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Kady Pascual

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

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Kenny Kharisma2 0

<title>Hawai‘i Scene on Social: PTO preparations</title>

Today’s social media find comes from @KennyKharisma2.0, who may need to stay home for a few days.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: PTO preparations

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Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Government & Politics

A proposal to increase liquor taxes in the state has brewers and barkeeps concerned.

 this legislative session that propose various increases to the state liquor tax. One of those bills, 

, appears to be moving forward, with the House Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection voting Tuesday to give the bill a favorable recommendation, despite concerns by liquor producers.

As written, the bill deletes the current state law definitions of “liquor,” “beer,” “distilled spirits,” “wine” and the like. Instead, alcohol would be taxed based on alcohol-by-volume quantities, setting higher tax rates for beverages with higher alcohol content.

At the same time, the tax rates for various alcohol categories would still increase. Currently, the state liquor tax for non-draft beer is 93 cents per gallon; for draft beer, it is 54 cents per gallon. Under HB 1991, the tax for beverages with 9.9% ABV or lower — which includes many, although not all, beers — would be $1 per gallon, a nearly 50% increase for draft beers.

Other tiers would follow suit. Drinks between 10% and 15% ABV would be taxed at $1.75 per gallon, drinks between 16% and 40% at $6 per gallon and any higher ABV beverages at $6.50 per gallon.

The bill notes that the last time the liquor tax was increased was in 1998, and, thanks to general inflation and cost increases in the intervening decades, the state has lost out on millions in potential tax revenues.

, people bought more than 25 million gallons of non-draft beer in the state between July 2020 and June 2021, collectively spending nearly $260 million. At the current tax rate, that would generate about $23 million in tax revenues; assuming all those gallons were less than 10% ABV, the seven-cent tax hike would generate an additional $2 million in revenue.

With the 46-cent tax increase for draft beers under 10% ABV, the increase is more dramatic. People in Hawai‘i bought nearly 1.6 gallons of non-draft beer between July 2020 and June 2021, spending just over $19 million. Again assuming all those gallons were below 10% ABV, the tax revenues from those sales would nearly double from a little over $860,000 to $1.6 million.

 by the University of Hawai‘i estimated that a hypothetical flat 10-cent liquor tax increase across all categories of alcoholic beverages could increase the state’s annual tax revenues by more than $57 million.

However, that paper also estimated that a 10-cent tax increase would also decrease alcohol consumption in the state by 6.9%. It states that Maryland, which increased its own alcohol sales tax from 6% to 9% in 2011 saw a nearly 4% decrease in alcohol sales within 18 months, as well as reductions in the rates of underage drinking, sexually transmitted diseases, and other behaviors.

On the other hand, several people warned the committee on Tuesday that the tax hike would be devastating to their businesses.

Steve Haumschild, co-founder of Kailua-based Lanikai Brewing, told the committee that the bill could be “an industry killer” for smaller brewers.

“We already pay some of the highest tax rates in the nation already,” Haumschild said. “And I understand that this is an old taxation, but this is stuff that could easily close down and prevent new businesses from opening here.”

Garrett Marrero, CEO of Maui Brewing, said the ABV-based tax hike would be a wild shift away from any other tax structure in the nation, and speculated that local brewers would have to have their products’ ABV tested by a third party, likely based on the Mainland, at additional cost.

Marrero also referenced another paper: a 2017 cost comparability study for the Brewers of Europe trade association, which found that the cost-per-liter to manufacture beer is greater than that for other liquors. With draft beer receiving a nearly doubled tax under the bill, profit margins for local brewers would shrink further, while larger-scale out-of-state producers would be able to more readily absorb the cost.

Marrero and Haumschild both recommended that any liquor tax law include an exemption for small producers. Haumschild suggested that a brewer that manufactures no more than 60,000 barrels a year not be included in the tax increase.

Marrero also recommended the passage of 

, a measure that would create a “small craft producer pub licensee” tax class that would enjoy lower tax rates than the current liquor taxes — a $1.98 tax per gallon on distilled spirits, far below the current $5.98 per gallon, for example.  That tax class would only apply for producers manufacturing liquor below specified quantities.

SB 2912 has been referred to Senate committees, but no hearing has been scheduled on the measure.

The committee on Tuesday, meanwhile, voted unanimously in favor of HB 1991, albeit with some minor amendments. While one of those amendments would include a 60,000-barrel small producer tax class, it would also hike taxes for high-ABV liquors even further — $13 per gallon for liquor above 40% ABV.

With one committee’s favorable recommendation, HB 1991 is still referred to the House Finance Committee, which has yet to schedule any hearings on the matter.

Aloha State Daily reached out to Rep. Scot Matayoshi, co-introducer of the bill and chair of the Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee, for further comment.

Aloha Beer Co Red Zeppelin glass 011326

<title>Liquor tax hike advances, despite brewers' concerns</title>

Proposal to tax booze by ABV raises rates, eyebrows.

Liquor tax hike advances, despite brewers' concerns

Davianna Mc Gregor 2

Davianna Pōmaikaʻi McGregor

Hina Keala

Kaipu Keala

Viewpoints

Hawai‘i History

In an act of bold defiance against U.S. military might, on Jan. 4, 1976, nine aloha ʻāina evaded a U.S. Coast Guard blockade in the ʻAlalākeiki Channel to make landfall on the ravaged island of Kahoʻolawe.

Determined to support an Aboriginal Lands of Hawaiian Ancestry (ALOHA) bill demanding U.S. reparations to Kanaka ʻŌiwi, they wanted to draw national attention to the illegal role that the U.S. played in the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and protest ongoing U.S. military control and destruction of Hawaiian national lands.

George Helm, Emmett Aluli, Kimo Aluli, Kawaipuna Prejean, Walter Ritte, Ian Lind, Ellen Miles, Steve Morse, and Karla Villalba were later dubbed the “Kahoʻolawe Nine,” becoming contemporary folk heroes.

Their courage in risking not only arrest but death to stand in opposition to the desecration of Hawaiian land was the catalyst for the formation of the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana (ʻOhana) and the birth of the modern Aloha ʻĀina Movement that celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

After witnessing firsthand Kahoʻolawe’s ruined landscape, feeling the island’s pain, and sensing a powerful underlying spiritual force on the ʻāina, ʻOhana leaders sought guidance from kūpuna such as Kahuna Sam Lono, Aunty Emma Defries, Aunty Edith Kanakaʻole and others known to them from Molokaʻi and Hāna.

[{"type":"text","text":"A storied history and sanctification"}]

Through these kūpuna, the ʻOhana learned that, traditionally, Kahoʻolawe was honored as Kohemālamalama Kanaloa.

Named for the god Kanaloa, the island played an important role in the art of wayfinding; a wahi kapu where both navigators and kahuna were trained. The island’s westernmost point is called Kealaikahiki (the path to Tahiti), as is the channel between Kahoʻolawe and Lānaʻi. This channel was known as a “sea road” that connected Hawaiʻi to Kahiki – the ancestral homeland.

In addition to being a navigational center for voyaging, Kahoʻolawe was an agricultural center and a site for religious ceremonies. There are some 600 cultural sites and 3,000 physical features on the island, including heiau, koʻa (fishing shrines), small fishing villages along the coast, inland settlements, and an adze quarry.

The kūpuna advised the ʻOhana to negotiate with the U.S. Navy for special access to the island to conduct a spiritual ceremony.

George Helm led the negotiations and on February 13, a month after the landing of the Kahoʻolawe Nine, the kūpuna conducted a ceremony at Hakioawa, Kahoʻolawe. The purpose of the ceremony was to laʻa – sanctify and cleanse the land from the military’s abuse, to reconnect with the spirits of the land, and to ask their permission to open the way for the ʻOhana to protect the island from the military and heal her wounds – the ʻŌiwi way to ethically engage the kuleana to aloha ʻāina.

Following the sanctification ceremony, the ʻOhana began to actively organize a grassroots Aloha ʻĀina movement on each island, guided spiritually by the Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation.

[{"type":"text","text":"The Hawaiian Renaissance and a tragedy"}]

Awareness and understanding of aloha ʻāina became a core tenet of the Hawaiian Renaissance along with the resurgence in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, navigation and wayfinding, traditional art and music, and cultural pride.

As ʻŌiwi across the pae ʻāina learned the history that had been suppressed for decades, and began to reclaim their historical narrative, the Aloha ʻĀina movement thrived, gaining widespread support – support that remains strong and steadfast today.

But a year after the historic landing of the Kahoʻolawe Nine, the unthinkable happened.

In 1977, sometime between March 7 and 9, George Helm and Kimo Mitchell were lost in the ocean off Kahoʻolawe. They departed from Maui and were headed to Kahoʻolawe to bring home two ʻOhana members who were occupying the island and had become stranded. It was an act of heroism that abruptly cut short the lives of two gifted young ʻŌiwi leaders.

In the wake of this tragedy, the ʻOhana regrouped and persevered, carrying the weight of Helm’s and Mitchell’s sacrifice as they continued moving forward.

It would take another 13 years, but the ʻOhana overcame every obstacle in its path, standing up to the world’s largest and most powerful military-industrial complex. On Oct. 22, 1990, the U.S. military agreed to stop the bombing and its military use of Kahoʻolawe – an unprecedented victory for Native Hawaiians.

[{"type":"text","text":"A new strategy secures stewardship"}]

After the loss of Helm and Mitchell, occupation of Kahoʻolawe as a strategy to stop the bombing had become too costly. Instead, the ʻOhana put their efforts into a pursuing a civil suit, 

, that had been filed by Helm before his passing.

By 1980, the lawsuit had resulted in a court-mandated Consent Decree that recognized the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana as the kahuʻāina (steward) of Kahoʻolawe, marking the beginning of a 10-year period of expanded legal access to, and joint governance of, the island.

Since then, the ʻOhana has conducted monthly access to Kahoʻolawe for cultural, religious, subsistence, and educational purposes, setting a precedent for ʻŌiwi access to government and private lands for traditional and customary practices.

But for the handful of members seeking an “all or nothing” outcome, the Consent Decree was not acceptable, and they chose to part ways with the ʻOhana.

Ironically, it was their kūpuna advisors who counseled the ʻOhana’s leadership that taking the path of the Consent Decree would allow them – and eventually thousands of others – to become maʻa, more familiar and connected with the island, which would grow the support for, and commitment to, ending military use of the island.

[{"type":"text","text":"The kūpuna were right."}]

In 1993, three years after the bombing was stopped, the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission (KIRC) was established to assume management of the island, working to restore it as a cultural and natural reserve in cooperation with the ʻOhana under a stewardship agreement known as the Palapala ʻAelike Kahuʻāina.

The ʻOhana’s continued advocacy, legitimized by the Consent Decree and their status as kahuʻāina for the island, ultimately resulted in the return of Kahoʻolawe to the State of Hawaiʻi by the U.S. military in a formal transfer ceremony at Palauea, Maui, on May 7, 1994.

Under Hawaiʻi state law, Kahoʻolawe is now held in trust for a future “sovereign Native Hawaiian entity.” The historic return of Kahoʻolawe set a precedent for the return of other federally controlled lands to the State of Hawaiʻi in accordance with the 1959 Admission Act.

But more substantially, it made Kahoʻolawe the first Hawaiian land to be held in trust for sovereign Hawaiian governance since the 1893 overthrow.

[{"type":"text","text":"Celebrating 50 years of aloha ʻāina"}]

“Laʻa, Maʻa, Paʻa; Sanctify, Sustain, Solidify,” is an ʻōlelo noʻeau from Aunty Alice Kuloloio of Maui that has been adopted as the ʻOhana’s 50th Anniversary slogan.

It provides a guiding vision for the aloha ʻāina work of the ʻOhana, teaching us that to engage in our kuleana we must first sanctify, make “laʻa” – both ourselves and that to which we are committing – as was done with the first ceremony in February 1976.

Only then can we become familiar, “maʻa” and able to expand and sustain our aloha ʻāina work through direct hands-on experiences involving kilo (observation), clearing the land, restoring the natural landscape, and monitoring and stabilizing cultural sites while engaging in ʻaha (ceremonies) that deepen our connection to the land. This characterized the period from the 1980 Consent Decree through the ordnance clean up (1994-2004).

The ʻOhana showed the world that it is possible to hold the U.S. military accountable to clean up ʻāina ravaged by decades of military training. Under Title X, Congress appropriated $400 million to remove ordnance from Kahoʻolawe.

The military cleared 9% of the island to a depth of 4 feet and an additional 68% of the island’s surface – although none of the surrounding waters were cleared. Some $44 million (of the $400 million) was given directly to KIRC to begin its restoration of the island.

The final step is to solidify and make “paʻa” our pilina (relationships), respect, and reverence for our ancestral ʻāina as the aliʻi to which we are merely kauwā (servants).

The ceremonies conducted on the island and the I Ola Kanaloa! I Ola Kākou! Strategic Plan have now been elevated. Kahoʻolawe is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and recognized within Hawaiʻi, the U.S., and internationally, as a sacred place where Kānaka ʻŌiwi practices are mastered and uplifted.

For the past 50 years, the ʻOhana has been steadfast in its aloha kūpaʻa i ka ʻāina ʻo Kohemālamalama, making great strides built upon the sacrifices and commitment of the kūpuna who believed in its mission of aloha ʻāina.

Throughout 2026, the ʻOhana’s 50th anniversary will be a time of celebration and activation for all who live in Hawaiʻi to recommit and rededicate themselves to aloha ʻāina, to ea (sovereignty) and to the protection of Hawaiian lands from the devastation of military training.

Aloha ʻĀina Inspired Music

The Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana is producing a musical album to commemorate half a century of Aloha ʻĀina. It honors five decades of the movement sparked by the historic landing on the island in January 1976. Created through aloha ʻāina music camps and writing sessions, the project features artists such as Keahi Piʻiʻōhiʻa, Pōkiʻi Seto, Moku Young, Kaʻikena Scanlan, Kimié Miner, Ikaakamai, Kekuhi Kanahele and Kaumakaiwa Kanakaʻole. The first single, a reinvigorated Mele o Kahoʻolawe, (written by Harry Kunihi Mitchell, father of Kimo Mitchell) debuts on Jan. 2, with the full album release planned for fall 2026. The project aims to reconnect Kānaka and the global community to Kahoʻolawe and support future programs that cultivate aloha ʻāina.

This article is reprinted with permission from 

La‘a, Ma‘a, Pa‘a: Sanctify, Sustain, Solidify

" by Kaipu Keala, Hina Keala, and Davianna Pōmaikaʻi McGregor, in its

 January 2026 issue, Vol. 43 No. 1. Read more at 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Kahoolawe 11

<title>Community Voices: The Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana celebrates 50 years of aloha ʻāina</title>

“Laʻa, Maʻa, Paʻa; Sanctify, Sustain, Solidify,” is an ʻōlelo noʻeau from Aunty Alice Kuloloio of Maui that has been adopted as the ʻOhana’s 50th Anniversary slogan. It provides vision for their aloha ʻāina work.

Community Voices: The Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana celebrates 50 years of aloha ʻāina

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros Headshot

Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros

Aloha Spirit

 since June, signs off on all his emails, “Glad to be here.”

“That's the way we finished speaking to each other on the 

. It's a way to remind yourself how fortunate we are, despite the rigors and the demands of a job, to be able to live, work and contribute to our community in a place like this,” Hiltz told Aloha State Daily. “So, a culture of both gratitude and growth will be important for us as we chart the next course.”

With a passion for aviation and its history, Hiltz has held several leadership roles throughout is near 23-year U.S. Navy career, including as an instructor pilot, officer-in-charge of multinational exercises, the commanding officer for Navy recruiting in the Pacific Northwest, and most recently, as the executive officer and director of strategy for hypersonic and cruise missile systems within the Indo-Pacific region.

Prior to retiring from the military in March, he was also a Blue Angels pilot from 2012 to 2014, having flown the museum’s Blue Angels F/A-18 Hornet, 

which was added to its collection in 2021

Hiltz said he aims to bring passion and a “service-based mindset” to the role, formerly held by Executive Director Elissa Lines, who retired in June 2024.

“I feel very grateful to stand on the shoulders of the men and women that founded this museum, and many of them are still working in various capacities,” he said.

“The good news is that I’ve got a passion for this based on my upbringing. I’m a product of museums like this; my dad took me to aviation museums, and I was able to sit in the cockpit of an airplane and go to airshows. And so, I definitely developed a love for aviation at a young age. I learned a lot of lessons in the military, one of which was in flight school, I got sick on my first nine flights. You quickly realize you can’t always control that, but you can control your preparation, attitude and energy you bring to it. Those things I try to bring to this role … and do a good job to steward this aviation battlefield into its next decade.”

As CEO, Hiltz will lead the strategic vision, planning and operations of the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum to advance its mission of preserving America’s World War II aviation battlefield. He is responsible for overseeing the museum’s budget and workforce, exhibit development and educational programming, among other areas, that strengthen its nationwide presence and partnerships.

“The museum is only 18 years old at this point,” he said. “The founding phase took a lot of hands-on effort from the board and staff to get it to where it is. Then, you have a transition phase where you continue to build on that, flesh out policies and procedures, that allow us to appropriately care for this place, and I think the board used this phase three as sort of an institutional phase. … They reimagined this CEO role to be the primary steward of management. The board is entrusting me and the staff to lead us into the next phase of this great institution.”

Hiltz currently manages 73 staff members, not including about 24 contracted support staff and more than 200 volunteers, he noted.

“We’re always looking to hire for passion, train for skill. It's a really unique organization and is very vibrant and fun,” he said. “I can tell you that each person is motivated by a patriotic sense of service to their community, to their country and to the men and women that were serving here on Dec. 7, 1941 – and we take great care to steward that appropriately.” 

His current priorities include expanding the campus, improving the visitor experience and education, and providing workforce development opportunities for future pilots.

“One thing that drew me to the role was the growth vector of this museum,” Hiltz said. “We just recently finished a renovation of our operations building of the control tower here, and you can take it right up. We recently added an aviation learning center where we can bring keiki students and educators in to help give them an experience about the science and physics behind aviation. We are about to undergo reimagination of America's aviation battlefield to make sure that our campus is displayed in a way that's befitting of its historical significance.”

He noted that the museum recently acquired a PBY-5A Catalina seaplane on loan from the National Naval Aviation Museum. “It was here on Dec. 7, 1941; they were the long-range eyes and ears of the American Navy fleet the Japanese wanted taken out; therefore, the first target of the first wave of the attack.” The Air Zoo Aerospace & Science Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan, will complete the restoration over the next couple of years before bringing it to Hawai’i, he said.

Other acquisitions are underway that are not yet ready to be announced, he added.

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum also supports two aviation pathways, one on-site pilot training program for ages 16-21 and an A&P program for high school juniors to become certified airplane techs. “Those two efforts we’re really proud of because it's a way to give back to the place where we live and work. I think many people connote Pearl Harbor as just a tourist destination, and we want to be clear that we are more than that."

"Aviation is an expensive business: the equipment, fuel and training is a real cost barrier to people,” Hiltz said. “It's one reason that I never did any flight training, despite my love of aviation as a kid. My family couldn't afford it, so I was lucky to be able to go and get that training through the Navy. But we went to provide kamaʻāina with that opportunity to get that first taste of aviation without the barriers to entry of it."

For more information about the programs and its sponsors, 

His advice to those interested in getting their wings? “

There are a lot of different avenues can lead to a cockpit. … I was fortunate to learn about the Navy ROTC scholarships, so the Navy paid for my University of Notre Dame degree, and then I returned that in-kind by serving in naval aviation. … Excellence opens doors. If you do a great job with whatever endeavor you’re pursuing, people are going to notice that and want to help you achieve your goals. I think excellence is a great way to open doors for yourself and others."

Within the first few months on the job, Hiltz introduced a daily open cockpit. “I got the spark to fly because I was able to visit museums and put my hands on the controls, flip switches and look at the gauges. So, I wanted to make sure that we offered that same experience to every single guest to maybe launch them to pursue their dreams, as well.

Hiltz added that the museum hosted the Blue Angels before 

. “It was fun to bring a lot of my new teammates to come see my old team fly the same place where I was flying when I met my wife 13 years ago. It was very poignant for me.”

Many people have helped him get to where he is today, Hiltz said, including his parents, wife, brothers and those he has served with.

Specific to landing this role, he credits his 

first Air Wing Commander Capt. Sterling Gilliam, who is currently executive director of the National Naval Aviation Museum. “He was very helpful in helping me understand the things that would make a successful career here. I owe him a lot in my previous and current professional life.”

“Additionally, the other person who alerted me to the position opening was my dad’s college roommate, Capt. Eddie Fishburne, executive director of the Navy Supply Corps Officer Foundation. … He’s also the same person that told me about that Navy ROTC scholarship, so twice in my lifetime, this one person really changed the trajectory of my life."

As a leader, Hiltz said he’s been learning to “trust the excellent staff” and “do what I can to empower them to be their best selves."

Having lived off and on the island over the past several years, he along with his wife – whom met in Honolulu in 2012 – and two daughters are settled in Kailua.

When asked what he enjoys most about living and working in Hawai

spirit of the Islands, the mana – the ability to blend all that together. My drive into takes me up the H3, which feels like you

’re stepping back in time with the beautiful vistas, then across the

 bridge to Ford Island, a reminder of the work we

’re called to do here. We’re really fortunate to call this our home, and just remind ourselves every day how lucky we are.”

This weekend, the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum will be hosting several free events in commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of the end of World War II. More information about the festivities can be found 

Interested in sponsoring or attending the museumʻs annual "For Love of Country Gala," 

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum CEO John Hiltz 16x9

<title>Former Blue Angels pilot John Hiltz leads local nonprofit museum</title>

Get to know the new CEO of Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, who was appointed by the board of directors in June to take the organization into its next phase.

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Hawai‘i Scene on Social: PTO preparations

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