Square Kady Pascual Headshot RGZ5762

Kady Pascual

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"K den, shootz!"}]

The Real Faevur

<title>Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Mele for the people</title>

Today’s social media find comes from @TheRealFaevur, singing a nice tune.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Mele for the people

K den, shootz!  Make sure you follow @TheRealFaevur on Instagram!

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Government & Politics

Aloha Spirit

Aloha Tower reopened to the public after more than five years of disuse to celebrate the landmark’s centennial.

The tower closed in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic, as the observation deck was not conducive to the six-foot social distancing that became standard practice at the time, Dre Kalili, the state Department of Transportation’s Deputy Director for Harbors, told Aloha State Daily.

During the closure, Kalili said the Harbors Division took advantage of the emptiness to upgrade the tower’s fire suppression system and its aging elevator. But even as things began to reopen after 2021, additional improvement projects continued.

One of those improvements should catch people’s eyes from far away: the tower has been repainted to more closely resemble its original coloring.

Kalili said the tower was repainted in a camouflage pattern during World War II, and was later painted a bright teal in the 90s to complement the newly built Aloha Tower Marketplace, a decision she said sat poorly with historians. The new off-white coat of paint was chosen to return the tower to its coloration from 100 years ago.

“We wanted her to look beautiful,” Kalili said. “I think she’s never looked better.”

Read more about the history of Aloha Tower from ASD history columnist Desoto Brown 

Inside the tower, new and improved amenities have been installed: the bathrooms have been renovated, and air conditioning has been installed. Kalili said the guardrails on each of the observation deck balconies have been enlarged to prevent people from climbing over them, although the gaps in the bars remain wide enough to accommodate the view.

A new exhibit now sits at the center of the tower’s observation deck, detailing a timeline of the harbor and the tower, along with historical photographs. Kalili said DOT “wanted people to understand what they’re looking at.”

While members of the public can visit the tower during daytime hours, Kalili said further work is still ongoing. Additional work to repair the mast atop the tower — which made the tower the tallest building in the state when it was first built — is still pending, and may require temporary closures in the future.

The renovation project began with an $8.5 million budget, but received additional federal funding, as the site has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places for 50 years.

Kalili and other state officials celebrated the tower’s reopening and centennial at a blessing ceremony Thursday. State Rep. Darius Kila said that after five years of closure, “there’s a whole generation that doesn’t know Aloha Tower,” and added that he hopes the tower can find new life as a gathering place and a “symbol of resilience.”

Kalili told ASD that the tower and the piers are the only places where the public can easily witness Honolulu Harbor in action, which makes the tower an important place to help people appreciate the importance of the maritime industry to the state. She said roughly 85% of goods in the state come in from out-of-state, and most of those enter through a seaport like Honolulu Harbor.

The view from the southwestern balcony of Aloha Tower is Kalili’s favorite, she said, because it emphasizes this: it looks straight out over the facilities on Sand Island and over the Honolulu Channel, which she called “the most critical waterway in the whole state.”

While the blessing ceremony is over, a public centennial 

, including food trucks and a drone show, will be held Friday, Oct. 16, from 5:30 to 9 p.m.

Kalili

<title>Aloha Tower reopens after five years</title>

Historical landmark closed in 2021 because of Covid, but reopens this week during its centennial celebration.

Aloha Tower reopens after five years

IMG 1445

Rick Hamada

Crime & Courts

Columnists

I'm going to warn you now. The subject matter of this column is disturbing, and some of the details are deeply troubling.

I also want to preface this by saying I have zero tolerance for sexual crimes against men, women and children. Zero.

There is no excuse, explanation, justification nor tolerance, or forgiveness that can ever be extended to the perpetrators of sexual crimes.

Unfortunately, the pervasiveness of these most heinous crimes is one of the darkest stains in our community and society.

[{"type":"text","text":"I would wager that you know of someone who has suffered."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"You may have someone in your family who has suffered."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"You may have suffered. And continue to do so."}]

A most disconcerting aspect to sexual crimes and their commission are the excuses and rationalizations made over generations to where denial gets factored over justice. There's a fatalism to it, as if nothing could be done.

[{"type":"text","text":"Consider these scenarios:"}]

Yep. I've lost count of how many friends have disclosed being molested, groped, or outright raped. A lot of it was perpetrated by family members. Brother, dad, cousin, uncle, etc. And it's truly alarming how often the victims would continue to be left alone with the perpetrator after people were made aware of what happened.

[{"type":"text","text":"Sadly, this is only a scratch on the surface of the grim reality. "}]

We are told if you see something, say something. This adage is a very difficult fit with the layers of complexity in sexual assaults. Often the attack is so personal. There is a greater likelihood the victim will know his or her attacker and chances increase it is someone in their own circle of family or friends. 

[{"type":"text","text":"If this is the case, then the most important question becomes ... why?"}]

Why do these crimes go unreported? Why do families protect those that violate their own? How do relatives and even parents traffic their keiki in the sex trade?

[{"type":"text","text":"What is wrong with them?"}]

If you are privy to or participating in the ongoing and relentless abuses of others, especially innocent children, I hope you know you're going directly to Hell, because that's where you're sending these victims by your actions and even inactions.

There is a recent story here at home that is deeply saddening yet incredibly infuriating.

The Hawai‘i State Supreme Court has rendered a decision in regard to a horrific sexual assault case dating back 15 years.

the State Department of Education allowed

 the repeated rape and sexual violations of a female student at McKinley High School, who was known to be intellectually disabled with an IQ of 40 and the mind of a 5-year-old.

This young girl was placed in the general education population with virtually no supervision. Again, a teenaged girl with the mental capacity of a kindergartener.

[{"type":"text","text":"The predators lurked and then struck."}]

Once the initial attacks took place, additional violators took their turns.

[{"type":"text","text":"The assaults would continue for three years."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"That's 36 months."}]

That's 1,080 days of living in a Hell that should be reserved for the perpetrators and DOE staff that knew and allowed the defiling and abuses to continue.

In finding the DOE responsible for what is an absolute egregious facilitation of the most brutal of crimes that can be committed against a child the court awarded more than $14 million to the now 32-year-old victim.

She will require therapy and specialized treatment for the rest of her life.

If you are in need of assistance or advocacy as a victim of sexual assault, please contact The Sex Abuse Treatment Center at 808-524-7273 (24-hour hotline).

If you are aware of sexual abuse being perpetrated against anyone you know or love, please, don't hesitate to call the Honolulu Police Department. Dial 911.

[{"type":"text","text":"It's one thing to see something, say something."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"It's another to know something, do something."}]

I Stock 178835830 16x9 Large

<title>Hamada: McKinley High School sex assault case appalling</title>

The State of Hawai‘i and its Department of Education fought off accountability for 15 years until the State Supreme Court decision confirmed the worst: Officials knew a student was vulnerable, was assaulted, and they did nothing to prevent it or stop it.

Hamada: McKinley High School sex assault case appalling

Higa headshot white shirt square

Sterling Higa

Maui Police Chief John Pelletier stood beside his lawyer in downtown Honolulu on Friday. He said the mayor of his county is under criminal investigation.

Mayor Richard Bissen says he knows of no active investigation.

Days earlier, the Maui Police Commission had voted 6-0 to put Pelletier on paid leave. It is reviewing how Pelletier oversaw the department’s criminal intelligence unit. That unit’s top officer was arrested in August and 

“I think somebody’s trying to influence the mayor’s race on Maui,” Bissen told 

. He faces Council Member Yuki Lei Sugimura on Nov. 3. Ballots reach mailboxes this week.

Pelletier said the claims involve “corruption, fraud and retaliation.” He would not name the agency leading the case. He also would not describe a second inquiry he says his own department has opened.

Council Chair Alice Lee says the lead agency in the first case is the state attorney general. That office would not say whether any case exists. “We’re talking about criminal allegations of embezzlement,” Lee told 

, speaking of a former administration employee.

Maui will vote without knowing whether the chief’s claim is true. That makes it one more thing to weigh, beside a record voters already have.

In April, Bissen’s former chief of staff, Leo Caires, filed a whistleblower suit. I 

 about it at the time. Caires alleges he found a suspect invoice in the Office of Economic Development and traced it to one of the mayor’s aides. He says he was fired when he kept digging.

Earlier, Luana Mahi ran that office. On her watch, nonprofits tied to her family and a former business associate received more than $1.2 million in county money. She was placed on paid leave and later fired.

The mayor’s office has not always been forthcoming, either. Bissen was mayor when Lahaina burned. At 3:32 p.m. that day he texted his emergency management chief: “I’m coming back up after my Dr. appt.” The text surfaced eight months later in the attorney general’s fire report.

 Bissen’s secretary had canceled the appointment. It said the Mayor spent the rest of the day in the county building. A few weeks later, in a 

, the county changed its account. “After further checking,” it said, Bissen had seen his cardiologist in Wailuku at 3:20 p.m.

Bissen may be right that someone is trying to influence the election. But what he calls influence is information. Voters have a right to know what their leaders have done in office.

If Pelletier has real cause to suspect the mayor, speaking before the vote is rational. A chief who has just been put on leave also has his own reasons to talk. Voters can weigh Pelletier’s credibility too.

The claim is unproven, and it should not settle anyone’s vote. Voters can answer influence with calm attention to the facts about each candidate. Then they choose who will best represent them. That’s how democracy works.

Mayor Bissen Getty Images 1595220331 16x9

<title>Maui mayor’s race: Pelletier’s unproven claim about Bissen</title>

Two days after he was put on paid leave, Maui’s police chief stood beside his lawyer and said the mayor is under criminal investigation. ASD opinion columnist Sterling Higa on why an unproven claim is one more thing for voters to weigh, beside a record they already have.

Maui mayor’s race: Pelletier’s unproven claim about Bissen

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

Several new retailers and restaurants have recently opened at Ala Moana Center in Honolulu and more are set to open soon, the center announced Wednesday. Here’s what you should know.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What's new:"}]

, a locally owned coffee roaster serving breakfast, lunch and craft coffee, has opened on Street Level 1 of the ‘Ewa Wing.

 can be found on Mall Level 2 of the ‘Ewa Wing.

Korean beauty retailer Lume Harmony can be found on Street Level 1 near Center Court.

, offering a selection of toys, plushies, collectibles, stationery, beauty essentials, home goods, fragrances, electronics, snacks and other accessories, can be found on Level 3 of the ‘Ewa Wing.

, an ear piercing and jewelry brand, has opened on Level 3 of the ‘Ewa Wing.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Coming soon: "}]

, which will showcase contemporary works by local and international artists, is set to open this month in an 8,000-square-foot space on Street Level 1 of the ‘Ewa Wing.

, an indoor family entertainment venue and indoor playground spanning more than 42,000 square feet, will open in October on Mall Level 2 of the Mauka Wing. The space will have multilevel play structures, slides, an indoor zipline, trampolines and other play areas, along with amenities like supervised drop-off services, private party rooms, luggage storage and the Kids City Café.

, a modern beauty and wellness boutique offering a curated selection of facial and body spa treatments, personalized skin consultations, lash services, permanent makeup, Korean beauty products and more, will open this month on Level 3 of the ‘Ewa Wing.

, known for designer toys, blind boxes and collectible figures, will open its first Hawai‘i location this month on Level 3 of the ‘Ewa Wing.

, a luxury wellness and recovery destination, and 

, offering a modern take on traditional tea culture, are expected open in October. You'll find BB Wellness on Street Level 1 of the Diamond Head Wing and Molly Tea on Mall Level 2 of the Mauka Wing.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Relocations and renovations:"}]

 will reopen its expanded and newly renovated permanent location on Street Level 1 near Center Court in September.

 will relocate to a temporary boutique on Mall Level 2 of the Diamond Head Wing later this month, while its permanent location undergoes renovation. The newly renovated permanent shop is currently expected to open in late 2027.

Ala Moana Center opened in 1959 and is the world's largest open-air shopping center with more than 2.4 million square feet of retail space. It offers more than 350 stores and restaurants, including more than 160 dining options.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Mele for the people

Kady Pascual

Social Media & Marketing Manager

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: Mele for the people

Authors

Kady Pascual

Social Media & Marketing Manager

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