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Kady Pascual

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

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<title>Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Skanking 101</title>

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Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Skanking 101

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Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

After an offseason of turbulence, including a 

legal battle involving former head coach Sterling Carvalho

, Kahuku's 2025 regular season got off to an ominous start. 

blanked at home by defending state champion Saint Louis

 to begin its season. After squeaking by Kamehameha the following week, followed by a win at Konawaena, the Red Raiders looked listless in a 38-0 home loss to national powerhouse Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas. 

Less than a week after playing Gorman, the Red Raiders flew to Southern California for a game against another national powerhouse, Mater Dei, the top-ranked team in the country at the time. 

With starting quarterback Matai Fuiava injured, Troy Mariteragi took the reins behind center and almost led the Red Raiders to a shocking victory. Kahuku lost to Mater Dei 21-18, but the Red Raiders found their new quarterback. 

"He had (won over) the team from before," Kahuku head coach Nihoa Pule said. "It's just a matter of when it was his time."

As a junior in 2024, Mariteragi began the season as the team's starting quarterback until St. John Bosco transfer Matai Fuiava took over midway through the year. Following Kahuku's game against Mater Dei in 2025, Fuiava moved back home to California to rehab his injury. 

Since Mariteragi regained control of the starting quarterback position midway through the 2025 season, the Red Raiders are 5-1, their only loss to Mater Dei.

On Friday night, Mariteragi completed 10 of his 18 passes for 142 yards, two touchdowns and an interception as the Red Raiders defeated Campbell 24-6 in the OIA Open Division semifinals at Mililani, upping their winning streak to five games. 

"It felt great," Mariteragi said after Friday's game. "We had a few weeks off, so we had a lot of time to make adjustments and make improvements. But that also adds a little bit of rust, so we came out a little slow, but it just felt great to get the win tonight."

The modest Mariteragi has Kahuku in the state title hunt once again with his understanding of the Kahuku offense, which involves limiting turnovers and distributing the ball to his playmakers. His first touchdown of the day was a 79-yard pass to a wide open Christian Sanford-Tupuola, a University of Hawai‘i commit. 

"It's just a privilege to be able to be the quarterback of his team," Mariteragi said. "It was just me just making the most of my opportunity at doing what I can for my team."

Despite losing the starting job to Fuiava last year, Mariteragi continued to possess the trust of his teammates. 

"Just learn from it," he said. "Last year, I had some opportunities when I was able to play in some games. Just gain as much experience as I can, because the more experience I have, the more I can learn and the more I can get better.

"Just taking every rep that I get in practice. That's just been my motto, is take advantage of my opportunities. Matai is a great player. He's a great guy. I have love for him. I miss him. He's a good dude. And when he was the starter, I just knew my role as the backup quarterback was to just stay ready and just play for the team."

With Friday's victory, the Red Raiders advance to the OIA Open Division championship game against Kapolei, which kicks off on Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. at Farrington. 

Regardless of how the OIA championship goes, both teams in the finals have already clinched spots in the four-team 

. Mariteragi's older brother, Jason, was the quarterback for Kahuku's 2021 state championship team. 

"He's a huge inspiration," Troy Mariteragi said of his brother. "I was fortunate enough to be the water boy of that team when they won the state championship. ... It just gave me extra motivation and inspiration that I'm just carrying on my family's legacy.

"Being rooted from Kahuku, from Lāʻie, born and raised, just growing up as a little kid, that's just who you wanted to be, wanting to be a 

. So for me, it's just me living out my dream on the field. It's just a privilege."

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Troy Mariteragi 103125

<title>Midseason quarterback change sparks Kahuku turnaround</title>

Troy Mariteragi is 5-1 as Kahuku's starting quarterback in 2025, his lone loss to national power Mater Dei of California.

Midseason quarterback change sparks Kahuku turnaround

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Government & Politics

A trip to the Honolulu Zoo just got a little more high-tech.

The zoo’s first-ever, state-of-the-art digital ticketing system launches Saturday, Nov. 1. The City and County of Honolulu says the upgrade will make it easier to buy tickets in advance “and enjoy a smoother experience” when you get there.

The new digital platform aims to improve guest experiences by reducing wait times at the entrance and supporting the zoo’s ongoing sustainability efforts, the city's Department of Enterprise Services said in an announcement Friday. Now, you can just show your digital ticket on a mobile device to enter.

According to the announcement, a new partnership between the city and the zoo’s long-time concessionaire, Service Systems Associates Group, has made the upgrade possible.

SSA Group CEO Sean McNicholas says in the announcement that this is a “meaningful step in creating a smoother, more welcoming hospitality experience for every guest.”

“This is a big step for us in making visits to the Honolulu Zoo more seamless and convenient,” Jacqueline Peeler, assistant director at the zoo, said in the announcement. “We’re excited to step into this new chapter at the zoo and can’t wait to enhance the guest experience in the years to come.”

Digital tickets will be available starting Saturday, Nov. 1, at 

This is just the latest technological update from the zoo that aims to improve the visitor experience.

 that features an interactive map and personalized itinerary planning, highlights animal profiles and conservation efforts and offers real-time notifications and more.

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Honolulu zoo elephants

<title>Honolulu Zoo launches new online ticketing system</title>

Digital tickets will be available starting Saturday, Nov. 1.

Honolulu Zoo launches new online ticketing system

Business & Tourism

Nearly a year after its opening, Pickles at Forté is expanding, soon adding more courts for Downtown Honolulu’s pickleball enthusiasts.

The Pickle Party, a grand opening of eight new courts on the second floor, is set for 5 to 9 p.m. Nov. 14, in line with the inaugural 

, taking place at the same time at Fort Street Mall.

Pickles at Forté, the first air conditioned, indoor pickleball and social club in Downtown Honolulu, opened in January on the ground floor of 1032 Fort Street Mall. The space was formerly occupied by Walmart, which had been vacant since the retailer closed that location in early 2023.

It's also part of a larger redevelopment plan in the works by Avalon Group, a Downtown-based full-service real estate development, consulting and sales company that acquired the property in February 2024 for $38.25 million.

“This was just in response to massive demand that we’ve seen,” Robby Kelley, executive vice president for Avalon, told Aloha State Daily Friday. “Since we opened nearly a year ago now, membership for Pickles has grown to really where we’re at capacity with our court utilization. We were hurrying as much as possible to get some additional courts open to alleviate that capacity. Now we have more courts available. [It] gives us the ability to host more community events, more tournaments and just [have] more times available for our members.”

According to Kelley, 1,700 people initially signed up to play in its early weeks, but Pickles at Forté now has approximately 400 members and they’re looking to expand membership to 800 to 1,000.

Some membership specials will soon be available, including an upcoming BOGO promotion where people who sign up for a month will get a second month free, he says.

“Throughout this whole year, I’ve just been continually amazed at the level of interest in pickleball,” Kelley says. “[I’m] always a little incredulous when I go there on a Tuesday at 11 a.m. and I see all the courts are packed.”

The second phase of the redevelopment initially called for approximately 10 pickleball courts on the second floor as well as a restaurant, full locker rooms and other amenities. Kelley said Friday, however, that the developer is delaying the upstairs restaurant concept for a bit, focusing on pickleball and ground-floor retail, as well as looking at plans to potentially build about 100 units of workforce rental housing on top of the existing Walmart building. That effort is still in the planning stages, he noted.

It's a “continuum of continuing to improve the building one step at a time.”

Pickles at Forté expanded upon its initial offerings 

, welcoming a sports shop, Teapresso Bar and a golf simulator.

Kelley says the golf simulator is up, running and available to both members and non-members. A special golf membership also has recently launched.

Kelley noted, too, that Aloha Creamery now has a kiosk offering ice cream within Pickles as well.

“It’s really been a success for us so far doing exactly what we’ve wanted it to [do], which was to really help build a community and bring life to Downtown,” Kelley says. “… It is starting to do what we wanted, to change the character of the block there, and that’s just going to continue as we get more and more open.”

Pickleball is a popular pastime in the Islands. A study conducted by 

, a pickleball tech company, found that Hawai‘i has the third highest density of pickleball courts in the U.S., 

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Skanking 101

Kady Pascual

Social Media Editor

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Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Skanking 101

Authors

Kady Pascual

Social Media Editor

More in Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Dreams do come true

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Going big

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Take a trip

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Too busy vibing

Most read