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Hawai'i Skies

Today's Hawai'i Skies was captured by Landin Seto on the Wai Kai Wave. "There was a show in the water and the sky, and both were epic!"

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25 10 30 Landin Seto

<title>Hawai'i Skies: Surf show</title>

Today's Hawai'i Skies was captured by Landin Seto on the Wai Kai Wave.

Hawai'i Skies: Surf show

Today&#039;s Hawai&#039;i Skies was captured by Landin Seto on the Wai Kai Wave. &quot;There was a show in the water and the sky, and both were epic!&quot; To submit your Hawai&#039;i Skies photo, visit us online or email: general@alohastatedaily.com

Square Mike Brestovansky Headshot RGZ3736 Large

Michael Brestovansky

Government & Politics

Hawai’i residents are urged to once again batten down the hatches as the state’s summer of storms continues.

As of Wednesday, the newly named Tropical Storm Nolo was bearing northward toward the state, with the National Weather Service predicting the storm to intensify to hurricane status by Friday, and potentially to major hurricane status by Saturday — about the same time it is expected to make its closest approach to Hawai’i Island.

National Weather Service Warning Coordination Meteorologist John Bravender said Wednesday that tropical storm-force winds could hit the Big Island as early as Friday, and that the storm could bring 20-30 inches of rain through the weekend. 

Nolo is expected to veer westward just south of the state and slowly pass below the islands. As it passes, the Big Island will face “extreme” flash flooding risks on Friday and Saturday, as well as “extreme” winds on Saturday, according to a NWS outlook.

As of Wednesday afternoon, a hurricane watch is in effect for the entirety of Hawai’i Island and its surrounding waters. The NWS warns that there is potential for winds between 74 and 110 mph. A flood watch is also in effect for all of the Big Island, Maui and Moloka’i.

Gov. Josh Green acknowledged Wednesday that many on the Big Island, particularly in Ka’u, are still recovering from the impacts of Hurricane Lala two storms ago. 

“If you feel unsafe, please … go up to Hilo as this new storm approaches,” Green said, adding that the state Department of Human Services has 100 hotel rooms available for people to stay in if their home is threatened by Nolo. “If you do decide to wait out the storm at home … please listen to us if we ask you to evacuate. Material goods can be replaced, houses can be rebuilt, but we can’t bring back our loved ones.”

Maj. Gen. Stephen Logan, Adjutant General of the State of Hawai’i Department of Defense, said 232 National Guard personnel are currently positioned for storm response and recovery efforts, and that he is authorized to activate up to 500 if the need arises. On Hawai’i Island, there are five high-water vehicle teams and 50 personnel standing by.

Hawai’i County has opened hurricane shelters in advance of the storm: at Yano Hall in Captain Cook, the Nā’ālehu Elementary School Gym, the Robert Herkes Gym in Pāhala and the Kea’au Armory. Transportation for Na’alehu residents seeking to shelter in Pāhala will be provided at Nā’ālehu Elementary at 6 p.m. today.

Big Island residents can fill sandbags at several 

 around the island provided by the county Department of Public Works, although they will have to bring their own bags.

As always, residents are urged to clear debris from around their properties, ensure that drainage areas are properly cleared, stockpile up 14 days worth of food, water and essential medications, prepare go bags and evacuation plans for themselves and their families, and to 

 from state and county emergency management agencies.

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<title>NWS warns of major impacts as Nolo looms</title>

Tropical Storm Nolo is expected to become a major hurricane as it approaches the state, with Hawai‘i County the closest to its path.

NWS warns of major impacts as Nolo looms

De Soto 2025

DeSoto Brown

Hawai‘i History

Columnists

Do you think about gas stations? Probably not much, until you notice that your vehicle’s fuel level is low, and you then stop at one near your home or your work. You vaguely assume gas stations have always been around and always will be. Of course that’s not true - at least that they’re always existed.

Petroleum is a natural substance produced by nature. It comes from ancient organic matter that’s been buried underground, under pressure, for millions of years. It can be burned, making it a fuel source, something that humanity continues to require increasing amounts of. But it wasn’t until the middle 1800s that anyone finally figured out that this could be done to any significant degree with the black stuff that seeped out of the ground in certain places. Gradually petroleum — oil — would come to replace wood, coal and other oils from natural sources as the go-to source to burn for power.

This development happened to conveniently coincide with the invention of the internal-combustion engines that were utilized for the first automobiles as they evolved in Europe and the USA, beginning in the 1880s. And it was gasoline in particular, which is just one of the liquids that can be refined from crude oil, that was the most useful.

The first two autos to be imported to the Hawaiian Islands arrived in 1899, and you would understandably assume that this meant that the suppliers of petroleum-based fuels like kerosene — the most useful at that time — would need to start supplying gasoline soon after. But you’d be wrong, because (perhaps surprisingly) those very early cars didn’t use it. How could that be? Simple - they were electric! That’s not a new technology, as you might think; it’s one of the first that was used for cars.

Obviously, though, it was gasoline power that would soon take over. In those very early days, though, there were no gas stations nor any gas pumps to fill up the tanks of automobiles. Gas was often delivered to retailers in large cans, from which the liquid was poured into smaller containers to eventually end up in cars. This was clearly a slow, cumbersome and inefficient process.

As automobile manufacturing exploded in the United States in the early 1900s, putting it ahead of every other nation’s per capita car ownership, the delivery of gas to individual vehicles was greatly improved with the system we use today: a large tank is installed underground, and electrically-powered pumps pull it up from below ground and then into the machines that use it. With Hawai‘i’s annexation by the USA being finalized in 1900, we naturally followed what was happening throughout the entire country, including automobile ownership and all its related activities.

It might be surprising that the first gas pumps weren’t placed as they are today. Instead, they were placed on sidewalks next to streets, meaning that cars stopped to get gas might be blocking other traffic. It took awhile for the next step to occur, which was to create a dedicated space off the streets for refueling to take place.

By the 1920s in Hawai‘i, the familiar gas station was in use. This was the same as we have today: a space with a building whose roof protects one or two islands on which several gas pumps are installed. The pump hoses and handles can be used for vehicles stopped on either side, which accommodates more cars at one time, and everything is moved safely off the street and away from traffic and pedestrians.

The oil companies that owned the gas stations often wanted two things for their facilities. First, they preferred to use a standardized architectural style that made their brand’s buildings quickly recognizable to motorists, in hopes of creating customer loyalty. This was particularly because, until the 1980s, there were no credit cards that could be used universally for any kind of purchase. Drivers had to carry a different credit card for each specific gas company, making them more likely to seek out a particular brand where they could charge their purchase. And secondly, oil companies also wanted their stations to be somewhat attractive, particularly in residential areas where neighbors might be critical of an industrial-looking structure.

A feature of gas stations for decades were the small colored triangular flags that fluttered from overhead ropes above the properties. In use since at least 1940 for special events, by the 1960s these flags were strung up continuously and were an easy way to spot a station as you approached. 

Into the early 2000s, motorists expected a number of free services to be provided for their cars each time they got gas. First, and most importantly, only employees actually pumped gas. This was partly because the process could be a little grimy and customers did not want to dirty their hands, but also because gasoline was so flammable — and so many people still smoked at that time — that allowing unsupervised handling of the fuel was potentially dangerous. But in addition, windshields were wiped while oil levels were checked under the hood. Tire pressures were confirmed, with air being added if required. As gas prices began to rise abruptly in the 1970s, though, stations began to cut back on such amenities and to gradually shift to self service exclusively.

Possibly the biggest change in the gas station business, however, was the complete abandonment of selling car parts (including batteries and tires) along with actually repairing vehicles. This had been a long-established part of the industry and customers often dropped off their cars for such work at their favorite station. The loss of this service was partly due to the increasing complexity of car engines, but possibly more important was the decision by oil companies to simplify their work - just stick to selling gas and drop all the other stuff. Today, the older station buildings that are still in use have long since repurposed their former service bays into convenience stores, and now gas customers are entirely on their own to fill their own vehicles.

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<title>How Hawai‘i got its gas stations</title>

Strange but true — at one time, horse-drawn carriages delivered supplies of gasoline around O‘ahu, and fuel pumps were often located by the side of the road for motorists running on empty. As gas-powered cars became more common, a new kind of building emerged in the Islands — the gas station. Guess which famous waterman owned one in Waikīkī!

How Hawai‘i got its gas stations

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

Twenty years ago, Joshua Walker graduated from Tallwood High School in Virginia Beach, Va., and embarked on a new journey. 

The standout outside hitter hopped on a plane, making a 10-hour trek to the Islands to enroll at the University of Hawai‘i and play for its men's volleyball team. 

Walker didn't know it at the time, but the school and state would go on to become a major part of his life. It was at UH that Walker met and married his college sweetheart, Tehane, an ‘Aiea High School graduate and former captain of the UH soccer team. Joshua and Tehane Walker currently have five children together.

After earning AVCA All-America honors with the Rainbow Warriors, Walker traveled across the globe in a professional career that came to an end in 2016 after joining 

Walker's transition from playing to coaching was seamless, the promise he showed as a young coach evident in winning the 2019 AVCA Assistant Coach of the Year. In 2022, Walker spread his wings and joined the women's volleyball staff at Baylor University and was elevated to associate head coach in 2023. 

 on April 29, a surprise vacancy for the UH women's volleyball head coach position was created. A national search spearheaded by UH athletics director 

 lasted over a month, but in the end, Elliott says he was "absolutely thrilled" in offering Walker a five-year contract to become the new Rainbow Wahine head coach. 

Walker, who is currently in the midst of hectic summer that involved coaching the U.S. women's national youth team, was only able to make it back to O‘ahu as the program's new head coach in recent days. 

Aloha State Daily recently caught up with Walker about his new gig, the journey leading up to it, and what's next for him and the Rainbow Wahine. 

You graduated high school 20 years ago and embarked on your journey to Hawai‘i. If someone asked you back then where you saw yourself in 20 years, what do you think 18-year-old Joshua Walker would have said? 

 He would have said he'd probably still be involved with sports. Everybody in my life, my family, has been teachers, preachers, law enforcement, and military. I kind of fell into the teacher pot. That's what I feel like I do in coaching. It's not just about coaching volleyball, though. It's about teaching, and I'm helping them learn how to be great people and be adults. Looking back, I'd probably say I'd be involved in some kind of teaching or some kind of mentoring.

How did you find your way to the University of Hawai‘i during the recruiting process? 

I just had a lot of great coaches, a lot of great people that looked out for me throughout my career. I wasn't playing volleyball that long. I started playing more seriously when I got to high school, but I was state Player of the Year by my junior year, and my coaches kind of helped facilitate me getting on some people's radars that maybe I wasn't on originally. I wanted to go to George Mason, but God had other plans. It came down to a 10-hour flight to Hawai‘i or a 10-hour drive up to Penn State, and I chose the flight. It's just one of those things where a lot of people were looking out for me, and I heard about the fan base. 

The 2006 season was a pretty good season for the men's team as well, but I knew there were some people that were leaving, so I felt that was an opportunity to potentially go on court sooner than later, too. And Penn State had players like (AVCA Player of the Year and two-time Olympian) Matt Anderson that were on the roster. (Hawai‘i) was a good opportunity for me to potentially go on court a little bit sooner, and I just heard about the fanbase, so I felt I could be a player that would thrive in environments where I knew people cared about volleyball as much as I did.

If you could put your UH men's volleyball assistant coaching hat on for a second — when you were coaching under Charlie Wade, do you think you would have recruited Class of 2006 Joshua Walker?

Yes, I would have, because the thing that you kind of look for that you can't necessarily describe or be able to explain is how they are on the court and how they are off the court. The accolades have to be there, yeah, but if you're touching 11'8" (11 feet, eight inches on a vertical jump) and you can hit, it's probably someone that is going to get recruited. That being said, it would have been for sure harder for me (given the caliber of players the Rainbow Warriors have recruited under Wade) to think, OK, well, 'He's got to do this or this to even have a chance to be on the court,'  but yeah, for sure it was one of those things where I think Charlie for sure would have tried to still recruit me.

How would you sum up the experience of playing pro volleyball and getting to travel the world? 

I played pro in Abu Dhabi, Greece, Denmark and Finland. The team that I was on in Abu Dhabi, we went to Egypt, went to Lebanon. In between summers, I ended up going to play in Japan for a tournament. Then I played in Greece for Panathinaikos, which is a legendary club in Europe. A lot of people in general know what Panathinaikos is and the rivalry they have with Olympiacos, so that was pretty cool being a part of that rivalry. Denmark was unique because that was the first time I chose where I really wanted to go. I didn't really go through an agent or anything because I wanted a place where I was gonna be happy and have a good season. I ended up getting MVP there, won a couple championships there, so that was just really fun. Finland was probably the best combination of everything, from quality of life off the court, how good the league was overall, there were seven or eight other Americans that were in the league at the time, so every time we were playing another team, there was someone I knew. It was just a really great experience, being able to play and travel all over the world because of volleyball.

When did you decide to become intentional about wanting to become a coach, and what was that process like?

 I initially did not (want to stop playing) at first because my daughter was being born and I had an opportunity to go back overseas. A position (under Wade) opened up here. I told Charlie, OK, we can try it out for a year. If I like it, great. If I don't, then I know I can go back and play pro. When I got into it, I wasn't sure how it was going to go. After the first year, I was completely hooked. I knew there's so many different things we could do that's going to help us be more successful. I knew how to relate to the guys here since I had just relatively been through it, and they were coming off (an NCAA Tournament appearance. ... The team had some good pieces that were leaving, and the team that I was able to be there with, guys like Kolby (Kanetake), Siki (

), and those players, they were great for me, just to kind of have an experience, like, OK, I can help these guys accomplish their goals here and what they want to do. I think that just kind of bled into the next year, and in 2018 we had a good season, a disappointing ending (UH did not receive an anticipated at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament). But if we don't have that '18 season, we don't have the '19 season in which we blew a bunch of records out of the water. If you don't have the '19 season, you're not able to have the '20 season. If you don't have the '20 season, you're not able to finish the job in '21 and then couple that with a relatively new group in '22 (and a repeat national championship). So, every year just kind of built off of itself.

Did you go to a lot of Wahine volleyball matches when you were a UH student? 

 Yeah, for sure. ... Absolutely. Went to the games, supported them. Some of my best friends still to this day are Wahine volleyball alumni. To me, it's just kind of a full circle moment. When I'm out recruiting or just seeing these players that have gotten in different aspects of their life or still connected to volleyball, still being able to stay in contact with them and just how excited they are that I get the opportunity to come back and coach. I have a great relationship with 

was a former Rainbow Wahine as well. They're just all over the place and all very supportive. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to give back but also to have my friends just be proud of their university.

 When you were sitting in those crowds, if someone told you that you'd be running the show one day, how do you think you would have reacted?

I'd be like, 'OK, I don't know what you're talking about right now, I'm just here to get better at volleyball.' It's not something that really crossed my mind. You just feel like God really has his hand on my life, and I can't pick out the situations and the opportunities that have come up because I couldn't plan this out myself. I just know somebody else has their hand all over it, and that being said, I feel like I'm prepared for this moment. ... At the time, I was just focused on doing the best I could, being the best teammate I could be, being the best son I could be, being the best brother I could be, and now that's kind of blossomed to 20 years later and getting an opportunity to be the head coach.

Oh, gosh. I knew of her because the soccer team was pretty good when I was here, as well. Obviously, UH athletics was pretty dominant when I was here. Football was doing great, making the Sugar Bowls and all that. It was a great time just to be at UH in general. My wife, I knew of her just because she was on a great soccer team and a good soccer player. I didn't really get out to Waipi‘o (Soccer Complex, home of UH soccer) that much. ... I actually made it out to watch one of the games. I knew a bunch of players, but it wasn't until she had already graduated. Even though we're the same age, she was a better athlete, and she was smarter than me. She had graduated and she didn't redshirt. She was working at Duke's. We had a recruit (on a visit), and we went down to Duke's, and she was one of the hostesses. Our eyes just met, our eyes locked, and it was one of those things I can't explain. It was that moment, and then we just kind of followed up with each other, we got each other's contacts, and that's kind of how it got started. That being said, I was going into my junior year, and volleyball was pretty high on my priority list. We had this joke early that we would see each other 1.5 times a week because of our schedules. She was getting a master's at Chaminade at the time, so any time we got to see each other, it was great, and we enjoyed being around each other. But outside of that we both had other things we were focusing on."

 When you think about the journey you two have been on over your career, how special is it to be able to come home to Hawaiʻi with her? 

It's one of those things where it's like, OK, you marry a local girl, you're not gonna leave (laughs). She's always been super supportive of me and my career and everything that I've wanted to do, and obviously, a big priority was just making sure my family's quality of life is great. To me, having a chance to go to the women's side wasn't necessarily just because there's more opportunity, it's also a chance to experience something different. 

A lot of women in my life have given back to me and have been very influential between my mom, my sister, who helped me get into the sport. My first coach, 

, as well. There's just a lot of great women in my life that poured into me, and it was a chance for me to get to the women's side and pour it back into them, and that opportunity came up. ... So, I'm like, I might as well get some experience on the women's side, just in case something happens, and that was kind of the mindset leaving. I might have a chance to come back, but Hawai‘i will always be home, it's just whether it's my workplace again.

 When you were an assistant coach with the men's team, you were often seen playing with your kids after the matches. What does having them be a part of the journey mean to you and how has that balance been?

Everybody says balance, balance, balance. One of the questions I had early in my coaching career was how do I balance this? It's really not a balance, it's when I'm doing my job, I'm 100% focused on that, and then when I'm doing family stuff, I'm 100% focused on that. So, I don't balance it out. When I'm done working and I know it's family time, I make sure that I'm spending time with my family when the game is over. They love going to sporting events which helps. It's very great that they like doing that. They're in it as much as I am. They love volleyball as much as I do. They love sports as much as I do. ... I'm just very appreciative for my family, for them helping the environment, and helping them fall in love with volleyball as much as I have.

What was your reaction when Robyn Ah Mow stepped down? When did you consider going for this job in the aftermath?

Going into May, I was doing USA stuff. I had two weeks where there's stuff I have to do, but not over the top where I'm going to be super busy. All of a sudden my phone starts going off, and I'm like, what is going on? Everybody's saying, Robyn's stepping down and you should apply, that kind of stuff. I'm like, OK, I'll think about it. I was in a great situation at Baylor, so I didn't feel like I needed to leave, but it had to be for the right opportunity. Even though it is a great opportunity to be the head coach of Wahine volleyball, things have to line up, it has to make sense. I had to talk to people that I'm really close to, had to pray about it, all those things. If I'm taking the job now, how will it look like the very first day I'm on the job? Depending on when that happens and what the priorities need to be, and all those kind of things. It didn't take long for me to kind of go through the process, because that's what you do as an assistant coach. 

If a job opens up that you're interested in, you're going to apply. It's just one of those things, which, realistically, the path for you to be on the same page with all the people involved in the process and those logistics, it doesn't always work out clearly. It's one of those things where, I knew I would be prepared for a yes. I'd be prepared for a no. Being in coaching, you get told no a lot, and then you get a few yeses, and you hope those yeses make the difference.

Now that you've got to be a head coach for a few weeks, how has the experience been so far?

It's been busy. There's been a lot of stuff to get done. Last Monday (June 15) was a huge one, one of the biggest recruiting days of the year. Getting things organized for that takes a lot of time, but I think we did a good job considering how fast we had to turn things around, and try to get focused on, OK, who actually wants to come and can help right away, and then just meeting with the current team, which was great. Having time to meet with all of them individually was great, and definitely want to do that again before everybody gets back on campus, just to once again kind of get to know them and make sure we're on the same page as far what their dreams and what their goals are. ... The focus is on the team. Obviously coming off of a rough situation losing their coach, but we're gonna make sure we do things to make sure we define what winning is, and that we can have a successful season going forward. 

As it relates to the changes in college sports, how do you feel about the resources you have here compared to a place like Baylor?

 You'd be surprised. The things that we have here is what you need to be a high-level athlete. I went through here and went through the university, and I had the resources I needed. The biggest difference I feel between a power school and a Group of Five school is just the amount of people that you have working. You can have more people, that doesn't mean you're necessarily going to have higher quality people either, and yes, there's going to be a difference in facilities. You're at those schools, they're always talking about what the other school has and what the other school has, and in the end, you can be on a team and want to start. You can be honest, you can be a starter and want to be All-Conference, All-American. If you're competitive and you want to win, you're always going to want more, so you can't dumb that down. 

Yes, at the University of Hawai‘i, we want more. We want to have the nicest things, but in the end, you have what you need to be successful, and in the end, if you have that, let's go. Let's go and use it. So, the resources for volleyball in particular are pretty comparable across everybody across the nation, so that's what I'm excited about. The reason why we've been successful is because people know how much people care about Hawai‘i volleyball. I know whatever resources or things that we need, there is a way to get it, especially if I'm doing my job as coach.

 So, maybe you didn't imagine yourself in this seat 20 years ago. How about 20 years from now, how do you think you'll look back at this time in your life and your family's life? 

 I do not know. Once again, I'm so focused on what's happening right now and then maybe within five years what it could look like. But I just know from seeing what it takes to get a program to where it needs to be, the goal is to be able to win national championships again. It takes time, so to me, it'd be great in 20 years from now we're talking about, man, we're national champions, and this is the path that it took to get there, and all the lives that you helped influence and helped impact on the way that's led to that moment. I think that would be nice in 20 years to think about, to reflect on that part, but got a lot to get to and a long way to go.

Hawai'i Skies: Surf show

ASD Staff

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Hawai'i Skies: Surf show

Authors

ASD Staff

Reporter

More in Hawai'i Skies

Hawaiʻi Skies: Just a casual walk

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