kumu Hula Micah Kamohoalii

<title>Kumu Hula Micah Kamohoalii blends tradition and fashion at Merrie Monarch</title>

With the 63rd annual Merrie Monarch Festival underway, Kumu Hula Micah Kamohoalii reflects on the festival, the invitational craft fair, and rain in Hilo.

Kumu Hula Micah Kamohoalii blends tradition and fashion at Merrie Monarch

Higa headshot white shirt square

Sterling Higa

Columnists

On a Monday morning earlier this month, Mayor Rick Blangiardi sent his proposed budget for the coming fiscal year to the Honolulu City Council. The total came in $133 million less than the year before. The operating side grew by less than one percent. There were no ribbon cuttings. The 

 lasted about 40 minutes and drew a few paragraphs in the morning papers.

Had the number gone up — a record spend on city services, a bold new chapter — there would have been more headlines. The budget that doesn’t grow is not a story.

What matters is whether government grows faster or slower than the income of the people paying for it. The University of Hawaiʻi’s economic research arm, UHERO, 

 personal income in Honolulu will grow about 3.7% this year. That 3.7% is the speed limit. A government budgeting above it is spending money its people haven’t earned yet.

Blangiardi’s operating increase of less than 1% means city government is shrinking against the economy. That’s harder than it sounds. Union contracts alone required wage raises above 1%. He covered that and still cut the total.

The pattern elsewhere is mixed — and mostly worse. On Kaua‘i, Mayor Derek Kawakami’s current budget 

, more than twice the county’s projected income growth.

Maui’s Richard Bissen is a different story. UHERO projects Maui’s income to grow about 4% this year. Bissen’s proposed budget for next fiscal year 

. That’s nearly flat in real terms — a return to earth after the fire-driven spending surge.

The outlier nobody talks about is Hawai‘i County Mayor Kimo Alameda. His proposed operating budget 

 against projected income growth of 3.4%. Nearly as disciplined as Honolulu, with almost no press. Alameda governs quietly, and Hawai‘i County draws less notice than Maui or Honolulu.

Blangiardi didn’t cut services. He cut the budget lines for vacant jobs. With roughly one in five city jobs vacant, that pay was already sitting idle. The mayor pulled about $50 million in vacancy funding back across departments. The police chief called it tight but workable. AI tools are rolling out across city offices — not to cut jobs, but to get more done.

Blangiardi is not always easy. Councilmembers, reporters, and slow-moving department heads have all felt the friction. But for five years, he’s been the strongest check on government growth in Hawai‘i. And in his 2026 State of the City address, he 

 not to raise property taxes while in office.

Government that lives within its means doesn’t produce ribbon cuttings. It fills the potholes, keeps the lights on. In the oldest sense, it’s a good neighbor. It doesn’t always make the news.

0000 0000 Mayor Blagiardi Square Wide 16x9

<title>The budget that doesn't grow</title>

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi did something remarkable early this month in releasing a city budget that came in $133 million under the previous year's budget. ASD columnist Sterling Higa looks at all four county budgets to see which counties are living within the means of their citizens.

The budget that doesn't grow

Lopaka and Tanya Kapanui

Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya Kapanui

Hawai‘i History

Before Hawaiians had a written language, storytelling was vital for preserving history, culture, and traditions. Known as mo‘olelo, these oral narratives connected people to their kūpuna (ancestors), ‘āina (the land), and na akua (the gods). Stories reinforced social and cultural identity, linking families, ali‘i (chiefs), and the land while shaping traditions and beliefs.

Storytelling is the foundation of knowledge that shapes our traditions and beliefs. We strive to share this connection to our past by keeping our history alive, ensuring that even today, the voices of the past still speak through the mo‘olelo that have been passed down. 

As we continue to honor the power of storytelling, we will share mo‘olelo that explore the mysterious and unexplained. Many of these stories reveal how deeply Hawaiians believed in the presence of spirits, omens, and ancestral guidance.

Hawaiians did not separate the natural from the spiritual. Instead, they viewed them as deeply connected. There was no exact word for “supernatural” in ancient Hawai‘i because spiritual occurrences were considered part of everyday life. In those ancient days, encounters with ‘aumākua (family guardian spirits), night marchers (huaka‘i pō), and lapu (ghosts) were accepted realities. Terms like mana (spiritual power) and ho‘ailona (omens) described these experiences, reflecting a worldview where the unseen was as real as the seen.

With the arrival of foreigners, new beliefs and spirits merged into Hawai‘i’s cultural fabric. Tales of faceless spirits, obake, and aswang became part of the local lore, shared alongside legends of night marchers and lapu. These stories illustrate our Island community, where different cultures, and their ghosts, coexist. 

In the following stories, we will explore the hauntings, legends, and supernatural experiences that continue to shape Hawai‘i’s rich storytelling tradition. Our first story brings us to Downtown Honolulu.

The ‘Ewa-mauka corner of North King Street and Nu‘uanu Avenue is currently occupied by a newly restored structure whose facade has been kept as close to the original as possible. Named “Hocking Hale,” the building is part of the city’s adaptive reuse project aimed at creating much-needed 

Before Hocking Hale, the building housed First Hawaiian Bank, which acquired the First Interstate/American Security Bank that previously occupied the space. Prior to that, it was the Chinese-American Bank. However, the building existed before the basement and first floor were redesigned to accommodate the bank. 

When the building was initially completed in 1914, the first floor boasted six new storefronts along King Street and Nu‘uanu Avenue. The second floor was set aside for “sample rooms” where traveling salesmen could display and sell their goods for a fee, and the third floor was made up of hotel-style rooms available for short-term rental. Prior to the Hocking building, a wooden two-story structure housed a Merchants’ Exchange that sold liquor and beer and later became a saloon.

Going further back, before wooden and stone structures were built over that parcel of land, there stood a lōkū, a place for indoor games and evening entertainment. Hawaiian politician, historian, and royal advisor to the Kamehameha dynasty, John Papa ‘Ī‘ī, describes a lōkū as “a place where men and women of every kind gathered in the evenings to enjoy themselves.”

Some amusements indulged in were hula and oli and games such as kilu and puhenehene. According to ‘Ī‘ī, the ghosts of earlier participants who once enjoyed gathering here are said to congregate in this lōkū every evening from seven o’clock until midnight. Even the legendary night marchers are said to pass through this place. 

, William Drake Westervelt confirms the lōkū as a gathering spot for wailua (ghosts), stating that the ghosts in these places made nighttime a source of dread.

Several people who worked in the bank said the building is indeed haunted, and working anytime after dark was especially creepy. Some said they saw dark, moving shapes in the corners and along the walls, even though no one was present to cast a shadow. Others claimed that they would hear whispering when no one was near them. One worker involved in the recent restoration and conversion of Hocking Hale said he and his coworkers often felt an eerie presence while working in the basement, where the vault is located. 

[{"text":"What will the new tenants think?","type":"text"}]

Hocking Hale 030325 16x9 Large

<title>The eerie history of Chinatown's Hocking Hale</title>

This week, ASD launches a weekly column by Robert and Tanya Kapanui, historians and co-owners of the popular ghost tour, Mysteries of Hawai‘i. Together, they'll take readers on a journey into the historic, spiritual and supernatural dimensions of Hawai‘i places.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Big sister duties

Kady Pascual

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Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Big sister duties

Authors

Kady Pascual

Social Media Editor

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