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Kady Pascual

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"This is your sign to book the trip!"}]

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Local_Eats

<title>Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Take a trip</title>

Today’s social media find comes from @Local_Eats, who had a great time in Hawai‘i.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Take a trip

This is your sign to book the trip!  Make sure you follow @Local_Eats on Instagram! Check out our new feature: Aloha State Daily wants to see your Hawai‘i sky pictures! Click here to learn more and submit. For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter!

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

 threw the first and only touchdown of his NFL career thus far, it was also the first career touchdown for the player on the receiving end in fellow Cleveland Browns rookie Dylan Sampson. 

While some thought the ball would be cut in half, Gabriel wanted to let Sampson have the entire ball. Material possessions are not a priority for Gabriel, who famously drove a minivan in his final year of college in order to be able to drive more teammates around. 

"He's always been that way, and we love that about him," Gabriel's father, Garrett, recently told Aloha State Daily. "He told (Sampson), 'Hey, you deserve it.'"

Come Sunday, Gabriel will get an opportunity to add to his career milestones. On Wednesday, the Browns announced that Gabriel, their rookie quarterback, will make the start in their Week 5 game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. 

Gabriel, a Mililani alumnus, is set to make Hawai‘i history in doing so, becoming the first person who graduated from a public high school in Hawai‘i to start an NFL game at quarterback. 

Kamehameha alumnus Joe Francis was the first player from a Hawai‘i high school to start a game a quarterback, doing so for the Green Bay Packers in 1958. Meanwhile, Saint Louis alumnus Marcus Mariota has started 76 games in an NFL career that began in 2015. Fellow former Crusader Tua Tagovailoa has started 66 games and counting behind center from 2020 to 2025. 

"Being from Mililani, my son just totally loves the community. He takes it with pride. He understands he's not only doing this for himself, but there's a lot of people that want him to do well, and he knows who he's representing. We're very touched," Garrett Gabriel said. "We followed Marcus (Mariota), Tua (Tagovailoa), and we understand the legacy of Hawai‘i quarterbacks and what they've done. He just wants to go out there and make the state proud, and the community of Mililani proud."

Dillon Gabriel, a Mililani native, attended Punahou in seventh and eighth grade before ultimately deciding to attend his hometown high school. During college offseasons, Gabriel donated brand new Nike uniforms and equipment to various Mililani teams through NIL. 

"Having experienced that private school thing for about two years and when he back moved over, the family got a lot closer. We did a lot more things together," Garrett Gabriel recalled. "A lot of things would be in passing, dropping off my other son, coming back, going there. When he went to Mililani, it was like the family got settled in, and it became a place where you can grow, a place where you can be yourself and be with people in the community. And so that's why I think he cherishes Mililani so much and is willing to do anything for the community, because it made him who he is today, really."

As a freshman in 2015, Gabriel took over for an injured McKenzie Milton and went on to set the Hawai‘i high school passing yardage record with 9,948 yards, according to Hawaii Prep World. He was surpassed by Campbell's Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who finished with 10,653 following his senior season in 2024. 

 is now the starting quarterback at Cal as a true freshman. 

"Just beyond words. Just so proud of him and his family and I hope continued success for him," Mililani head football coach Rod York said. "I'm not gonna be the guy that's like, 'Oh, I knew he was going (to the NFL),' but I knew he was going to do great things. Everything's due to his parents, to his hard work. He's taking all of us, man, the whole 808 is behind him."

Gabriel began his collegiate career at UCF in 2019 before transferring to Oklahoma in 2022. He spent his final year of collegiate football at Oregon in 2024, where he broke the FBS career passing touchdowns record and became a Heisman Trophy finalist. 

In April, Gabriel was selected by the Browns in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft with the 94th overall selection. He has played sparingly for the 1-3 Browns thus far prior to his first start. 

Sunday's game between the Browns and Vikings, which takes place at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, will kick off at 3:30 a.m. HST. It will also be televised on NFL Network. 

On Friday, Dillon Gabriel divulged during a press conference that his family wouldn't be able to make the trip because his father doesn't have a passport, which made the rounds on social media. 

"I did have a passport, but we didn't renew it because we were thinking we weren't going to go anywhere outside the states," Garrett Gabriel clarified with a chuckle. "And of course, by the time we decided to renew they said it takes five days, and so we're like, you know what? We'll just watch it from home. And (Dillon) was fine with that."

With Sunday's early kickoff, particularly by Hawai‘i standards, the Gabriel family is already making plans. 

"We'll probably sleep a little earlier than normal," Garrett Gabriel said. "I think we'll be ready to go at 3:30. Doesn't matter what time. Everybody wants to be there for his first start and just enjoy the moment. We'll have some leftovers, some breakfast, but we'll definitely be up for it."

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Dillon Gabriel 100325

<title>Mililani’s Dillon Gabriel set to become first from a Hawai’i public high school to start…</title>

Gabriel will be the first graduate of a public high school from the Islands to start an NFL game at quarterback.

Mililani’s Dillon Gabriel set to become first from a Hawai’i public high school to start a game in the NFL at quarterback

Arrasmith Portrait

Perry Arrasmith

Government & Politics

Columnists

The most bizarre section in Hawai‘i’s 

 is the one that relates to the state’s regulation of population growth. It is a testament to a bygone era informed by misguided local anxieties. 

Runaway population growth across the Hawaiian Islands once occupied the Hawai'i zeitgeist. While much of this mindset persists in the halls of society, it contrasts with Hawai‘i’s contemporary demographic woes. 

Between April 1960 and April 1970, Hawai‘i added 115,510 residents to its population, totalling 748,182 residents across the islands. It was a meteoric rise that stressed the Hawai‘i’s poor infrastructure, corrupt land management practices, and limited housing across the islands. 

Hawai‘i was a young, growing society. The median age of a resident was 25. Much of the State’s dynamism and vigour, in turn, were informed by a mix of talent both local and non-local.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Perhaps it was too much of a good thing. "}]

During this time, national commentators were fretting about the global population’s growth. Paul and Anne Ehrlich had co-authored 

in 1968. Internationally, the Club of Rome furnished the

report, which only further argued against overconsumption. Political views wrapped in scientific dogma started-off a new movement whose cultural salience was confirmed by the 1973 film 

While societies were wasteful and inefficient, these reports didn’t necessarily call for more efficiency. Instead, they called for fewer people. 

While the times have changed, our Constitution’s outdated language shows how we are still stuck in the ’70s. Through national debates over population control, Hawai‘i became a tragic guinea pig that used environmentalism to justify population control, opening the floodgates for arguments against urban development, immigration, and economic growth. 

These conversations continue to plague Hawai‘i’s zeitgeist, most notably when it comes to unnecessary conflict between economic growth and environmental stewardship.

In 1970, the Hawai‘i State Legislature passed Senate Resolution 305, establishing the State’s Temporary Commission on Population Stabilization. A 1972 report issued by the Commission suggested an inverse relationship between environmental stewardship and population growth. 

“It remains to be seen whether or not we will achieve a balance with the limits of the Hawaiian environment in this present period of growth in Hawaiian history,” the 

 warned, “but it should be recognized that with respect to maintaining the quality of the environment, population and prosperity are ‘trade-offs.’ If we expect to maintain a fixed level of pollution and impact on the environment by people in Hawaii, then any increase in one will require a corresponding decrease in the other.”

In the following year, the State Senate once again adopted a resolution calling for the establishment of an optimum state population. “The question of population equilibria among the Islands is a difficult one to answer quantitatively,” a 

 from the Department of Planning and Economic Development warned.

“One must consider the impact on the environment, what ‘quality of life’ should be used as a measure, means of developing a viable economy within a stable population, and the size of population on each Island which will bring about a desirable balance with the social and natural environment of Hawai‘i.”

Nationally, the Commission on Population and the American Future had been established by federal law in March 1970. A final 

 issued by the Commission was submitted to the U.S. Congress in March 1972, with proposals ranging from increased abortion access to voluntary sterilization to stricter immigration controls. Out of political embarrassment for its recommendations, the Nixon Administration largely distanced itself from the Commission.

However, the rhetoric which argued for limits on immigration had devastating consequences. In the present-day, arguments blaming immigrants for environmental degradation have had devastating 

Back in Hawai‘i, the reports stacked on one another. In 1972, Earl R. Babbie of the civic organization 

, a major argument for a cap on Hawai‘i’s population at one million (Hawai‘i’s population reached this threshold in the mid-’80s). 

These reports built a case for a more permanent state agency tasked with controlling the state’s population growth. As a result, the Commission on Population Stabilization and the Hawaiian Future was 

A primary architect of the measure, Nadao Yoshinga, was not solely worried about the influx of outsiders. Natural population growth among existing residents was another worry. Yoshinaga, an influential member of the State Senate, would 

 in the name of limited Hawai‘i’s population growth over the coming years. Limiting population by whatever means necessary (in the confines of the law) was the objective.

At around this time, Robert C. Schmitt, the State Statistician of Hawai‘i, 

 of the emerging field of population policy. Proponents of population control, at least in the early Statehood era, had started to organize in the late ’60s through such organizations as the University of Hawai‘i-sponsored Zero Population Growth-Honoulu, Citizens for Hawai‘i, Life of the Land, the Sierra Club, and Save our Surf. 

These groups advocated for policies to halt population migration, economic development, and other factors like densified communities in the name of environmentalism. Perhaps tragically, this misguided approach to Hawai‘i’s prevailing problems created a manichean world of values in conflict with one another.

Arguments for population control in the name of environmental stewardship had a real impact on policy in the late ’70s. Most notably, this came to a head in 1977.

During his annual State of the State address, Governor George Ariyoshi directly addressed population control, arguing for immigration controls and density regulation in the name of the ‘aloha spirit.’

“The problem of excessive population seems to be central to nearly every problem in the State.” he started. “Too many people means too few jobs and too much competition for them. Too many people means too little land for agriculture, parks, and scenic vistas. Too many people means too much crime and too much erosion of possibly our single most important commodity: the Aloha Spirit. Too many people means too much pressure on all our governmental and private institutions.” 

Ariyoshi wanted fewer people in Hawai‘i, plain and simple. To reinforce his views, the State Legislature even sponsored a 

 on population and the Hawaiian future in March 1977. 

One piece of legislation would have discriminated against recent arrivals to Hawai‘i through residency requirements for state jobs. A Federal Judge based in Honolulu, the part-Hawaiian Sam P. King, condemned the State of Hawai‘i’s flirtation with a flagrantly “anti-migratory” statute.

These attempts provide a marked contrast with the present day. In January 2025, the Department of Human Services 

 that the State suffers from a vacancy rate of 24% of all civil services positions (equivalent to more than 4,000 jobs). 

Nevertheless, Hawai‘i still inserted a section into its Constitution at the 1978 Constitutional Convention that called for population planning. To date, it is the only Constitution in the United States with such explicit language.

Instead of promoting smarter urban planning methods that conserved space while reducing sprawl or incentivizing farmers to bring more fallow agricultural land into cultivation, it was more convenient to blame the outside migrants for Hawai‘i’s development problems.

Instead of fostering solutions which invite greater societal innovation, it is more convenient to fall for an ideology wrapped in the veneer of science. 

Since 1970, Hawai‘i’s population fortunes have reversed.

Global population growth is not exponential, nor could it sustain the growth rates witnessed after the Second World War. In fact, our planet’s 

 will likely begin declining before 2100. 

The paranoia of the ’70s became irrelevant over the following decade. By 1983, the Commission on Population and the Hawaiian Future had been abolished.

For a majority of Hawai‘i’s residents in 2025, the ’70s are a foreign, unknown domain. Since Hawai‘i’s 

 was 41 as of 2024, it’s safe to conclude more than half of Hawai‘i’s population was born after 1980.

Today, Hawai‘i is missing people. It is one of the fastest aging states in the United States. The population is contracting, with more than half of all Native Hawaiians on the planet living outside of the archipelago.

Culturally, it is still easy to blame the outsider for our own problems. Instead of acknowledging our own complicitly in failing to plan for the future, it is far easier to find that the outsider is only exacerbating the problems we are not addressing. Policies which now arrest growth not only injure potential migrants. They also hurt residents.

The debates over population control in the ’70s were about a fear of change and a society’s failure to properly navigate the pressures wrought by new forces.

Contemporary conflicts over growth still magnify this attitude. Not unironically, stewarding Hawai‘i’s environment means Hawai‘i’s environment needs to also steward Hawai‘i’s people.

“It should be remembered,” Governor John Burns said in 

, “that the key ingredient in any environment is man himself: he is part and parcel of and the key to the value of our total system of symbiotic relationships on this earth. Being a part of the environment demands that we consider human economics together with biological ecology.” 

“If man is hungry, ill-housed, undereducated or poorly treated in his society,” he wondered, “what service is it to him that his environment remains in its pristine, natural state?”

A society without one cannot have the other. We need to think about growth, not stabilization. We need to think about people.

In our own time, we need a Constitution whose thinking is not tethered to the past. While the language in outdated documents like our Constitution locks our zeitgeist in another time, we need to get over our history. We need a better zeitgeist.

Crowd i Stock 1357524756

<title>Hawai‘i's bizarre legacy of population control (and why it's still here)</title>

In the 1970s, Hawai‘i gave in to fears of overpopulation, so much so that population control was put into the State Constitution.

Hawai‘i's bizarre legacy of population control (and why it's still here)

Lopaka and Tanya Kapanui

Lopaka Kapanui and Tanya Kapanui

Hawaii History

The Mānoa Falls Trail is one of Oʻahu’s most beloved hikes, leading through lush rainforest to a 150-foot waterfall at the back of Mānoa Valley. Managed by the state’s Nā Ala Hele trail system since 1988, the path is maintained as part of the Honolulu Mauka Trail System, which links multiple routes across the ridges and valleys above Honolulu. In recent years, the trail underwent significant improvements to better accommodate the many visitors who explore the valley each day.

While a popular attraction, the trail has also seen its share of challenges. The Honolulu Fire Department regularly responds to rescues for lost or injured hikers, with some requiring helicopter evacuations. In rare but serious cases, hikers have suffered fatal accidents near the waterfall itself. Temporary closures are also not uncommon, especially after heavy rain or storm damage, when fallen trees and slippery terrain make conditions dangerous.

By day, the Mānoa Falls Trail feels like a living postcard. Its lush forest and idyllic scenery draw countless visitors to its famous water cascade. But as with many places in Hawaiʻi, the beauty of the landscape holds a deeper layer of stories passed down through generations. Long after the hikers have gone home and the valley quiets under the canopy of trees, Mānoa takes on an entirely different presence that locals whisper about with caution, and visitors sometimes stumble upon when they least expect it. It is in these hushed moments, after dark, that the trail reveals its other side.

One weekend night in the early 1970s, Vance went on a double date with a friend. His girlfriend was beside him in the front seat, while the second couple sat in the back. On a whim, the group decided to drive up toward Mānoa Falls. They reached the chain that blocked cars from going farther and parked beneath the trees. It was late, and the valley was wrapped in silence and heavy darkness. The two couples sat for a while talking inside the car. That was when Vance noticed something strange: two eyes, suspended in the air in front of them.

At first, he didn’t understand what he was looking at. But the longer he stared, the more dread crept in.

[{"type":"text","text":"Grabbing his date’s arm, he blurted out, “Look! Eyes!”"}]

She followed his gaze and screamed, as did his friend’s date when she looked up. In the back seat, Vance’s friend kept his head down, refusing to see for himself.

“No! No! I’m not looking!” he shouted when Vance demanded to know if he could see it too.

The hair rose on Vance’s neck, chicken skin running down his arms. In a rush of panic, he started the engine, threw the car in reverse, and sped down the road, not slowing until they were safely back in the residential streets of the valley.

Years later, Vance shared the story with a younger co-worker who had graduated from Roosevelt High School. The co-worker grew animated and hurried off to fetch an old yearbook. Flipping through the pages, he pointed out a photograph of students standing at the same chain that blocked the Mānoa Falls trail. In the picture, clear as day, were a pair of eyes. This time, they were not high up in the trees, but close to the ground. It wasn’t a trick of light or imagination. That picture, he said, is still in that old Roosevelt High School yearbook. Vance was shaken all over again.

His unease deepened when, on a tour years later, he listened to storyteller Glen Grant describe disembodied eyes seen across the island with warnings not to follow, for they beckoned people to the other side. Standing there listening to Glen’s stories, Vance’s wife turned to him, eyes wide, and whispered, “That’s exactly what you’ve been telling me all these years.”

Those strange encounters in the 1970s weren’t the last time someone would see something unusual there. Just a few years ago, while the trail was officially closed for maintenance, four friends decided to visit at night, hoping to capture evidence of something paranormal on video. They had already made stops at Morgan’s Corner and Tantalus Drive when one of them suggested the Mānoa Falls Trail.

[{"type":"text","text":"It was a moonless night, so he joked, “Guarantee get night marchers!”"}]

The group’s excitement overrode any hesitation that an individual might have had. Around midnight, they parked in the middle of the dark road, headlights shining on the closed gate. One man stayed behind in the car to take a call from his girlfriend, while the other three stepped out with their phones set to record. A cool breeze moved through the valley, carrying the damp scent of mud and rotting vegetation. Mosquitoes buzzed in their ears. One man held an EMF meter, but its lights stayed still and dark.

[{"type":"text","text":"Then came the first sign that something wasn’t right."}]

“Aw man, my phone died!” one of them shouted, and seconds later another man’s phone went black.

Confused, they huddled by the car, trying to make sense of the sudden power loss, while the fourth man inside continued his call without interruption. Out of the corner of his eye, one of the men caught movement by the trail. His blood went cold; not from thoughts of ghosts but of feral pigs. He grabbed a flashlight from the car, but the beam was weak, and the shadows at the gate were impenetrable. Uneasy, he climbed back inside the car and called to his friends, who had moved closer to the gate.

Several long minutes passed before the pair suddenly ran back and jumped into the vehicle. The driver started the engine and tore down the rough road, potholes rattling the tires, not slowing until they reached the residential neighborhood.

After they’d finally calmed down, the two men explained what happened. As they approached the gate, they saw a pair of white lights floating about four feet off the ground. They looked like two eyes. It was weird and confusing, and neither of them could figure out what they were looking at—two lights, about the same distance apart as a pair of eyes on someone’s face. But there was no face, no head, no body. The lights slowly seemed to drift closer toward them, and when they got about a foot in front of the gate, they blinked. That’s when the men took off running. I asked if they got it on video, but they did not.

“I wasn’t aiming the camera right at the lights, so all I got was bushes and then the blurry road as we were running back to the car. But seriously, we saw what we saw.”

I then asked if they would ever return to try to get whatever they saw on video, and he laughed and said, “Maybe. Probably not for a long time, but maybe.”

Gate to Manoa Falls Trail 2

<title>Disembodied eyes at Mānoa Falls Trail</title>

If you look out into the dark of night at this storied trail, something just might look back at you.

Disembodied eyes at Mānoa Falls Trail

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

Chef Kale Afong wants to make one thing very clear — his new restaurant, 

, which just soft opened in Kalihi, is not a straight-up Korean barbecue spot.

“It’s Korean barbecue- and yakiniku-inspired,” he says. “It’s Korean barbecue inspired because you take the meats and grill them on the table. It’s yakiniku-inspired because I’m putting more of a Hawaiian influence on the side dishes. There’s so many yakiniku places, and I wanted to be different. But it’s all-you-can-eat because that’s what everybody wants. Locals like all-you-can-eat; it’s kind of a Hawaiʻi thing. We wanted to match that vibe and give the people what they want.”

You have to admit, the restaurant name is pretty catchy. But Afong says he didn’t intend to be named after him.

“We were using chat GPT and Google (to think of restaurant names),” he says. “Kale’s Hale was one of the first names we came up with, but I didn’t like it. We went through hundreds of names — Hawaiian, Japanese and Greek names — we were just going through so many names. I didn’t like it, but Kale’s Hale was the best option we had.”

The new biz is located in the former space of Katsuriki BBQ House (close to Rainbow Drive-In in Kalihi).

“I love banchan; I will go to a restaurant based on the banchan,” Afong says. “This is yakiniku-inspired with a whole bunch of pūpū. About 20 pūpū dishes will be on the regular menu; we have a rotating list of specials that we have every other night.”

For the eatery’s soft opening, customers can take advantage of a discounted rate of $39.99 (regular price is $59.99). So, what does that include?

As soon as customers are seated, they can take their pick from the different featured banchan, many of which are Hawaiian-forward, according to Afong.

“We’re replacing seaweed soup with Hawaiian lūʻau soup,” he says. “I take the lūʻau leaf and we’re making a lūʻau soup. Instead of poke, we’ll have kalo poke. I have a lot of ʻulu, lūʻau leaf and kalo throughout the menu to showcase more Hawaiian food. The kalo plant is a Hawaiian staple.

“There is a difference between Hawaiian food and Hawaiʻi food,” he adds. “Hawaiʻi food is more like our lomi salmon, mac salad, and loco moco. Loco moco is Hawaiʻi food, but not Hawaiian food. The difference gets a little blurred on social media and through the world. We want to showcase some of the differences; we have a lot of products from local farmers and from Hawaiʻi.”

Of course, you’ll still find Korean barbecue-style banchan like kimchi and pickled vegetables since they’re local favorites, according to Afong.

Moving onto the main event — the meats. The selection includes pork belly, short ribs, chuck roll, marinated chicken, pork jowl and hanging tender, to name a few.

“Hanging tender is my favorite cut of steak,” Afong says. “It’s very expensive. They’re really odd cuts, but they’re a delicious, high-quality steak that tastes like a piece of filet mignon. We have all these high-quality meats, along with the pūpū — that’s our base menu.”

On top of that, Kale’s Hale has access to Kagoshima wagyu, which comes from a prefecture in south Japan, according to Afong. The high-quality wagyu is known for its marbling and tenderness. Afong says the eatery brings in whole cows, and customers will each get a wagyu sampler as part of the AYCE experience.

“The sampler is a couple ounces of wagyu, which is a lot,” he says. “It’s rich, and we’ll also have wagyu as a la carte enhancements.

“Our wagyu grade is A5 and then there’s something called the beef marbling score, also known as BMS,” he adds. “Our Kagoshima wagyu score is a BMS 12, which is the highest score you can get for BMS.”

That score means that the wagyu has an exceptional texture and boasts a rich marbling. As excited as he is to feature Kagoshima wagyu, Afong says having customers learn more about the product is equally important.

“We’re bringing the education to where the cut is coming from,” he says. “We want to show the difference between the high-end cuts and not-so-high-end cuts, and there’s a price difference. We have to do a better job communicating the differences between the cuts. The a la carte menu for our wagyu is actually super affordable; we’re selling three ounces for $35 to $40.”

While the eatery is currently only open for dinner (daily from 5 to 10 p.m., last seating is at 9 p.m.), stay tuned — lunch service will be starting soon. And that’s just the beginning for the restaurant, according to Afong.

“Once we get lunch going, I want to bring back 24-hour dining on Fridays and Saturdays,” he says. “That’s what we’re striving for. We’re also really focusing on customer service; we have nothing to do with the old restaurants (formerly in this space). We’re brand new; we want to break that stigma. Customer service is going to be our top priority — quality food that’s slightly elevated, and a great customer experience.”  

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Take a trip

Kady Pascual

Social Media Editor

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Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Take a trip

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Kady Pascual

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