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Hawai'i Skies

Today's Hawai'i Skies was captured by Jay Ohashi Jr. in Kalihi. "Caught the sunset flexing harder than the Supra."

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25 10 23 Jay Ohashi

<title>Hawai'i Skies: The sun was a paid actor</title>

Today's Hawai'i Skies was captured by Jay Ohashi Jr. in Kalihi.

Hawai'i Skies: The sun was a paid actor

Today's Hawai'i Skies was captured by Jay Ohashi Jr. in Kalihi. "Caught the sunset flexing harder than the Supra." To submit your Hawai'i Skies photo, visit us online or email: general@alohastatedaily.com For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter.

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

HONOLULU — Eretria's Tsegay Weldlibanos and Great Britain's Calli Hauger-Thackery were the big winners at the 2025 Honolulu Marathon on Sunday morning, crossing the finish line at a wet Kapi‘olani Park first in their respective divisions. 

Of all 28,756 marathon entrants, Weldlibanos was the first runner to finish, zooming through the 26.2 miles with a time of 2:13.41. He overtook defending champion and fellow Eritrean Yemane Haileselassie, who finished as the runner-up less than a minute later at 2:14:30.

Meanwhile, Hauger-Thackery claimed victory in the women's division in 2:30.44. Kenya's Cynthia Limo, who entered as the two-time defending women's champion, finished in second at 2:31:35. 

When Weldlibanos and Hauger-Thackery both completed their victories, both showed signs of visible fatigue. Weldlibanos limped after the race, while Hauger-Thackery briefly got on her knees and vomited. 

"I put a lot on myself this year," Hauger-Thackery said. "There's been so many races, like the Boston Marathon, world championships, running in Chicago ... it was really hard. My only aim for today was just getting my confidence back, and then to win it was just big."

Hauger-Thackery, who calls Yorkshire her hometown, became the first British competitor to win the Honolulu Marathon in either division on Sunday. 

Despite not being training partners, Weldlibanos and Hauger-Thackery coincidentally both live in Flagstaff, Ariz. So, too, does Haileselassie, who embraced Weldlibanos after the race. The two both train under coach James McCirdy. 

"Training together, me and Yemane, it's good training with my team," Weldlibanos said. 

Added McCirdy: "They're part of our family. My wife and I have worked really hard to cultivate a really good environment in Flagstaff, and we're honored to be with these men and the women we serve. These guys are working really hard to provide for their families, to provide for their people."

Back in Flagstaff, Weldlibanos is a delivery driver for Amazon. He also has experience as a ride-share driver. 

"There's always challenges, but these men have been very patient and waiting and working really hard, working their full-time jobs on top of training full-time. They're not fully funded," McCirdy said.

Both champions on Sunday will receive a prize of $25,000, along with a solid gold medal that has significant cash value. Second-place finishers in each division will receive $10,000, while both third-place finishers won $5,000. 

Additionally, Weldibanos received a cash incentive prize of $1,500 for finishing under 2:14.00, while Hauger-Thackery also got a $1,500 bonus for crossing the finish line under 2:14.00. 

With the race beginning at 5 a.m. Sunday, both winners said they will take the time to enjoy O‘ahu before heading home. 

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Very nice blessing, good times in Hawai‘i, Weldlibanos said. "}]

Added Calli Hauger-Thackery: "It was an incredible, amazing experience. It's just so different. It's tropical. It feels like a holiday, so I wasn't nervous leading up to this race. Am I actually doing a marathon today? It felt like I was on holiday. I was loving the chill, the great vibes every day. Poke bowls every day. That's my favorite meal ever. I could live off poke bowls for the rest of my life."

Tsegay Weldlibanos 121425

<title>First-time winners take the throne at 2025 Honolulu Marathon</title>

Tsegay Weldlibanos of Eretria and Calli Hauger-Thackery of Great Britain won their respective divisions on Sunday, both finishing ahead of the defending champion for each gender.

First-time winners take the throne at 2025 Honolulu Marathon

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

Hawai‘i’s high cost of living is driving more people to consider leaving the Islands, a new survey from 

The Honolulu-based nonprofit, which works to make Hawai‘i more affordable for working families, recently released the results of its second annual Hawai‘i Affordability Survey.

AE Consulting surveyed employees at 25 local for-profit, nonprofit and public organizations that serve a wide range of sectors. More than 3,200 residents — 63% of whom are lifetime residents and 19% of whom have lived in the Islands for more than 20 years — participated.

According to the survey, 29% of respondents believe they'll have relocate to a less expensive state in the future while 46% are unsure if they will. In 2024, those numbers were 26% and 44%, respectively.

Households earning more than $150,000 annually are less likely to say they plan to move away while households below that threshold are more likely to do so.

“In 2024, the decrease in the likelihood that a household will relocate began at the $100,000 mark, suggesting that, in the year since, Hawai‘i’s cost of living pressures have further encroached on higher income brackets,” the survey notes.

, the most surprising result from the survey was “how significantly

the ‘danger zone’ for leaving Hawai‘i has expanded into higher income brackets,” he told Aloha State Daily in an emailed response to questions.

“Last year, we saw financial pressure easing for households earning over $100,000. This year, that threshold jumped to $150,000,” he explained. “It was surprising to see that even households earning between $100,000 and $150,000 are now just as likely to consider leaving as those earning less. It’s a stark wake-up call that the cost-of-living crisis is no longer just about ‘making ends meet,’ but is destabilizing established, middle-income professionals who many likely assumed were secure.”

Here are some more findings from the survey:

The survey also measured what residents want and their confidence in local institutions like government, labor unions, the business community, nonprofits and the public school system.

Wisch told ASD that Holomua Collective launched the survey to capture “hard data on the real-world experiences” of the state’s workforce.

“While we all know the cost of living is high, we need to understand exactly who is struggling, why they are considering leaving and what specific changes would actually convince them to stay,” he says.

This is the nonprofit’s second annual survey. Wisch says the goal was to reach a broad cross-section of local workers.

“What last year’s survey revealed — and this year’s survey confirmed — is that local cost-of-living challenges are hurting not just those we already knew were in crisis, but also the middle- and upper-middle-income families that form so much of our tax base,” he continued. “By gathering responses from over 3,200 workers across all counties and industries, we can provide policymakers and community leaders with a clearer picture of the problems rather than just guessing at solutions.”

The goal, says Wisch, is to use the data to drive action.

“We want to diagnose both the symptoms and the root causes of our affordability crisis so we can build advocacy around evidence-based solutions,” he says. “Specifically, we are using these findings to clarify priorities, inform policy and foster collaboration.”

There’s no silver bullet, though, when it comes to addressing the top three priorities identified by those surveyed: housing affordability, better wages and general economic stability, Wisch says. But there are “many individual opportunities to limit the burden.”

“On the housing front, we need to focus on housing that is dedicated to local workers. The market is currently priced for offshore investors rather than local incomes,” he says. “We need to build and preserve a housing stock specifically for residents who live and work here.

“We also need to look at the cost of doing business and the cost of living as two sides of the same coin. We need to simultaneously support policies that let local workers keep more of their paycheck, help local businesses thrive so they can afford to pay the higher wages our residents need and get local workers access to opportunities and programs to assist them in developing the skills they need to grow in their careers.

According to Wisch, Holomua Collective was founded in 2022 by a group of local business and nonprofit leaders concerned that many employees and families were relocating to the Mainland, despite offering competitive wages and strong benefit packages.

“They saw the need for an organization dedicated to keeping all local working families in Hawai‘i by making sure they can afford to stay,” he says. “We were created to address these long-standing systemic affordability challenges with a fresh, collaborative approach.”

 include Chair Mike Pietsch, president and chief operating officer of Title Guaranty; Jason Fujimoto, president and CEO of 

, CEO of Parker Ranch; Brandon Kurisu, president of aio Family of Companies; Brad Nicolai, president of JN Group; and Sunshine Topping, Hawai‘i lead of The Omidyar Group. An advisory committee includes Joshua Feldman, president and CEO of Tori Richard; Brittany Heyd, co-founder of Mana Up; Alicia Moy, president and CEO of Hawai‘i Gas; and Ed Shultz, president and CEO of Hawaiian Host Group.

 filed in 2024, the nonprofit had total revenues of about $1.88 million in 2023.

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Oahu neighborhoods homes i Stock

<title>New survey says more people are considering leaving Hawai‘i</title>

Honolulu-based nonprofit Holomua Collective — which works to make Hawai‘i more affordable for working families — recently released the results of its second annual Hawai‘i Affordability Survey.

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